Chapter 5: Descent Into Shadow

The morning sun glared off the Hunter Association building's polished windows, throwing golden light across the streets of Seoul. People bustled about as usual, unaware of the gate quietly pulsing behind reinforced steel doors in Sub-Level D—just another low-rank dungeon, marked safe for rookies and C-rankers.

Adam adjusted the straps on his borrowed armor and looked at the holographic screen in the prep room.

> [D-Rank Dungeon: Greystone Ruins]

Threat Level: Low to Moderate

Composition: Stone Constructs, Lesser Golems

Assigned Team: Adam (F rank), Jin Park (C rank), Do-yun (D rank), Minji (C rank), Heeseok (C rank)

The group around him was chatting casually. None of them seemed concerned. Even Do-yun was scrolling through memes, headphones in, nodding his head to some pop track.

Adam's hand hovered near his Soulfang Dagger. The system hadn't warned him. No messages. No trials. Just a dungeon like any other.

But he couldn't shake the weight in his chest.

"Hey, newbie," said Jin Park, a tall C-ranker with mirrored sunglasses and a giant axe. "Don't drag us down, yeah? Stick to the back and loot the cores."

"Got it," Adam replied.

Lyra wasn't on this run. She was off on an A-rank mission, though she'd given him a brief look before he left, her eyes unreadable.

"Be careful," she'd said.

He had smiled. "Aren't I always?"

---

They entered the dungeon just after 10:00 a.m. The Greystone Ruins were dim, lit by flickering blue torches embedded in cracked walls. Statues lined the corridors—warped humanoids with blank faces and chipped swords.

The first few monsters came quickly. Stone Imps—small, shrieking creatures that bled dust and shattered with a few well-placed hits. Minji and Heeseok handled them with ease, laughing as they fought.

"Too easy," Minji grinned, crushing an imp underfoot.

Adam helped pick off stragglers with quick dagger strikes. The Soulfang hummed when it pierced flesh—or what passed for flesh. No essence absorption this time. No system messages.

> [Enemy Slain: Stone Imp]

[Death Energy: +1]

He logged the small gain in the corner of his mind. 121 now. Still far from the 500 needed to unlock his first summon.

Hours passed. They cleared the outer corridors and reached the central sanctum—an open stone platform surrounded by cracked columns. At its center sat a crumbling throne.

Do-yun chuckled. "Final boss probably some lame rock giant. Let's finish this."

"Form up," Jin Park ordered, swinging his axe to his shoulder. "We'll blitz it."

Adam felt it a moment before it happened.

That crushing pressure. Like the world exhaled all at once.

The ground trembled. The torches flickered and died. And from beneath the throne, a massive figure rose.

Stone peeled away like dead skin.

A real golem stood there. At least five meters tall, its body laced with glowing red runes and molten lines running through its arms. Its eyes weren't hollow—they were alive. Watching. Angry.

> [System Alert: Dungeon Mutation Detected]

[Warning: Dungeon Rank Elevated — B-Rank Threat Present]

[Survive Until Reinforcements Arrive: 00:45:00]

The team froze.

"B-rank?!" Minji shrieked. "This was supposed to be a D!"

Jin cursed. "Back out! Everyone fall—"

The golem moved.

Its arm swept sideways like a hammer. Heeseok was caught mid-run. He didn't even scream—his body just crumpled against the wall in a sickening crunch.

Blood sprayed across the stone.

Adam's breath hitched.

The team scattered, but the creature wasn't slow. Its molten core pulsed, and it opened its chest like a furnace—unleashing a blast of searing light.

Do-yun vanished in the explosion.

"Minji!" Jin shouted. "Cover me!"

"I can't—I can't—!"

Minji panicked, her blade shaking in her hand. The golem stepped forward, each footfall an earthquake.

Jin roared, launching forward, but even his axe bounced harmlessly off the creature's rune-covered arm.

Adam stood frozen at the edge of the platform.

This wasn't a dungeon anymore.

This was death.

Real. Final.

"Move," he whispered. His legs refused.

> [System Alert: Daily Quest Failed — No Warm-Up Completed]

[Penalty Initiated: Mandatory Survival Trial — Engage or Die]

His system flared. Pain lanced through his body. The Soulfang Dagger burned in his hand.

> [Passive Skill Activated: Death Instinct]

[Pain Resistance +50% temporarily granted]

He fell to one knee, gritting his teeth. But the pain snapped him out of the paralysis.

Move.

He activated Shadowstep—vanishing into black mist just as the golem's arm slammed into the ground where he'd stood.

Jin's screams were fading now. Adam reappeared behind the golem, stabbing into its knee. Sparks flew. The dagger scraped through its molten joint—barely enough to make it stumble.

But it noticed him.

It turned.

And then Adam ran.

Through the corridors. Down the halls. Past the bodies of his fallen teammates. The golem roared behind him, unstoppable.

He wasn't strong enough.

Not yet.

But he couldn't die here. Not like this.

He gritted his teeth, turning back to face it in the shadowed hallway.

Blood ran down his face from a split brow. His body screamed with exhaustion.

But his mind was quiet.

"If this is what it takes…"

He raised the dagger.

"I'll survive."

> [Quest: Death Awakening — Survive Near-Death Experience and Resist Death Itself]

[Requirement Triggered: Life Below 5% + Imminent Fatal Threat Detected]

> [Would You Offer Yourself to Death to Gain Its Power?]

[Y/N]

Adam's vision blurred.

And then he smiled.

"…Yes."

A pulse of dark energy radiated from his chest. The shadows in the hall grew thicker, deeper, wrapping around him like a cocoon.

> [Death Contract Initiated…]

[Accepting Host…]

[Linking Soul to Entity: Belial, God of Death…]

[Warning: Irreversible Pact Engaged]

Adam gasped as his body was flooded with a cold, ancient power. The Soulfang Dagger dissolved in his hand—replaced by something darker. A shadow blade, flickering like smoke.

The golem reached him, its arm lifting for the final blow.

But Adam stepped forward.

And everything went black.