Phase-3

Donghyun sucked in a breath, chest heaving. The goblin at his feet twitched once before falling still, its blood still warm along his knuckles. Around him, the last stragglers dropped, bodies slumping like wet sacks across the floor. The air hung heavy, the pause after a storm.

He barely had time to breathe before the system chimed again.

[System Notification: [Phase three – Initiated]

A low hum built in the air, thick enough to taste, the ground felt wrong beneath his feet, like it was pulsing. When the monsters stepped out, no one spoke.

They looked like goblins once-but these things were wrong. Flesh warped and uneven, limbs fused like wax figures melted together, skin blistered, torn in places where bone stuck out like knives. They reeked smoke, blood, and something sour, like old meat left in the sun. One had three arms. Another dragged its jaw along the ground, lips curled into something too close to a smile.

The white-haired guy moved first. His blade struck true-but the monster didn't fall. It grabbed his wrist, twisted, the pop echoed louder than the scream. A heartbeat later, its hand crushed his face into the ground, until blood sprayed up like a snapped pipe. The body didn't move after that.

Someone screamed, steel scraped stone. The next guy rushed in without thinking and got caught in a swing that tore half his shoulder off. The girl slashed across one's spine, but it barely staggered another kid tried to help acid sprayed from the creature's side and melted straight through his forearm.

Donghyun still hadn't moved. His legs were frozen, dagger trembling in his hand. He couldn't feel his grip, couldn't hear anything.

One of the creatures turned to the girl, she raised her sword, blood running down her neck, but it moved faster.

Donghyun didn't think. His foot kicked out desperate, clumsy, not even aimed. It hit the monster's shin, made it stumble half a step.

That was all she needed.

Her blade carved through its jaw. The scream was short-cut off as someone else buried steel into its head. The fused goblin shuddered, fell apart, hissed like rotting steam.

Donghyun stared at the black liquid dripping from his fingers. The air stank-burnt hair, acid smoke, blood.

And two more were still alive.

Then the third one stepped out of the dark.

He hadn't seen it at first. It moved like fog, dragging itself from the far wall where the light didn't reach. But now, in the glow of the burning torches and melted slime, he saw it.

Taller than the others. Its head was split, a gaping line down the middle like an axe had tried and failed to kill it. One half grinned. The other twitched. Two mismatched eyes blinked out of sync. Its ribs were exposed, but not empty something black pulsed between the bones like a second heart, and its fingers weren't fingers anymore. They were claws, not sharp, but blunt, knuckled stumps fused into something heavy.

It didn't scream. It just stepped forward, dragging its limb like a club.

There were five of them left now. The girl, covered in cuts, her breathing shallow. The tall boy with the glaive, limping. A skinny guy who looked like he'd break if someone touched him. Another girl-crying but still holding her blade.

The monster lunged. The glaive wielder met it halfway, grunting as he swung for the legs. The blade hit, carved deep-but the creature didn't fall. It grabbed him by the throat and slammed him sideways into the wall. The sound was wet-like bones crushed in a pool of blood.

Four left.

Someone stabbed it from behind. It flinched just slightly then twisted and backhanded the girl hard enough that she spun mid-air before crashing into the stone. Her sword clattered across the floor, far from reach.

Three.

The skinny guy tried to run. He didn't even make it three steps before the monster's foot crushed his spine like paper. Donghyun didn't know if the scream was his or someone else's.

Two.

The fused goblin turned back to the girl.

She lifted a broken dagger and charged. It caught her wrist mid-swing and brought its club-fist down on her head, the girl didn't die quick.

She landed hard, coughing blood onto the floor. Her arm bent wrong, bone jutting through the skin, but she still tried to crawl scraping her fingers across stone, dragging herself toward the blade she'd lost. Her breath came in shudders, half choked sobs, half rage.

The monster followed slowly, its footfalls echoed like dull thuds, not rushed it knew she couldn't run anymore, stepping over corpses, dragging one foot behind like a rotted weight. Black spit dripped from its jagged jawline, the grin twitching wider as it reached her.

She didn't scream when it stomped on her ankle.

Donghyun heard the crack. Her body jolted, mouth open in silence-only air escaped. Then a whimper, quiet, broken.

The second stomp shattered her shin.The third crushed her knee backwards.

Her leg twisted like wet paper. She tried to pull away, but only dragged the ruined limb behind her like dead weight. The dagger was inches from her fingertips now.

The goblin raised its fist.

Not a claw. A hammer made of fused meat and bone.

It brought it down on her ribs. The sound was dull and thick, like hitting wet clay, her body folded, ribs caving in. Blood sprayed from her mouth, the last gasp torn out of her lungs.

Her hand was still reaching for the dagger when the goblin, grabbed her head and pulled dropping like a puppet cut from its strings.

The goblin stood there with its head cocked, holding a mess of torn scalp and hair in its grip.

It just turned and looked at Donghyun.

He ran before he realized it. His body moved-his mind lagged behind, drifting like a faded shadow, while instinct screamed beneath.

The goblin didn't chase, it walked. Dragging that uneven foot, pausing now and then to sniff the air, to taste the silence like it enjoyed the panic soaking into the walls.

Donghyun grabbed a sword off the floor-someone else's. His grip, was loose hands trembling, blade rattling against his thigh as he turned and swung.

The goblin stepped in, shoved his strike aside like it was a joke, then rammed its knee into his gut. The wind left him in one dry cough, his legs folding beneath him like snapped stilts.

He hit the floor hard. Something cracked- his ribs. A claw lashed out, carving his thigh open from hip to knee.

The pain didn't hit all at once, like something vital had been unzipped. His leg kicked once then gave out completely, pouring blood across the stone.

Donghyun tried to crawl, the goblin grabbed his ankle and dragged.

Stone scraped his palms raw, every bump and ridge cutting deeper. He screamed but it came out hoarse, cracked, like his throat had given up too. His fingers scrabbled for something anything but the floor was wet and the blade was gone.

His heel twisted sideways, the foot half-hanging now, tendon snapping like frayed string. The goblin wasn't trying to kill him, it was peeling him apart like it wanted to see what broke first-the body, or the mind.

Donghyun rolled over and tried to strike again.bThe blade clanged off the goblin's shoulder with a useless spark. Barely left a scratch, it drove its claw straight through his other thigh. The claw ripped free from his thigh. Flesh tore, his vision blurred.

He couldn't scream anymore. The blood crawling up his throat, teeth clicking as his head lolled back against the stone. His fingers still twitched from pain.

The goblin watched, tilting its head like a curious animal. Then it reached forward-and grabbed his face.

Nails dug into his cheeks, pressing deep into the bone, and Donghyun saw nothing but those yellow eyes, they weren't enraged. Like the thing didn't even register him as alive anymore.