B Rank Dungeon (ii)

The trees shot into the air like missiles and rained down in chunks around me. I stumbled back, shielding my face from the shards.

When the dust and snow cleared, I saw him.

Still standing.

But this time… different.

Bigger. Bulkier. His muscles swelled like they were about to burst out of his skin. His eyes weren't red anymore—they were glowing crimson, like molten lava.

What the actual fuck?

Monsters weren't supposed to do that. They're supposed to die. Collapse. Disappear. Not get back up like a goddamn anime final boss.

And then it popped up.

[Alpha Frostback Yeti has entered Frenzy Mode!]

That name was way too cool for the walking tank that was about to turn me into human pancake batter.

I couldn't move.

Not because I was scared. I was scared, obviously—but this was more than that.

I had nothing left.

I couldn't even take a proper breath. My legs felt like jelly. My fingers were trembling. Even lifting my hand took conscious effort now.

I had used up every log and tree from my inventory.

And now… this bastard was angrier. And smarter.

I watched as he picked up a broken tree chunk, snapped it into jagged spear-like pieces, and drove them into the snow in rows. He was making a weapon stash.

What the hell?

You've gotta be kidding me. Did he just learn?

So even if I used the same trick again, the monster could deflect everything, since they were now small pieces.

Oh, it gets worse.

The minions—the smaller yetis I had scared shitless earlier? Yeah, they came back.

Dozens of red eyes blinked at me from every tree, every snowbank. They weren't jumping in yet, but they had me boxed in.

I could teleport. Sure.

But how many more times?

I had been blinking all over the place for hours. Even if I had energy left, I didn't know where to go. Every tree, every slope looked the same. There was no map, no glowing exit portal, no handy NPC to show me the way out.

I was trapped.

Alone.

And so, so close to death.

But even then—

Even with death standing two feet away and getting ready to throw sharpened timber through my skull—

I didn't give up.

I couldn't.

Because giving up meant losing my second chance.

It meant losing Mom.

It meant losing Elina.

It meant letting that bastard Keller win again.

I've lived through worse. I've been alone, betrayed, broke, hopeless. I've stood on rooftops with my toes over the edge, wondering if jumping would fix everything.

But I'm still here.

Still breathing.

Still fighting.

So no. I wasn't gonna fall now.

I lifted my head, eyes locking with the monster's burning gaze as it let out a thunderous roar that shook the trees and rumbled in my chest.

He wanted to intimidate me. Crush me mentally before doing it physically.

But it wasn't working.

My knees were shaking, sure.

But my spirit? That shit was iron.

"Come on, you frosty fuck," I whispered under my breath. "You want me? You better be ready to bleed. Let's see who wins this."

The bastard charged. A whole-ass truck of muscle and rage barreling at me like the world owed him a grudge. But I didn't run away this time.

I ran towards him.

My legs were on fire, slipping through the deep snow, but I pushed harder. I had to close the gap. Just a little more—

The second I got close enough, I dove under and slid through like a baseball player going for home base, my hand shooting out—

I touched his foot.

[TELEPORT USED — Target: Linked]

Sky.

We were in the fucking sky. 500 meters straight up.

Wind screamed in my ears. The monster flailed, confused. But I wasn't done yet.

[TELEPORT USED — Directional Targeting Activated]

And again— bam!

Another 500 meters up.

We were a goddamn kilometer in the air now.

[TELEPORT — LEVEL 5]

Max Range: 500 meters

Target Linking: Enabled

Directional Targeting: Enabled

Consecutive Uses: 3 before cooldown

Cooldown: 30 seconds

The fall started. We both dropped like comets.

He was heavier, so he fell faster, tumbling, twisting—like a panicked whale in freefall. But I wasn't banking on gravity alone.

I summoned a slab.

And another.

And another.

One more for good measure!

Boom. Boom. Boom.

One slammed into his back mid-air. Another hit his head. The third dropped down with him like a personal executioner.

He fell like an asteroid, and the forest below had no clue what was about to hit them.

CRASH!!

His body slammed into the snow-covered earth like a meteor. Trees shattered, snow blasted into the air, the wooden spears he planted earlier stabbed through his own gut. The slabs crushed him even deeper. It was a bloody, cracked mess by the time it was over.

Dead. Finally fucking dead.

This time, for real.

His minions didn't even get a chance to run.

Some got pancaked under his corpse.

Some were caught in the shockwave, impaled by debris.

Some took rods and concrete chunks to the skull, courtesy of my falling inventory.

A whole-ass extinction event.

But I was still falling.

But just as the ground screamed toward me, I teleported—

BAM!

Bad idea.

I appeared off to the side and slammed into a hill. I rolled. And rolled. And bounced like a ragdoll tossed by a toddler.

The snow saved me from snapping in half, but it still hurt like hell. My back screamed. My shoulder twisted. My ribs might've cracked.

I coughed and groaned, clutching my side.

"Fuck… that hurt."

I limped my way back to the kill zone—what was basically my execution site not too long ago. The slabs I'd used were scattered everywhere. Some were cracked, some half-buried in snow, some stained with… let's just say they wouldn't pass health inspections.

I stood there, breathing like an asthmatic pug, and pulled up my inventory window.

"No way I'm leaving these behind."

One by one, I retrieved them. Chunk! Chunk! Chunk! Slab after slab disappeared into my inventory. Heavy, ugly, absolutely priceless.

"Who needs an overpowered ability when you've got slabs and half a brain?"

I was grinning like an idiot—still hurt, still limping, but I couldn't help it.

Then I walked up to the big guy's mangled corpse. He was a ruin of meat and snow. Looked more like roadkill than a monster.

I placed my hand on his chest—or what was left of it—and activated my Cleanse.

The air shimmered. His body twitched. And then—ding—a glowing blue crystal floated into my palm.

But his body didn't vanish. It just… stayed there. Burned, crushed, pierced.

Weird.

I moved on to the minions. One by one, I used Cleanse on them. Green crystals this time. Their bodies crumbled into ash and scattered with the wind.

It was therapeutic, honestly. Just spamming cleanse, watching monsters poof away. I kept going until the entire clearing looked like a snowfield again.

And somewhere along the way—

[Cleanse has been upgraded to Level 5.]

‣ Cleanse: Now removes low-tier status effects from allies. Cooldown reduced.

Another ding.

[Quest Complete: Upgrade All Assigned Abilities to Level 5]

[Reward Granted]

A black box appeared in front of me and slowly opened up. I blinked, expecting maybe a new ability or at least something explosive and flashy.

Instead, I got… a mask.

A full face mask, darker than black. The kind of black that didn't reflect light. Smooth finish. The top had two small curved horns—barely noticeable. The bottom part looked mechanical, like it could open or split apart at the jaw.

I lifted it up. Heavy. Cold.

"…That's it?"

Where was the boom? Where was the hype?

Then the system popped up a glowing window.

[Item Acquired: Abyss Reaper Mask]

A mask forged in the Void by unknown creators. While equipped, the user becomes completely immune to all physical, magical, and elemental damage from enemies A-Rank or below.

Usage Limit: 1 Hour per Day. Once per Day.

Warning: Removing the mask even once after activation consumes the entire usage duration for the day.

Maximum Usage Duration: 1 Hour per Day

I stared at it. Then whistled low.

"Okay, maybe you are a little flashy after all."

I had just enough time to admire the edges before I heard it—footsteps. Voices. Two, maybe three people, getting closer.

I couldn't fight. I didn't even have energy to run.

With no hesitation, I equipped the mask.

A faint pulse ran through my face. Like it had just become part of me.

And just like that, I wasn't Ian Rover anymore.

I was something else entirely.