Chapter 3: The Rebirth of Vengeance
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The monster entered the prison chamber with a sick grin stretched across its twisted face.
It wasn't the largest of the tormentors, nor the strongest. But it was cruel. Cruel in ways that no words could capture. Its claws weren't just tools of harm—they were instruments of mockery. It didn't kill. It played.
It stepped forward with delight, clicking its nails against the stone like a child dragging a stick along a fence.
"You're still breathing?" it rasped, tongue slithering from between cracked lips. "How disappointing. I was hoping the last scream I tore from you was your final breath."
Jin-Soo didn't move.
Not at first.
He let his head hang forward, hair matted with blood, hiding his face. His chains rattled with the smallest movement, bones protesting even the weight of his breath.
The monster leaned in, savoring its power.
"Shall we begin again?" it asked, lifting a serrated needle. "This time, I'll flay your tongue from the inside."
But then—
> [Self-Heal: Active – 12% regeneration complete...]
[Absorption Potential: Target suitable – Grade: C+]
[Recommendation: Immediate Assimilation]
[⚠ Warning: Host body fragile. Caution advised.]
Jin-Soo's eyes snapped open.
They weren't the eyes of a victim.
They were still dull. But beneath that dullness, something new had taken root—resolve hardened by agony, focus born of betrayal, and rage sharpened by love.
The monster froze, its grin faltering.
And in one motion—one smooth, almost effortless motion—Jin-Soo broke the chains.
The iron bindings, once sealed by magical glyphs and runes, shattered like glass.
His body, still emaciated, moved like liquid fury. He reached out and grabbed the monster by its throat, his fingers digging in deep. The creature screamed and slashed, but Jin-Soo didn't flinch.
> [Absorption Initiated...]
The room went silent.
A glow, faint and eerie, spread from Jin-Soo's palm into the monster's skin. The beast writhed violently, eyes bulging in confusion and horror as its life force began to drain.
> [+120 Strength | +60 Agility | +80 Mana]
[Vitality increased by 34 points.]
[Skill Absorbed: Razor Regeneration (Tier 1)]
The monster disintegrated into ashes and vapor in his grasp.
Jin-Soo exhaled, shoulders rising and falling with a rhythm that felt... unnatural. For the first time in his life, he felt something rush through his body that wasn't fear, pain, or exhaustion.
It was power.
Raw. Alive. Terrifying.
He stumbled backward, chest heaving. His arms—newly healed—flexed instinctively. He stared at his hands like he'd never seen them before.
He hadn't.
These weren't the hands of a broken E-rank.
These were the hands of someone… reborn.
> [Level Up: 1 → 8]
The system's voice echoed like music through his thoughts.
But Jin-Soo didn't smile. He didn't laugh or scream.
He simply looked toward the jagged stone walls of his cell and whispered to the empty air:
"This power… I will use it to destroy everything that took my future from me."
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Outside the Dungeon – Three Hours Earlier
Time in the Denguen flowed differently.
What Jin-Soo had endured over what felt like weeks was only a matter of three hours outside.
The five hunters who abandoned him had exited the portal, dragging Seo-Yeon's unconscious body.
The medical team rushed in. The Association agents checked the group for injuries and damage.
"No casualties?" one agent asked, surprised.
"Just one," muttered Hwan-Tae. "We lost someone inside."
"Who?"
"Some E-rank filler. Jin-Soo."
The agent nodded slowly. "That's unfortunate. Shall I mark it as voluntary sacrifice?"
"Sure," Hwan-Tae replied, lighting a cigarette. "He bought us time. Useful bait in the end."
Seo-Yeon stirred then, eyes fluttering open. As the medical staff hovered over her, she sat up quickly and screamed:
"WHERE'S JIN-SOO?! WHERE IS HE?!"
Silence.
No one answered.
Her eyes darted wildly, then settled on Hwan-Tae.
"You left him behind."
He didn't reply. Just turned and walked away.
She tried to stand, but her legs were weak. Her heart thundered with fury and grief.
In her mind, she saw his eyes—the way he gently held her before they took her away. The last silent plea he made not for himself, but for her to live.
And for the first time since she awakened as a Hunter… she wept.
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Back in the Prison – Now
Jin-Soo stepped over the ashes of the monster that tortured him.
The system was humming now—vibrating softly through his chest, like a quiet engine that had finally started after years of silence.
> [Blood Stabilization Complete.]
[Healing: 78%]
[New Skill Unlocked: Monster Sense – Detect hostility in a 15-meter radius]
[Inventory Function Unlocked: Monster Parts can now be stored for conversion]
[Unique Title Acquired: Survivor of the Unseen Depths]
He moved cautiously. His body wasn't used to the speed or strength yet. But every second that passed, the system refined him—sharpened his movements, quickened his recovery.
His steps echoed through the corridor, no longer dragging.
The other monsters sensed something had changed. He saw them in the shadows. Watching. Hesitating.
He didn't wait for them.
The first he encountered was a red-scaled lizard-like beast. It charged with its jaw wide open.
Jin-Soo sidestepped, slammed his heel into its temple, and drove his dagger into its eye.
> [+40 Strength | +30 Agility]
[Skill Absorbed: Heat Resistance (Tier 1)]
He didn't pause to celebrate.
He moved forward.
Then another.
Then another.
Each kill brought him closer to something terrifyingly new: He was learning. Adapting. Remembering pain—and reversing it into precision.
He wasn't just fighting anymore.
He was consuming.
And every time his stats rose, every time a monster's soul became his fuel—he saw one face.
Ha-Eun.
Her smile. Her soft, wheezing laugh. Her hands holding his shirt when she was afraid.
> "Oppa, will you come back tonight?"
> "Of course," he always said.
Now… he meant it more than ever.
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Final Scene
As the last monster in the dungeon fell and disintegrated in his hands, Jin-Soo stood over the pool of blood and bone and looked up toward the throne chamber once again.
His eyes—once dull brown—now shimmered with a strange, violent crimson.
The Monarch still sat upon its throne in the distance.
Unmoved. Unbothered.
Watching.
Amused.
But Jin-Soo smiled for the first time.
Not from hope.
But from something far colder.
"I'm coming back," he said softly. "And this time… I'll be the one asking for sacrifices."
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