The Tarnished awoke in silence.
No flames. No screams. No system alerts flooding his mind.
Just stillness.
He sat up slowly on the cold metallic table, breath fogging the air. The chamber was unfamiliar — walls of pale stone, infused with glowing runes. Machinery hummed quietly around him. Magic and technology, fused in a way he hadn't seen before.
He looked down at himself — no armor, no blade, only light fabric wrapped around his frame. Yet the power in his blood still burned, coiled tightly, like a dragon waiting to unfurl its wings.
He swung his legs over the side and stood.
The corridors outside were quiet, filled with robed attendants, hunters, and automated constructs moving with clinical precision. None stopped him. Some stared. Others avoided his gaze entirely.
His instincts led him forward, drawn toward something unseen — something pulsing.
And then he saw it.
A portal.
Suspended in midair within a massive domed hall, the swirling blue-and-violet gate churned with unstable energy. It was jagged, almost angry, lashing out in occasional bursts of mana.
A sign above it pulsed red:
UNSTABLE GATE — CLASS B THREAT LEVEL — SURGE WARNING
The Tarnished approached, compelled. But before he could step closer, a voice called out from nearby.
"Hey! You with the thousand-yard stare!"
He turned.
A team of four hunters approached, armored and clearly experienced. The leader, a broad-shouldered man with a massive cleaver on his back, squinted at him.
"You planning to go in there alone, pretty boy?" he asked, half-serious, half-challenging.
The Tarnished answered flatly. "I don't know why I'm here. But something's pulling me toward it."
The others exchanged glances. One of them, a sharp-eyed woman with twin daggers, stepped forward.
"Then come with us," she said. "Better to die in a group than alone."
He nodded once.
And together, they stepped into the gate.
Inside the Dungeon
It was nightmarish from the moment they landed.
Blood red skies overhead, twisted stone towers surrounding them. The very walls pulsed like veins, and the stench of rotting mana filled the air.
"B-rank gate, huh?" muttered the scout, a wiry teen who already had blades drawn. "This feels like a goddamn S."
Movement echoed in the distance — scuttling claws, slithering limbs.
Then the shadows erupted.
Creatures burst from every crevice — dozens of them, all corrupted beyond recognition. Insectoid monstrosities with blackened shells, eyes glowing like embers. Undead beasts stitched together from bone and machine.
The Tarnished stepped forward instinctively, but the others shouted, forming ranks.
"Back!" the cleaver-leader barked. "We hold the line! We—"
But the Tarnished was already moving.
The pressure in his chest exploded. The system whispered:
WARNING: THREAT LEVEL EXCEEDS CURRENT STABILITY
ACTIVATION PATH AVAILABLE: INFINITE ABYSS TRANSFORMATION
PERMISSION GRANTED. UNLEASHING CORE.
His body arched as energy burst outward.
Shadow twisted from his back like wings of smoke. His skin was covered in living armor — black, violet, and pulsing with flame. A helmet of obsidian folded over his face, then split open into a glowing crown. The greatsword formed in his hand — jagged, ancient, and breathing fire.
He became more than human.
He became the abyss.
INFINITE ABYSS FORM — ACTIVE
CORE STABILITY: 93%
NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: BLACK SUN BURST
The beasts didn't stand a chance.
One slash cleaved ten apart in a gout of black flame.
Another swing detonated a shockwave that shattered the nearest tower.
He leapt into the air and descended like a meteor, unleashing Abyssal Flare that reduced an entire swarm to molten sludge.
The scout whispered, "He's not using magic. He is magic."
The cleaver-wielder simply stared, stunned. "That's not a transformation. That's a goddamn apocalypse."
A monstrous ogre — fused with iron and dripping magma — charged from the inner chamber, a boss-level threat, easily beyond S-rank.
The Tarnished looked up at it.
"Black Sun Burst."
The orb in his hand ignited like a collapsing star — dense, radiant, hungering. It fired, slow and graceful, before erupting into a brilliant explosion that turned the ogre — and everything behind it — into vapor.
Then... silence.
ENEMIES DEFEATED: 73
ABYSS FORM STABILITY: 12%
TRANSFORMATION ENDING IN 3... 2... 1...
His armor cracked, then vanished. The blade dissolved. He fell to one knee, panting, shaking, but alive.
The dungeon was cleared.
After the Gate
The portal spat them out into the Hunter's Guild entrance hall — alive, victorious, and visibly changed.
A crowd had gathered. Guild officers, medical staff, fellow hunters — all turned as the group emerged.
"He was glowing," the scout said, breathless. "Like actual hellfire."
"Put him in the scanner," said one officer urgently.
The registration console flared to life. The Tarnished placed his hand against it.
SCANNING...
MANA CORE: UNKNOWN CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY: ERROR
OVERRIDE DETECTED
RANK: S
The room exploded in murmurs. Heads turned. Cameras flashed.
He looked back at the group — confused, uncertain.
"I don't know what that means," he admitted.
The dagger-wielding woman stepped forward, smiling faintly. "It means… you're one of the strongest people on this planet."
The doors at the far end of the hall opened.
Footsteps — calm, measured, and unmistakably heavy.
A man walked in, followed by two shadow soldiers that disappeared behind him like smoke.
Tall. Black coat. Eyes sharp enough to cut steel.
He didn't need to speak.
Everyone already knew who he was.
Sung Jinwoo.
His gaze locked onto the Tarnished.
He studied him in silence for a long moment. Not hostile. Not friendly. Just... interested.
Then, in a voice like quiet thunder, he spoke.
"…Who are you?"