Chapter Two: The System.
"We must destroy all mankind and their world, we will show them what we are",a very sinister and dark creepy voice stated.
"Not on my watch",another voice said.
Suddenly, sounds of explosion occur like if the world was in another war.
"Get it, it must not escape,".
AT THE HUNTERS' TRAINING HALL IN THE HUNTERS HQ
"You think you're so strong uhn?", Kang Jin Soo, a mature grown male in his late 20s said.
"Of course I'm strong", Jung do Hyun said
The training started with powerful magic and arrows flying in every accurate direction. Kang Jin Soo fired a heavy fireball blast that was barely avoided by Jung Do Hyun.
He also attacked but this time with a graceful and fierce strike to the head but that also was countered. Jin Soo held do hyun's leg and threw him with great force making do Hyun to hit the walls of the training room hard.
A backaching do Hyun falls off the wall and walks slowly to the floor, but Jin Soo was ready for him, he tried to land a heavy finishing blow to Do Hyun but surprisingly, the attack was stopped by do Hyun with a magic shield, he landed one punch and Jin Soo was sent flying across the room hitting the upper walls of the training room.
"I guess I am strong", do Hyun said Smirking and holding his aching back.
They were suddenly interrupted by an announcement, that was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
ANNOUNCER:
"Breaking news another portal has appeared in the middle of the street, near the city's edge, level.... unknown. All available Hunters, report to the scene."
"Another portal?, Im starting to get tired of these portals, i mean where are they even coming from?",do hyun- complained.
"Come on, let's just go, it might just be another way to train", shin Yong jae, a girl in their team said
At the Portal's Entrance
"Guys, let's do this, we go in and come out alive, okay?.",Jin Soo yelled.
All responded with a corresponding yes.
"Wait?",a man spoke dressed in shiny, and well iron suit.
"Mr. Sung?",Jin Soo spoke in shock looking over the man's shoulders to see two other people, Kim Min Ho and A girl, Park Ji Woo, a cute looking girl who was obviously scared to go with them.
Park ji woo was min ho's classmate who also awakened a day before him, back in school, she always kept to herself and didn't bother to make friends.
"The Chairman of Hinter's Association, Chairman Park wants these two to join you so you can teach them a little or more of what you know",the well dressed Man, Mr. Sung said gesturing at the two.
"Since when did we start babysitting newbies, Alright", jin soo answered,
"If he said so, but if they die, we will not be blamed for it.", He added
"Of course not", the man responded watching them go into the portal.
Min ho watched them with an angry eye and wanted to walk away but he had no other option but to do this for his family.
IN THE PORTAL
They should have never entered the portal.
What was supposed to be a low-risk dungeon had become a nightmare, an SSS rank gate from which they could not return.
The moment the eight Hunters crossed the shimmering gate, they were trapped—ensnared inside a towering, obsidian chamber with no exits, no monsters… only the stench of death and the overwhelming pressure of something ancient watching them.
An enormous statue loomed above, its face hidden beneath a crown of black thorns, its voice crawling across the chamber like a cold wind:
"Welcome. You have entered a Monarch-Level Dungeon. Your lives now belong to me."
"M-m-m-monarch level dungeon?",do hyun- stuttered.
Panic erupted instantly.
Kang Jin Soo fired off a barrage of spells at the sealed portal—but the magic shattered, recoiling violently. He fell to his knees, coughing blood.
"Silence."
The statue's hand moved, and a stone tablet rose from the ground.
"You will each take turns answering my riddles. Fail… and you will die, consumed by the curse of this realm. One mistake—one breath too slow—and your flesh will be torn from your bones."
Horrified, they realized there was no way out.
The tablet glowed.
"The first question goes to… Kang Jin Soo."
His face paled, he asked himself
"How did it know my name?".
"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?"
Kang Jin Soo swallowed hard. His lips trembled.
"An… echo?"
Silence.
Then the tablet flared.
"Correct."
He collapsed in relief, sweat pouring down his face.
But their reprieve was brief.
"Next: Ahn Dae Hyun."
The riddle appeared:
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"
Ahn Dae Hyun stammered, eyes wide. "F-footsteps?"
"Correct".
The rounds continued—Shin Yong Jae, Park Soo Yoon, Lee Ji Eun, each narrowly surviving their turn, their faces pale and drenched in terror.
Then Lee Jin Eun asked himself: "Are we going to answer riddles all day or what?"
He got angry and stood up, trying to fire a cannon blast at the statue.
"Jin Eun, no, get to your knees like we are doing, don't be stupid",Jin Soo protested.
"Well I'm not going to wait here and answer riddles till we fail and die one by one, I'll destroy it".
Just as he was about to fire,
BOOM!
Lazers from the wall and from the statues eyes blasted him to crisp leaving nothing behind.
The room once more collapsed in terror and fear.
Then came Kang Min Kyung's turn, a healer.
Her riddle appeared.
"I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?"
She froze.
"Come on!" Jung Do Hyun urged.
"Think!" Kang Jin Soo shouted.
But her lips only quivered.
"Five… four… three…"
Her voice cracked. "A… a desert?"
"Wrong".
The floor beneath her opened. Crimson chains shot upwards wrapping her body
"Guus.....please.....help....me",she stammered in tears.
I
The chains got tighter and tighter until, it stopped. She thought she was free and then it dragged her down, with her screaming—her was body shredded apart, hands and legs here and there, leaving a smear of blood on the floor.
Everyone screamed in horror.
It didn't stop.
Min ho only stood there in fear, ji woo was on the floor, crying and wishing she never went along.
"I wish I never came, I wish I never awakened".
Then do hyun snapped and spoke:
"Hey little girl, you are not the only one that want to get out here alive okay?, So keep quiet already".
"Hey, that's not nice, she's only scared, that's it",min ho protected her.
"Scared?, Well she's making noise, tell her to pipe down"
"For a top ranking Hunter that's not nice at all, she's scared, and so are we. Okay?, So instead of fighting, let's get our mind ready for the next riddle, who knows, we might get out of here alive".
SILENCE!
The room shook at the sound of the voice.
One after the other, the riddles continued—and one by one, they fell.
Jung Do Hyun answered wrong. His body erupted in flames, burning him alive with screams of agony and pain.
Ahn Dae Hyun was sliced apart by lightning fast blades.
Shin Yong Jae's body froze solid and shattered into pieces.
Lee Ji Eun, in tears, failed her question—and was crushed beneath a giant weight of rock, bones snapping under the rock, blood spilling out.
Only three remained: Park Ji Woo, Park Soo Yoon, and Kim Min Ho.
Park Soo Yoon faced the next riddle—but failed.
His body was torn to ribbons by whirling winds, gone in an instant.
Now, only Ji Woo and Min Ho were left, standing among the pools of blood and shattered bodies of their comrades.
Ji Woo's hands shook as her riddle appeared.
"I am not alive, but I grow; I don't have lungs, but I need air; I don't have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?"
Tears streamed down her face.
"I… I… I don't know… I don't know!" she wailed, collapsing in despair. Instead of her dying,
The statue's voice rumbled:
"One must die for the other to live."
Min Ho stared at her. They hadn't even spoken before this nightmare.
She was sobbing, terrified, trapped.
He took a deep breath.
"I'll sacrifice myself for her," Min Ho said quietly.
She looked up, shocked. "W-What? No! You can't—"
But the statue's eyes glowed.
"Accepted. One sacrifice offered."
He turned to Ji Woo, offering a faint, tired smile.
"You should live," he said simply.
Before she could speak, chains erupted from the walls, seizing him.
"NO! WAIT!" Ji Woo screamed, clawing toward him, but the forces holding her back were too strong.
Min Ho's body was lifted into the air, surrounded by spiraling dark magic. He didn't resist. He only kept his eyes on her, calm even in the face of death.
"Live well," he whispered.
Then a portal appeared beneath ji woo, and she fell in finding herself in the park, eyes staring at her.
Then—black lightning struck min ho.
Then he saw a reflection of his mother, waving at him, then he spoke amidst the pain.
"Wait, I don't want to die, I have a family to protect, a sister to take care of, I have loved ones too, let me live, let me live!"
He screamed as his body disintegrated into glowing ash, fading away
The statue's voice echoed one final time:
"The sacrifice has been accepted, new host found."
Eyes glared crimson as he spoke.
In the void where Min Ho's body had vanished, something flickered.
A cold, invisible holographic system popped up:
"Unique Soul Detected."
"Revival Protocol Initiated."
"System Authorization Granted."
"Reconstructing Vessel."
Do you accept the offer to live?
Yes/No?
"Yes".
The system dissapeared, Light erupted.
Hospital Room – Later
Beeping monitors hummed softly in the quiet room.
Kim Min Ho's eyes fluttered open, his breath catching as he stared at the white ceiling.
He felt… alive. Whole. No pain. No chains.
Beside him, his sister, Min Soo, sat with tear-streaked cheeks, clutching his hand tightly.
"Oppa… You're awake!" she cried, sobbing in relief.
He blinked, confused but calm.
"I'm… alive?",he said sitting up straight.
Her words tumbled out in between her sobs. "You were said to be dead! They said you were dead! But then suddenly—your heart started beating again, and your wounds disappeared!"
Min Ho's gaze darkened as fragments of the dungeon returned to him—the riddles, the deaths, Ji Woo's horrified face.
Then, the same faint mechanical system popped up in front of him again:
[SYSTEM ONLINE.]
[Congratulations, You Have Been Chosen.]
He exhaled slowly, staring at the system.
"I have work to do."
He left there not listening to his sister's words.
"But where are you going Oppa!, You just woke up".