The city was unrecognizable.
Ethan stepped into the street, baseball bat still slick with blood from the shadow wolf. Smoke curled from wrecked cars. Streetlights flickered, casting eerie glows over the broken asphalt. Somewhere, gunfire echoed—but it was distant and unsteady, a sound of desperation, not control.
The System's holographic notifications floated in the air, ghostly and indifferent:
[WARNING: The First Wave will end when the Dungeon Gate closes.] [Estimated Time Remaining: 11:59:38]
Twelve hours. He had to survive twelve hours in this hellscape.
A low growl snapped him out of his thoughts. Across the street, another wolf padded into view, its eyes glowing like coals. This one wasn't alone—two more emerged behind it, their bodies low and sinewy, shadows writhing like living tar.
Ethan's hands tightened around the bat. He couldn't fight three. Not like this.
"Think, dammit," he muttered. He opened his System Menu with a thought, and the holographic screen popped up:
Ethan Cross — Level 2 Class: Undefined HP: 100/100 MP: 50/50 STR: 8 DEX: 5 VIT: 7 INT: 5 WIS: 5 CHA: 5 LCK: 5 Skill Points: 0 Stat Points: 0
He flipped over to the Skill Tree tab. Unlike what he'd seen online for games, his interface wasn't limited to a single class branch. He had everything: [Warrior Tree], [Mage Tree], [Crafting], [Archery], [Stealth], [Beast Mastery], and more.
His heart hammered. Could he learn magic right now?
A spell icon flickered under [Mage Tree]:
Basic Mana Bolt (0/10) — Cost: 10 MP.
He clenched his fist. "I'll take it."
[Skill Learned: Basic Mana Bolt Lv. 1]
A sensation like heat surged in his palm. He pointed at the lead wolf and focused, the way the System whispered in his head. A flicker of pale-blue energy formed, then shot forward in a weak but sharp streak.
The wolf howled as the bolt struck its chest.
-22 HP
The others roared, charging at him.
"Crap, crap, crap!"
Ethan turned and sprinted down the street, the wolves snapping at his heels. He ducked into an alley, heart pounding, when a strange pulse of light rippled across the city block. Up ahead, a towering, shimmering archway stood between two collapsed buildings. It wasn't there before. It looked like liquid glass, rippling with violet energy.
A System prompt appeared.
[Dungeon Gate Detected: "Shadow Fang Den"] [Recommended Level: 3–5] [Enter? Y/N]
"Shadow Fang Den…" He glanced back at the wolves bounding toward him. "Yeah, I don't have a choice."
He slammed his hand against the prompt.
The world shifted. For a moment, it felt like he was falling. Then, his feet touched solid ground again—only it wasn't Chicago. He stood inside a massive, dark cavern lit by glowing purple crystals. The air was damp, thick with the smell of blood and earth.
[Welcome to Dungeon: Shadow Fang Den.] [Objective: Eliminate the Pack Alpha.] [Failure: Death.]
"Great," he muttered. "No pressure."
A soft growl echoed from the tunnel ahead.
He didn't have time to think. A smaller wolf lunged from the shadows. Ethan sidestepped, barely avoiding its snapping jaws, and swung his bat down hard.
-18 HP
The wolf staggered but didn't fall. He focused again, firing another Mana Bolt directly into its head.
[Skill Mana Bolt has leveled up! Lv. 2] -28 HP
The wolf collapsed in black smoke.
Ethan's chest heaved. "I… I did that."
He looted the glowing orb it left behind. A new prompt appeared.
[Item Acquired: Wolf Fang] [Use in crafting? Y/N]
"Crafting?" Ethan blinked and checked his [Crafting Tree]. A new option was glowing:
Basic Weapon Reinforcement — 1 Wolf Fang + 1 Metal Weapon.
His bat wasn't much, but…
[Reinforce weapon using Wolf Fang? Y/N]
"Yes!" he said, pressing the command. His bat glowed faintly, a jagged wolf fang fusing into the metal.
[Weapon Reinforced: Shadowfang Bat] [+5% Damage vs. Shadow Beasts]
"Oh, hell yes," Ethan grinned. "This is how we do it."
Hours passed—or maybe it just felt that way. Ethan fought through tunnels crawling with shadow wolves, his Mana Bolt now Lv. 4, his bat scarred but deadlier. Each fight made him faster, stronger. His Undefined class allowed him to stack skills—[Blunt Weapon Mastery Lv. 2], [Mana Bolt Lv. 4], [Quick Dodge Lv. 1]. He didn't have to choose between magic and melee.
Finally, he reached a vast underground chamber. A massive wolf with crimson fur and shadow-fire eyes crouched in the center, its teeth like daggers.
[Boss Detected: Shadow Alpha (Lv. 5)] [HP: 500/500]
Ethan swallowed. "This is… not going to be easy."
The Alpha pounced, its sheer size shaking the cavern. Ethan rolled aside, barely dodging its claws. He fired a Mana Bolt at its flank -30 HP but it barely flinched.
"Alright… time to test something new." He opened his interface mid-dodge, eyeing his skills. [Mana Bolt] and [Blunt Weapon Mastery] were both high enough to merge.
[Skill Fusion Available: Mana Bolt + Blunt Weapon Mastery] [Resulting Skill: Arcane Strike] [Would you like to fuse? Y/N]
"Yes!"
[Skill Acquired: Arcane Strike Lv. 1] [Weapon attacks deal +25% magic damage.]
His bat pulsed with blue fire. He swung with everything he had.
-60 HP (Critical!)
The Alpha roared in fury. Ethan ducked and weaved, landing blow after blow, each Arcane Strike carving chunks out of its health. When the beast lunged, he slammed his glowing bat into its jaw, shattering bone.
[Shadow Alpha Defeated!] [+500 EXP] [LEVEL UP! LV. 5]
Ethan collapsed to his knees, panting, as the Alpha dissolved into black mist. A new item floated before him—a small, shimmering token.
[Reward Acquired: Class Evolution Token (Unique)]
Ethan stared at the token, the System's cold words appearing again.
[You have the option to evolve your Class.] [Warning: Undefined evolution paths are unknown.] [Proceed?]
His fingers tightened around the token. Did he want to risk it? Most people would play it safe, pick a normal class evolution. But Ethan wasn't like most people. His "bugged" class was his edge.
"Yeah," he said with a grin. "Let's see how deep this rabbit hole goes."