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Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: Blood for Breakfast

Drip.

Drip...

...drip.

Vorn's tongue felt like sandpaper, and his stomach was making sounds that could wake the dead.

"I'm so damn hungry..."

He whispered it like saying it out loud might somehow fix the gnawing emptiness in his gut, but just ended up making it worse.

When was the last time he'd eaten? The instant noodles at lunch? Then that endless delivery shift. Then... this nightmare.

This dungeon.

Vorn sat hunched under some busted pipe, knees pulled up to his chest, heart beating way too slow for comfort. He had no idea how much time had passed. Hours? Minutes? The red-tinted darkness never changed - no sun, no clock, no nothing. Just the constant sound of water dripping somewhere above.

Drip.

The card was still inside him somehow. Not physical anymore - it had disappeared into his body after burning his skin. He didn't understand how, didn't want to ask. Still too freaked out.

His hands shook as he pressed them against the slimy floor. Cold as ice. He forced himself to stand, legs aching like he'd run a marathon.

"What now..." he muttered to the empty air.

No one answered. Obviously.

GRRRROWWWL—

His stomach wasn't taking no for an answer.

'Shit. I need to find food or I'm gonna pass out.'

Step by step, Vorn started walking down the corridor, right hand sliding along the damp wall for guidance. His fingers brushed over cracks and old rust. A faint breeze carried this metallic smell that made his nose wrinkle.

'Blood.'

His breath caught, but his feet kept moving toward it.

The corridor curved, then opened up into a small cave. And there was the source of that smell.

A creature.

It looked like a wolf, if wolves were the size of small cars and had nightmare fuel replacing its DNA.

Broad shoulders, black fur that looked burnt. And four glowing red eyes that screamed 'apex predator.'

It was hunched over something, tearing into it.

CRUNCH—

Vorn dropped into a crouch, hands clamped over his mouth. The smell hit him full force now - fresh blood and whatever that thing had killed. He almost turned around and ran, but his body wouldn't listen. His eyes stayed glued to the monster.

'If I wait... maybe it'll leave. Then I can take whatever's left.'

The thought made him sick, but his empty stomach didn't give a damn about his morals.

He waited, one minute, Three minutes. The beast stopped eating, head jerking up to sniff the air.

Vorn didn't breathe, didn't blink, didn't even think out loud.

Then the creature stood, turned, and padded away into the deeper tunnels. Its footsteps echoed until they faded completely.

'Woah...'

Vorn stayed frozen for what felt like forever.

Then, hating himself with every movement, he crawled forward.

What the monster had killed sort of looked like a rabbit, If rabbits had legs twice as long and small horns sprouting from their heads.

He stared at the mangled carcass. His stomach didn't care what it looked like - food was food.

'This is so messed up.'

With shaking fingers, he tore off a chunk of meat from the hind leg. His throat tightened as he brought it to his mouth, eyes squeezed shut.

BITE.

Blood filled his mouth - warm, metallic, wrong in every way.

'This is not happening. This is not my life.'

But he chewed anyway.

"Gkk—ugh!"

He gagged, but bit again. It wasn't food, it was survival. And apparently, survival tasted like liquid metal and regret.

After a few more bites, the taste stopped mattering. His brain just switched off that part of itself.

Then—

[DUNGEON ADAPTATION: +1]

A line of text appeared in the air. He blinked hard.

[BEGINNER SURVIVAL INSTINCT: ACTIVATED]

Then it vanished like it had never been there.

"So it really is a system," he said to himself, voice cracking. "Just... not very chatty."

He sat back against the cave wall, blood still on his lips. His eyes burned - not from tears, just pure exhaustion.

PING!

A soft vibration buzzed through his wrist. A blue shimmer appeared in the air like a notification popup.

[VOLUNTEER #00294: GIFT PACK UNLOCKED FOR SIGNING CONTRACT OF FREE WILL]

[OPENING...]

Vorn didn't move. What was the point?

A small triangle of blue light drifted toward him, circled once, twice, then vanished into his chest.

Click—

Pain shot behind his eyes. When it cleared, there was something lying by his feet.

Glasses, simple, thin-rimmed, blue-tinted.

The moment his fingers touched them, they teleported straight onto his face. The lenses flashed once, and everything changed.

The cave became crystal clear. Details he'd missed before jumped out at him - cracks in the walls, tracks in the dirt, blood trails. Words appeared at the edge of his vision.

[ANALYZER: ACTIVE]

[TARGET IDENTIFIED: LESSER HORNED BURROWER]

[THREAT LEVEL: D]

[EDIBILITY: 72%]

[LEFT HIND MUSCLE: UNDAMAGED]

He turned toward the deeper tunnel where the monster had gone.

[ACTIVE ENTITY DETECTED]

[THREAT LEVEL: C-]

[DISTANCE: 54 METERS]

Vorn staggered backward.

"That thing was C-rank? And it just... ignored me?"

He couldn't decide if he should laugh or cry. The glasses made it clear now - he was trapped in a dungeon with monsters ranked like some twisted video game.

And him? He was at the absolute bottom. No level, no class, no skills. Just a hide and seek card and now a pair of magic glasses.

'At least the glasses don't seem evil, like trying to take over my body'

"Just thinking about it is horrifying"

He pulled the card from his pocket.

"Found you"

It felt warm, like it was happy to be held. The blood mark shimmered across its surface.

"Fine," he said to the empty cave. "If this is my life now... then I'm all in."

The cave rumbled softly around him.

DING!

[TITLE UNLOCKED: INITIATE OF THE SEAL]

[STARTING PATH...]

[CURRENT LEVEL: 1]

[SEAL RANK: ???]

[PATH: UNKNOWN]

Vorn looked ahead into the dark tunnel. The path forward was completely unknown.

But for the first time since this nightmare started, he felt something other than terror.

'Determination.'

He stepped into the darkness.

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