Ryou – The Immortal Bastard
Episode 1: "The Bastard's First Hunt"
The sky was torn with colors not meant for mortals—violet cracks stitched themselves across a dying horizon as the dungeon gate opened like a bleeding wound. The wasteland before it crawled with beings from every corner of existence: gods with halos blazing like suns, vampires with cloaks dripping shadows, cybernetic hunters humming with metallic life, and humans wielding weapons forged from prayers and nightmares.
They were all waiting for the signal. The gate pulsed. The air shook.
Then came Ryou.
He didn't arrive with fanfare. He didn't march with a crew. He just walked through the crowd, hood low, cigarette dangling lazily from his mouth, smoke curling around his smirk. His crimson eyes cut through the hunters like knives, and yet his presence carried no honor, no pride. Only disdain.
"Move," he muttered, brushing past a hulking minotaur with shoulders like mountains. "Daddy's here."
The crowd rippled with growls, scoffs, and muttered curses.
"That bastard again…"
"He's not even armed."
"Kill him inside. No one will care."
Ryou heard every word and grinned wider. He turned his head just enough to spit venom with his tongue.
"Nice horns. Pity they curve like your IQ." He pointed at the minotaur.
"You—love the shiny armor. Did mommy buy it for you? You planning to tank or just die fashionably?" His crimson eyes slid to a human knight with gilded pauldrons.
"And you, vampire." He squinted at a pale figure licking his fangs. "Cute teeth. Hope they come in handy after I feed them to you."
The hunters bristled. If it weren't for the gate, half of them would have lunged. But the gate was everything. Inside meant glory, levels, survival. Outside meant prison if you drew blood. Ryou knew it. He loved it.
The dungeon gate groaned open. The world bent. Hunters surged forward like starving animals.
Ryou strolled in.
⸻
Inside, the labyrinth revealed itself as a nightmare made flesh—walls of shifting bone, ceilings dripping with chains, torches burning with black fire. The air was hot and damp, thick with the stench of rot.
Monsters came instantly. A six-armed abomination with eyes stitched shut screeched and lunged. The hunters around Ryou roared into action, blades flashing, spells detonating.
Ryou? He didn't rush. He exhaled smoke. His body swayed like he was half-asleep. The monster swiped with claws like scythes—Ryou tilted his head, letting the claw pass by his ear. He flicked his cigarette to the ground. Then his fist shot forward. One strike. The monster's jaw shattered, its head whipping sideways with a sickening crunch.
"Next," he muttered, stepping over the twitching body.
Hunters glared at him. Some with envy, some with rage. But no one dared stop. Not yet.
⸻
Deeper into the labyrinth, alliances broke. A squad of armored hunters spotted Ryou alone and saw opportunity. They circled him at a crossroads of bone and fire, weapons drawn.
"End of the road, bastard," their leader hissed.
Ryou rolled his shoulders, smiling as if amused by children. "You sure? I haven't even started insulting you properly yet."
His skin rippled. Bones cracked. Flesh tore. His arms sprouted monstrous claws blacker than obsidian. His grin split wider, teeth jagged like a beast's. He didn't roar. He laughed.
The hunters attacked together. Swords whistled. Spells exploded. But Ryou moved—faster than before, smoother, his body slipping through gaps like water. A blade grazed his cheek. He licked the blood, savoring the taste.
Then he struck.
One claw raked through a chestplate, splitting armor like paper. Another hunter screamed as Ryou's fist caved his skull into the wall. A third tried to flee, but Ryou's monstrous tail lashed out, wrapping his neck and snapping it like a twig.
The corridor was painted red in seconds.
[+1 Level.]
[+1 Level.]
[+1 Level.]
The system's cold voice echoed in his head as his body thrummed with new sharpness. His movements grew tighter, quicker, almost liquid.
He wiped his claws on a corpse and chuckled. "Thanks for the workout, boys. Try again in twenty-four hours."
⸻
Word spread fast in the dungeon. Whispers slithered from corridor to corridor.
"Ryou's here."
"The immortal bastard…"
"He doesn't have humanity. He'll kill anyone, anything, for levels."
The dungeon trembled. A roar shook the walls. The boss had awakened.
Hunters from every corner sprinted toward the central chamber, desperate to land the killing blow. A colossal hydra awaited them, scales gleaming like molten steel, seven heads spewing poison and flame. Its roars split the air, shaking bones loose from the ceiling.
Hunters screamed, rallied, unleashed everything they had. Magic rained, blades tore at its scales, explosions lit the chamber like a warzone.
Ryou arrived last, walking into the chaos with a grin. He cracked his neck, watching the desperate alliance struggle against the hydra.
"Adorable," he muttered. "They think they're the protagonists."
He didn't help. At first. He mocked from the sidelines, laughing at every death.
"Oof, nice teamwork. Too bad teamwork's useless when you're all trash."
"Hey elf-boy, maybe shoot straighter before you get swallowed—ah, too late."
"Oh, look, another hero down. How inspiring."
The hunters screamed at him to shut up, to help, to fight. Ryou only smiled, stepping forward at the perfect moment. His flesh rippled again, wings bursting from his back, claws elongating. He dove straight into the hydra's storm of heads, weaving between snapping jaws with speed that made him a blur.
His claws tore through eyes. His tail pierced throats. His laughter drowned the monster's roar.
Other hunters tried to assist, but Ryou's strikes "accidentally" clipped them too—bones cracked, blood spilled. They fell, screaming.
[+1 Level.]
[+1 Level.]
[+1 Level.]
Every kill—monster or hunter—fed him. His speed escalated. His body moved smoother, sharper, deadlier. He was no longer a fighter—he was a storm in human skin.
At last, he ripped the final head from the hydra and let it fall with a thunderous crash.
The chamber fell silent. The surviving hunters staggered, broken, watching him with hatred and awe.
The system chimed.
[Dungeon Cleared. Permanent +7 Levels.]
Ryou wiped blood from his chin, grinning at the corpses around him.
He looked at the broken hunters crawling toward the exit and raised his voice just loud enough for all to hear.
"See you assholes in twenty-four hours. Try not to suck as much next time."
He turned, walking into the collapsing labyrinth, his speed faster than before, his body sharper than ever.
The immortal bastard. The shapeshifting storm. The man without humanity.
Ryou.