Ren walked toward the nearest subway station, the city lights flickering above him. The entire day had been spent practicing his Fullbringer powers—testing limits, refining control, and adjusting to abilities that still felt unreal. Now that night had fallen, he'd made his decision.
It was time to enter the dungeon.
If the key could truly teleport him there, then tonight he would find out.
. . . .
After several minutes of walking, Ren finally reached the station. He stopped a few meters from the entrance, watching people come and go. Drawing attention right now would be a bad idea. He decided to wait until the crowd thinned before testing the key.
Whatever awaited him on the other side… he would face it.
Then, without warning, a floating keyhole appeared in the air before him, hovering silently as if it had always been there. Waiting.
Ren exhaled slowly. He raised the key and inserted it into the keyhole, turning it without hesitation.
Click.
The sound echoed unnaturally through the air. The moment the turn was complete, both the key and the keyhole vanished.
A swirling blue portal burst into existence, its edges crackling with energy. Beyond it lay nothing but shifting darkness.
Ren didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward and disappeared into the portal.
. . . .
The portal spat him out violently.
Ren tumbled across cold stone, landing hard in what appeared to be the entrance of a cave—a cramped space no more than three or four meters deep, surrounded by rough, uneven walls.
"Yeah… this is definitely not the subway station anymore," he muttered.
Groaning, Ren pushed himself up from the ground, his body protesting the rough landing. Directly in front of him stood a heavy wooden door. It looked medieval—dark wood reinforced with thick iron bands. Strange symbols were carved into its surface, and when he wasn't looking directly at them, they seemed to shift and writhe.
Definitely a mysterious magical door, he thought dryly. And definitely the kind that tries to kill you.
Ren slowly stood, surveying his surroundings. His gaze inevitably returned to the door.
Can I really do this?
This is my first time fighting real monsters… real horrors.
Am I actually capable of surviving this?
He clenched his fists.
"No—what the hell am I thinking?" he snapped internally. This is my second chance at life. And this time, I'm not staying weak.
No matter the danger, no matter what stood in his way, he would climb to the top.
His striking blue eyes glowed faintly with determination as he steeled his resolve.
"They're just experience points," Ren said aloud, forcing calm into his voice. "Just EXP. Just numbers that'll make me stronger."
Before moving forward, he checked his status.
...
[Player Stats]
Name: Ren Toshiki
Job: None
Title: None
HP: 250/250
MP: 80
Strength: 27
Speed: 20
Agility: 30
Endurance: 25
Perception: 20
Recovery: 27
Intelligence: 20
Fatigue: 0%
...
Ren nodded slightly. His stats felt noticeably better than before—most likely the result of awakening his Fullbringer powers. He'd also unlocked Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure), which now manifested as his MP.
There were boosts to Agility and Speed as well, probably tied to high-speed techniques like Bringer of Light.
Mentally accessing his inventory, Ren summoned his weapons.
The katana passed down through his family materialized first, followed by another blade he'd obtained from a cursed loot box. They formed in his hands instantly—two standard-length katanas. One had a dark purple guard and handle, the other deep blue. Each measured roughly 60–80 cm in blade length, with an overall length of about 90–110 cm.
They felt perfectly balanced, as if crafted specifically for him.
A notification appeared.
....
Equipped:
• 1 Irene hard Katana
• 1 High-Quality Samurai Katana
Attack +30
....
"Good," Ren muttered. "That helps."
He activated his Fullbringer ability, enhancing both weapons further. Power flowed into the blades, subtle but unmistakable.
Taking a few practice swings, he adjusted to their weight. The swords moved like extensions of his arms, and his body naturally fell into combat stances he didn't remember learning.
With everything prepared, Ren stepped toward the door.
His enhanced Perception immediately picked up movement beyond it—faint scratching sounds, multiple presences shifting on the other side.
He placed his hand on the heavy iron handle and took a deep breath.
"Here goes nothing."
Ren pulled the door open.
.....
The door opened to reveal my worst nightmare.
Zombies.
Actual zombies.
…Oh, come on.
The chamber was roughly twenty meters across, carved from the same rough stone as the entrance. But what filled it made my stomach lurch.
Shambling corpses wandered aimlessly, their rotting flesh hanging in strips from yellowed bones. The stench hit me like a physical wall—death, decay, and something else I didn't want to identify.
Some still wore tattered clothing, while others were nothing more than naked skeletons, held together by God knows what.
Their eyes glowed with a sickly, bloodshot crimson light. The moment they noticed me standing in the doorway, all of them turned toward me with disturbing coordination.
You've got to be kidding me…
I wasn't expecting my first dungeon to be like this!
My spiritual pressure–enhanced Perception activated automatically, analyzing the threats.
Information flooded my mind—pathetic stats across the board.
Zero mana.
Agility at four.
Strength at twelve.
Health around ten.
Perception barely four or five.
Slow. Weak. Nearly blind.
…but there were so many of them.
I counted at least seventeen shambling forms, maybe more lurking in the shadows. All of them were moving toward me with the relentless determination of the undead.
The nearest zombie was ten meters away, shuffling forward at a pace that barely qualified as walking.
Half its face was missing, its jaw hanging by strips of rotted muscle. Its left arm was gone entirely, leaving only a jagged stump. Each step produced a wet, squelching sound that made my stomach twist.
Come on, Ren. They're basically moving training dummies.
But I hesitated.
They looked horrifying—decayed and grotesque—but they were still human. Or at least, they had been. The faces were recognizable as once belonging to people. People who had lived, breathed, and had families.
They're system creations, I told myself firmly. Just EXP points. Nothing more.
The nearest zombie was five meters away now.
Close enough to see maggots writhing in its eye socket. Its remaining arm stretched toward me, fingers little more than bone wrapped in leathery skin.
Do it.
It's them or you.
I gripped my katanas tightly and stepped forward.
The first kill was the hardest.
I darted forward, easily outpacing its pathetic movement, and drove both blades into the back of its skull.
The sword punched through rotted bone like wet cardboard. The zombie collapsed instantly, whatever dark energy animating it extinguished.
…That wasn't as bad as I thought.
The second kill was easier. I was already moving as the first body hit the ground, spinning to intercept another zombie shuffling up behind me.
One clean flash of my sword split its skull apart.
LEVEL UP!
The notification flashed in my vision, but I ignored it. There were still over a dozen shambling toward me.
What followed was systematic extermination.
My enhanced Agility let me dance around their clumsy attempts to grab me. My improved Perception tracked multiple enemies at once, always aware of who was getting close and who could be ignored.
The katanas sliced through rotted flesh and brittle bone like they were made for it. My enhanced Strength meant each strike hit hard enough to drop a zombie in one or two slashes.
Damn, they're so weak I don't even need Bringer of Light.
LEVEL UP!
Another notification. Another corpse.
I found my rhythm—dart in, strike, retreat before the others could react. Their pathetic Agility meant they couldn't keep up, and their low Perception meant I could attack from angles they never saw coming.
Is this how Madara felt fighting the Shinobi Alliance?
LEVEL UP!
Three down. Then four.
Each kill became easier, both physically and mentally. Whatever these things had once been, they were clearly just monsters now—threats to be eliminated.
One got closer than I liked, its bony fingers brushing my jacket before I spun away and cleaved its head off with a horizontal slash. Another lunged at me with surprising speed, but my enhanced reflexes let me sidestep and counter.
LEVEL UP!
Six dead. Seven. Eight.
My movements became smoother, more confident. I started using the environment—stone pillars and narrow paths—to funnel them into single-file lines, always staying mobile.
LEVEL UP!
Nine. Ten. Eleven.
I was breathing harder now, not from exhaustion, but adrenaline. Every sense felt sharpened, every movement precise.
The zombies' greatest weakness wasn't just their poor stats.
It was their lack of strategy.
They never coordinated. Never adapted. Just mindlessly shambled forward.
LEVEL UP!
12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
The chamber was littered with corpses—truly dead this time. My jacket was splattered with dark blood that didn't look entirely human, and my katanas were coated in gore.
But I felt good.
Powerful.
Like I was finally in control of my fate.
The last zombie was different.
Larger. More muscle clung to its bones, and rusted military armor covered its body. It moved with slightly more purpose than the others, retaining a fragment of tactical awareness.
A mini-boss, maybe.
It swung a rusted sword that would have taken my head off if I were still moving at normal human speed. Instead, I ducked beneath the swing and drove both katanas into its ribcage, angling toward where its heart should have been.
The creature let out a sound halfway between a growl and a death rattle before collapsing like a puppet with cut strings.
LEVEL UP!
Silence followed.
I stood there, breathing hard, surrounded by corpses. The stench of death hung heavy in the air, broken only by the sound of my heartbeat.
…I actually did it.
I survived my first real combat.
And it was fun.
At the far corner of the chamber, partially hidden behind a stone pillar, I spotted another door. This one was heavier and more ornate, carved with the same shifting symbols—but glowing faintly.
Boss room. Has to be.
I looked at the carnage around me and let out a long breath. At one point, when five or six had surrounded me, their numbers alone could've overwhelmed me. Without my enhanced Agility, things might have gone very differently.
But I handled it.
I adapted. I overcame.
Level seven, huh…
That was a lot of stat points. I should probably allocate them before challenging whatever waited behind that door. Zombies were manageable—but bosses were another story.
I wiped the gore from my katana on a relatively clean piece of zombie clothing and took a deep breath. The metallic taste of adrenaline faded, replaced by a quiet sense of accomplishment.
I'm not the same person who walked into this dungeon.
I'm stronger now. Better.
The thought should have bothered me—how easily I'd adapted to violence, how natural killing had felt.
…but I didn't have time to dwell on it.
I still have school tomorrow.
Time to see just how much stronger I can get.
To be continued.