Chapter 4: The Trial Dungeon (Tutorial)
[The Necessity of the Gate]
The first necessity of the newly empowered Rudraunsh Kurozan was resources. The use of Undying Authority against Minho and Jisoo had been exhilarating, but the backlash was severe. Every reformed bone fragment, every second of his summons' immortal existence, had drained his meager E-Rank mana pool entirely. He felt hollow, a vessel scraped clean.
He needed mana stones for recovery, and raw monster materials to potentially evolve his Rusted Bone Skeletons. The easiest, quietest source for both was a low-level Gate, far from the prying eyes of the Stellar Halo.
Following data Sera had swiftly transferred to the burner phone, Rudraunsh found his target: a poorly maintained, forgotten F-Rank Tutorial Gate nestled beneath an unused section of the city's subway tunnels. It was scheduled for routine cleaning by a municipal crew next week, giving him a small, safe window.
The entrance was a swirling, sickly green vortex behind a heavily locked maintenance door. The locks, however, were E-Rank rated, intended only to deter vandals, not a determined Hunter. Rudraunsh picked them in seconds using a shard of sharpened rebar—a skill honed from years of sneaking into safe spaces to avoid his bullies.
Inside, the air immediately turned humid and heavy, smelling of damp earth and aggressive fungi. The sounds of the city vanished, replaced by the faint, scuttling noises of low-grade Gloom Crawlers—small, multi-legged insectoids that served as the standard fodder of F-Rank Dungeons.
Rudraunsh took a deep breath, fighting the urge to lean against the cold stone wall. He was still profoundly weak, his mana pool only half-full even after a full night's rest. He had to be surgical, relying on strategy and the unique nature of his power, rather than brute force.
He slammed his hand onto the moist, dirt floor.
"Rise."
The command was soft, but the Undying Authority obeyed with fierce obedience. Two figures erupted from the earth, taller and thicker this time, thanks to the richer mana environment of the dungeon. They were the familiar Rusted Bone Skeletons, their joints moving with a slightly smoother, more focused energy.
Current Mana Consumption: 12% of Total Pool.
It was a risk. He only had the reserves to keep them sustained for perhaps thirty minutes of intense combat before he'd be dangerously depleted.
"Primary directive: Harvest. Secondary: Defense. Do not shatter yourselves needlessly."
He didn't need them to kill fast; he needed them to kill perfectly.
[The Perfect Grind]
The dungeon was a winding series of tunnels. The first Gloom Crawlers they encountered were the size of small dogs, armed with corrosive pincers and thick chitin. They were easy prey for D-Rank Hunters, but dangerous for a solo E-Rank.
The fight began, and Rudraunsh immediately saw the true, terrifying efficiency of his power.
The first Gloom Crawler lunged, its corrosive pincer striking the chest of the left Rusted Skeleton. The pincer managed to break two ribs, the acidic compound leaving a smoking residue.
Repair Time: Instant.
The Undying Authority flowed like a viscous dark fluid, pushing out the acidic rot and snapping the bones back into place. The skeleton didn't pause; it used its free arm to grab the crawler, holding it fast. The second skeleton then moved in, its crude, bone spike hand boring precisely into the soft membrane under the crawler's exoskeleton.
Thump. The creature died instantly, yielding a tiny, shimmering F-Rank Mana Stone and a piece of chitin.
Rudraunsh watched from a safe distance, his mind processing the data with cold precision. Traditional Hunters focused on high attack power to overcome the enemy's defense and kill them before they could retaliate. His Necromancy turned that equation on its head.
They are my immortal shield, he realized. And a persistent trap.
The Rusted Skeletons, following his basic defensive and harvest commands, didn't waste energy on flashy blows. They acted like a tireless, perfectly synchronized pair of wrestling automatons: one pins, the other executes the killing blow.
They moved deeper. The concentration of Crawlers increased, and Rudraunsh was forced to push his commands slightly. He directed one skeleton to act as a decoy, letting the Crawlers swarm it, while the other moved around the periphery, systematically striking the pressure points of the entangled monsters.
The battle became a chilling, mechanical dance of death. The Rusted Skeletons were constantly broken, shredded, and reformed. A large crawler managed to bite off the skull of one skeleton. The body didn't fall; it simply continued to fight blindly while a new skull extruded from the neck joint within seconds, complete with two fresh, cold blue lights.
Rudraunsh felt the pressure on his mana pool intensify, but he wasn't draining at a catastrophic rate. The continuous repair, while costly, was vastly more mana-efficient than summoning a replacement, which is what most low-level Necromancers had to do. His creatures were truly repaired, not replaced.
By the time he reached the center chamber—a small, rocky cavern—he had accumulated ten Mana Stones, several valuable chitin pieces, and was surrounded by the corpses of over twenty Gloom Crawlers. His Rusted Skeletons stood tall, completely whole, their existence a testament to the horror of endless resilience.
[The System's Silence]
Rudraunsh dismissed the summons, the remaining dark dust settling instantly. He collected the materials and felt a familiar, deep disappointment.
He was a Necromancer, not a traditional Hunter. The system, the omnipresent network that governed the world's Awakened, was designed to reward personal combat skill. Because the skeletons did all the fighting, his own personal experience points barely shifted. His E-Rank was cemented.
The system is flawed, Rudraunsh thought, gripping the ten small mana stones tightly. It only rewards what it can quantify. It ignores the principle of the Catastrophe.
He sat down, immediately starting to absorb the F-Rank mana stones to replenish his depleted pool. As the clean mana flowed into him, he accessed the burner phone. Sera had already messaged him.
> [S.S.] : I was right. Minho and Jisoo are already crying to the Stellar Halo task force. They filed a report about a "violent, un-registered Dark Mage student using forbidden methods."
> [S.S.] : The officer investigating is Hunter Rank D-74, Officer Kang. He's low-level, but loyal. He's starting to question students near your alleyway.
> [S.S.] : DO NOT RETURN TO THE ACADEMY YET. Stay in the tunnels or an abandoned area for 48 hours. I'll run interference.
>
The speed was unsettling. Rudraunsh had barely used his power for twelve hours, and already the massive, organized machinery of the Stellar Halo was turning against him. He wasn't just facing bullies anymore; he was facing a global power structure.
He finished absorbing the mana stones. His pool was full, and he felt a palpable surge of strength, far exceeding the small boost the F-Rank stones should have provided. It was a secondary, hidden benefit of the Undying Authority: every source of mana absorbed was refined and compressed to service the Catastrophe.
He checked his inventory. The monster chitin was useless for him, but one piece—the largest, most central plate—was different. It pulsed with a concentrated, dark energy.
> [System Alert]
> Unusual Monster Material Detected: Gloom Crawler Chitin (Core Fragment). High concentration of Necrotic Earth Mana.
> Potential Use: Undying Authority recognizes material as catalyst for Grade 1 Evolution.
>
Rudraunsh felt a cold thrill. This was the key. He didn't level up through experience points; he powered up through evolutionary catalysts. He didn't need to fight a thousand Crawlers. He just needed the one perfect piece.
He had just discovered the blueprint for his entire, long-term power progression.
[The Hunter on the Scent]
Meanwhile, 300 meters away, outside the maintenance door of the subway tunnel, Officer Kang (Rank D-74) sighed, flicking his flashlight across the graffiti-scarred wall.
He was an older Hunter, his mana reserves limited, relegated to petty crime duty. He didn't want to be here following up on a panicked report from two spoiled academy students about a Dark Mage.
"Minho swore this kid summoned demons, Chief," Kang muttered into his comms. "Sounds like classic rich-kid drama. I see no sign of forced entry, no residual dark mana signature..."
He knelt down, checking the seal on the maintenance door. The lock was untouched. Minho and Jisoo were clearly lying.
He was about to declare the case closed when his attention was drawn to a tiny scratch on the concrete near the door—a hair-thin line, easily missed, made by something metallic and sharp. A few tiny, almost invisible flecks of dark dust clung to the scratch.
Kang activated his specialized E-Rank Hunter Goggles. They filtered out ambient light and highlighted residual mana traces.
The dust particles glowed a faint, deep indigo—a color associated with high-grade, forbidden Necromancy that had been suppressed for decades. And the scratch itself? It registered with a lingering, distinct, and highly regulated energy signature.
Not a lockpick, Kang realized, his hands suddenly sweating despite the cold. That scratch was made by a refined, mana-enhanced edge.
He looked back at the large, complex lock. It appeared untouched.
Impossible. Someone didn't pick the lock; they bypassed the physical mechanism entirely with a precision-cutting skill, leaving no physical evidence of tampering, then re-locked it from the inside, or perhaps manipulated the tumblers with extreme mana control.
Kang's casual mood evaporated. This wasn't a scared kid summoning a pet skeleton. This was the work of a professional, highly trained Dark Mage. And that indigo dust... it smelled of something ancient.
He keyed his comms back on, his voice now tight with concern.
"Central Command, this is Officer Kang, D-74. Re-evaluating the Black Magic Report near the old Dongdaemun Gate site. The subject is highly skilled and accessing restricted tunnels. I'm requesting an urgent backup team with Grade 3 detection sensors. I believe the suspect may have accessed the F-Rank Tutorial Gate."
He knew he was committing the ultimate heresy: bringing the full weight of the Stellar Halo down on a high school student's complaint. But the smell of that indigo dust was proof enough. The Necromancer was real.
In the tunnels below, Rudraunsh, fully replenished and focused on the Gloom Crawler Chitin Core Fragment, felt a faint, distant tremor in the mana network above. The world was beginning to contract around him.
The game had begun.
We have successfully covered the tutorial dungeon, the discovery of his evolution path, the system's flaw, and the decisive move by the Stellar Halo against him.