After the fight with the Constrictor, the jagged cave slowly fell silent.
The flames that once wrapped around the monster's massive body weakened and vanished, leaving behind drifting smoke that clung to the sharp stone ceiling.
The air was still heavy with heat, and the scent of scorched rock and burned flesh lingered like a warning. Cracks spread across the uneven ground where the Constrictor had slammed and twisted in its final moments.
The cave walls were rough and razor-edged, rising like broken teeth around them. Melted streaks of black stone ran down the sides where the creature's flames had brushed past, and shattered fragments lay scattered across the floor, still warm beneath their boots.
Seung-hoo stood still for a few seconds, gripping his sword loosely as his breathing slowly steadied. His arms trembled from exhaustion, and his skin burned where the Constrictor's heat had grazed him earlier.
Behind him, Hyun-wu leaned against a jagged pillar of rock, wiping sweat from his brow, while Seo-yeon forced herself upright, her dagger clenched tightly in her hand as if she feared letting go would make her collapse again.
That was when Seung-hoo noticed it.
Near the darkened corner of the cave, among broken stones and ash, a faint yellow glow pulsed softly.
The crystal.
It lay untouched, as if the battle had never happened around it.
Compared to the chaos moments before, the crystal looked strangely calm, its light steady and quiet against the blackened stone floor. It reflected off the sharp edges of nearby rocks, creating thin streaks of gold across the cave walls.
Seung-hoo's eyes narrowed.
He took a cautious step forward.
Then another.
Each step echoed through the hollow cave, the sound of his boots crunching against loose shards of stone. The heat from the Constrictor still lingered beneath the ground, seeping through the soles of his boots like trapped fire. His grip tightened around his weapon as he moved, half-expecting something else to emerge from the shadows.
When he reached the crystal, he knelt down and wrapped his fingers around it.
It was warm.
Not burning like the Constrictor's core, but alive with energy, humming faintly against his palm.
Then a mechanical shim rang out.
______________________________________________________
|[ Ding! System Active ]|
|[ Rewarding Individual for successfully completing the Quest ]|
|[ Successfully gained reward Item box ]|
|[ Time remaining: ??? ]|
______________________________________________________
The translucent window floats before his eyes, steady and cold compared to the chaos around him.
Seung-hoo blinks several times, making sure it isn't just exhaustion playing tricks on him.
"…An Item box?" he mutters.
He glances down at his inventory slot and sees a small cube-shaped icon resting there, faintly outlined in blue light. His heart beats a little faster. Rewards usually meant weapons, skills, or something useful—but this felt different. Unknown. Uncertain.
Seung-hoo exhales and wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve.
"But why an Item box?" he says quietly to himself. "What kind of quest even gives this…"
Before he can think any further, Kim's voice echoes from the other side of the cave.
"Seung-hoo! Hurry up. We're moving toward the tower entrance while everyone catches their breath."
Seung-hoo looks up. The rest of the team is already regrouping near the broken pillars, some leaning against the walls, others checking their equipment. The massive silhouette of the tower looms ahead, its surface covered in jagged cracks that crawl upward like black veins.
"Ok!" Seung-hoo shouts back.
He jogs toward them, still clutching the yellow crystal in one hand. His mind races with questions—about the system message, about the strange reward, and about the timer that only showed question marks. Every step toward the tower feels heavier than the last.
When he reaches the group, Kim's eyes immediately drift to Seung-hoo's hand.
"…That crystal," Kim says slowly.
Seung-hoo notices his gaze and lifts it up slightly. "Oh, this?" He forces a small smile, trying to act casual. "Here, Kim."
He tosses the crystal toward him.
Kim catches it with one hand, examining it closely. The light from the crystal reflects in his eyes as he turns it from side to side. For a moment, his expression tightens, as if he senses something unusual about it.
"There are no materials in a cave rift," Kim says under his breath, half in disbelief. "At least… there shouldn't be."
Seung-hoo watches him carefully. His fingers twitch, tempted to call up the system window again, but he holds back. Instead, he looks past Kim toward the dark entrance of the tower. A cold wind leaks out from within, carrying a faint metallic scent.
The ground trembles slightly beneath their feet.
Somewhere deep inside the tower, something shifts.
Suddenly, the ground begins to shake violently, as if the Rift itself is tearing apart from the inside. Cracks race across the stone floor, and loose debris rains down from above.
"What the—?!" Seung-hoo stumbles as the earth lurches beneath his feet.
Kim grabs onto a broken pillar to steady himself. "It's an earthquake—no, this is worse!"
A deep rumbling roar echoes through the cave, drowning out their voices. The tower ahead trembles, its massive structure groaning as if something underneath it is awakening.
"Hyun-wu! Seo-yeon!" Kim shouts.
Seung-hoo turns and sees Hyun-wu struggling to keep his balance, while Seo-yeon drops to one knee, bracing herself against the shaking wall.
"Move!" Seung-hoo yells, sprinting toward them.
Another violent jolt throws everyone sideways. Stones crash down, narrowly missing them. Dust fills the air, making it hard to breathe.
Seung-hoo reaches Hyun-wu first and grabs his arm. "Get up! Now!"
"I'm trying—!" Hyun-wu grits his teeth, pushing himself upright.
Kim rushes to Seo-yeon's side. "Can you walk?"
Seo-yeon nods, though her eyes are wide. "Yeah… but whatever this is, it's not natural."
The shaking grows stronger. A deafening crack splits through the cave, and a long fissure opens in the ground just a few meters away.
"That's it, we're going inside!" Kim shouts.
Together, they run toward the tower entrance. The wind howls through the Rift as chunks of rock fall behind them. Seung-hoo feels the vibration through his bones with every step.
Just as they cross the threshold of the tower, another massive tremor hits. The entrance frame shudders, and dust pours down like rain.
They stumble inside and press their backs against the cold inner wall, breathing hard.
For a few seconds, no one speaks.
All that can be heard is the distant rumbling of the ground and the echo of collapsing stone outside.
"…Did we just survive that?" Hyun-wu finally mutters.
Seo-yeon wipes dust from her face. "Barely."
Seung-hoo leans forward with his hands on his knees, chest rising and falling rapidly. "That wasn't from the Constrictor… something else caused it."
Kim looks toward the dark interior of the tower, then back at the entrance. "Whatever it was, it came from outside—or below."
Slowly, the shaking begins to fade. The roaring sound dulls into a low, distant groan, then into silence.
They wait for a moment longer, tense and alert.
When nothing else happens, Kim steps closer to the entrance and peers out.
"…You need to see this," he says quietly.
Seung-hoo walks up beside him, followed by Hyun-wu and Seo-yeon.
Through the broken doorway, they see it.
Where the cave floor once stood, there is now a massive hole carved into the earth, circling the tower like a giant crater. The edges are jagged and uneven, as if something enormous had forced its way out from below. Dust still rises from the depths, drifting upward in slow, ghostly clouds.
Seo-yeon's voice trembles slightly. "That… wasn't there before."
Hyun-wu stares in silence. "How does something like this even happen?"
Seung-hoo grips his backpack straps tightly. His eyes trace the edge of the crater, then fall into the darkness below. He feels a strange pressure in his chest, the same feeling he had when the system message appeared earlier.
Kim clenches his fist. "There's no way that was just an earthquake."
The cold wind blows in from the hole, carrying a faint metallic scent and something else… something heavy and unfamiliar.
Seung-hoo swallows. "Do you think… something came out of it?"
No one answers right away.
They stand at the entrance of the tower, staring into the massive hollow left behind, unable to explain what had just happened.
"Guess we'll just advance to the tower then," Seo-yeon said.
Everyone agreed with tired nods, their bodies still aching from the battle outside. They moved deeper into the tower, where the cave walls grew more jagged and sharp. The stone looked torn apart rather than carved, forming narrow corridors that twisted in strange angles. Their footsteps echoed endlessly, each sound swallowed by the darkness ahead.
Before long, shapes began appearing on the ground.
Bones.
A goblin skull lay near the wall, cracked straight down the middle. Farther in, more skeletons appeared—small frames scattered across the floor, some crushed into fragments, others stretched as if they had tried to crawl away. Dark stains smeared the jagged walls and pooled between the rocks.
"Guess a massacre happened here," Kim said quietly.
No one replied. The silence felt too heavy.
They kept moving, passing through several dead ends where the corridors abruptly collapsed into solid stone. Seo-yeon cut through thick webs blocking one path, and Hyun-wu used his shield to clear fallen debris. The air inside the tower felt different from the rest of the Rift—denser, as if something enormous was breathing beneath the stone.
After several minutes, the corridor widened.
At the end of it stood a massive door.
It was far taller than any of them, rough and cracked, with deep grooves carved into its surface. Broken chunks of rock lay scattered at its base, as though something had struck it repeatedly from the inside. A faint pressure leaked through the stone, making their chests feel tight.
Hyun-wu adjusted his grip on his shield. "This has to be the boss room."
Together, they pushed.
The door resisted at first, then slowly shifted with a grinding sound. Dust fell from above as the gap widened, revealing a vast chamber beyond.
The room was enormous. Jagged stone pillars rose from the ground like broken spears, and the ceiling vanished into shadow. Dim green light reflected across the walls, coming from something in the center of the chamber.
Then they saw it.
A gigantic creature of living stone stood motionless like a mountain given shape. Its body was layered with thick rock, forming massive arms and legs. From all across its surface, gemstones jutted out—green crystals glowing faintly, mixed with hints of blue and yellow.
"It's a Galeb Duhr," Seung-hoo said.
The creature shifted slightly, and stone scraped against stone. Small rocks fell from its body and shattered on the floor.
—Galeb Duhr is a boulder-like creature in mythology. These creatures use their appendages as hands and feet and can grow up to 8 to 12 feet—
"But this one is oddly large," Seung-hoo continued.
Kim stared upward. "I think it's fifty feet… or more."
The gemstones embedded in its body pulsed once, brighter than before. The ground trembled as the Galeb Duhr slowly raised one enormous arm, its shadow spreading across the chamber and covering the scattered goblin skeletons in darkness.