The next hour was methodical slaughter. Riri cleared three more tunnel sections, each one infested with clusters of five to eight rats. Her pattern became routine: identify choke points, bait the pack, let Luck trigger environmental hazards.
In the ELECTRICAL tunnel, a fuse box exploded when she kicked it, electrocuting six rats instantly.
In the STORAGE passage, a shelf of corroded cleaning supplies collapsed—chemical burns ate through four Level 4s before they could retreat. I
n a maintenance shaft, the floor gave way beneath a rat cluster, dropping them into a flooded sublevel. They drowned.
Twenty-five Luck wasn't subtle. It was a goddamn cheat code.
[Objective Progress: Clear all enemies (52/87)]
Fifty-two down. Thirty-five remaining. Riri checked her Status while crouched in a safe alcove, catching her breath.
[Riri Lee - Level 3]
[HP: 130/130]
[Stamina: 87/120]
[Combat Power: 1,187]
Combat Power had jumped significantly—the Rat Fang Dagger's +30 Attack combined with her absurd Agility made her a legitimate threat now. Not overpowered, but competent. Three hours and twelve minutes remaining. The objective counter showed thirty-five enemies left, but she hadn't encountered a single rat in the last twenty minutes. They were consolidating. Smart.
Riri pulled a ration bar from her inventory, ate mechanically while scanning the tunnel ahead. The passage sloped downward again, curving toward what the faded signage identified as CENTRAL HUB. That's where they'd be.
Final stand, all remaining hostiles in one location. Probably including the Station Master.
She finished the ration bar, stood, tested her grip on the dagger. The bone handle was warm from prolonged contact with her palm. Blood—black, red, and something iridescent—stained the blade from hilt to tip.
Time to finish this.
The CENTRAL HUB was exactly what the name suggested—a massive circular chamber where all the station's tunnels converged. Thirty feet across, ceiling lost in shadow, tracks radiating outward like spokes on a wheel. And in the center, surrounded by the remaining rat swarm, was the Station Master.
[Station Master - Corrupted Conductor - Level 7 - BOSS] [HP: 500/500]
It had been human once. Maybe. Now it was something else—seven feet tall, spine bent at wrong angles, limbs too long and jointed in too many places. Its uniform hung in tatters, revealing gray flesh mottled with black veins.
The face was worst—stretched skin, hollow eye sockets, jaw unhinged and lined with teeth that looked borrowed from the rats. It held a rusted signal baton in one elongated hand. Thirty-four rats clustered around it. Levels 3 through 5, all watching the tunnel entrance where Riri stood.
Waiting.
System #2's interface flickered nervously.
[Warning: Boss encounter detected! Recommend retreat and party formation!]
Riri dismissed the notification. Five hundred HP. That was more than three Alpha Rats combined. And whatever abilities a Level 7 Boss had would be significantly worse than Charge. But retreating meant the dungeon wouldn't clear. She'd have to come back tomorrow, start over, fight through the respawned mobs.
No. She'd finish this now. Riri scanned the chamber. Circular layout, multiple exits, ceiling supports crisscrossing overhead. No obvious environmental hazards this time—the room was too open, too clean despite the decay. She'd have to do this the hard way.
The Station Master's head tilted.
Its jaw creaked open. "Ticket," it rasped. Voice like grinding metal. "Show. Your. Ticket."
Riri didn't answer. She stepped into the chamber. The rats surged forward. Sixty-two Agility meant she moved like water.
The first three rats lunged—she sidestepped, blade flashing twice, and two corpses hit the ground before the third even registered she'd moved.
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 3] x2
Four more came from the left. She rolled under their charge, came up slashing. The Rat Fang Dagger carved through flesh and bone like wet paper.
[Critical Hit! Bleed effect applied!]
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 4]
Six rats dead in ten seconds. Twenty-eight remaining. The Station Master raised its baton. "All aboard," it whispered. The baton pulsed with sickly green light. Every remaining rat's HP bar doubled.
[Station Master used Commander's Blessing! All allied units gain +100% HP for 60 seconds!]
Oh, come on. The Level 5 rats now had 150 HP each. The Level 4s had 120. Even the Level 3s were sitting at 90. Riri's stamina bar blinked.
[Stamina: 62/120]
Sixty seconds to kill twenty-eight buffed rats and a Boss with 500 HP. Impossible. Unless— Her gaze snapped to the ceiling supports. Old iron beams, corroded and sagging under their own weight. Held together by rust and inertia.
Twenty-five Luck. One more time…for science, and possibly her life.
Riri sprinted toward the nearest support pillar, rats converging from all sides. She leaped, caught the pillar's lip, hauled herself up with pure Agility-fueled strength. The rats swarmed below, clawing at the pillar, unable to climb. She looked up. The beam directly overhead was anchored to the pillar by a single corroded bolt.
Riri reversed her grip on the dagger and drove it into the bolt with everything she had.
The bolt sheared. The beam groaned—a sound like the world ending—and collapsed. It took three more beams with it in a catastrophic chain reaction. Tons of rusted iron crashed down onto the chamber floor, crushing everything beneath. The impact shook the entire station. Dust exploded upward in choking clouds. When the debris settled, System notifications flooded her vision.
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 3] x12
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 4] x9
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 5] x7
[Station Master HP: 203/500]
All twenty-eight rats dead. The Boss still alive, pinned beneath a beam but not critically injured. Riri dropped from the pillar, landed in a crouch beside the trapped Station Master. Its head turned toward her, jaw working soundlessly. She drove the dagger into its eye socket.
[Critical Hit!]
[Station Master HP: 87/500]
It thrashed, nearly dislodging her. She twisted the blade, felt something vital rupture.
[Station Master HP: 31/500]
One more strike. She yanked the dagger free, repositioned, drove it through the creature's temple.
[Enemy Defeated: Station Master - Corrupted Conductor - Level 7 - BOSS] [+200 EXP]
[Dungeon Clear! Corrupted Transit - Rank E]
[Clear Time: 2 hours, 47 minutes, 18 seconds]
[Rank: S (Solo Clear + Speed Bonus)]
[Bonus Rewards Granted!] [Credits Earned: 847] → [Credits Earned: 2,541 (Triple Reward Active)]
[Item Drop: Station Master's Baton (Rare)]
[Item Drop: Skill Scroll - Shadow Step (Rare)]
[Achievement Unlocked: First Blood - Complete your first Training Dungeon]
[Achievement Unlocked: Solo Warrior - Clear a dungeon without party assistance]
[Achievement Unlocked: Speed Demon - Clear a dungeon 50% faster than average]
The Station Master's corpse dissolved into mist. Two items remained: a signal baton crackling with residual energy, and a scroll sealed with wax. Riri picked them up, exhaustion finally hitting her like a physical weight.
Her stamina bar was at 23/120. Her hands shook fractionally.
But she'd done it. Solo.
Under three hours. S-Rank clear.
System #2's interface exploded with confetti and glitter.
[Congratulations! You've proven yourself a capable survivor! Would you like to review your performance statistics?]
"Later."
A portal materialized at the chamber's center—swirling gold light, exit back to the real world. Riri walked toward it, legs heavy, mind already cataloging what she'd learned.
High Agility worked. Luck was absurd. Choke points were essential. Environmental kills conserved stamina.
And she needed better gear.
The Rat Fang Dagger was serviceable, but a Rare weapon would make subsequent clears exponentially easier. She stepped through the portal.
The subway station materialized around her—real world, daylight filtering down the stairs, no rats. The three Players from earlier were still waiting at the entrance. The woman with the crossbow looked up as Riri emerged, blinking in surprise.
"You're alive."
Riri didn't answer. She walked past them, hood up, dagger strapped to her thigh, black blood still staining her tactical pants. Behind her, she heard the baseball bat guy mutter, "What the hell was her clear time?"
The woman pulled up the public leaderboard.
Silence.
Then: "Two hours and forty-seven minutes. S-Rank. Solo."
More silence.
Riri kept walking.
She had seventy-three days left in the Preparation Phase.
Time to grind.