The rift didn't just contain monsters; it was a graveyard of failed ambitions.
As Han Jue ventured deeper, the walls shifted from jagged rock to a strange, pulsating obsidian. He stepped over the rusted remains of a high-tier chest plate, the metal dissolved by some high-acidity venom. Beside it lay a bleached skull, its jaw frozen in a final, silent scream.
This wasn't just a dungeon. It was a digestive tract.
[Warning: High-Energy Signature detected 100 meters ahead.] [Threat Level: Tier-D (Elite).] [Recommended Action: Stealth or Immediate Retreat.]
"Retreat isn't an option," Han Jue muttered, his grip tightening on the scavenger's knife. "The interest alone will kill me by midnight."
He crept forward, his enhanced Agility making his footsteps as silent as a ghost's. The air grew humid, smelling of sulfur and wet copper. Then, he saw it.
In the center of a wide, rib-like cavern sat an Obsidian-Scaled Basilisk. It was eight meters of coiled muscle and shimmering black scales, currently feasting on the remains of the Abyssal Crawlers Han Jue had encountered earlier. Its tail, tipped with a jagged bone-blade, rhythmically slapped the ground, cracking the stone with every strike.
A Tier-D Elite. Normally, it would take a full party of C-Rank Awakeners to take this thing down.
Han Jue checked his stats.
Strength: 15 | Agility: 12 | Vitality: 20 | Mana: 10
He was essentially a glass cannon with a bit of extra health. If that tail hit him once, his 20 Vitality would drop to zero instantly. But the Basilisk had something he needed: a massive concentration of Soul Points.
I have to be smart, he thought. I'm still a scavenger. I know how things fall apart.
He didn't charge. Instead, he used his knowledge of monster anatomy—honed by years of carving them up for scraps. He climbed the calcified "ribs" of the cavern, moving directly above the beast.
The Basilisk roared, its flicking tongue sensing a change in the air. It looked up, its slitted yellow eyes locking onto Han Jue.
"Hey, ugly," Han Jue whispered.
He jumped.
The Basilisk lunged, its maw opening wide to swallow him whole. But Han Jue wasn't aiming for the head. Mid-air, he twisted, kicking off a protruding bone spur to change his trajectory. He landed hard on the creature's back, right behind the skull where the scales were thinnest.
He drove his knife downward. Clang. The rusted blade snapped.
"Dammit!"
The Basilisk thrashed, slamming its body against the cavern walls to dislodge him. Han Jue clung to the scales, his fingers bleeding as he fought the centrifugal force.
[Warning: Weapon Destroyed.] [Emergency Suggestion: Use 'Sovereign's Extraction' on a living target?] [Warning: Extracting from a living Tier-D target will consume 50% of your current Stamina.]
"Do it!" Han Jue screamed as the Basilisk's tail swung around like a guillotine.
He slammed his bare palm against the raw spot where his knife had chipped the scale.
"EXTRACT!"
A vacuum of red energy erupted from his hand. The Basilisk didn't just roar; it shrieked in a way that sounded almost human. The black scales beneath Han Jue's hand began to turn translucent, then brittle. He could feel the creature's life force—hot, angry, and potent—surging into his arm.
It was like trying to swallow a lightning bolt. His veins turned black, bulging against his skin.
[Extraction in progress...] [Target's Vitality decreasing...] [User's 'Soul Debt' decreasing...]
The Basilisk grew sluggish. Its movements lost their precision. Seizing the moment, Han Jue grabbed the jagged shard of his broken knife from the floor and, with his reinforced Strength, drove it into the weakened, translucent patch of skin.
He didn't stop at one strike. He stabbed again, and again, and again, his face splattered with boiling acidic blood that hissed against his skin.
With one final, earth-shaking shudder, the Obsidian-Scaled Basilisk collapsed.
[Elite Target Slain!] [Calculating Rewards...]
Collected: 4,500 Soul Points. Debt Progress: -1,002,950 Soul Points.
[System Achievement: 'Giant Slayer' (Small).] [Reward: Skill Book - 'Executioner's Mark' (Rank E).]
[Executioner's Mark (Active):] Mark a target's weak point. Your next strike deals 200% damage and ignores 30% of armor. If the target dies, 10% of your Stamina is restored.
Han Jue slumped against the cooling carcass, his chest heaving. His clothes were rags, his skin was burned, and his hands were raw meat.
But for the first time in his life, he didn't feel like "Trash-man." He felt like a predator.
He looked at the 4,500 points he'd earned. It was a drop in the bucket compared to the million he owed, but it was a start. He was learning the System's logic: the more dangerous the hunt, the faster the debt cleared.
Suddenly, a sound echoed from the darkness further down the tunnel. It wasn't the sound of a monster.
It was the rhythmic clink-clink-clink of high-end armor.
"Did you hear that?" a voice echoed. It was arrogant, familiar. "Sounded like a Basilisk dying. If we harvest the heart, that's another ten thousand credits for the guild."
Han Jue's eyes narrowed. He knew that voice.
It was Kael, the Flame Mage who had kicked him into the hole.
The Golden Dawn hadn't left the dungeon. They were heading deeper—right toward him.
Han Jue looked at the Basilisk's carcass, then at his own bloodied hands. He wasn't ready to face an A-Rank Mage yet. But he also wasn't the helpless scavenger they remembered.
[New Mission: The Ghost in the Dark.] [Objective: Stalk your 'Creditors' without being detected.] [Reward: Hidden Shop Unlocked.]
A cold, dark smile spread across Han Jue's face. "You want to harvest a heart, Kael? Let's see whose heart gets harvested first."
He melted into the shadows just as the first flicker of magical torchlight hit the cavern walls.