The taste of blood is iron. It's bitter, warm, and unapologetic.
Kwon Do-Hyeon lay face-down in the dirt of the 15th Floor—no, that was a lifetime ago. He was no longer on the 15th floor. He was in the pit. The Negative Floors. A place where the light of the Sky Tower died and the forgotten rot for eternity.
The stench here was thick, smelling of ancient decay and a strange, heavy energy that felt like liquid lead in the air. His lungs whistled with every breath through a punctured chest that was only half-healed.
Every inhale felt like swallowing shards of glass.
'I'm alive. Why am I still alive?'
He pushed himself up, his fingers sinking into the mound of calcified bones that served as the ground. His joints popped with a sickening, metallic sound.
The "Abyssal Rebirth" had reassembled his shattered body, but the pain remained as a ghostly echo. He could still feel the phantom sensation of Pyo Tae-Jun's boot crushing his ribs.
He remembered the slums of Seoul. He remembered sharing his only piece of bread with Tae-Jun when they were ten. He remembered promising each other that they would reach the 100th floor together.
'You promised, Tae-Jun. You said we were brothers.'
The memory felt like acid. The realization that his entire life—every sacrifice he made for Tae-Jun's career—was just fuel for someone else's fire was more agonizing than the broken bones.
"System..." Do-Hyeon rasped, his voice sounding like two gravestones grinding together.
[Status Window]
Name: Kwon Do-Hyeon
Level: -1
Health: 40/100 (Slow Regeneration Active)
Mana: 10/10
Current Location: Floor -1 (The Graves of the Nameless)
[Warning: Hunger levels are critical.]
[The Abyss is a hungry god. If you do not consume 'Abyssal Essence' within 60 minutes, your soul will begin to collapse into the void.]
"Hunger..." Do-Hyeon whispered. It wasn't the hunger of a stomach wanting food. It was a spiritual starvation. A void in his solar plexus that was starting to pull at his very consciousness.
SCRITCH.
The sound was faint, coming from behind a pillar of fused, blackened skulls. Do-Hyeon froze. He didn't have a sword. He didn't even have the cheap iron dagger he used to carry as a porter. All he had were his bare hands, stained with the dust of dead men.
Out of the darkness crawled a [Grave-Eater].
It was a nightmare given form. It looked like a human that had been stretched on a rack until its skin tore like wet parchment. Its jaw hung loose, disconnected from its skull, dripping with a grey, foul-smelling slime. It had no eyes—only two pits of flickering, emerald fire.
The creature shrieked—a sound like a serrated blade grinding on a mirror—and lunged.
"Not today!"
Do-Hyeon dived. He was faster than before, his reflexes sharpened by the Abyssal energy, but his new body felt heavy, uncalibrated. The monster's claws raked across his shoulder, carving deep trenches into his flesh.
[HP: 32/100]
The pain was sharp. It burned like white-hot needles. But instead of the paralyzing fear he used to feel as an E-Rank porter, Do-Hyeon felt a surge of volcanic, blackened rage.
'Even here? Even in the literal basement of hell, I'm still the prey? I'm still the one being hunted?'
He thought of the hunters who used to kick him for being slow. He thought of the guild leaders who called him "disposable."
"No more," he hissed, the violet fire in his eyes flaring.
As the Grave-Eater turned for another strike, its limbs twitching with hunger, Do-Hyeon didn't back away. He stepped into the beast's reach. He grabbed the creature's neck with both hands. The skin was cold and slimy, like a drowned corpse.
[Skill: Shadow Synchro (12%) Activated.]
Suddenly, his shadow didn't just stay on the ground. It rose like a swarm of black, sentient needles, wrapping around his forearms like living armor. His fingernails elongated into jagged, obsidian claws.
With a scream of pure desperation, Do-Hyeon slammed the monster onto the bone-pile. He plunged his hand directly into the creature's chest.
SPLAT.
The sound of his hand breaking through the ribcage was sickeningly visceral. He felt the monster's cold, stagnant heart in his grip. He didn't pull back.
He squeezed.
The creature's emerald eyes flickered wildly, reflecting a sudden, primitive terror. It wasn't just pain it felt—it was the realization that it was being consumed by something far more monstrous than itself.
Do-Hyeon leaned in and bit into the monster's neck.
It wasn't food. It was pure, raw electricity. A surge of dark energy traveled from his teeth, down his throat, and exploded in his Abyssal Core.
[You have consumed 'Abyssal Essence'.]
[Level Up! Current Level: -2]
[All Stats increased by +1. Bonus Stat 'Authority' awakened.]
The monster shriveled into ash beneath him. But its shadow... its shadow didn't vanish. It stayed on the ground, twitching.
[Shadow Extraction is now possible.]
[Success rate: High.]
Do-Hyeon spat out a mouthful of grey slime. His breath came in ragged gasps. He looked at his shaking hands—they were no longer the hands of a human. They were stained with filth, tipped with claws that felt more natural than his own fingers.
"Rise," he whispered.
The twitching shadow stretched and solidified. It stood up, an ink-black reflection of the monster he had just killed, but its eyes were now a loyal, glowing violet. It knelt before him.
[First Shadow Soldier Acquired: 'The Nameless Scout']
Do-Hyeon felt a strange connection. Through the 'Authority' stat, he could feel the scout's simple instincts: Hunt. Kill. Serve. But the victory was short-lived. A dull roar echoed from the depths of the floor, loud enough to make the bone-pile vibrate.
[Warning: Floor -1 'Sector Boss' has noticed your presence.]
[The 'Grave-Keeper' is approaching.]
The air grew even colder. From the darkness, a massive figure began to emerge. It was ten feet tall, draped in tattered burial shrouds that moved as if they were alive. In its hand, it gripped a rusted cleaver the size of a man.
The Grave-Keeper didn't have a face, only a void beneath its hood. Its presence was suffocating—a Rank-D threat, at least.
Do-Hyeon's heart hammered against his ribs. A few hours ago, he would have prayed for a quick death.
But now, as he looked at the boss, he felt his Shadow Synchro pulsing. His obsidian claws twitched.
"Do you see this, Tae-Jun?" Do-Hyeon whispered to the empty air, his voice echoing in the hollow chamber. "While you're up there drinking champagne and receiving awards, I'm down here in the dirt. But this dirt... it's making me stronger than your light ever could."
He turned to his new shadow scout. "Distract it. I'll take its head."
The scout hissed and vanished into the shadows, moving with a speed Do-Hyeon could barely follow.
The Grave-Keeper swung its massive cleaver, smashing the bone-mountain where Do-Hyeon had stood a second before. White dust exploded everywhere. Do-Hyeon emerged from the cloud, his shadow-wrapped fist glowing with violet malice.
He wasn't running anymore. He was the one starting the hunt.
[Level -2: First Boss Encounter — Initiated.]