Cold wind howled through the shattered ruins of the dungeon floor.
Broken stone, twisted metal, and the bodies of monsters littered the ground. The air smelled of blood, smoke, and burnt mana. Far above, the cracked ceiling of the dungeon glowed with faint purple light.
Renzo Valerius leaned against a broken pillar, gasping for breath.
He was forty-two years old.
Wrinkles lined his face, his hair streaked with gray. His body was covered in scars earned from two decades of crawling through hellish dungeons.
Yet despite everything he had survived…
He was still only an F-Rank Porter.
Renzo gave a bitter laugh.
"Twenty-three years…" he muttered hoarsely.
Twenty-three years of carrying equipment.
Twenty-three years of watching stronger hunters become rich and famous.
Twenty-three years of being treated like disposable cargo.
And now…
He was about to die.
A thunderous explosion echoed across the cavern.
BOOM!
The ground shook violently as a massive creature crashed against the dungeon floor.
The Level 100 Boss.
A grotesque titan of black scales and burning crimson eyes towered across the battlefield. Its body was larger than a building, jagged horns scraping the cavern ceiling.
The Oblivion Tyrant.
The monster that had wiped out half the raid team in minutes.
Renzo slowly turned his head toward the hunters gathered behind him.
The strongest players in America.
Men and women worth billions.
People the world called heroes.
But right now, their faces were filled with fear.
Standing at the front of them was a tall man in black combat armor, his golden hair glowing under the dungeon's eerie light.
Alistair Vance.
Leader of Aegis Corp.
Rank S.
Level 96.
The man Renzo had served for over fifteen years.
Alistair looked down at him calmly.
"Renzo."
His voice carried no emotion.
Just calculation.
Renzo already knew what was coming.
He slowly smiled.
"So that's the plan…"
Silence filled the battlefield.
Behind Alistair, the other hunters avoided Renzo's eyes.
No one spoke.
No one objected.
Because everyone understood the truth.
Someone needed to stay behind.
Someone needed to buy time.
And the life of an F-Rank porter…
was cheaper than ammunition.
Alistair stepped closer.
"You've always been reliable," he said.
Renzo chuckled weakly.
"Reliable… huh?"
His vision blurred from blood loss.
One of his legs had been crushed earlier when the boss smashed through the raid formation.
He couldn't run.
Couldn't fight.
Couldn't even stand.
Alistair looked toward the raging boss monster in the distance.
"We need sixty seconds."
Renzo laughed again.
"Sixty seconds against that thing?"
His gaze drifted back to the towering monster.
The Oblivion Tyrant roared, shaking the dungeon with its fury.
"You're really asking a porter to stop a Level 100 boss?"
Alistair didn't answer.
He simply turned around.
That was the moment Renzo understood everything.
This had been planned.
The raid.
The strategy.
The formation.
Everything had led to this moment.
A disposable sacrifice.
Renzo.
For a brief moment, anger burned in his chest.
But it quickly faded.
After all…
This was the world they lived in.
A world where the strong ruled everything.
And the weak were nothing but tools.
Renzo slowly closed his eyes.
Memories flooded his mind.
The day the dungeon gates first appeared.
The chaos.
The monsters.
The day his parents died in a dungeon break.
The day he awakened his ability.
F-Rank.
The lowest possible rank.
A power so weak it barely counted.
Still…
He had survived.
He had endured.
Even when everyone treated him like trash.
Renzo opened his eyes again.
He looked toward Alistair's retreating back.
"Hey, boss."
Alistair paused.
Renzo grinned faintly.
"After twenty-three years… the retirement package sucks."
Some of the hunters shifted uncomfortably.
But Alistair didn't look back.
"Thank you for your service."
Those were the last words he said.
Then the elite hunters activated their movement skills and fled deeper into the dungeon.
Leaving Renzo alone.
Alone with the Level 100 boss.
For a moment…
The battlefield was silent.
Then—
ROOOOOOOAAARRRR!!!
The Oblivion Tyrant charged.
Each step shook the dungeon floor like an earthquake.
Renzo slowly pushed himself upright using the broken pillar beside him.
His body screamed in pain.
But he forced himself to stand.
If he was going to die…
He would die on his feet.
"Well," Renzo muttered.
"Let's see if I can last sixty seconds."
The monster lunged.
A massive claw descended toward him like a falling building.
Renzo didn't move.
There was no point.
CRASH!
The impact shattered the ground.
Pain exploded through Renzo's body.
His ribs crushed.
His lungs collapsed.
Blood filled his mouth.
He collapsed onto the broken stone floor.
His vision darkened.
The sounds of the dungeon faded.
Renzo stared at the distant purple glow of the dungeon ceiling.
"So this is it…"
A lifetime of struggle.
A lifetime of humiliation.
Ending in a single meaningless moment.
His chest felt cold.
His heartbeat slowed.
Then—
Something strange happened.
A faint golden light flickered in the darkness.
Two distant voices echoed through the void.
Ancient.
Powerful.
And very annoyed.
"Hmph."
The first voice was deep and steady.
"The child endured longer than expected."
Another voice laughed sharply.
"Endured? He survived forty-two years in a world that eats the weak."
Renzo's fading consciousness trembled.
"W… what…?"
The golden light grew brighter.
Two enormous silhouettes appeared in the darkness.
One radiated heat like a blazing forge.
The other shimmered like the edge of a blade.
The first voice spoke again.
"A broken life."
The second voice continued.
"Yet an unbroken will."
Renzo struggled to breathe.
"Am… I dead?"
The fiery figure chuckled.
"Not yet."
The blade-like presence spoke calmly.
"We have watched countless timelines."
Renzo's heart skipped.
Timelines?
"The strong always rise," the first voice said.
"The talented always succeed," the second voice added.
Then both voices spoke together.
"But you…"
"…you endured."
Golden light erupted around Renzo's fading body.
"Therefore," the fiery voice declared,
"I, Vulcanos, Sovereign of the Star Forge…"
"And I," the blade spirit continued,
"Kensei-Ryu, Spirit of the First Edge…"
Their voices shook reality itself.
"Choose you."
Renzo's eyes widened.
"W-wait—!"
Reality shattered.
Time twisted.
Memories collapsed.
And the world rewound.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
Until—
Renzo's eyes snapped open.
He was lying on a cheap mattress.
Sunlight streamed through a cracked apartment window.
The distant sounds of traffic echoed outside.
Renzo slowly sat up.
His hands trembled.
Young.
Strong.
Unscarred.
A mirror across the room reflected his face.
Nineteen years old.
Renzo stared at his reflection in disbelief.
Then a calm voice echoed in his mind.
"Hmm."
The second voice followed.
"So this is the beginning again."
Renzo froze.
Two faint golden symbols appeared on his hands.
A blazing forge.
And a silver blade.
The first voice spoke.
"Do not waste this second life."
The second voice finished.
"Reforge your fate."
Renzo slowly smiled.
This time…
things would be different.