Aiden's footsteps echoed down the narrow stone corridor, each step swallowed quickly by the darkness ahead. Torches burned to life one by one as he walked, lighting his path but revealing nothing of what lay deeper.
The voice that had called to him moments earlier still lingered in his mind.
"Come to me, System-Breaker."
His grip tightened around the wolf fangs around his neck.
System-Breaker.
He had heard many insults in his life — trash, mistake, F-rank worm — but never that.
"What the hell does that even mean…?"
The walls around him seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting like living flesh. Whispers tickled the edge of his hearing, sliding through the darkness.
Aiden… Aiden… come…
His All-Seeing Eye flickered awake without permission.
[Unknown Interference Detected]
Forcing Appraisal Vision…]
His vision shifted — the walls around him glowing with threads of mana that wound together like veins. The path ahead pulsed with a slow, rhythmic heartbeat.
"It's alive…?"
He swallowed nervously.
Whatever this place was, it wasn't part of any normal dungeon structure.
He continued walking until the corridor widened into a circular chamber. The air changed. Heavy. Thick with magic.
And cold.
At the center of the chamber, a large black stone tablet floated above the ground, spinning slowly. Runes crawled across its surface like insects, shifting and reshaping themselves constantly.
The voice returned — deeper, more resonant — vibrating through Aiden's head.
"You have come."
Aiden took a cautious step closer.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The tablet glowed, faint crimson veins spreading across its surface like cracks.
"I am the first."
Aiden frowned.
"The first what?"
The voice rumbled, shaking dust from the ceiling.
"The first System-Breaker.
The one who shattered the balance.
The reason your system exists…
and the reason they want you dead."
Aiden's heart stopped.
He stepped back instinctively.
"You're saying… my system came from you?"
The floating tablet pulsed brighter.
"No.
Your system came from the fragments of my rebellion."
Aiden's mouth went dry.
"What rebellion?"
The chamber trembled slightly, as if the dungeon itself feared the answer.
"The rebellion against the Celestials."
Aiden blinked in confusion.
"Celestials? You mean… gods?"
Silence.
Then—
"Call them what you wish.
They created the world.
They created the Awakening.
They created the dungeon laws.
They created the Talent ranks you humans cling to."
The runes on the tablet swirled, forming an image — a massive shining throne in the sky, surrounded by faceless figures.
Aiden's stomach twisted.
"And you… rebelled against them?"
The voice echoed:
"I refused to obey.
I refused the system that chained us.
I broke the laws of power — and in doing so,
I was hunted…"
The chamber darkened.
The voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"…and destroyed."
Aiden exhaled slowly.
"Then why call me here?"
The tablet turned toward him.
And suddenly — Aiden felt it.
A pull.
Something inside him responding.
Something deep.
Something ancient.
The tablet spoke again.
"Because you carry a fragment of my defiance.
A system that should not exist.
A system that will let you grow without limit."
Aiden's pulse quickened.
So it was true.
His Hate-to-Power system… was unnatural. Illegal. Feared.
A gift from a fallen rebel.
The tablet drifted closer until it hovered barely a meter from him.
"You said they want me dead," Aiden whispered. "Who exactly?"
The tablet crackled violently.
"The Pale Ones."
Aiden's breath caught.
The creature he saw earlier — the pale humanoid in the dungeon — its empty eyes, its sharp fingers, its knowing voice…
"They're serving those Celestials?"
The chamber went ice cold.
"They are the Celestials' personal hunters."
Aiden's jaw clenched.
"So that thing… was here for me."
"To erase you," the tablet confirmed. "To correct the 'mistake.'"
Aiden stepped forward, fists trembling.
"Then tell me how to survive."
The chamber fell quiet.
The tablet's glow dimmed… then surged with new energy, runes spiraling rapidly.
"I cannot teach you."
Aiden's chest tightened.
"What?"
The voice grew weaker — fading.
"But I can awaken what already sleeps within you."
The stone tablet shot toward him.
Aiden flinched—
The tablet dissolved into pure energy.
And slammed into his chest.
A blinding explosion of light filled the chamber. Aiden screamed as power surged through his veins like molten fire.
[SYSTEM UPGRADE TRIGGERED]
[ROOT CORE AWAKENING…]
[ERROR — POWER TOO HIGH]
[ERROR — HOST NOT COMPATIBLE]
[FORCING SYNCHRONIZATION]
His bones felt like they were cracking.
His blood boiled.
His mind burned.
He collapsed to his knees, trembling uncontrollably.
The voice whispered — faint, fading, dying.
"Run, Aiden Blackwood…
Before the hunters find you…
Before the Celestials see what you have now awakened…"
The last light faded.
The tablet shattered to dust.
Silence.
Aiden gasped for breath, chest heaving, sweat dripping down his forehead.
His vision blurred as new notifications appeared.
Overlapping.
Corrupted.
Chaotic.
[SYSTEM EVOLUTION: ?????????]
[NEW PERK: "HATECORE" — DETAILS LOCKED]
[WARNING: CELESTIAL DETECTION IMMINENT]
Aiden's eyes widened.
"What do you mean detection—"
The dungeon shook violently.
Far above him — beyond the hidden chamber — he heard something that froze his blood.
A voice.
Cold.
Echoing.
Familiar.
The pale humanoid.
Calling his name.
"Aiden…"
He staggered to his feet.
"Damn it—NO—"
The torches extinguished instantly.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
And a final notification appeared before his eyes—
[CELESTIAL HUNTER HAS ENTERED THE DUNGEON]
Aiden's breath stopped.
"Oh… shit."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Chapter 08 Ends..