Darkness swallowed the evaluation chamber.
Not the ordinary darkness of unlit stone but a thick, suffocating void, like the inside of something alive. The walls no longer reflected light. Sound itself felt dampened, as if the dungeon were absorbing every breath, every heartbeat.
This was wrong.
Entrance evaluation dungeons were supposed to be controlled. Artificially stabilized. Low-risk. Designed to test aptitude, not break candidates.
Yet the moment my foot touched the chamber floor, I knew
This dungeon was watching.
A faint pulse ran through the stone beneath my boots. Once. Twice. Like a heart testing whether it should beat faster.
I tightened my grip on the standard-issue blade handed out to candidates. Dull. Cheap. Barely above scrap metal. In my past life, I would have snapped this thing in half by accident.
Now, it was all I had.
[System Alert]
[Dungeon Synchronization Rate: 7%]
[Status: Abnormal]
Seven percent.
That number alone made my blood run cold.
Anything above three percent meant the dungeon was actively reacting to player presence. Seven meant it was adapting.
Adapting… to me.
The whispers returned.
Not loud. Not clear. Just fragments like broken glass dragged across my mind.
You chose wrong.
You watched us die.
Do it again.
I exhaled slowly, forcing my breathing to steady. Panic would only make it worse. The dungeon fed on fear, hesitation, emotion.
I had learned that lesson far too late.
"Focus," I muttered.
The chamber shifted.
Stone folded inward like flesh closing around a wound. The evaluation area expanded unnaturally, stretching far beyond the limits listed in academy schematics I remembered.
That alone confirmed it.
This exam didn't exist in my previous life.
Someone or something had changed the rules.
A soft glow appeared ahead. Then another. Then dozens.
Eyes.
Not physical ones. Magical sensors embedded into the dungeon's core monitoring reactions, mana flow, emotional spikes.
I could almost feel the academy instructors watching from above, unaware that what they were seeing wasn't what was truly happening below.
To them, this was probably still a low-rank simulation.
To me..
This was the beginning of a nightmare.
A movement flickered to my left.
I pivoted instantly, blade raised.
A creature emerged from the shadows.
Humanoid. Thin. Limbs bent at wrong angles. Its skin looked like it had been stretched over something that didn't fit inside a human shape. No face. Just a smooth, featureless surface where eyes and mouth should have been.
[Monster Data Unavailable]
[Classification: Unavailable]
Unavailable?
That shouldn't be possible.
Every monster in the academy database every variant, mutation, and anomaly had been cataloged to death. Even unknowns were assigned placeholder data.
This thing had nothing.
The creature tilted its head.
Then it spoke.
"You… remember."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Monsters weren't supposed to speak. Not at this level. Not in an evaluation dungeon.
"I remember everything," I said quietly.
The thing twitched.
The dungeon reacted.
Mana surged violently, pressure slamming into my body like an invisible fist. I slid back several meters, boots screeching against stone.
[Warning: Dungeon Aggression Rising]
[Synchronization Rate: 11%]
Too fast.
Way too fast.
The creature lunged.
I ducked, barely avoiding claws that tore through the air where my head had been a moment earlier. The stone behind me shattered like glass.
This wasn't a test.
This was an execution attempt.
I countered instinctively low sweep, upward slash. The blade cut through its torso, but instead of blood, black mist poured out, hissing as it evaporated.
The creature didn't fall.
It laughed.
A sound like bone grinding against bone.
"You failed them," it whispered.
Images flashed across my mind cities burning, gates collapsing, hunters screaming as they were torn apart.
I clenched my teeth.
"Not again."
I stepped forward instead of back.
Mana surged through my body not raw power, but control. Precise. Restrained. Perfectly measured.
The system reacted.
[Notice: Skill Compatibility Detected]
[Locked Skill "Last Stand Protocol" reacting]
[Authority Required: Denied]
Denied.
I clicked my tongue.
Even locked, the system still recognized me.
Good.
I feinted left, rolled under the creature's next strike, and drove the blade into where its heart should have been.
This time, it screamed.
The dungeon shook violently.
[Synchronization Rate: 15%]
Cracks spread across the walls. Not physical dimensional.
Something else was trying to push through.
I felt it.
A familiar presence.
Cold. Amused. Patient.
You're early, a voice echoed in my mind.
Not the dungeon.
Not the monster.
Him.
My vision blurred for a split second, and in that instant, I saw it..
A throne of shattered worlds. A silhouette seated upon it. Thousands of eyes opening in unison.
The SSS calamity.
Watching.
Learning.
Then the vision snapped away.
I staggered, barely catching myself before falling.
The monster dissolved into smoke, leaving behind nothing but silence and the stench of corruption.
The system chimed.
[Evaluation Progress: 32%]
[Status: Compromised]
[Candidate Condition: Stable]
Stable.
I almost laughed.
The dungeon wasn't done.
Footsteps echoed from another corridor.
Multiple.
Other candidates.
So I wasn't alone.
That was both a relief and a problem.
If they encountered this dungeon in its current state
They would die.
I turned just as the first group entered the chamber.
Three candidates.
One girl with braided hair and nervous eyes. A tall boy gripping a spear too tightly. And—
The silver-eyed boy.
Our gazes met.
He froze.
Not in fear.
In recognition.
"You…" he whispered.
The dungeon pulsed.
Hard.
[Synchronization Rate: 18%]
Too high.
Way too high.
If it crossed twenty, containment would fail.
The academy wouldn't be able to pull us out.
I stepped forward, positioning myself between them and the shadows.
"Stay behind me," I said.
The spear-boy scoffed. "Who do you think you are"
The dungeon answered for me.
The shadows surged.
Something massive began to emerge.
Not a monster.
A gate.
Inside the dungeon.
Impossible.
The silver-eyed boy inhaled sharply. "That's… not part of the exam."
"No," I agreed grimly. "It's not."
The gate cracked open.
And from within, something ancient began to crawl through something far beyond the rank of an entrance exam.
The system screamed.
[EMERGENCY ALERT]
[Unauthorized Dungeon Expansion Detected]
[SSS Influence: CONFIRMED]
Every hair on my body stood on end.
The calamity wasn't waiting anymore.
It was reaching back.
And this
This was only the second move.
The gate inside the dungeon continued to open.
Not violently.
Not explosively.
Slowly.
As if whatever lay beyond it wanted to be seen.
The stone around the gate warped, bending inward like flesh drawn toward a wound. Runes etched into the chamber walls flickered erratically, their once-stable glow distorting into jagged pulses of crimson and violet.
This wasn't a breach.
This was an invitation.
The braided-haired girl stumbled back, clutching her chest. "T-that mana pressure… I can't breathe."
The spear-boy's knuckles were white around his weapon. "This isn't an exam. This is a death trap."
The silver-eyed boy said nothing.
He was staring at the gate.
Not in fear.
In recognition.
My jaw tightened.
That confirmed it. He wasn't just connected he had history with whatever was trying to cross over.
The system screamed again.
[EMERGENCY CONTAINMENT FAILURE IMMINENT]
[Dungeon Synchronization Rate: 21%]
[Candidate Mortality Projection: 73%]
Seventy-three percent.
That was the system admitting it could no longer guarantee survival.
I stepped forward.
Every instinct screamed at me not to. To retreat. To let the academy abort the exam. But I knew better.
Once synchronization crossed twenty percent, the dungeon no longer responded to external overrides.
If I didn't act now
This place would become a slaughterhouse.
"Listen carefully," I said, voice low and sharp. "When I tell you to run, you run. Do not hesitate. Do not look back."
The spear-boy scoffed again, though his voice shook. "And who put you in charge?"
The gate answered him.
Something moved inside.
A silhouette tall, impossibly thin pressed against the threshold from the other side. The pressure alone sent cracks spiderwebbing across the chamber floor.
The scoff died in his throat.
I didn't wait for permission.
I surged forward.
Mana flooded my limbs, restrained but precise, flowing through pathways I had memorized over a lifetime of battle. Even without access to my high-rank skills, even with my authority locked, my control remained.
The system reacted instantly.
[Skill Trace Detected]
[Combat Efficiency: Abnormally High]
[Warning: Skill Source Unregistered]
Good.
Let it be confused.
I slammed my blade into the ground, channeling mana through the cheap metal. It screamed in protest but it held.
A shockwave rippled outward.
The gate shuddered.
The thing behind it hissed.
Not in pain.
In irritation.
"You shouldn't be here," I muttered.
The silver-eyed boy suddenly spoke. His voice was calm. Too calm.
"It's not fully through yet," he said. "But it's anchoring itself to the dungeon core."
My eyes snapped to him. "You know how this works."
He met my gaze. "I know how it ends."
That chilled me more than the gate ever could.
The dungeon trembled again, harder this time. Shadows peeled themselves off the walls, coalescing into distorted humanoid shapes dozens of them.
Low-rank entities. Fodder.
But fodder designed to delay.
"Stay behind me," I ordered again, this time leaving no room for argument.
I moved.
The first shadow lunged. I cut it down in a single motion. The second and third followed. I twisted, ducked, struck. My movements were efficient, brutal, stripped of flourish.
No wasted motion.
No mercy.
The spear-boy hesitated then joined in, thrusting awkwardly. The braided-haired girl began casting, her hands shaking as mana formed unstable sigils in the air.
They were inexperienced.
They were scared.
They were going to die if this continued.
[Dungeon Synchronization Rate: 24%]
Too fast.
The dungeon wasn't just reacting anymore.
It was learning.
A shadow slipped past me, faster than the rest, its claws grazing the girl's shoulder. She screamed as corruption flared across her skin.
"Fall back!" I shouted.
I spun, intercepted the creature mid-air, and drove my blade through its core. It dissolved instantly.
But the damage was done.
The girl collapsed to her knees, gasping, corruption crawling like black veins beneath her skin.
The system chimed coldly.
[Candidate Status: Critical]
[Corruption Level: Rising]
Damn it.
I knelt beside her, pressing my hand against the wound, forcing my mana into a containment pattern I hadn't used in years.
[Warning: Unauthorized Mana Manipulation]
Ignore it.
Her breathing slowed. The corruption halted barely.
"This will hurt," I said quietly.
She nodded, tears streaking down her face.
I pulled back.
Then the gate roared.
Not loudly.
Deeply.
The silhouette pushed forward.
A limb emerged long, jointed wrong, ending in something between a hand and a blade. The air screamed as it cut through the threshold.
[SSS Influence: 32%]
The system went silent.
Not offline.
Muted.
That was worse.
The silver-eyed boy stepped forward, standing beside me.
"You can't stop it," he said. "Not completely."
"I know," I replied. "I just need to slow it down."
He looked at me sharply. "You've seen this before."
"Yes."
"Did it end well?"
"No."
A thin smile touched his lips. "Good. Then you won't hesitate."
The gate expanded violently.
The dungeon howled.
Mana surged out of control, tearing chunks of stone from the walls, sending them floating weightlessly in the air. Gravity warped. Time stuttered.
The spear-boy screamed as he was thrown against the wall, collapsing in a heap.
The braided-haired girl lost consciousness.
It was just us now.
Me and the silver-eyed boy.
And the thing trying to be born.
I planted my feet.
Every instinct screamed death.
But beneath it, something else stirred.
Regret.
Memory.
Resolve.
[Locked Authority "Last Witness" responding]
[Condition Met: Irreversible Outcome Detected]
[Partial Override Available]
My heart skipped.
Partial.
It wasn't full authority.
But it was enough.
"I don't know who you are," I said to the boy. "But if you want to survive trust me."
He nodded without hesitation.
I stepped forward, directly into the gate's influence.
Pain tore through my body as the dungeon rejected me. Blood filled my mouth. My vision blurred.
But I stood.
"I have seen the end," I said, voice carrying unnaturally through the chamber. "And it will not start here."
Mana exploded outward.
Not raw power.
Authority.
The dungeon froze.
Just for a moment.
The silhouette recoiled.
The gate cracked.
A sound echoed not from the dungeon, not from the academy but from somewhere far beyond reality.
A laugh.
Low.
Amused.
Familiar.
Interesting, the calamity whispered.
The gate slammed shut.
Silence fell like a guillotine.
I collapsed to one knee, gasping.
The system flickered back to life.
[Emergency Suppression Successful]
[Dungeon Synchronization Rate: 9%]
[Candidate Survival Rate Updated: 41%]
Still horrible.
But better than zero.
The silver-eyed boy exhaled slowly.
"You just delayed something you shouldn't have been able to touch," he said.
I wiped blood from my chin. "I've been doing that my whole life."
Above us, far beyond the dungeon ceiling, alarms began to blare throughout the academy.
They had finally noticed.
And they were already too late.
Names coming soon