Shiki nodded with satisfaction, then turned toward one of the gates. "Rose, follow me."
As they walked, Shiki glanced sideways. "Where is Mujun? I haven't seen him."
"Still gathering the others," Rose replied. "The ones here are only a portion. The rest are still scattered among the other Nagawira."
Shiki gave a small nod. She never bothered to memorize the exact number of the Four Seasons' members—that was a matter for Mujun and the other leaders. The only thing that mattered to her was one thing: the next step must not miss its mark.
Shortly after Shiki's command was issued, five hundred Nagawira had gathered before her. They hailed from the three primary divisions of the Four Seasons—excluding the Winter division, which was represented by Mujun alone. Mujun himself had yet to return, a sign of just how vast an area he had to scour and how many members were still scattered. In the East Side of the Central Zone, the number of Nagawira had now surpassed two thousand and continued to grow by the minute.
Shiki had briefly intended to bring Mujun in with her, but she reconsidered. Mujun was too busy, and Shiki did not want to waste time. The faster she entered the dungeon, the faster she could collect Tower Coins—and that meant her storage space could be expanded sooner. That was far more important right now.
"Equip yourselves," Shiki ordered curtly.
The five hundred Nagawira moved immediately. Swords, wooden shields, and leather armor were donned without question. Some faces were clearly filled with curiosity—where did all this equipment come from?—but not one dared to open their mouth. Rose's gaze from behind Shiki was enough to silence that curiosity. Shiki was grateful. She had no intention of explaining things that did not yet need to be explained.
Shiki's gaze then settled on the massive blue gate before them. The air around it felt colder, damp, and carried a faint, unpleasant odor. From the bright green grass growing around the gate's frame, Shiki knew instantly: this was almost certainly an F-Tier dungeon. Perhaps E-Tier—the chances were slim—but she was confident in her judgment.
Her old experience gave her more than just visual cues. She could feel the mana density around the gate—light, thin, and not pressing against the chest. An E-Tier dungeon should feel much heavier, like air saturated with water. Furthermore, the foul stench seeping out—fishy, musty, like an old sewer—was too distinctive to be mistaken.
"Giant Rat's Nest," she murmured softly.
Inside lived rat monsters the size of large dogs, with elite rats as big as horses, and at the peak of the hierarchy was a giant rat with a tail as sharp as a sword. Veterans called that monster the Mutant Rat. In her previous life, this dungeon had become a graveyard for hundreds of overconfident rookie Nagawira.
Shiki knew the risks well. Despite bringing five hundred armed Nagawira, she wasn't sure she could clear this dungeon without casualties. Not because of a lack of strategy—but because of one fundamental rule known to all veterans: the dungeon always adapts to the number of people entering.
The more people step inside, the more fiercely the world behind that gate retaliates.
Shiki drew a slow breath, then began to explain.
"Listen closely," she said. "Dungeons aren't just about tiers—F, E, D, and so on. Their difficulty also changes depending on the number of people who enter."
Several Nagawira straightened their backs. Their faces were filled with questions. Dungeon tiers? F, E, D? Is this like a game? However, Shiki had no intention of explaining.
"If you enter alone, the dungeon is only filled with a dozen or so leaderless monsters. If ten enter, the number increases, and a strong monster will appear at the end."
She stepped toward the gate, her palm nearly touching the rippling blue light on its surface.
"The larger the group, the more brutal the contents. More traps. More complex paths. Smarter monsters."
She turned back to the line of five hundred Nagawira behind her.
"Entering with a group this size... means we will be facing the most merciless difficulty level."
Several faces immediately tightened.
"At this level, the small monsters are endless. Every time enough of them die, one will evolve into an elite monster. We cannot clear a dungeon like we are in a game; this is the real world! We must keep moving, break through, and ensure we aren't surrounded."
Shiki's tone remained calm, almost flat—and that was precisely what made her explanation feel more oppressive.
"In the final chamber, we will face a leader far stronger than anything you can imagine. And the other monsters will not stop pursuing us, even after we arrive there. Some of us must hold back that wave, while the rest finish off the leader as quickly as possible."
She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in.
"This is not a mission without risk," she continued. "But it is the only way—the fastest way to get Essence! For an F-Tier dungeon, that reward only appears at the highest difficulty."
Her golden gaze swept the line in front of her.
"If we succeed, we aren't just surviving. We are leaping far ahead of everyone else in the City of Beginnings."
Silence. No one spoke. No one backed away. Three years had passed, and Shiki had never played around with the training of the Four Seasons. Although she rarely attended in person, she knew that Rose and the others had spared no effort in creating an elite force for her.
Before them, the blue light from the Giant Rat's Nest gate continued to ripple slowly, as if waiting to see who was reckless enough to step forward first.
She looked at the five hundred Nagawira before her—swords gripped, shields raised, their breathing steady yet tense. There was no long speech. No heroic outcry.
Shiki simply turned and said briefly, firmly, "Follow me."
She stepped first toward the rippling blue gate that looked like the surface of water, its cold light washing over the faces behind her. One by one, hundreds of footsteps followed, the echo of boots and the clinking of metal merging into a heavy rhythm that filled the east side of the Central Zone.
This time, she was not alone.