The dungeon sat in a perpetual hush, its walls slick with a dampness that reeked of old stone and something faintly familiar. Patches of lichen and moss clung to the rock in uneven blotches, their surfaces beaded with moisture that never quite dripped.
Flex exhaled, shifting his stance. "Seya. Detection."
She pressed her fingertips together, and a ripple of invisible force shuddered outward, crawling along the unseen lattice of the cavern. Her pupils dilated for a second—then shrank.
"Just one enemy this time," she reported.
Flex gave a sharp nod. "Ceru—"
Before he could finish, she flicked her wrists, and tendrils of raw energy curled around their limbs like phantom bindings.
Flex flips his attention. "Kin, you and me—front line."
"Got it."
A shape stirred in the darkness, with a glimpse of sharp fangs and gleaming sickle-claws.
Flex doesn't wait. Steel flashed—a single strike, clean and practiced. The creature near collapsed mid-motion, as blood spilled his surroundings. "Damn it!"
Kin follows his lead and pierces through the monsters' skin, it cries out its last dying breaths before falling.
"Badadum"
Flex clinches both his heads his knees bent, utterly ecstatic "YES!" He then looks toward the rest of the team in celebration for levelling up.
Time fractured. Kin's vision tunnelled, catching only fragmented details— their smiles turn into urgency.
A paw?
Flex—turning, too slow. "FLEX!"
Impact. the sound of shield hitting skin, Flex's body was launched, weightless in the air for a moment before he hit the wall like a meteor. Delayed reactions from the sheer speed, terror filled Ceru's eyes. Kin's chest seized.
And then—motion.
"Ceru—BOOST! NOW!"
Panicked barley able to stop the fear from overwhelming her body, she casts her enhancement spell wrapped around Kin in a rush of raw energy.
"Seya—blast it with everything you've got!"
The beast, a double-mawed colossus, lumbers forth on four trunk-like limbs, its umber eyes gleaming with an eerie sagacity, ensconced in a labyrinth of bristling pelage dense as woven adamant. Still shaken, Seya conjured a fireball—a whip like sphere of molten air that twisted and warped the space around it. It shot forward, carving a blinding path toward the beast.
Kin moved with it like a phantom in its wake. His steps were erratic, disjointed—an illusion of unpredictability. Dipping underneath, passing through to its left. The fireball slammed into the monster's face. And did nothing.
The monster whipped toward Kin. but before it had a chance Kins daggers diged into its thick fur. A second hadn't passed before its claws carved through the air where Kins head had been a fraction of a second earlier.
"Shit—it's lightning fast," Kin hissed, twisting away.
Seya's gasping for her from shock. "How... that fireball did nothing?!"
"Stay calm!" Kin shouted. "I cut it—barely. We need to figure out how to do real damage!"
Ceru's voice was tight with panic. "How the hell do we hurt something like this?!"
"Again! Fireball—NOW!"
Again, they move in, but this time, as Kin lunges, the beast doesn't just react—it anticipates. Its claws slice through the air, aiming precisely where he's about to be.
Kin exhales a sharp breath—"Hu!"—and contorts backward, dodging in a low, almost impossible limbo. He barely recovers before stepping back, heart pounding.
"It read my movements…" he mutters, breathing heavier now. But then—a flash of recognition. "Wait… I never saw this thing in the 14th-floor monster records. So where did I see it?"
The way it moves—deliberate, calculated—this isn't normal. Kin ponders, his mind deep in focus, flipping through everything he's studied. Not the 14th-floor records… not the 15th…" The monster with the code name—"TB." his mind looks atop the page "the 20th floor".
His mind stuck in disbelief, "Why is a 20th-floor monster here on the 14th?!"
A voice yanks him back.
"Good job, guys." Flex's tone is strained.
"Your arm…" Ceru's voice is quieter than usual, laced with something Flex doesn't often hear from her—unease. Her hands twitch at her sides like she wants to reach for him but doesn't know where to touch.
Flex glances down at his limp arm, then exhales through his nose. "Yeah… it's broken. We should retreat for now."
Ceru swallows, her brows drawn tight. There's no panic, no trembling, just sharp, focused concern. She nods, but Kin's eyes are still locked on the beast.
"No. We can't." His voice is sharp, urgent. "I know this monster—TB. If we turn our backs, it'll kill us before we take three steps... Right now, it's waiting for us to make a move"
Flex clicks his tongue. "That's just great… Alright. Any weaknesses?"
"Yeah. Blinding it will buy time for a heavy strike," Kin says. "But here's the problem—only Rank C weapons or higher can land a fatal blow. My daggers are only D -"
A smirk flickers across Flex's face. "Good thing I bought this." He raises his sword, the steel smooth but lethal. "It's C rank. Cost me a fortune, but right now? it's all we have."
"So, here's the plan."
Sunlight spills through the kitchen window, casting a golden glow over the sink as Kin's mother scrubs the last of the dishes. She pauses, looking outside—her garden sways gently in the breeze. Empty.
But in her mind, it isn't.
"Kin! It's almost dinner time!" her voice calls, not in the present, but from years ago.
An eight-year-old Kin stands in the garden, drenched in sweat, his wooden practice sword gripped tight. He spins at her voice, eyes wide with excitement. "Yes, Mum!"
A moment later, he's inside, eagerly setting the table. His hands move fast, plates and utensils clinking as he talks nonstop.
"Mum! Did you hear about the Raider who reached the 30th floor alone and came back with hundreds of legendary materials?! They say he's the strongest Raider ever!"
She smiles, shaking her head. "Wow, he must have been really strong…" then, with a playful glance, "and I bet he wouldn't have forgotten the cups for dinner, either."
Kin freezes, then grins sheepishly. laughing as he rubs his head, "Sorry, Mum." He rushes to grab them, setting them down with exaggerated care.
The memory fades.
She blinks; the golden light of the past replaced by the dim quiet of the present. The plates in her hands tremble slightly.
Her gaze drifts back to the empty garden.
"Kin… please be safe out there."
Her voice is barely above a whisper. A single tear slips down her cheek, lost in the soapy water.
The battlefield hangs in a deadlock. Tension thickens the air. Then—Kin moves.
He dashes toward the Tiger Beast, his body a blur of speed. Seya raises her hands, conjuring a fireball. This time, Kin doesn't race ahead—he waits. The swirling inferno hurtles forward, and just before it collides with the beast, Kin leaps, using the fire's blinding light as cover. His heel connects into the Tiger Beast's skull— that snaps the TB's head sideways.
But the moment isn't over.
Flex is already there. Beneath the towering beast, shield and blade gripped in the same hand, his muscles coil like a drawn bow. his voice tearing through the dungeon in a war cry, he drives the sword upward, the blade piercing the TB's hide.
Not deep enough.
He bites down hard, yanking the blade free—a quarter of its length drenched in blood. The beast recoils, staggering.
Flex breathes heavily, falling back to regroup. "Just a few more times."
Kin nods. He takes a step forward, readying for another charge—
Then the earth shakes.
A raw, primal bellow tears free from the TB's chest, shaking the air with unrestrained fury. a sound so powerful it sends a tremor through the ground. A blinding yellow aura bursts forth, enveloping its entire body. Its form shifts—the coarse, dark hide morphing into sleek white fur, striped with deep black markings.
The team freezes, instincts screaming at them—this isn't the same creature anymore.
Flex tightens his stance, raising his shield. "Stay behind m—"
He never finishes.
The TB disappears.
An instant later—impact.
Time slows. The Tiger Beast a blur over him, its enormous claw swinging down—light catching the edges of its razor-sharp talons. Kin's breath catches. Seya's lips part in a silent gasp her face turns in fear.
Then—reality snaps back.
A thunderous blow smashes into Flex's shield. The sheer force launches him backward, his body twisting through the air. His sword spins loose, metal glinting as it crashes to the ground.
Flex lands hard. The impact forces blood from his lips, staining the dirt beneath him. He doesn't move.
"FLEX!"
Ceru's world collapses in an instant.
Seya panics.
Pure, raw desperation surges through her as she unleashes a storm of magic—fire, lightning, streaks of piercing light. The spells hammer into the TB, explosions rippling across its body. The beast snarls, momentarily disoriented by the onslaught.
That's all the time they have.
Kin and Ceru sprint to Flex.
Ceru falls to her knees beside him, hands trembling over his broken form. Her vision blurs.
Tears spill down her face as she presses her pure green glowing hands against his wounds. Magic flares—unstable, desperate, raw.
"Please... please..." Her voice cracks.
Kin's fingers curl into iron knots, his jaw locking like a sprung trap.
He snatches up Flex's fallen sword. He turns toward the TB—Seya's barrage still keeping it occupied. Seya is still firing, her magic a chaotic blaze of energy. But then—her knees buckle.
She collapses.
Kin catches her before she hits the ground, holding her against him for a brief second before rushing her back to Ceru.
"Take care of them." His voice is steadfast, unfaltering.
Kin turns. Flex's sword in his grip.
The Tiger Beast meets his gaze.
It ROARS.