'This bastard… can he not shut up for once?'
Ren clenched his lips tightly, his icy gaze locked onto the figure walking ahead. Each of Copper's footsteps echoed steadily through the cold stone corridor, but to Ren, it felt like they were stepping directly on every frayed nerve he had left.
The distance between them wasn't far, but not close enough to be called allies.
"You know, Ren…" Copper's voice drifted back, slow and steady, as if completely unfazed by the tension stretching taut behind him, "We can't force anyone to understand us. And we certainly can't ask them to forgive… what we ourselves can't forgive."
He didn't turn around. Just kept walking with that same relaxed, confident stride, like his words were nothing more than passing wind.
Ren's fists tightened. His knuckles turned white beneath the gloves. In his mind, memories shattered like glass shards cutting at his thoughts.
'Don't talk like you know me… you damn bastard…'
But his feet... didn't stop.
Ren kept moving forward, shoulders heavy, not from what he carried, but from that never-ending voice ahead. That voice, neither fully a monologue nor fully manipulation, drained the will from everything it touched.
A corridor of stone stretched endlessly, frozen in silence, broken only by the echo of footsteps... and Copper's monotonous voice, slowly bleeding the life out of the air.
Then came a low, guttural growl, followed by heavy, uneven footsteps...
A pack of Kobolds appeared, their filthy snouts wheezing and puffing out damp, moldy breath from deep within their throats.
Pairs of bloodshot eyes narrowed at their targets, and seconds later, the half-human, half-rat creatures surged forward like a crashing wave.
Ren sighed, gripped the hilt of his sword, metal chimed as he drew it.
He had been waiting for them.
Not because they were dangerous… but because they were the excuse he needed to shut Copper up.
Just low-level mobs. At this point, they were nothing more than warm-ups.
Ren slid aside, avoiding the clumsy swing of a Kobold's axe, then ducked, lowered his stance, and slashed.
A clean, sharp cut sliced through the creature's body. A familiar system message flashed, nothing special, nothing new.
Too slow. Too predictable. Like rewatching an old movie.
Ren didn't need to think, his body moved on its own. As long as he found the rhythm, his muscle memory would take care of the rest.
Across the hall, a cold whooshing sound cut through the air, four Kobold bodies collapsed nearly at once.
Copper flicked his wrist, pulling his sword free from the last monster's corpse, then glanced at Ren.
"You've grown much stronger... I'm glad."
His voice was calm, light, as if they were chatting in a park, not standing in a blood-streaked corridor.
Ren gripped his sword tighter. He didn't reply, but his eyes flicked over, instinctively tracking Copper's movement.
He was fast. Precise.
Every swing of his blade held no wasted motion, as though every movement had been honed into reflex. Even after finishing a wave of monsters, he hadn't so much as broken a breath… His body must have grown far too accustomed to battle.
He was strong. Ren didn't need to say it. He knew.
From the first time they met, he knew. The way Copper always entered a room like he owned every glance.
The way his brown eyes gleamed with a confidence that bordered on arrogance, but it wasn't vanity. It was because he had every reason to hold his head high.
Ren used to think, if he just try hard enough, if he grit his teeth and push forward, then one day… he'll catch up. he'll surpass him.
For a month and a half, he'd grinded until his feet wore thin, slept and ate irregularly, polished every strike like his life depended on it...because it did.
But there was one thing Ren had forgotten.
While he was fighting his trauma, his memories, and his fear…
Everyone else had been fighting too.
No one stayed still.
No one waited for him to catch up.
Ren didn't hate Copper. From the beginning… he'd only been angry. But what he hated was this feeling…
'He's stronger than me…'
…At least for now.
And that...though he didn't want to admit it, cut deep into the pride Ren had left.
Somewhere inside him, a voice was screaming, the weak part of him desperate to prove he wasn't lesser.
…But another part… had grown quiet. Slowly learning to accept… that some roads can't be walked through sheer will alone.
He couldn't live forever in someone else's shadow.
But if he wanted to step out of it… maybe he had to walk through it first.
......
"We're about to run into a Mini Boss... Do you still remember its movement pattern and skills?"
Copper's voice echoed, not loud, but just enough to make Ren stop walking.
He looked up, met the other man's gaze. Cold. Sharp. But this time… there was something softened in it.
As if, just now… Copper had realized something.
"I'm sorry... back then, you weren't ready to fight..."
The words weren't sharp like a blade, yet they still made Ren freeze. Not because of the tone, but because they were true.
He remembered this place. Remembered it well.
The memory, though blurred like ink smeared by water, remained: a narrow, damp hallway with the stench of dried blood clinging to every stone. And then came the heavy, dragging footsteps of a grotesque figure.
A mutated Kobold.
Still half-man, half-rat...but nearly twice the size of its kin, its coarse, mold-gray fur matted with some unknown viscous fluid. It carried a bone axe, fissures running along the blade, making it look even more unnatural.
That time... Ren had been powerless.
He didn't remember how many times he'd been hit. Only the pounding fear in his chest, the trembling limbs, the sword that no longer obeyed his will.
All he could do was stand there.
Stand there and watch others fight in his place.
Ren exhaled softly, fingers tightening on his sword hilt.
"...I remember," he answered, his voice lower than usual. "It swings its axe counterclockwise, charges after roaring, and has a skill that doubles its attack range."
Copper gave a slight nod. His expression shifted, unclear whether it was approval, or surprise.
Ren continued:"Each time it pulls its axe out of the ground, there's an opening. But if you strike the handle, you'll get deflected. Its armor is thickest on the left shoulder."
A few seconds of silence followed.
Then Copper smiled, not the usual smirk, but a subtle nod, like for the first time, he truly saw Ren as a warrior.
"Then this time... we'll face it again."
Copper's words faded, and Ren didn't answer.
He just stepped forward.
One beat ahead of Copper.
A short step...but it tore through the invisible chains that had held him back for so long.
The memory of that time... the fear, the helplessness, the screams of flesh and failure, they were still there. But this time, they didn't pull him back.
They pushed him forward.
At the end of the corridor, the massive shadow emerged, a grotesque Kobold, hulking in size, with three blood-red HP bars hovering above it.
It roared. But it was too late.
Ren moved in a flash.
No hesitation. No doubt. Not even a blink.
His blade left its sheath in a gust of cold wind. His silhouette shot through the darkness, so fast the monster couldn't even let out a second roar before steel sliced across its body.
A clean arc. A cold, sharp strike.
[Critical Hit!]
The first HP bar dropped by nearly a third, not because the attack was stronger, but because it came from someone who was no longer the trembling shadow of the past.
Steel rang out beneath the earth. And behind him, Copper narrowed his eyes, as if witnessing something appear for the first time.
The Kobold roared, a deafening cry echoing through the hall, as if trying to tear apart the silence of the dungeon.
But Ren didn't back down, he pressed forward, not giving it the chance to retaliate.
He twisted his wrist, lowered his stance, stepped left, every movement etched into his blood. The second sword skill activated, a thrust aimed at the joint between the shoulder armor and chest.
[Critical Hit!]
The monster staggered. Its first HP bar, already wounded, dropped to 10%. It roared in fury, blood-red rodent eyes locked onto Ren with unrelenting rage.
"GRRRR—!!"
The axe came crashing down from above.
Ren didn't dodge.
He knew that arc by heart, an old problem he'd once failed. Instead of backing away, he slipped beside it, letting the blade miss him by inches before burying itself in stone.
In that moment, Ren twisted, swung upward, and shattered the rest of the first HP bar in a flash of bursting sparks from the system.
[Mini Boss - Kobold Brute Lv.5][HP bar: 2/3]
Behind him, Copper had yet to act. He was only watching.
Not out of contempt. But evaluation.
"Not bad..." he murmured. "You're not just a shadow anymore."
Ren paid no mind to the comment. He only steadied his breath, eyes locked on the howling monster. It moved faster now, its legs slammed down hard, spinning its body and swinging its axe with even greater force.
"My turn."
Copper's voice rang out like a declaration.
He moved like wind, smooth, nearly invisible in the flickering light.
His blade sliced the air, three strikes in rapid succession, too fast for Ren to follow. A cross-shaped flash of light tore through the Kobold's back, sending it crashing to its knees in an instant.
[Mini Boss - Kobold Brute: HP bar: 1/3]
Ren gritted his teeth.
...The gap... was wider than he thought.
Even after breaking free of the past, even after finding the calm to face the enemy that once made him tremble... there was still something that made Ren feel small.
The distance.
Still so far…
He knew. But this time, he wouldn't retreat.
"Fall back," Ren said softly, then stepped in for the final counterattack.
His sword traced a wide arc, not filled with overwhelming power, but every ounce of resolve forged from failure.
One strike. Then two. Then three, each one carving the path he'd chosen.
A deep, guttural roar echoed.
The monster collapsed.
[Mini Boss Defeated][You received 150 EXP.][You received 200 Cor.]