There was no sun beneath the earth. No moon, no sky. Only the flickering of qi-infused stones lining the cavern walls and the breathless silence of a subterranean world far removed from time.
Tae Hyun didn't know how long they'd been traveling—hours, days, weeks? Hunger gnawed at his gut in steady waves, and the ache in his legs had become a constant companion. His system's interface had long since lost signal in this strange domain, refusing to update, refusing to give any indication of the passage of time. He couldn't even tell if it was still "today" or some tomorrow that had already passed them by.
Beside him, Jinhwan moved like a silent wraith, dragging the corpse of a massive, tusked wolf behind him. Its neck was broken, jaw hanging open in a grotesque imitation of a final howl. They had learned quickly: the wolves hunted in coordinated packs, but sometimes stragglers fell behind, isolated from the swarm. Those were their only real chance at survival.
They made crude torches from the dried tendons of the wolves and lit them with qi sparks. Tae Hyun wasn't proud of it, but necessity dulled even the sharpest of morals. They had cooked meat over smoldering bones, slept in the hollowed-out ribcages of fallen beasts, and kept moving—always moving. The underground passages twisted and forked, an endless maze of rock and shadow. Every corner could be their last. Every step could lead deeper into oblivion.
"This place…" Jinhwan murmured one day—at least they assumed it was a day. His voice cracked from thirst. "It's like the earth itself is swallowing us alive."
Tae Hyun didn't reply. He had felt it too. The oppressive weight above them, the ever-tightening walls, the stale air that seemed to whisper forgotten names. Madness lingered just beyond reach, wearing the face of isolation and silence.
Still, they pressed on.
At one point, they stumbled upon what looked like ancient ruins. Broken columns, shattered altars, strange glyphs carved into walls that had no business existing underground. They didn't linger. Whatever civilization had built this place was long dead—and not peacefully.
They began marking the walls with their blood, crude arrows to prevent retracing steps. Each streak reminded them they were still alive.
Then, one night—or what passed for it—something changed.
A distant sound. Soft. Barely perceptible.
It wasn't the growl of wolves or the echo of falling stones. It was light. Airy. A breath. A presence.
Tae Hyun froze mid-step, hand instantly going to the hilt of his newly forged dagger, carved from wolf fang. Jinhwan noticed it too, his eyes narrowing, body coiled tight with tension.
A flicker of movement in the dark. A shadow between shadows.
And then she was there.
A blur of motion, a ripple of qi, and then Yul appeared from the darkness like a phantom reborn. Her hair was matted, her robes torn and stained with blood, but her eyes—they were sharp. Wild.
Before Tae Hyun could even speak, she launched forward, blade arcing toward his throat in a clean, lethal slash.
He barely dodged in time, falling backward as her dagger scraped against the cavern wall. Jinhwan leapt in front of him, sword raised, but Tae Hyun threw out his arm.
"Wait! It's me!" he gasped, heart hammering.
Yul froze.
Her blade hovered inches from his chest, her breath ragged, her hands trembling. Recognition dawned slowly—like a storm cloud retreating just enough to show the sun.
"…Tae Hyun?" she whispered.
The tension shattered like glass.
She collapsed to her knees, exhaustion catching up to her all at once. Tae Hyun dropped beside her, catching her before she fell completely.
"I thought I was alone," she said, voice breaking. "I thought everyone was dead."
He gripped her hand. "You're not alone."
Silence settled over the cavern, not from fear—but from fragile hope.
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Yul sat near the dim glow of a flickering wolf-bone fire, her knees pulled close to her chest, hands trembling not from cold, but from the weight of memory. Her eyes—once calm and calculating—now reflected something deeper: grief sharpened by guilt.
Tae Hyun and Jinhwan sat nearby, silent. The silence was respectful, expectant. No one rushed her. She had survived something horrific, and now the burden of what she carried needed to be spoken aloud.
"We were ambushed," Yul finally began, voice hoarse and cracked. "It was supposed to be a recon operation. Nothing major. Just a survey of the eastern perimeter of the array field... but it wasn't a perimeter. It was a trap."
She looked down, her fingers curling into fists. "The wolves came from everywhere—thousands of them. No warning. No sound. Just black shapes flooding the terrain. They weren't just beasts… They coordinated. Like soldiers."
Tae Hyun's eyes narrowed. That lined up with what he and Jinhwan had faced.
"They tore through us. Dae-sik tried to hold the line, but they dragged him under. Ji-eun was trying to cast a defensive ward when she was ripped apart. There was screaming—gods, so much screaming."
Her voice faltered.
"I ran. I didn't even think. I just ran and used every last bit of my qi to cloak myself in shadows. I got lucky. Found a crevice, buried myself in it, and waited. For hours. Maybe days."
Tae Hyun reached out slowly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She didn't flinch. "You survived. That matters."
Yul gave a bitter chuckle. "But at what cost? The others… I couldn't even find their bodies. Just blood. So much blood. I searched for you too. But then the array activated, and I was pulled under. I thought I was going to die."
"You didn't," Jinhwan said firmly. "You're here now. We all are."
A brief silence followed. The fire crackled. Something unseen scurried in the distance.
Yul glanced between the two of them. "What about you? How did you survive?"
Jinhwan opened his mouth, but Tae Hyun cut in quickly. "We kept moving. Fought when we had to. We've been… figuring it out."
He didn't want to mention the system. Not now. Not yet. That secret was still his burden alone.
Yul nodded slowly, accepting the answer without pressing. She was too tired to question the holes.
Tae Hyun stared into the flames, thoughts swirling.
'Thousands of wolves… coordinated… like soldiers.'
Something didn't add up. This wasn't a natural phenomenon. It was a trial—but who designed it?
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sharp chime in his mind.
> System Notification
New Objective: Flames in the Void
Your dual affinity—Shadow and Flame—has reached a potential threshold.
You have survived brutality. You have endured loss. Now, it is time to master your nature.
— Initiating Foundational Training Sequence: Shadow-Flame Synergy —
> Objectives:
— Meditate in isolation for 6 uninterrupted hours.
— Envelop one enemy in pure shadow without extinguishing their life force.
— Ignite flame without fire. Fuel it with will, not oxygen.
Completion will unlock:
— Shadowflame Vein Activation
— Passive Skill: Embers of the Abyss (Lv.1)
Warning: Failure to follow training order will result in backlash. Proceed with care.
Tae Hyun inhaled sharply.
The words burned themselves into the inside of his skull like seared script. His chest thudded—not from fear, but from the thrill of potential. Shadow and Flame… they weren't just opposites. They were mirrors. One concealed. The other revealed. And he would master both.
He looked up at Yul and Jinhwan.
Tomorrow, they would move again. They had to find a way out of this underground maze.
But tonight, while the others slept… he would begin.
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