Glenn
*Outside the dungeon, around the time Jiwoo received the updated quest.*
I sat inside my office, the light were dull, only the flickering light of the monitors in front of me illuminated what was inside my almost barren office, devoid of any personal belongings, not even a simple photo.
I leaned deeper into my seat, legs perched up on the control desk in front of me, I took a pack of cigarettes out of my coat pocket, flicking the pack open and taking one out.
I brought the cigarette to my lips, holding it as I paced a finger close to it and a flickering flame lit the tip.
The burning smell of tabacoo submerged the inside of the office, my noise tingled a little, as a shallow trail of smoke exuded from tip.
I moved the filter between my lips a little, getting the feel of it, taking a slow puff, enjoying the smoke enter my system.
With another puff, I leaned deeper into my seat.
"Ah, nothing beats a good smoke." I said, taking a peek at the many monitors that were attached to the wall in front of me.
The monitors displayed many open spaces, the bright shades of distorted space which left a tremor around the plain; dungeon gates.
Each monitor had a different dungeon on them. Some were very low ranking, so high, but my job was to simply observe for any change and report back.
It was easy enough, and almost all of the time, nothing went wrong. This was the boring but fulfilling part of the job, I was getting paid to just watch some dungeon gates all day long, report for any anomalies and to show the way around to newcomers who came to explore dungeons.
I took a steady puff, exhaling the smoke after a second, smelling the tabacoo fill the air.
But then, I turned my gaze away from the middle, moving it to the farther right, until I looked at an open plain where a shimmering dungeon gate stood quietly.
I pursed my lips, correcting the position of the cigarette between my lips. "It's been a week since that kid entered that dungeon." I thought, inclining my head.
But with a shrug, I straightened slightly, feeling my neck was getting stiff. "Well it's not my place to worry about anyone, it's their choice to enter those stupid dungeon gates, even as kids..."
I finished the cigarette, taking the filter and pressing the still burning tip over the surface of an ashtray close by.
"..but somehow that kid was different from the other people I have met."
I said in passing to myself. I had seen many reckless chums, entering the dungeon owned by the black market, feeling confident enough that they could conquer it and return safely, but almost ninety-nine percent of the times, they would come back untriumphant with some as lucky as with just a few broken bones and ripped skin.
But, it's been a while since I had seen someone like that kid. He was confident, but never arrogant in his way of speech of mannerisms, like most kids these age.
Truly, what had our world come to, just a few years back, they still respected their elders, and now, it's all about who's the stronger hunter— more power, more backing...blah, blah, blah...the lost could go now forever.
'But still, that kid might just be one of those few diamonds mixed among countless pebbles.' I murmured, not sure why I was immersed in that kid all of a sudden.
But, I had to admit, he did carry himself like a pro.
Guess, if you are on the job long enough, you tend to find almost anything important when bored.
I lit another cigarette mid though, taking a puff. He looked at the glowing tip.
I guess, I should think about starting a family. But, the realisation soon dawned upon him.
But in this economy...nah ah, no way in hell. I can barely take care of myself, but to top it of with a wife and kids...that would be so unlike me.
I thought with a shake of my head, smirking at the weird thought.
I relaxed for the next few minutes, until, I saw something shift in the monitor I was observing previously.
My brows sharply knitted into a frown, blinking my eyes several times to check if I was seeing things right.
"What?" I was preplaxed, my eyes watching in horror.
My eyes were glued to the monitor, my breathing heavier now as I felt sweat on my back.
The dungeon gate—the devil's whisper gate—rippled, a quiet tremor ran through it, then it flickered uncontrollably. I shot up from my seat, hands placed on the control desk.
The shimmering shade of black released by the gate twisted, taking a darker and more hideous amthyest and blood crimson, soon the screen wobbled like paper being ripped apart and soon it blacked out.
My eyes shot wide open as I immediately lunged at the transmitter placed to the side, it was beeping rapidly, I pressed a button over its surface and immediately a rushed and panicked voice resounded.
"The Dungeon gate: C-45Z2, Code name 'Devil's Whisper has gone berserk. Its mana conductivity has increased a few folds by the set threshold. I Repeat, the Dungeon C-45Z2, Code Name 'Devil's Whisper has gone berserk. It's mana conductivity has increased a few folds by the set threshold."
"It's magic power has surged to
"Roger, I will be there in a moment." I responded in an instant, and soon the voice cut out, I clenched the device in my hand, feeling my eyes linger over the blanked monitor for a second too long.
I dashed toward the door in a flash, slamming it open and rushing outside. Slow steps turned into strides as I rushed through the wide hallway, soon taking a right turn and moving as fast as I could.
"Why is that dungeon going berserk?"
***
Seo Jiwoo
"Welcome."
The moment we entered the side chamber, I heard a melodical voice echo inside my ears.
The chamber around me was dim, there was this nagging feeling at the back of my head that alerted me the moment I took a step in.
I snapped my head in both ways, but I saw nothing. It was dimly lit, the outside a contrast to the creeping inside, like a hand crawling up my legs and taking a hold of my throat.
"Jiwoo." From my side, the weak voice of Jihoon entered my ears this time.
I snapped my head toward the young boy, and my eyes widened slowly with just how sad he looked for some reason.
His finger pointed at the front, I followed his gaze, swallowing heavily as I took a breath to calm my nerves.
"Can't you see her? She's right there!"
I registered a throne sitting lazily at the far end of the chamber.
But the ominous grip over my throat didn't subside any less. I felt like there was something very wrong about this place.
"Heh..."
I heard a chuckle reverberate inside the throne room, full of mirth and sadistic joy.
I realised soon that not only Jihoon, but even Jiyoung's posture seemed odd, her eyes looked baffled, uncertain, questioning everything. Her eyes were fixed on the throne, her mouth quivering, her hands clenched into white knuckled fists.
Like they were trapped inside an illusion. Something that crawled at their deepest darkest secrets.
I tried to shake them out of their stupor, but no matter how hard I tried they didn't listen.
"It's best if you don't..." I heard that same irritating voice again, but this time clearer. "They can't understand a word you're saying."
I moved my head to the far end and saw someone standing beside the throne. It's demeanour was aloof and nonchalant, as if deeming us unfit to even breath the very air around it.
I focused and saw his clear features. His features looked identical to humans. His black hair which fell to his shoulders, loose by each strand that framed his impeccable face. An exquisitely tailored robe wrapped around his body, perfectly outlining his athletic physique.
He looked incredibly handsome, each curve of his bones, the stroke of his nose was symmetrical.
But the one thing which made my blood boil were his eyes.
Those deep blue eyes, with a hint of crimson mixed very faintly. I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on him, what he was.
His eyes shined mysteriously, dark hued and magnificent. My arms quivered, unable to contain my anger.
He moved, his steps close and deliberate, taking a seat on the throne, his gaze handling over me after a heartbeat.
"Pathetic humans."
I already knew who he was, or to be exact what he was!
Jiyoung and Jihoon struggled in my grasp, before both crumbled in front of me. Their bodies limb and unmoving.
I panicked for a moment, but realised they were breathing, but knocked out by whatever that demon had done to them that didn't work on me.
I supported both siblings in my arms, Jihoon's eyes welling with tears now, his face twisted with melancholy. I stood up and glared at him, I didn't know what kind of face I was making, but it probably wasn't good.
"So, you killed the dungeon boss and took over the dungeon?" I said, not giving him a hint of my panic barely contained below my bravado. "Surely, the start of whatever master plan you are trying to thread together."
He looked surprised, only momentarily, but an evident smile bloomed across his face.
Resting his cheek over his right hand, he took a breath, giving me a slight grin as he spoke as if speaking to a big not worth communicating with.
"Ho, you can see me?" His tone was palpably disgusted.
"More or less," I responded with a shrug, matching eye contact with him.
After a short moment, I shrugged again, showing my displeasure in the whole situation.
"But I don't feel pleased meeting a demon at a time like this," I scoffed. "I was just on my way to clear this dungeon and take a shower back home. But, my luck likes to fuck me over every chance it gets, it seems."
"Ah, right. Well, that's unfortunate..."He looked at me with a solemn expression, a hint of a wry smirk over his lips.
'Damn it...this quest has turned it something too ridiculous. To face off a demon in my current strength will be asking me to kill myself!
I, despite being someone who had regressed back in time, was not confident in facing a ranked demon in my current strength.
If I remembered correctly, there are seven rankings amongst the demon, which portrays their hierarchy and power.
And for some reason, a demon was ranked based on the colour of their eyes. It wasn't just a ranking system made by us, but they used it themselves more often.
The higher the purity of their eyes the stronger their bloodline and strength was.
The highest ranking demon obviously being that sonovabitch demon king, whose hands I had died by a few days ago.
And a way for the demons to grow stronger was to receive the demon king's blood, the purest form of power in their kind.
This way the other demons started to do the same as the demon king did.
If a demon with a higher rank shares his blood with a demon on a lower rank, the latter will have his strength increased by a few folds, but controling their berserk power in that time period was the biggest issue even for them.
But only in rare cases that is!
Demon don't just give their blood willingly. They weren't charitable enough to do that just to make a strong enough army to destroy the humans.
Because those bastards are the embodiment of desires, they are selfish to their bones and soul. The biggest fuckers to ever exist.
There are other ways for demons to raise their ranks, one of them is to form a contract with an individual, but even that had side effects of its own.
The ranks of the demons are decided by the colour of their eyes, going from.
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Crimson Eyes.Grey-crimson Eyes.Amber-crimson Eyes.Hazel-crimson Eyes.Torquise-crimson Eyes.Green-crimson Eyes.Blue-crimson Eyes.
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With crimson being the eyes of the highest ranked demons who are just under the demon king. As well as the demon king himself
And blue being the weakest—if I think about it, there was a rank below it, but they were just the weakest demons.
The higher the colour the stronger the demon.
But distinguishing a demon is simple. They, unlike humans can't use mana. But the power they used was called demonic energy.
It was type of energy that was completely different from mana, it was corrupted, powerful and sinister.
Currently, I was in front of the lowest ranked demon. But if we compare the strength of a blue eyed demon to a hunter, they can well be ranked between the
Currently my strength was not close to his, and I held a clear disadvantage.
I had Jihoon and Jiyoung who were now trapped inside his illusion or some kind of spell.
'Fuck'
I inwardly cured as I gazed at the figure of the demon, who elegantly sat on the throne, taking delight in our situation.
"I do love to play with my prey," he barked. "And, you seemed to have piqued my interest, but just a little. For you to not be trapped inside my spell." He paused and then continued with an incline of his head.
"Well, there are two ways for someone to escape my illusions. First, to have a skill which negates the effects off my illusions, but even then, that would be extremely difficult on their level, and second, to have a very, very strong mental capacity to repel my control!"
"So which is it, the former or the latter human?"
He looked at me with an amused expression. As if I was his play thing from the moment I had stepped into his trap.
I kept quiet. Right now the gears in my head were running on full throttle. I could feel my heart throb unconditionally inside my chest.
I needed to come up with a way to escape this place. Is escape even an option now?
If I don't face the demon, then the quest wouldn't be complete and as penalty I would die.
But if I face this demon with my current strength there's just as much a high chance that I would die.
'Damn it.'
I racked my brain thinking of ways to survive together with Jiyoung and Jihoon.
But with a breath, I felt my face eased.
"Heh..." I chuckled unknowingly.
'When the hell did I become such a coward?'
Giving myself a hard slap on my right cheek, which in conclusion had calmed me down and brought me back to my senses, I took a breath, knowing that there was no second option in situations like these.
Losing my composure won't do me any good.
'I can do this! I'm sure the system gave me this quest based on the ruling that I could clear it.' I thought, but my mind still betrayed the worst case scenario.
I focused my gaze on to the demon once again
'And even if I could I wasn't one to run away in the face of an enemy, that's the type of guy I was, and still am!"
Taking bleak Star out of its scabbard, I held it tightly in my hand. Then, placing the scabbard inside the inventory, I glared at the demon.
Suddenly, my knees shook from an enormous pressure that bore down on the chamber, trying to pin me to the floor, choking the air from my lungs.
Just as it did, both Jihoon and Jiyoung squirmed in their unconsciousness state, seeing this made a smirk to brandish over the demon's face.
Channelling the mana inside my body, I reinforced my body, muscles and skin alike, outing pressure over my calves, I firmed the sword din my hand.
The demon stood up from the throne and started walking in my direction.
"Let us begin!"
Without even an ounce of hesitation, the demon and I started our clash.
***
Glenn
I opened the door in a rush, my hands shaking by my sides, my breathing heavy like I'd run a marathon just getting to the control room.
"How is the progress?" I said, sweat bedding down my temples.
"For now there are no changes, but..."
A male youth sat in the front of the operating monitors, his hand clenched in nervousness.
"But what?" I said, my voice almost a shout.
"...but there is a high chance of a dungeon break, Sir!" He stated.
And I knew myself that the worst case scenario could happen. If a dungeon break happen now, it could cause the mana around it to destabilise and cause a ripple effect, making the area more vulnerable to further dungeon breaks in the future.
"A few fractures have formed around the dungeon gate and the gate has locked itself, so no one can enter neither exit the dungeon!"
The youth hurriedly explained, his face sweating, as he spat orders through the intercom in front of him.
Turing my attention from the youth to the monitor, I solemnly looked at the monitor which displayed the devil's whisper dungeon gate.
"Have you informed the higher ups?" I asked in passing, knowing they would've gotten the report already.
"Yes, we have sent code-red protocol!"
"Good!" I breathed, giving the boy a tap on his shoulder, as I reached for the door
I exited quietly, lighting a cigarette immediately.
"Thing have gotten quite bad."
***
Seo Jiwoo
Five minutes have passed since my clash with the demon started. And, the odd were way against me.
Even in those five minutes I couldn't find a single opening to attack.
Closing the distance between us, the demon approached me.
His speed was incredibly fast. I was barely able to dodge and counter his attack.
'Good thing I increased my Agility stat.'
I inwardly thought as I dodge his incoming attack.
He was fighting with his bare hands, his long nails were just as sharp as any fine made sword.
His speed increased and he appeared beside me.
Kicking me in my ribs, I went crashing on the right wall of the throne room.
"Huff...huff..."
Standing up from the floor, I clenched the pommel of my sword and lunged in his direction.
As I reached the demon he was also ready to attack me.
But activating Mind's Eye in the last second, the world around me slowed down and became colourless.
I was reaching to attack him close to his waist, and seeing this he also reacted the way I predicted him too.
In this slowed time I looked for an possibility to land a solid blow.
There I saw it.
Then the colours of the world returned and the slowed time from my perspective started to flow normally.
Twisting my torso at the last second I dodged his hand by a hair's length and brought my sword close to his ribs.
But he was fast to react, but it was something I has already predicted.
I turned the trajectory of Bleak Star and vertically slashed upwards.
I had coated my sword with the Mana I could gather around it, but that was enough.
Every since the start of the battle, I had been fighting with my full strength.
Because the gap between us was big and I could only counter it with the experience I have formulated over the years in my previous life.
Soon my sword connected to his hand and it slashed through it.
Slash—! Thud—!
With a subtle slashing sound his hand cut off from his body and fell down on the floor.
All of this happened in a mere of a few seconds.
Making some distance between us, the demon glared at me with his murderous eyes.
The hand which had fallen on the floor had turned into dust.
But the demon's hand had already started to regenerate.
Bringing my sword forward, I gazed at the demon before me.
'I can do this."