Darkness swallowed him.
Not the soft dark of closed eyes, nor the fleeting haze of sleep, but a void so deep it felt like oblivion.
Kira drifted, formless, weightless, without breath or pulse.
No limbs to flex, no heart to thud, no lungs to draw air.
For an endless moment, he questioned his own existence, a ghost adrift in nothingness, his thoughts a faint flicker in an abyss.
Then—a pulse.
A faint, blue glow throbbed from within him, like a heartbeat in reverse, cold and alien.
It was him.
He was awake, but not alive.
Not as he'd known life.
No eyes to blink, no throat to scream, yet his mind churned, sharp and raw, clawing at the edges of this strange new state.
What is this?
Where am I?
His thoughts spiraled, frantic, but his core—whatever he was now—remained still, suspended in a silence that pressed like damp stone.
He tried to move, to reach out, but there was nothing to move.
He tried to speak, to curse, but no sound came.
Only the pulse, steady, mocking.
Am I dead?
No.
Something else.
Something worse.
Memory crashed over him, a flood of jagged shards.
Avelia's cold eyes, glinting like polished steel. The circle of blades, gleaming in torchlight. Elaine's trembling fingers, her staff glowing as she cast the first spell—fire searing.
The pain seared anew—his jaw shattering under the hammer, blood flooding his mouth, his vision fading as his so-called family struck again and again.
They betrayed me.
His fury surged, a molten wave trapped in his formless core.
I gave them everything, and they slaughtered me.
A new pulse thrummed through him, sharp and electric, jolting his thoughts.
System Notification: Core Activation Complete
Welcome, Entity [Kira].
You are now bound to the Tutorial Dungeon Core.
Your former vessel has been destroyed.
Dungeon Status
Level: 0 -> Lv 1 (0/10)
Mana Pool: 100/100 (Regeneration: 1/minute)
Influence Range: 10 meters (Core Room only)
Defense Rating: 5 (Fragile stone structure)
Spawn Rate: 1 minion/hour (Max: 3 minions)
Arsenal:
Minions: 1 Slime (Level 1, Acidic Touch) - 10 Mana
1 Goblin Scout (Level 1, Weak Stab) - 15 Mana
Traps: 1 Pit Trap (Basic, 10 damage)
Floors: 1 (Single chamber, 10x10 meters)
Skills:
Core Sense (Detect lifeforms within Influence Range)
Basic Spawn (Create minions using Mana)
Illusion Weave (Minor visual deception, 10 Mana/use)
Objective: Absorb essence from invaders to grow. Expand your domain or crumble.
Warning: Core destruction results in permanent termination.
Protect your core at all costs.
Kira's mind reeled, a storm of rage and disbelief.
The Tutorial Dungeon—its damp stone walls, its stale, moldering air, the faint drip of water in the dark—he knew this place.
His first battle, his first scar, his first taste of power.
But now he was it.
Not a man, not a hero, not even a monster.
A dungeon core, a glowing orb nestled in a cracked stone altar, pulsing faintly in the gloom.
They didn't just kill me.
The thought burned, bitter as ash.
They erased me.
No grave, no name, just this forgotten chamber at the world's edge, buried beneath their lies.
His fury condensed, a black coal in his core, smoldering with a promise.
They'll pay. All of them.
He focused, his will sharpening like a blade.
A command rose, instinctual, from the depths of his new form.
[Basic Spawn – Slime] – 10 Mana
A faint glow flickered in a stagnant puddle of mana across the chamber, where the air hung heavy with rot.
The puddle gurgled, bubbled, and writhed, birthing a translucent blue slime.
It wobbled, eyeless, its gelatinous form glistening in the dim light.
It bounced once, twice, then slid toward the wall with agonizing slowness, leaving a slick trail of ooze.
It bumped the stone with a soft fwump, paused, then bumped again.
Fwump.
Fwump.
Fwump.
Fwump.
Fwump.
As if sheer stubbornness could break the ancient rock.
Kira's core pulsed with irritation.
This is my army?
A brainless jelly that fights walls?