Drip.
Drip...
...drip.
His tongue was dry, his stomach—louder.
"I'm hungry..."
He whispered it like it might help, it only made the emptiness in his gut twist.
He hadn't eaten since... since the noodles at lunch. Then the shift. Then the signatures. Then...
This place.
The dungeon.
Vorn sat hunched under a half-broken pipe, knees pulled up, chest thumping slow.
He didn't know how long it had been. Hours? Minutes? The red-tinted dark didn't change, no sun, no clock. Only the sound of water tapping somewhere above him.
Drip.
The card was still inside him.
Not hanging out anymore—it had gone back in after that thing folded into dust, he didn't know how, he didn't ask he was still too shaken.
His hands trembled as he pressed them against the floor. It was cold. Slimy in parts, he stood, stumbled his legs ached.
"What now..." he mumbled.
No one answered.
Grrooowl-
He didn't want to move but he had to, step by step, Vorn started walking. Right hand grazing the wall. Fingers brushing damp cracks and old rust, a faint breeze blew rusty like smell of blood. His breath hitched, he followed it.
The corridor bent, then opened. A cave, not a big one. The source?
A creature.
It looked like a wolf.
Except it wasn't.
Bigger. Shoulders broad. Pelt black like burnt ash. And red eyes. Four of them, it was hunched over something. Tearing.
Crunch-
Vorn crouched, hands to his mouth, the smell was worse now. Blood. And whatever that thing had killed, he almost turned back, but his body didn't listen, his eyes stayed on the monster
"If I wait… it might leave. Then I can... take the rest."
He waited, one minute, three, the beast stopped eating, its head jerked, sniffed the air, Vorn didn't breathe, didn't blink.
Then—
The beast stood, turned, and walked away, its steps could be heard in the distance,
Fuhhh...
Vorn didn't move for a long while.
Then...
He crawled forward, what it had killed was a rabbit, kind of, longer legs, horns, dead. He stared at it, his stomach didn't care, he reached out, fingers shaking. Tore off a chunk of the leg, his throat tightened, he shut his eyes, and bit, blood filled his mouth, warm,
Metallic.
He certainly was not used to this, but he chewed.
"Gkk-ugh"
Gagged, bit again, it wasn't food, but a man gotta adapt, he didn't know how many bites he took before the taste stopped mattering.
Then—
[Dungeon Adaptation: +1a
A small line appeared in the air, he blinked.
Another line followed:
[Beginner Survival Instinct: Activated]
Then it disappeared, nothing more, he stared.
"So… it really is a system. Just... not talkative."
His voice cracked at the end, he sat down. Back to the wall. Blood still on his lips, his eyes burned, not from crying, just tired, a soft ping vibrated through his wrist.
A blue shimmer hovered in the air. Just a small square. Almost like a...
"Notification box..."
[Volunteer #00294: Gift Pack Unlocked for Signing Contract of Free Will]
[Opening...]
He didn't move.
Then a small light drifted toward him. Blue. Shaped like a triangle, it circled once, twice, and vanished into his chest.
click-
Pain spread behind his eyes, then he saw it, lying by his feet.
Glasses.
Simple. Thin-rimmed. Blue.
He picked them up slowly, the moment his fingers touched them... Teleported to his face, the lenses flashed once, then everything changed, he slipped them on.
The cave sharpened, details he missed before popped, cracks in the wall, tracks in the dirt, blood trails. Words appeared at the edge of his vision.
[Analyzer: Active]
[Target Identified: Lesser Horned Burrower]
[Threat Level: D]
[Edibility: 72%]
[Left hind muscle—Undamaged]
He turned to the deeper tunnel, another reading popped up.
[Active Entity Detected]
[Threat Level: C-]
[Distance: 54 meters]
He staggered back.
"...So that thing... was C rank? And it ignored me?"
He couldn't laugh, he didn't want to, the glasses made it clearer now, he was trapped in a dungeon with monsters ranked like enemies in games.
And he... was at the bottom, no level, no class, no anything except a card that kills and eats his memories.
And now—
Glasses.
He reached into his pocket, pulled the card, it was warm again, like it liked being held, blood mark shimmered across the back.
He sighed.
"Fine... If this is it... then I'm in."
The cave around him rumbled softl, and a soft ding rang out:
[Title Unlocked: Initiate of the Seal]
[Starting Path...]
[Seal Rank: ???]
He looked up.
The path ahead...as unknown as it might be.
He stepped into it.