Day 1
Pain was the first thing that returned. Not a localized, precise pain, but a total suffering that embraced every nerve, every muscle, every cell of his body. As if he had been dipped in acid and left to burn from within.
Aiden opened his eyes. The darkness was almost total. Only a faint greenish glow – the phosphorescent moss on the walls – gave a vague idea of the space around him. He was lying on his back, on something hard and cold. Stone. The dungeon floor.
He tried to move. His limbs responded, but slowly, awkwardly, as if they no longer quite belonged to him. He rolled onto his side, wincing as a new wave of pain shot through his torso.
His hands searched for his headlamp. Gone. Torn off during… during what exactly? What had happened?
Memories returned in fragments. The goblins. The attack. The dungeon closing in. The blinding light. Then… nothing.
I'm dead. I should have died.
But he was there. Alive. Breathing.
Aiden slowly pushed himself up, leaning against the nearest wall. Every movement was torture, but he forced his body to obey. He had to understand. Had to know where he was.
The chamber was the same – the one with the Boss's corpse. The creature still lay in the center, its enormous mass motionless in the gloom. But something had changed. The atmosphere was different. Heavier. More oppressive. As if the air itself had become denser.
And it was… cold. Not the normal dungeon cold. A gnawing cold that penetrated to the bone, giving the impression that the temperature continued to drop without ever stopping.
Aiden looked around, searching for the goblins that had attacked him.
Nothing.
No bodies. No traces. As if they had never existed.
What happened?
He tried to think, but his head was foggy, his thoughts slow and confused. Hunger and thirst were already beginning to make themselves felt – a burning in his stomach, a dryness in his throat.
How long? How long was I unconscious?
He had no way of knowing.
Aiden rummaged through his pockets. The distress beacon was still there, but off. He tried to activate it. Nothing. Dead. Either the battery was exhausted, or… or something in the dungeon had fried it.
His phone. He pulled his phone from his back pocket. The screen was cracked, but when he pressed the button, it lit up faintly.
Battery: 12%
No signal
Date: [System Error]
Time: [System Error]
The basic functions were dead. Only the flashlight still worked. Aiden activated it, and a faint white light illuminated the chamber.
The Boss's corpse was in an advanced state of decomposition. Not natural. Accelerated. Flesh was detaching from bones in places, revealing a whitish skeletal structure. An unbearable odor rose from the carcass – rot, mold, something older and fouler.
The dungeon has closed. And now… it's resetting.
It was the only explanation. The cycle the documentaries talked about, the one no one had ever seen from the inside.
Aiden was stuck in a dungeon in the middle of a reset.
How long does it take? How long before it reopens?
He had no idea.
A distant rumble echoed in the depths of the dungeon. The walls trembled slightly, causing dust and small fragments of stone to fall. Aiden instinctively pressed himself against the wall, his heart pounding.
The dungeon was alive. Changing. Tearing itself apart and rebuilding itself.
I have to get out. I have to find the portal.
Aiden headed towards the corridor he remembered entering – the one that led to the upper level. But when he reached the opening, he stopped dead.
The passage no longer existed.
Instead, there was a wall. Solid. Continuous. As if the corridor had never existed.
No. No no no.
Aiden ran to another passage. Same result. Wall.
A third. Wall.
All the corridors leading from the chamber were now blocked. Sealed. As if the dungeon was closing in on him, trapping him in this chamber with the Boss's decaying corpse.
Panic rose in his throat, icy and suffocating. He punched the wall with his fists, again and again, ignoring the pain exploding in his knuckles.
"OPEN UP!" he screamed, his voice breaking. "LET ME OUT! PLEASE!"
The wall remained solid. Impassive.
Aiden collapsed, back against the cold stone, his hands trembling and bloody.
I'm going to die here. Alone. In the dark.
Silence fell again, only disturbed by his own erratic breathing.
And then, slowly, something changed.
The walls began to crack. Not to collapse – to fissure, like an eggshell about to hatch. Veins of violet light appeared in the stone, pulsing to the rhythm of an invisible heart.
Aiden watched, hypnotized and terrified, as one of the cracks widened, opening like a wound. Behind it, he saw only darkness. A different darkness from that of the chamber. Deeper. Older.
And something emerged.
A shape. Small. Crawling.
A goblin.
But not like the ones Aiden had seen before. This one was… incomplete. Its skin was translucent, revealing half-formed muscles and bones. Its eyes were just empty sockets that glowed with a sickly light. It moved jerkily, like a puppet with poorly strung wires.
It spawned. The dungeon spawns monsters.
The goblin turned its eyeless head towards Aiden, and even without a gaze, there was intent. Recognition.
Hunger.
It crawled towards Aiden, its claws scraping the stone.
Aiden sprang to his feet, searching for a weapon. His Cleaner's knife was still at his belt, miraculously. He drew it, his trembling hands gripping the h hilt.
The goblin was getting closer. Slowly. Inexorably.
When it was within reach, it leaped.
Aiden reacted purely on instinct, raising the knife. The blade sank into the creature's torso, passing through the translucent flesh with disconcerting ease. The goblin let out a cry – not of pain, but of surprise – before collapsing to the ground, convulsing.
Aiden recoiled, panting, the knife dripping with a black, viscous liquid.
The goblin stopped moving. Its body began to dissolve, transforming into a gelatinous substance that slowly evaporated, leaving only a small puddle of dark residue.
I killed it. I killed a monster.
It wasn't pride Aiden felt. It was terror. Because if one monster had spawned, others would follow.
And he was trapped here with them.
Day 2
Time lost all meaning.
Aiden didn't know how many hours had passed since he killed the first goblin. There was no day, no night in the dungeon. Just a constant darkness, punctuated by the faint glow of moss and crystals.
His phone was dead now, the battery exhausted. The light was gone with it.
He sat against the wall, the knife resting on his lap, staring into the darkness. The cracks in the walls continued to open periodically, spitting out new goblins. Incomplete. Deformed. But increasingly solid with each spawn.
Aiden had killed three more. Each fight was brutal, desperate. He had no training, no technique. Just the instinct to survive and fear.
But it wasn't the goblins that were killing him.
It was hunger.
His stomach had twisted into painful knots. He hadn't eaten since… how long? A day? Two? He had lost count. The cereal bar he had in his bag was long gone. His water bottle, empty.
There was water in the dungeon – stagnant puddles that collected in the hollows of the floor. The water was murky, greenish, smelling of mold. But Aiden no longer had a choice. He drank. The taste was vile, metallic, but it was water.
It kept him alive.
But the hunger…
Hunger was a living beast gnawing at his insides. It screamed constantly, demanding, insisting. His hands trembled. His head spun. Every movement required superhuman effort.
I'm going to starve to death. Slowly. In the dark.
Aiden looked at the Boss's corpse.
He had avoided it until now, staying as far away as possible from the decaying carcass. But now, in the almost total darkness, he could still make out its mass, in the center of the chamber.
Meat.
The thought imposed itself, chilling and obscene.
It's flesh. Muscles. Protein.
No. It was crazy. It was… monstrous. Eat a monster corpse? The very idea turned his stomach.
But his stomach was already empty. Hollow. Starving.
You're going to die. If you don't eat, you're going to die.
Aiden closed his eyes, trying to chase the thought away. But it kept coming back. Again and again. Insistent. Logical.
Emy. You have to survive. For Emy. You promised her. You promised to come back.
Hours passed. Or maybe minutes. Time no longer existed.
The hunger became unbearable. A constant, sharp pain that eclipsed everything else.
Aiden stood up, swaying, leaning against the wall to keep from falling. His legs barely supported him.
He crossed the chamber, step by step, to the Boss's corpse.
The smell was abominable. The flesh was half-rotten, covered in a viscous, blackish substance. Maggots – or what looked like maggots – swarmed in the open wounds.
Aiden felt bile rise in his throat. He turned away, fighting the urge to vomit.
I can't. I can't do this.
He took a step back.
Then his stomach twisted violently, a cramp so intense it made him double over. A cry escaped him.
You're going to die.
Aiden turned back to the corpse. His trembling hands raised the knife.
He looked for an area that seemed… less rotten. A piece of flesh on the arm, still partially intact. He placed the blade against the thick skin.
And cut.
The flesh resisted, hard and fibrous. He had to saw, again and again, ignoring the smell, ignoring the disgusting texture under his fingers. Finally, a piece detached – a small block of grayish meat, the size of his palm.
Aiden held it in his hand, staring at it in the gloom.
It's food. Just food. Nothing else.
A lie.
It was monster flesh. Flesh corrupted by mana. Flesh that should never have been consumed by a human.
But he wasn't really human anymore, was he? He was just a hungry animal, trapped in a cage, trying to survive another day.
Aiden brought the piece to his mouth.
And bit.
The taste was indescribable.
Not just bad. Not just vile. It was something else. Something that had no word in human language. Bitter and metallic, with an aftertaste of rot and something deeper, more fundamental – something that made every instinct in his body scream that it was wrong, that it was toxic, that it was forbidden.
Aiden chewed. Swallowed.
The meat went down his throat like broken glass.
He waited, heart pounding, certain that his body would immediately reject what he had just ingested. That his stomach would revolt, make him vomit, punish him for this transgression.
But nothing came.
The meat remained. Settled in his stomach. Began to be digested.
And something… changed.
It was subtle at first. A warmth that spread from his belly, rising along his spine. Not pleasant. Not comforting. A burning, feverish warmth that made his blood feel like it was boiling in his veins.
Aiden collapsed to the ground, curling up on himself as the pain exploded.
It wasn't hunger this time. It was something else. Something deep, primordial, awakening in the depths of his being.
His muscles contracted violently. His bones cracked. A terrible pressure built in his head, as if his skull would burst.
And before his closed eyes, in the darkness of his mind, something appeared.
A window.
Not blue, like the ones the Awakened described in interviews and documentaries.
Red.
Blood red.
Text appeared on the translucent surface, floating in his field of vision even with his eyes closed. Words that pulsed to the rhythm of his beating heart.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
CONSUMPTION DETECTED
ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS…
SOURCE: Hobgoblin Alpha [Boss - Rank E]
ORGANIC MATERIAL: Contaminated muscle tissue
MONSTROUS ENERGY EXTRACTED: 0.3%
ASSIMILATION… PARTIAL FAILURE
Reason: Advanced degradation of source material
Warning: Low quality material
Recommendation: Consume fresh specimens for optimal assimilation
[AWAKENING TRIGGERED]
TYPE: CONSUMPTION
NATURE: DIVERGENT - Unlisted
Classification: ANOMALY
[RED WINDOW ACTIVATED]
Aiden opened his eyes, gasping.
The window was still there. Floating before him, translucent, a deep red that pulsed like living blood. He could see through it, but it occupied the center of his field of vision, impossible to ignore.
He raised a trembling hand, trying to touch it. His fingers passed through without resistance. It wasn't physical. It was… in his head. In his mind. But at the same time, terribly real.
What is this? What's happening to me?
He thought "status," instinctively, remembering reports of the Awakened who could summon their status windows with a thought.
The red window flickered, then displayed new information.
[STATUS]
Name: Aiden Park
Condition: Hungry / Dehydrated / Injured
Awakening: Consumption [Divergent]
Rank: Unclassified
Monstrous Energy: 0.3 / ???
[ACQUIRED TRAITS]
No valid traits assimilated
(Source material too degraded)
[SKILLS]
None
[WARNING]
Risk of Physical Mutation: NONE
Maintenance of Human Consciousness: STABLE
Note: As a Consumer, your human body remains unchanged. Only your abilities evolve. CAUTION: Loss of mental control remains possible in cases of extreme stress, rage, or exhaustion.
Aiden stared at the window, his brain refusing to process what he was seeing.
An Awakening. I triggered an Awakening.
But not a normal Awakening. Not a Blue Window like the ones in the documentaries. Something else. Something abnormal.
Consumption.
The word echoed in his mind, laden with meaning and horror.
He had eaten monster flesh. And his body… had accepted it. Had transformed it. Had used it to trigger a power.
But I won't become a monster. Not physically. Just… my powers.
The distinction seemed trivial. But it was something. A thin hope to cling to.
Maintenance of Human Consciousness: STABLE.
For now.
Aiden closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing, to slow his heart that was beating fit to burst.
Okay. Okay. Think. You have a power now. You're Awakened. That means… that means you can survive. You can fight. You can get out of here.
But the truth, cold and relentless, asserted itself.
There was no way out. The portal was closed. The dungeon was resetting. He was trapped.
And the only way to survive was to continue.
To hunt.
To eat.
To consume.
Aiden reopened his eyes, staring at the Boss's corpse in the darkness.
I'm sorry, Emy. I'm so sorry.
He crawled towards the carcass, knife in hand, and began to carve.
Day 4
Goblins were now spawning more regularly.
Cracks in the walls opened every few hours, spewing out new creatures. They were no longer translucent and formless. They were solid. Complete. Aggressive.
Aiden killed them.
One by one, he cut them down. His Cleaner's knife had become an extension of his arm. He had learned where to strike – the throat, the heart, the eyes. He had learned to dodge their claws, to anticipate their clumsy leaps.
He wasn't good. He wasn't elegant. But he survived.
And after each fight, he did the unthinkable.
He ate.
Not by choice. Not for pleasure. Out of pure necessity. Because his body demanded it. Because the Red Window told him it was the only way.
[CONSUMPTION SUCCESSFUL]
SOURCE: Common Goblin [Rank F]
ORGANIC MATERIAL: Fresh muscle tissue
MONSTROUS ENERGY EXTRACTED: 2.1%
ASSIMILATION… SUCCESS
[TRAIT ACQUIRED]
Night Vision (Goblin) - Level 1
Ability to perceive in near-total darkness
Limited range: 10 meters
Note: No detectable physical changes. Abilities are internal.
When the trait activated, Aiden felt his eyes burn. He cried out, covering his face with his hands, certain he was going blind.
But when he reopened his eyes, the world had changed.
He saw.
Not like in broad daylight, but enough. The outlines of the walls were sharp. The textures of the stone, visible. Shadows were no longer absolute.
Aiden looked at his hands in the gloom and saw them clearly for the first time in days.
They were dirty. Bloody. Trembling.
But they were human. Still human. No claws. No scales. Just skin, even if it was marked by violence and survival.
He let out a hysterical laugh that echoed in the empty chamber, quickly turning into sobs.
I'm not becoming a monster. Not on the outside.
But on the inside? That was another question.
Day 7
The chamber where he had been trapped finally opened.
One of the walls – the one that had been sealed from the beginning – cracked violently, then collapsed in a cloud of dust, revealing a corridor behind it.
Aiden wasted no time. He gathered what he had – his knife, an improvised gourd made of goblin skin to carry water – and left.
The dungeon was unrecognizable.
The corridors he had traversed with the Cleaners no longer existed. In their place, there were new passages, new chambers, configurations he had never seen. Everything had been rearranged, rebuilt, transformed by the reset process.
And there were monsters everywhere.
Not just goblins. Viscous slimes that moved, leaving corrosive trails. Giant red-eyed rats that hunted in packs. Things he couldn't even name – amalgams of flesh and claws that defied all logic.
Aiden avoided them when he could.
He killed them when he couldn't.
And when hunger became unbearable, when his body demanded, when the Red Window screamed that he needed energy…
He ate.
[CONSUMPTION SUCCESSFUL]
SOURCE: Acid Slime [Rank F]
MONSTROUS ENERGY EXTRACTED: 1.8%
[TRAIT ACQUIRED]
Acid Resistance (Slime) - Level 1
Minor resistance to corrosive substances
Internal effect: your internal tissues can tolerate higher acidity levels
[CONSUMPTION SUCCESSFUL]
SOURCE: Shadow Rat [Rank F]
MONSTROUS ENERGY EXTRACTED: 1.4%
[TRAIT ACQUIRED]
Enhanced Scent (Rat) - Level 1
Increased olfactory perception
Range: 15 meters
Each consumption changed something in him.
But not physically. Not from the outside. When Aiden looked at his hands, they remained human. When he ran his tongue over his teeth, they weren't sharper. His nails remained normal.
But the abilities came. His senses sharpened. His strength increased imperceptibly. His endurance improved.
And sometimes, in moments of intense combat, when blood pounded in his ears and adrenaline flooded his system…
He lost a little of himself.
His thoughts simplified. Hunt. Kill. Eat.
His control loosened. His movements became more bestial, more efficient, more monstrous in their very violence, even if his body remained human.
And when he regained consciousness, he found himself standing over a corpse he didn't really remember killing, the knife dripping, his breath short.
The Red Window warned him each time.
[WARNING]
Maintenance of Human Consciousness: STABLE (fluctuations detected)
Caution: Episodes of mental control loss recorded
Advice: Maintain an emotional anchor. Do not let predatory instinct dominate.
Emotional anchor.
Aiden knew what it was.
Emy.
She was his anchor. The only thing that kept him from sinking completely.
He repeated her name like a mantra. Emy. Emy. Emy.
He remembered her smile. Her voice. The way she called him "champion" even when he didn't deserve the nickname.
I have to come back. I have to hold on. For her.
Day 15
Aiden found drinking water.
Not in a stagnant puddle, but in a spring – a small stream flowing from a crack in the wall of a deep chamber. The water was cold, clear, almost pure.
He drank until his stomach was bursting, then filled his skin gourd.
It was a victory. Small, insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but a victory nonetheless.
He allowed himself a moment of rest, sitting against the wall near the spring, listening to the soothing sound of dripping water.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he allowed himself to think clearly.
How long? How long has it been?
He had lost track of the days. Two weeks maybe? Three? Time had no meaning here.
And outside? How much time has passed outside?
He vaguely remembered reading something about dungeons and time distortion. Some dungeons had different time flows. But he didn't remember the details.
Emy. Is she looking for me? Does she think I'm dead?
The pain that shot through his chest at that thought was worse than all the physical injuries he had endured.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll come back. I swear it. I'll come back.
A rumble echoed in the distance, pulling him from his thoughts.
Aiden immediately stood up, all his senses on alert. That sound… it was different. Deeper. More massive.
Something big was moving in the dungeon.
He held his breath, concentrating on his enhanced sense of smell. The scent came quickly – blood, sweat, concentrated animal musk.
Something was coming for him.
Aiden gripped his knife and melted into the shadows of the adjacent corridor.
Wait. Observe. Survive.
It was all that mattered.
Day 21
He met his first real predator.
Not a goblin. Not a rat. Something bigger, more dangerous.
A Shadow Wolf.
The creature stood over a meter at the shoulder, its black fur absorbing the phosphorescent light as if made of solidified night. Its eyes glowed a deep red, intelligent and hungry. White fangs protruded from its half-open maw, each as long as a finger.
Aiden had spotted it first thanks to his heightened sense of smell. The wolf's musk was powerful, territorial, predatory. He had hidden in a narrow alcove, holding his breath, hoping the creature would pass without noticing him.
But the wolf stopped.
Its nostrils quivered. Its head slowly pivoted towards the alcove where Aiden was cowering.
Their gazes met.
For a fraction of a second, neither moved. Two predators evaluating each other. Calculating the odds. Gauging the threat.
Then the wolf pounced.
Aiden rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the jaws that snapped where his throat had been an instant earlier. He struck with his knife, aiming for the creature's exposed flanks, but the blade slid over the thick fur without piercing the flesh beneath.
The wolf landed gracefully, immediately pivoting for a second assault. This time, Aiden didn't have time to fully dodge. The claws of its left front paw traced three bloody lines on his arm.
Pain exploded, sharp and burning.
Aiden howled, as much from rage as from pain, and counter-attacked savagely. The knife finally found its target, sinking into the wolf's shoulder. The creature yelped and recoiled, black blood flowing from the wound.
But it didn't flee. It showed no fear. Only rage.
The wolf charged again, faster, fiercer. Aiden tried to parry, but the jaws clamped down on his forearm, piercing the flesh, crushing the bone.
The world went white with pain.
And something in Aiden... broke.
Or perhaps opened.
His thoughts fragmented, scattered. There were no more words. No more reason. Just raw, primal instinct, the one that had allowed his ancestors to survive when they were just trembling prey in the night.
Survival.
Aiden dropped the knife. His free hands closed around the wolf's maw, fingers seeking eyes, throat, any vulnerable area. He was no longer trying to defend himself properly, to fight with technique.
He fought like an animal.
Scratching. Biting. Striking with a desperate violence that completely ignored the pain.
The wolf released his arm and recoiled, unnerved by this unexpected ferocity. Aiden gave it no time to recover. He picked up his knife with a trembling hand and lunged forward, all defense abandoned, all self-preservation extinguished.
He wanted only one thing: to kill.
The blade found the wolf's throat. Once. Twice. Three times. Again and again until the creature finally collapsed, whimpering faintly, blood forming a dark pool that spread across the stone.
Aiden continued to strike even when the wolf stopped moving. Even when life faded from its red eyes.
He only stopped when his injured arm refused to lift the knife one more time.
Then he collapsed beside the corpse, panting, covered in blood – his own and the wolf's mixed until indistinguishable.
His thoughts slowly returned, painfully gathering like the pieces of a broken vase.
What... what have I done?
He looked at his hands. Human. Still human. But trembling. Bloody. Nails broken from scratching stone and flesh with equal ferocity.
The Red Window appeared in his field of vision, unsummoned.
[CRITICAL WARNING]
Maintenance of Human Consciousness: UNSTABLE
Episode of loss of control detected
Duration: 4 minutes 37 seconds
Level of violence: EXTREME
WARNING: In cases of extreme stress, rage, or exhaustion, conscious control may be temporarily lost. Your mind may switch to "pure predator" mode. The body remains human, but the behavior becomes monstrous.
Recommendation: Maintain a stable emotional anchor. Avoid prolonged stress situations.
Aiden stared at the message, his heart still pounding fit to burst.
I lost control. For almost five minutes, I wasn't... me.
It was terrifying. Far more terrifying than any monster he had faced. Because that monster was within him. Hidden beneath his skin, waiting for the right moment to emerge.
Emotional anchor.
Emy.
He forced himself to think of her. Her smile. Her voice. The promise he had made to her.
I'll come back. I won't become a monster. I can't.
Slowly, his heart rate slowed. His breathing stabilized.
He looked at his injured arm. The bite marks were deep, bloody. He would need to clean them, to bandage them with whatever he could find. An infection in this environment would be a death sentence.
But first...
The hunger was there. Always present. Demanding.
And the wolf's corpse lay before him, still warm.
Aiden closed his eyes, fighting the rising disgust.
It's for survival. Just for survival.
He cut off a piece of flesh.
And ate.
[CONSUMPTION SUCCESSFUL]
SOURCE: Shadow Wolf [Rank D]
ORGANIC MATERIAL: Fresh muscle tissue (quality: high)
MONSTROUS ENERGY EXTRACTED: 8.7%
ASSIMILATION... COMPLETE SUCCESS
[TRAIT ACQUIRED]
Lupine Agility (Shadow Wolf) - Level 2
Significantly increased reflexes and movement speed
Ability to move silently
[TRAIT ACQUIRED]
Instinctive Tracking (Shadow Wolf) - Level 1
Ability to follow scent trails over long distances
Enhanced predator instinct: increased detection of weak points
[THRESHOLD REACHED]
Monstrous Energy: 15.2% / ???
Sufficient progression detected
The pain returned, but differently this time. Not the feverish burning from the beginning. It was as if something was reorganizing inside him, restructuring, optimizing.
And then the message appeared.
[MAJOR EVOLUTION]
CONGRATULATIONS
You have become a Confirmed CONSUMER
As an adaptive super-predator, you have surpassed the initial Awakening stage.
Changes:Risk of Physical Mutation: NONE (confirmed permanent)Your human appearance is preservedAcquired traits remain internal and functionalNo external transformation will occurMaintenance of Human Consciousness: VARIABLESTABLE under normal conditionsUNSTABLE under extreme stress, rage, or exhaustionCRITICAL in case of mortal injury or prolonged starvationPERMANENT WARNING:
Your physical humanity is guaranteed, but your mental humanity depends entirely on your ability to maintain emotional control and a stable psychological anchor.
NEVER let the predator take complete control.
Keep a goal. A reason. A link.
Aiden read and reread the message, the words imprinting themselves on his mind with the force of an oath.
I won't become a monster. Not physically. But if I lose control...
He thought of what he had felt during the fight against the wolf. The total absence of rational thought. Pure, unleashed, limitless violence.
If that happened in the outside world. If it happened near Emy, or anyone else...
I could kill someone. Someone innocent.
The weight of this realization fell upon him like a stone.
He was not just a survivor now. He was a weapon. An unpredictable weapon, which could turn against those it was supposed to protect.
I must learn to control this. I must find a way.
Aiden forced himself to stand, ignoring the throbbing pain in his injured arm. He needed to clean the wound, to find something to bandage it.
And he needed to keep moving forward. Because standing still meant dying. And dying meant abandoning Emy.
I hold on. I survive. I maintain control.
For her.
Day 30
The dungeon kept changing.
Every day – or what Aiden estimated to be a day – brought new configurations. Corridors that hadn't existed the day before suddenly opened. Familiar chambers disappeared, replaced by new, unknown spaces.
It was disorienting, mentally exhausting. Impossible to draw a map, impossible to memorize a path. The dungeon was alive, constantly mutating.
But Aiden adapted.
Because that's what it was to be a Consumer. To adapt. To evolve. To survive.
He had developed a routine. Hunt. Eat. Rest in the safest alcoves. Avoid overly powerful predators. Kill those he could face.
And above all, control.
He had learned to feel when control began to slip away. That sensation of fog rising in his mind, stifling reason. The tingling at the base of his skull that announced the predator instinct wanted to take over.
Each time, he stopped. Concentrated. Thought of Emy.
Sometimes, that was enough.
Other times... he had to move away, find an isolated spot, wait for the wave to pass.
He had lost control two more times since the shadow wolf. Once against a pack of giant rats. Another against a group of goblins who had cornered him in a dead end.
Both times, he had woken up standing amidst shredded corpses, blood drying on his hands, with no precise memory of what he had done.
The Red Window had recorded each incident.
[INCIDENT REPORT]
Episodes of total loss of control: 3
Average duration: 5 minutes 12 seconds
Level of violence: EXTREME
Victims: Monsters only (for now)
Recommendation: Work on your mental discipline. Establish refocusing exercises.
For now.
The two words echoed like a threat.
For now, he had only killed monsters during his losses of control. But what would happen when he got out of here? When he was surrounded by humans?
I must learn. I must master this before I leave.
Aiden summoned his status window, something he did more and more often now. It had become a way to ensure he was still himself. Still human, at least in his mind.
[STATUS]
Name: Aiden Park
State: Stable / Minor injuries healing
Awakening: Consumption [Divergent - Confirmed Consumer]
Rank: Unclassified
Monstrous Energy: 47.3%
[ACQUIRED TRAITS]
Night Vision (Goblin) - Level 3
Acid Resistance (Slime) - Level 2
Heightened Sense of Smell (Rat) - Level 2
Lupine Agility (Shadow Wolf) - Level 3
Instinctive Tracking (Shadow Wolf) - Level 2
Brute Strength (Orc) - Level 1
Minor Regeneration (Troll) - Level 1
[ACTIVE SKILLS]
Precise Strike: Ability to identify and strike weak points with increased accuracy
Silent Sprint: Rapid movement without emitting sound
[WARNING]
Maintenance of Human Consciousness: STABLE (under normal conditions)
Possible fluctuations under intense stress
Recommended emotional anchor: MAINTAINED (focal subject: Emy Park)
Aiden closed the window with a mental gesture.
Forty-seven percent. Almost half.
He didn't know what would happen when he reached one hundred percent. The window didn't tell him. Maybe a new evolution. Maybe something worse.
Or maybe nothing at all.
He chased away these thoughts and focused on the immediate.
His water supply was low. He had to find a new source. And he needed to eat soon – the hunger was starting to make itself felt, that familiar burning in his stomach.
Aiden rose from his resting alcove and plunged deeper into the shifting labyrinth of the dungeon.
Day 45
The monsters were getting stronger.
At first, the dungeon had only spawned Rank F creatures and a few rare Rank E ones. But as the days passed – weeks perhaps – the spawns evolved.
Now, Aiden regularly encountered Rank D monsters. Solitary orcs. Hungry trolls. Organized groups of alpha goblins.
It made sense, in a way. The dungeon was resetting, reconstituting itself. The ecosystem was gradually stabilizing, moving from initial chaos to something more structured, more dangerous.
And Aiden adapted.
Every fight made him stronger. Every consumption added a new trait, improved an existing ability. He learned the patterns, the weaknesses, the habits of each type of monster.
He was becoming an effective predator.
But the cost was heavy.
Physically, he held up. His human body remained intact, even if fatigue accumulated, even if poorly treated wounds left scars. The minor regeneration he had acquired by eating a troll helped him, but it wasn't miraculous. He just healed a little faster than a normal human.
Mentally... it was harder.
The isolation gnawed. The constant silence, broken only by the distant rumblings of the dungeon and the cries of monsters. The perpetual darkness, even with his night vision. The total absence of human contact.
He talked to himself sometimes, just to hear a voice. His own. To remind himself that he was still capable of forming words, coherent sentences.
And he talked to Emy. As if she were there, beside him.
"You know, Em, I think I'm starting to understand why people go crazy in isolation. It's not loneliness that kills you. It's the absence of landmarks. No more day, no more night. No more normal routine. Just... survive. Again and again."
Silence answered him, empty and oppressive.
"I'll come back. I promise you. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll get out of here. And I'll find you."
His voice broke slightly on the last words.
"I miss you so much."
He allowed himself a moment of weakness, letting tears flow freely in the darkness. No one could see him here. No one could judge him for breaking down.
Then he wiped his face, stood up, and kept moving forward.
Because that's what it was, to survive. To continue. Always.
Day 52
Aiden discovered something strange.
He was exploring a new sector of the dungeon – a series of interconnected chambers he had never seen before – when he stumbled upon a room unlike the others.
It was circular, with a domed ceiling that rose high into the darkness. In the center stood a massive crystalline structure, several meters high, pulsing with a blue-white light that filled the entire chamber.
These weren't the ordinary mana crystals found everywhere in the dungeon. This was something bigger, older.
A Dungeon Core.
Aiden had researched enough before his Cleaner mission to recognize what it was. Cores were the central sources of mana in dungeons, concentrations of pure energy that powered the entire ecosystem.
Bosses usually spawned near Cores. Protected them.
But this one was alone. No Boss. No guardian. Just the pulsing crystal, vibrating with an energy that made the air itself hum.
Aiden approached cautiously, all his senses on alert. It was too easy. Too exposed. There had to be a trap.
But nothing happened.
He stood before the Core, raising a hesitant hand towards its smooth surface. The heat emanating from it was intense but not burning. Like standing near a campfire on a winter night.
What do I do? Do I touch it? Do I leave it?
The Red Window appeared, unsummoned.
[OPPORTUNITY DETECTED]
Minor Dungeon Core [Rank E]
Source of concentrated Pure Mana
OPTIONS:Consume the Core (HIGH RISK)Massive gain of Monstrous Energy (+30% minimum)Potential destabilization of the dungeonRisk of loss of control during assimilation: CRITICALIgnore the CoreNo gainNo riskRECOMMENDATION: To be evaluated according to your priorities
Aiden stared at the message, his heart pounding.
Thirty percent at once. That was huge. It would propel him to almost eighty percent Monstrous Energy. It would make him so much stronger.
But the risk...
Risk of loss of control during assimilation: CRITICAL.
If he lost control here, now, he didn't know what could happen. How long it would last. If he could come back.
And what if I don't come back? What if the predator takes over for good?
He thought of Emy. The promise he had made to her.
I must remain myself. I cannot risk becoming... something else.
Aiden took a step back, then another.
As tempting as the power was, as desperately as he needed it to survive...
He couldn't take that risk.
Not yet.
Maybe later. When I've learned to control better. When I'm sure I can handle it.
He turned his back on the pulsing Core and left the chamber.
It was one of the hardest decisions he had ever made.
But it was the right one.
For now.
Day 60 (2 internal months)
Something changed in the dungeon.
Aiden felt it before he understood it. A pressure in the air, as if the atmosphere itself was compressing. The distant rumblings that had been constant since the beginning gradually diminished, spacing out, calming down.
The chaos was stabilizing.
And then, as he walked through a familiar corridor – one he had taken dozens of times in recent days – he noticed that the walls were no longer changing.
The cracks that constantly opened and closed were... frozen. Solidified.
The dungeon was freezing into a final configuration.
The reset was coming to an end.
Aiden felt something explode in his chest. Hope. Raw. Powerful. Painful.
That means... that means the portal will reopen soon. I'll be able to get out.
He started running, ignoring the fatigue, ignoring the throbbing pain of his old wounds. He had to find the portal. Had to be ready when it opened.
He ran for what seemed like hours, through stabilized corridors, chambers frozen in their definitive forms. The dungeon had its new face. Its new cycle was ready.
And around a bend in a corridor, he saw it.
The portal.
The dimensional rift floated in the middle of a large chamber, exactly as he remembered it being... how long ago? Two months? An eternity?
But it was closed. The blue-black jelly was opaque, motionless. Not yet active.
Aiden collapsed against the nearest wall, trembling with exhaustion and relief.
Soon. Soon I'll be able to get out.
He allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment. Just a moment.
And for the first time in two months, he slept deeply, without nightmares, without terror.
Because he knew the end was approaching.
When Aiden woke up, the portal had changed.
The purple veins pulsed again, regular, alive. The gelatinous surface undulated gently, becoming translucent again.
It was reactivating.
Aiden stood up, gathering what remained of his belongings. His Cleaner's knife, worn to the hilt but still functional. His leather canteen. Nothing else. Everything else had been lost or destroyed over the weeks.
He approached the portal, his heart pounding.
On the other side... there's the world. Daylight. People. Emy.
He reached out, his fingers brushing the gelatinous surface.
Cold. Viscous. Exactly as he remembered it.
Aiden took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment to prepare himself.
Then he stepped through the portal.
The transition was instantaneous and disorienting.
One moment, he was in the oppressive darkness of the dungeon. The next, he was falling forward, his knees hitting a hard floor – concrete, not stone.
The light immediately blinded him. Not the greenish glow of phosphorescent moss. Real light. Natural. Dazzling.
Aiden groaned, covering his eyes with his hands. Even through his closed eyelids, the brightness was unbearable after two months of almost total darkness.
Voices echoed around him. Distant. Confused.
"— exit! Someone just came out!"
"— portal... how long ago..."
"— is that..."
Aiden forced his eyes open, wincing against the pain of the light. Blurred figures stood around him. Humans. Real people.
One of them approached, crouching beside him. A masculine voice, tinged with disbelief.
"Damn... you're alive. How did you..."
Aiden tried to speak, but his throat was too dry. No sound came out.
The man – a Hunter, apparently, recognizable by his equipment – took out a canteen and handed it to him. "Easy. Drink slowly."
Aiden drank. The water was cold, pure, better than anything he had tasted in an eternity. He had to force himself not to swallow it all at once.
"Thank you," he finally murmured, his voice hoarse and unrecognizable.
The Hunter looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "You were trapped inside? Since the closure?"
Aiden nodded.
"Damn." The Hunter hissed through his teeth. "It's been four days. Four days since the dungeon closed. We thought all the Cleaners were out. You're the only one we didn't count."
Four days.
Two internal months. Four external days.
The temporal distortion was real.
"My sister," Aiden said, clutching the Hunter's arm. "Emy Park. She was... she was waiting for me. Where is she?"
The Hunter exchanged a glance with his colleagues. Something passed in his eyes. Something that looked like pity.
"We'll take you back to HQ, okay? You need to be examined, debriefed. We'll find information about your sister."
It wasn't an answer. It was an evasion.
A bad feeling settled in Aiden's stomach, cold and heavy as lead.
No. No, something's wrong.
But he was too weak to resist when the Hunters lifted him and guided him towards their vehicle.
Too weak to do anything but collapse onto the back seat and let the world spin around him.
He was out.
Alive.
But at what cost?
And where was Emy?
[END OF CHAPTER 3]
In the depths of a nightmarish dungeon, Aiden Park survived the impossible. He has become a Consumer, an adaptive predator whose body remains human but whose mind constantly dances on the fragile border between reason and instinct.
But the real ordeal begins now.
In a world that does not understand what he has become, Aiden must navigate between his human nature and his predatory instincts, while searching for Emy, the only anchor that prevents him from completely tipping over.