The eastern side of Mint City was quieter than usual.
Normally the industrial district buzzed with workers unloading trucks, guild patrols guarding Gate zones, and merchants trying to sell low-grade potions to rookie Hunters.
But today… the streets were empty.
Too empty.
Kairo tightened his hood as he walked, Zero's shadow drifting behind him like a silent storm. The Gate he was heading toward was supposed to be a low-level anomaly—barely worth sending a full raid party.
But the closer Kairo got, the more wrong everything felt.
Trash cans dented.
Pavement cracked.
Storefront windows shattered inward.
Claw marks scoring through brick walls.
This wasn't normal dungeon influence.
This was chaos leaking out.
Zero spoke first.
"Master. Something has escaped."
Kairo's jaw clenched. "From the Gate?"
"No."
Zero pointed at a collapsed streetlight.
"Before it."
Kairo froze.
If creatures were appearing before a Gate opened fully…
that meant something was manipulating the dungeon itself.
As if reading his thoughts, the System chimed.
[WARNING]
Gate behavior abnormal.
Probability of mutation: 87%
Threat Level may escalate beyond reported rank.
Proceed with caution.
Kairo exhaled slowly.
"A mutated Gate already, huh…"
Zero's eyes glowed faintly.
"If it evolves… the city is in danger."
Kairo glanced around.
No civilians.
No Hunters.
The area had been abandoned hours ago.
Someone must have noticed the danger before he arrived.
Which meant Kairo was alone.
Good.
He didn't want anyone witnessing this anyway.
---
The Gate
The Gate pulsed in the middle of an old shipping yard—
a swirling orb of ice-blue energy framed by shattered crates.
It flickered erratically, glitching like a broken screen.
Zero stepped forward.
"Master. The Gate is unstable. Entering now may expose you to higher-ranked monsters."
Kairo smirked faintly.
"That's kind of the point."
He walked toward it.
But just as he reached the energy wall—
a deafening howl erupted from inside the Gate.
Kairo's muscles tightened.
"What was—"
A creature burst through the Gateway like a cannonball, landing on all fours.
Its skin was pale and stretched, its eyes glowing white, its body trembling as if it didn't fully exist in this dimension.
A phase beast.
Those only appeared in mid-to-high tier dungeons—
never in low E-Rank Gates.
Kairo took a step back.
"…This thing shouldn't be here."
Zero moved protectively in front of him.
"Master, I recommend withdrawal."
Kairo's eyes narrowed.
"And let it run loose into the city?
No chance."
The phase beast screeched and lunged, its claws phasing in and out of existence.
Kairo raised his hand.
"Zero—!"
Zero slammed forward in a blur of black motion, catching the creature mid-leap. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around the beast, dragging it down in a violent arc.
The creature shrieked and twisted—phasing through the chains like mist.
Kairo gritted his teeth.
"So it can slip through physical and magical attacks…"
The System flickered.
[NEW THREAT ANALYSIS]
Enemy Type: Phase Beast
Ability: Intangibility, Dimensional Drift
Weakness: Shadow Compression
Kairo's eyes lit up.
"Zero—compress it! Don't bind it."
Zero obeyed instantly.
His shadow chains shifted—glowing brighter, coiling tighter, crushing inward like a black hole collapsing.
The beast thrashed and screamed, struggling to resist—
but shadows didn't care about physical space.
Shadows filled absence.
They crushed the gaps between dimensions.
The phase beast's body snapped and collapsed into black particles, dissolving into nothingness.
A notification appeared immediately.
[Enemy Defeated]
Shadow Eligible: YES
Convert into soldier?
[YES] [NO]
Kairo hesitated.
An intangible soldier?
That could be insanely useful.
He pressed YES.
Shadows rippled, gathering into a new form—
leaner than Zero, with flickering edges and ghostly limbs.
A new shadow soldier knelt.
"Master."
Kairo smirked.
"…Welcome to the team."
Zero nodded in approval.
---
A Bigger Problem
But before Kairo could examine the new soldier, the Gate pulsed violently.
The ground shook.
Metal shipping containers rattled like they were being torn open from the inside.
Zero stepped back, defensive.
"Master. The Gate is evolving."
Kairo watched in disbelief as the blue energy twisted into red—
swirling like blood inside a vortex.
A mutated Gate.
It was climbing from low-tier to mid-tier…
to possibly high-tier.
The System blared warnings.
[CRITICAL WARNING]
Gate mutation in progress.
Threat Level rising:
E → D → C → B → ???
Recommend: Evacuate.
Kairo didn't budge.
Instead, he flexed his fingers, shadow energy rippling up his arms.
"Zero."
"Yes, Master?"
"Prepare for a fight."
Zero's eyes flared like burning coals.
"Always."
Kairo stepped toward the Gate as it expanded, roaring like a living beast.
And for the first time since ascending—
He smiled.
"Let's see where my limits really are."