The beast falls asleep. The brain, trapped inside a human skull rather than the bones of an elk, continues to stitch together memories of regret, as it always does. This time, the dream was unusual—not in the familiar first-person perspective, but rather from the viewpoint of a third party, as if someone was secretly watching. The beast quickly realized that the couple in its vision was a married couple. In the scene, the beast's rough, vein-popping hands, used daily to wield an axe for chopping wood, were being adorned with a ring by a stranger, who smiled warmly.

This was the proposal from a stranger that took place a few years ago in February. About a month later, they held a modest wedding at a small church at the foot of the mountain. Having grown up in a home so dysfunctional that both parents were imprisoned for child abuse, the beast never imagined such a scene. But, after many twists and turns, the beast too, somehow, ended up finding a partner.

Their newlywed life was happy. Since the beast had lived alone in a mountain cabin, he ate less meat than most people and, unintentionally, tended to follow a vegetarian-like diet. His partner, on the other hand, was from the city and preferred processed foods, so there were occasional disagreements about food.

“Oh, damn it. Alright, alright, honey. I get it. Just put that down for now. Yeah. I agree! Now that I think about it, eating organically is definitely better for our health!”

Fortunately, Beast’s spouse was quite understanding. So, even when they had arguments, they made up and lived a peaceful daily life like any other couple. He never imagined that someone like him, who had never truly belonged to society, would ever get to experience such ordinary days.

“Pretty eyes.”

However, during this honeymoon period, Beast was faced with the harsh reality of life. He had once read the phrase “What comes easy, goes easy” in a proverb dictionary, but he never expected that such a saying would apply not only to money or possessions, but also to people. It felt unfair.

Moreover, his spouse died for a rather ridiculous reason. Honestly, it was almost like a dark comedy. If they hadn’t suddenly left early in the morning to get the $12 cheese fish cake sold only at a Korean market, they wouldn’t have died like that. This is exactly why I kept telling them that eating processed food too often would shorten their lifespan, even going as far as trying to convince them with an axe in hand.

Beast’s spouse died a year after Dungeon Shock.

However, the victim was not killed by the monsters that emerged from the dungeon. The culprit was none other than a middle school boy. To explain further, the victim lost their life due to a prank by a young awakened person. This was a wake-up call, revealing that the awakening phenomenon was not necessarily humanity’s salvation.

One day, a boy suddenly gained supernatural abilities, and fascinated by them, he started to amuse himself by targeting people. However, his power was an invisible telekinesis. People, not understanding what was happening, died in pain, and the police couldn’t pinpoint the culprit. It was a ‘clean’ power, leaving no fingerprints or traces. In this way, the awakened one used his power to hunt ordinary people, much like killing squirrels. After all, real-life hunting was far more stimulating than any heavily censored video game.

To sum it up, it was simply a matter of bad luck that day. Beast’s spouse had gone out to buy food in front of the Korean grocery store, and the young telekinetic boy, without much thought, decided to target the next person he saw. It was as if he was playing a city-building strategy simulation game, casually pressing a button to adjust the population.

“Ugh!”

The spouse, with eyes as innocent as a deer’s, met an unexpected death, caused by an invisible hand that led to the rupture of their stomach and spleen.

However, Beast remained unaware of this fact for a while. He didn’t have a driver’s license at that age. Of course, he tried calling a few times with the old phone his partner had given him, but it was impossible for someone who had already passed away to pick up the call.

Come to think of it, he never asked where that Korean market was. Could it be a market far away? Or maybe the truck tire blew out on the way? Beast sat idly in his room, reading a book, while reflecting on his partner’s words, “Stay home and take care of the house until I get back.”

And six hours passed. By this point, even the beast’s brain, which lacked social skills, began to think it might be time to visit the police. However, fortunately, that wouldn’t be necessary. Soon, his old cell phone rang with a call from an unknown number.

***

The next day.

“2:28 in the morning...”

Okay, perfect.

I quickly checked the time on my smartphone and hurried my steps, making sure no one was watching. Today’s destination was the entrance to the global dungeon, [Mimic City], which had appeared in a mountain valley in Gyeonggi Province. I had already obtained permission to enter through the association.

################

<Two months ago>

00:02 Are you asleep?

00:02 No.

00:05 It’s nothing special, but I have a question about the dungeon...

<One month ago>

01:41 Do you have time?

01:42 No.

01:42 Sorry, I’ll call you back tomorrow morning

<15 days ago>

02:15 Hunter Kang

03:17 No, it’s resolved, so don’t worry about it

################

I had already analyzed Kang Changho’s sleep patterns, anticipating a day like this, so there’s nothing to worry about now.

I decided to target the hours between 2 and 6 AM, when many Koreans fall into a deep sleep, to sneak the body out. With my identity as an environmental consultant, exploring the dungeon alone wouldn’t raise much suspicion. Besides, even if no deaths occurred during those hours... it would be a loss, so there’s nothing to lose.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Finally, I arrived at the entrance of [Mimic City]. In the restricted area, which was sealed off with yellow tape, a few association staff members dressed in suits were standing. As soon as they saw me, they bowed their heads and spoke.

“Heuk!”

“Hello...!”

“Shh, shh.”

However, I quickly stopped their greetings. What’s there to brag about as a thief? What good would it do to announce to the world that Korea’s fourth S-rank hunter is entering here?

“It’s early in the morning, so keep it quiet. The mountains around here are already echoing.”

“Aah, yes...!!”

“Anyway, can I just enter?”

“Yes!”

In moments like this, being a celebrity has its perks. I watched the staff retreat like the ebbing tide and confidently entered the gate.

The interior had a unique atmosphere with a bluish hue, featuring straight paths that clearly indicated they were designed by an intelligent being, along with a maze-like array of branching paths, each with dozens or even hundreds of possibilities.

‘Just as I heard, it’s a labyrinth.’

The other world that was expanding its size even at this moment was indeed an enormous size that seemed to be three or four dungeons combined. However, even in such a vast place, my destination was already set.

‘Shall I begin?’

A place to hide, crouched and sneaky like a rat! With that, I set out to find a resting spot where I could wait for the dawn, using my exploration skills.

.

.

.

Clank! Boom!

The sound of tools clashing carries through the dry air of the dungeon. It’s probably the noise of a scouting team from some country defeating the monsters here, but to me, it’s not a welcome sign.

Thud.

The sound of a resident of Mimic City stabbing a person with a weaponized bone.

Thud, thud.

Or the sound of bodily leaks from torn skin. Well, if it’s going to spill, this kind of sound wouldn’t be so bad.

‘Hmm.’

I was sitting hunched over, resting my elbows on my crossed legs. The location was inside the collapsed wall at the center of Mimic City.

I don’t know who said this, but I thought that if I were in the shadow of this mess of ruined dungeon structures, I would be able to avoid people’s gaze to some extent.

‘And this body is F-rank, so as long as I don’t make a sound, there’s no way my presence will be noticed with magic...’

Wait a second. Did some stone powder get into my eyes? Why are my eyes suddenly tearing up? I gently lifted the hand that had been supporting my chin, wiped my eyes, and then refocused. For now, I had my senses fully open, monitoring all the awakened individuals in the area. However, as expected, fresh corpses were not so easily coming by. The appraisers who are mainly used for investigation work are treated as precious people no matter which country they go to. First of all, the security system is strict everywhere.

‘When I checked the amount of magic, there seemed to be one A-rank and about three B-ranks?’

Closing my eyelids, I focused on the hunters’ magic power, feeling the subtle flows they created seep into my senses. From the general atmosphere, it seemed like no corpses would appear after all, but still, thanks to these small rewards, I wasn’t as angry as I thought I’d be.

‘My senses have become a bit sharper.’

It’s the effect of [Dragon’s Lung]. Perhaps because the amount of magic I can handle in my body has increased, I’m now able to conduct a wider range of detection than before. Compared to the peak of my power, when I could cover half the planet, it’s still a drop in the bucket. But still, the important thing is that there’s progress.

“Hmm?”

Then, at that moment, I felt a new S-rank hunter catch at the edge of my carefully spread senses. Considering the sorcerer’s calm personality, the intense flow of magic power was somewhat unexpected.

“Huh? What is this, this is Jung Haseong?”

I instinctively checked the analog watch I had brought with me. The current time was around 4:48, about two hours after I had entered. Just then, Jung Haseong had just entered the dungeon.

“Huh? Are you crazy?”

After taking a long rest, I thought his habits had improved, but how can someone be out here raiding at this hour? No, let me correct myself. To be precise, his goal wouldn’t be a raid.

The dungeon reset time for [Mimic City] is 6:30 AM. However, entering the gate at such an ambiguous time likely means that his goal was not to wipe out all the monsters, but rather to conduct some preliminary investigation for later.

‘As expected.’

As I quietly tracked the magic power of the number one ranked hunter, it became clear that, as expected, the opponent was moving quite slowly. This was definitely the walking speed of a regular Earthling. In that case, I just had to focus on avoiding an encounter with him.

“No, but isn’t working at 5 in the morning a bit much?”

I should mention this in class. My legs were starting to feel numb, so I changed my sitting position a little and went back to thinking. I wonder if any hunters die. And if Jung Haseong is heading this way.

“Hmm.”

A few minutes later. The eyeballs under my closed eyelids twitched and rolled to one side. A strange change was observed within the senses I had spread out.

Originally, there was one more S-rank besides Jung Haseong in this dungeon. Could that mysterious S-rank also have developed a sixth sense like mine? The other person suddenly began rushing toward the direction where Jung Haseong was. If I didn’t know this was the body’s magic power, it would have been fast enough to be mistaken for an arrow being shot.

“Hmm?”

The situation quickly escalated after that. As soon as the mysterious S-rank and Jung Haseong encountered each other, they began to explosively release their magic. This meant that both of them had activated their skills. And not just any skills—highly aggressive ones!

“Wait.”

And what is going on here? After a few seconds, Jung Haseong’s magic suddenly became unstable. It was as if the spine of a living creature had snapped, and from the center, a gap appeared before a faint blue energy barely returned.

“Huh?”

I couldn’t help but be horrified.

I’m not making a difficult metaphor right now. Jung Haseong literally had part of his waist cut off just now, and he’s urgently using a healing potion to stop the bleeding and continue the battle.

“Huuuh?!”

I got up from my seat, startled by the sensed battle. And I headed to the place in question along the shortcut of the dungeon I had checked in advance. It wouldn’t be enough to just be happy about a high-level corpse possibly appearing, especially considering the nature of the target.

“There it is!”

Tak, tak, tak.

I enhanced my legs with magic and, at the maximum speed an F-rank could muster, arrived at the scene. What I saw in front of me was already an unbelievable situation.

‘No! The future national guard that I’ve been working so hard to raise!’

Aaargh!

Haseong, whose body looked like it had been torn and shredded multiple times, with no part of his gear intact, stood there. Against the backdrop of blood splattered everywhere, the mysterious ability user flaunted their presence. The attacker in question was a beast wearing a bizarre mask made from elk bones on its head.

Beast was it the owner of this vast magical power!

Author's Thoughts: Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)