The smell of burning flesh lingered in the dungeon's air.
Adam stood amidst the corpses — monster bodies split, seared, and crumbled by the dark energy flowing through him. The pale-blue aura that wrapped his limbs pulsed like a heartbeat, alive and ancient.
He wasn't sure what he was anymore.
But he was sure of one thing.
He wasn't weak.
> [System Notification:
You have slain 5x Lesser Abyss Lizards.
Experience gained: 210 XP
Title Unlocked: "The Reborn"
Level: 1 → 3]
> [Stat Points Available: 12]
[Would you like to open your Status Window? Y/N]
"…Yes," he whispered.
A glowing panel blinked open before him — semi-transparent and futuristic, but with black-gold trim and ancient Greek glyphs rotating slowly in its corners.
---
[MYTHBORN SYSTEM – STATUS]
Name: Adam Lorne
Level: 3
Class: Vessel of Hades (Mythborn)
Health: 460/460
Mana: 310/310
Strength: 14
Agility: 11
Endurance: 13
Intellect: 15
Charisma: 9
Luck: 3
Available Stat Points: 12
Skills:
Soulrender Blade (Active) – Coat your weapon with deathly essence. +40% damage vs. living.
Death's Gaze (Active) – Instill fear in enemies. Weak enemies may flee.
Passive: Underworld Resilience – +10% damage resistance.
Titles:
The Reborn – Survived death and accepted divine inheritance. +5% EXP gain.
---
Adam stared at it, blinking rain and blood out of his eyes.
It was real. Just like the hunters in those stories — like the legends of Sung Jinwoo, who once rose from nothing to everything — only this wasn't shadows.
This was death itself.
Behind him, footsteps echoed — cautious, hesitant.
He turned.
Ivy approached slowly, her sword still drawn, but lowered. Her eyes flicked between the destroyed monsters and Adam's glowing form.
"You were half-dead five minutes ago," she said, voice low. "Now you're slicing through E-class beasts like they're paper."
"I got lucky."
"Don't insult me."
A tense silence followed.
Then Ivy's eyes narrowed. "Was it a system?"
Adam hesitated.
The voice inside him, the System, pulsed — and in his mind, a whisper echoed:
> [Warning: Revealing System may alter fate path. Proceed with caution.]
"I don't know," Adam said finally. "Something… woke up inside me."
Ivy didn't press further, but she didn't lower her guard either.
"Then control it," she muttered. "Whatever it is, it saved your life. But if you lose control, I'll be the one putting you down."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Still as dramatic as ever."
She blinked, stunned for a moment. "What?"
Adam turned before she could push more. "Let's finish this dungeon."
---
The rest of the corridor was silent.
The remaining monsters had either fled or hidden. The squad of E-ranks — those who hadn't died in the opening ambush — huddled behind Adam now, whispering about him like he was some mythical being.
"I saw his eyes. They were glowing."
"Did you feel the air? It got cold when he stood up."
"He's not just some E-rank anymore…"
He ignored it.
Even Ivy kept a careful distance.
His thoughts were elsewhere — on the surge of strength, the thrill of power, and the whisper in his head. Hades. God of the Underworld. The dead. The forgotten.
And he'd chosen him.
---
They reached the dungeon core chamber an hour later.
It pulsed like a beating heart — an orb of violet crystal nestled in a ribcage of bone and stone. But something was wrong.
Ivy stepped forward. "This isn't normal. Class E cores aren't shaped like this."
Adam felt it too. A pressure. A coldness deeper than the grave.
> [System Warning:
Hidden Boss Detected – ???]
A growl rumbled through the stone.
From the shadows behind the core, something crawled forward — long, skeletal, covered in cracked plates of gray armor. Its face was a hollow skull with glowing red eyes.
It wasn't in the dungeon briefing.
> [Name: Revenant Warden]
[Rank: C]
[Warning: Threat exceeds recommended level.]
The other hunters stepped back in panic.
"C-rank?! This is supposed to be E!"
"We're dead!"
"Get out of the way!"
They scrambled. Ivy gritted her teeth and stepped in front of them.
"I'll hold it back. The rest of you run—"
Adam stepped beside her.
She glanced at him. "Are you seriously—?"
He raised his sword, now humming with the Soulrender glow.
"I'm not leaving," Adam said. "Not anymore."
Then, without warning, the creature lunged.
---
It moved fast — almost too fast.
Adam barely ducked the swipe of its claw, the wind from the strike cutting his cheek. He rolled, slashed upward with Soulrender Blade, and the edge met the Revenant's bone chest.
It shrieked.
A long, wailing cry.
The others ran. Ivy remained behind, breathing hard, watching Adam fight.
> [Skill: Death's Gaze – Activated.]
The Warden faltered for half a second — its movements sluggish, hesitating as if suddenly unsure of its own existence.
Adam's eyes glowed brighter.
> [Death's Gaze effect: Minor Fear inflicted.]
He pressed the advantage. Strike. Slash. Dodge. Every movement felt sharper, cleaner. He wasn't just fighting like before — he was guiding death itself.
> [Enemy Health: 63%...]
> [Health: 270/460]
[Mana: 160/310]
But the Warden's strength wasn't gone yet. It howled and slammed its claw into the earth, sending a shockwave of energy out.
Adam was thrown back, smashing into the wall. His bones screamed.
The Warden charged, claws raised.
> [Emergency System Alert:
Would you like to activate Harbinger Form?
Cost: 200 Mana + 25% Max HP
Warning: First-time activation will inflict Soulburn.
Adam, breathing hard, stared up at the monster charging toward him.
He could run. Collapse. Give up.
Or…
"Do it," he hissed.
> [Harbinger Form – ACTIVATED.]
---
Darkness exploded from his chest.
His veins turned black, glowing with ancient glyphs. A pair of ghostly, skeletal wings erupted from his back, surrounded by chains and smoke. His sword transformed, gaining size and jagged edges, wreathed in violet fire.
The air bent around him.
The Warden hesitated for the first time.
And Adam moved.
Faster than before. A blur.
CRACK.
His blade severed the creature's arm in a single swing.
He leapt again, high above it, spinning.
The final strike descended like judgment from heaven.
SLAM.
The Revenant Warden split in two.
Its body crumbled into ash and bone, and the core behind it shattered into a thousand brilliant shards.
---
> [Boss Defeated.
Experience gained: 880 XP
Level: 3 → 6
Skill Unlocked: Soul Chain (Active)]
[Harbinger Form – Deactivated. Status: Exhausted]
[Warning: Soulburn applied. -20% stats for 6 hours.]
Adam collapsed to his knees, panting.
The dungeon crumbled behind him.
---
Outside, under the returning rain, Ivy stood by his side, arms crossed, but her gaze softer.
"You're not the same idiot from earlier," she muttered.
Adam smiled faintly, despite the blood on his lips.
"I don't think I've been that guy for a while."