"Clear this... and you’ll become a rookie member too," Zane said with a wide grin.
"Okay, good. What are we waiting for?" Shelby cracked his knuckles. "Let’s go."
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and disappeared into the shadows of the dungeon’s maw.
Zane smirked, but the moment passed. His gaze shifted to the glowing virtual display hovering above Shelby’s head.
[Analyzing Status...]
"System, what’s with his stats?" he whispered, brow furrowed. "Why are all of them hidden? Not even a value for mana or health..."
Zane sighed. He knew this silence too well. The System often chose when to speak, when to reveal, and when to simply ignore him—as though it possessed a will of its own. He had long stopped expecting answers on demand. It never gave him what he wanted—only what it decided he needed.
With a breath drawn through clenched teeth, he stepped inside.
[System Notice: Dimensional Shift Detected...]
[Dungeon Biome Analysis: Initiating Scan...]
Instantly, a wave of raw sensation slammed into him.
He could feel it in his bones. The gravity tugged just a bit harder on his frame. The air tasted metallic, charged. The pressure, the scent of the soil, the faint pulse in the ground beneath—it all screamed alien.
His boots crunched softly on ground that felt less like dirt and more like dense, compressed moss. He looked down.
Grasses shimmered with a pale iridescence—thin, almost translucent, bending unnaturally as if reacting to his presence. Strange shrubs lined the edges of a natural path, their leaves pulsing with dim blue glows, like a heartbeat syncing with the dungeon itself.
The cavern walls were not stone—not entirely. They undulated with slow, barely perceptible motion, like they were breathing. Their texture reminded him uncomfortably of muscle tissue or the inner lining of some massive beast.
Zane drew his broadsword in silence. His grip tightened.
[Dungeon Biome Scan Complete]
Dungeon Grade: D — Special Case
Location: Hidden Rift Dungeon, Southern China Sea Region
Primary Reward: Lies within Level 7
Controlling Faction: Temple of Assassins
Biome Type: Quasi-Organic Arcane Realm
Threat Level: Moderate to High
— Mana-Saturated Flora
— Chrono-Spatial Displacement
— Adaptive Hostile Entities
So, it’s under them too... Zane narrowed his eyes. The Temple of Assassins had a reputation for claiming unusual dungeons. This must’ve been one of their training grounds.
He glanced up just as Shelby came into view, casually waiting ahead like he’d seen nothing out of the ordinary.
Zane stepped up beside the tall, lean man.
"Since I brought you here, let me give you the rundown first."
Shelby glanced over, saying nothing.
"This is a Grade D — Special Case dungeon," Zane continued. "It’s under the control of the Temple of Assassins. There are exactly seven levels. The Temple’s reward is sealed in the seventh."
Shelby raised a brow. "And the catch?"
Zane grinned. "There’s always a catch. Survive to Level 7—and you’ll find out."
"Survive?" Shelby scoffed, cracking his neck. "Boy, this is just a Grade D dungeon. Special case or not, I’ll show you later. Action speaks louder than speech, right?"
With a casual thumps-up and a confident smile, Shelby reached forward and pressed his hand against the glowing red door.
A low hum resonated through the cavern walls. The door slid open with a hiss of steam, revealing a narrow, rune-lined corridor bathed in faint crimson light. Without waiting, Shelby strode in, his shadow flickering under the arcane glow.
Zane followed close behind.
The corridor was short, but the energy thickened with every step—as if the very air resisted their presence. Then, after a final bend, the passage widened drastically.
They emerged into the first level.
It was massive—easily the size of a full soccer stadium.
The ceiling arched high above, lost in an unnatural mist. Glowing vines dangled like chandeliers, casting eerie, ever-shifting light across the terrain. Stone platforms rose and fell as if breathing, forming natural bridges and islands above a shimmering, obsidian lake that covered much of the area.
The lake’s surface rippled despite the stillness of the air, as though something stirred beneath it.
Zane’s hand instinctively tightened around his broadsword.
"This... is no ordinary dungeon," he murmured.
Shelby whistled, hands on his hips. "Looks like someone hired an architect from another dimension."
Zane couldn’t help but chuckle at the half-assed joke, the tension easing just slightly.
[Seven Snake-men Detected...]
A system notification flashed in his vision.
Suddenly, the lake rippled violently as waves surged upward. Seven grotesque figures emerged from beneath the surface—humanoid from the waist up, but with long, powerful serpent tails below. Each wielded a black trident, their yellow eyes glowing with primal hunger.
Zane stepped forward, preparing to issue a warning—only to pause.
A burst of white lightning erupted beside him. In the blink of an eye, motes of electricity crackled through the air. Before Zane could react, all seven snake-men spasmed, paralyzed mid-slither, before collapsing lifelessly into the lake with a splash.
Zane blinked. "What the..."
"Alright, follow me," Shelby said casually, already pushing open the next door.
The terrain was eerily identical—a wide, mist-shrouded chamber with the same shimmering lake at its center. But this time, Zane’s system pinged again.
[Twenty-Five Snake-men Detected — Underwater Combatants]
Zane turned—but Shelby had already vanished.
In a flash, Shelby appeared at the edge of the lake, arm extended. A crackling bolt of lightning surged from his fingertip, arcing across the water’s surface. Thunder boomed, and within seconds, the lake boiled with electrocuted serpent-men.
Shelby turned back and beckoned. "Next."
Zane followed silently, disbelief growing.
Fifty-two snake-men. Stronger. Faster. Meaner.
None of them even got to move.
With a lazy wave of his hand, Shelby unleashed another devastating strike of divine lightning. The enemies burst into sparks and screams, crumpling where they stood—or swam.
Level Four. Level Five. Level Six.
It was the same scene repeated.
Shelby moved like a storm incarnate. A god among mortals.
Zane could only stare, sword still in its sheath. His earlier doubts melted away with each level they cleared.
So this is the power of Shelby the Thor... he thought, eyes narrowing. No wonder his stats are hidden. He’s probably so far beyond me the system can’t even compare. A-grade? No. Maybe even higher...
Finally, they arrived at the Seventh Level.
The chamber was unlike the previous floors.
Just silence—and a cold, dry breeze.
Zane stepped cautiously forward—and froze.
At the far end of the chamber stood a figure that twisted the air around it.
A woman—no, a creature—with skin pale as ash, hair made of writhing black serpents, and eyes that glowed with petrifying power. Her lower body slithered, massive and scaled, coiling in slow, deliberate motion.
A descendant of the fabled Gorgon lineage.
Zane swallowed. He had only ever heard of such beings in stories—myths.
And now, one stood before them.