The moment the Crimson Maw Devourer moved, Seo Hyun understood something was wrong.
It didn't charge wildly like other beasts.
It advanced.
The dungeon trembled as its massive body slid forward, stone grinding beneath crimson scales. Each movement carried weight, not speed. The kind of pressure that made escape feel pointless.
Seo Hyun stepped back instinctively.
Too slow.
The creature's tail slammed into the ground, the shockwave throwing him off his feet. He crashed hard, rolling across broken concrete before slamming into a rusted machine.
Pain flared through his side.
He forced himself up, breathing hard.
"Damn it…"
The beast didn't roar. It didn't hiss.
It simply kept coming.
Seo Hyun ran.
The ruined factory blurred as he sprinted, dodging collapsed beams and shattered pillars. Behind him, the Devourer plowed through everything in its path, crushing metal and stone as if they were nothing more than brittle toys.
The ground shook with every movement.
It's cornering me.
He ducked around a fallen structure, heart pounding. The air felt tight, heavy, like the dungeon itself was pressing down on his chest.
Then the ceiling above him cracked.
Seo Hyun barely managed to throw himself aside as chunks of concrete crashed down where he'd been standing. The serpent's head burst through the debris, jaws snapping shut with terrifying force.
Too close.
Way too close.
He stumbled, barely keeping his balance. His sealed wounds burned sharply, green mana flickering as if struggling to keep up.
I can't keep running.
The Devourer reared up, its massive body coiling, filling the space with its presence alone. Seo Hyun froze for half a second.
That was all it needed.
The serpent lunged.
The impact knocked him flat, the breath driven from his lungs as he slid across the ground. Something inside him protested sharply, and warmth spread beneath his clothes.
Seo Hyun clenched his teeth, pushing himself up on shaking arms.
His vision blurred.
The beast wrapped around him.
Not violently.
Deliberately.
Pressure closed in from every side, crushing and unyielding. Seo Hyun gasped, air forced from his chest as his body was lifted off the ground.
He tried to fight it.
Tried to push.
It was useless.
His strength meant nothing here.
The world narrowed to the sound of his own breathing and the steady tightening of coils around him.
So this is how it ends?
Memories surged uninvited.
Being ignored in raids.
Being treated like excess weight.
The quiet laughter when his rank was mentioned.
Weak.
That word had followed him everywhere.
His vision darkened at the edges.
Anger sparked.
Then flared.
"No…" he forced out, voice shaking. "Not like this."
The pressure increased.
His body screamed at him to give up.
And that was when something inside him snapped.
Not power.
Resolve.
He thought of every time he'd been discarded. Every moment he'd been told to stay back. Every time he'd accepted it because he believed he deserved it.
I don't.
His fists clenched.
"If I can become strong…" he thought desperately, rage boiling up through fear, "…then I will."
The world tilted.
The coils tightened one last time.
Seo Hyun stood on the edge.
One breath away.
And something inside him began to change.
The pressure didn't ease.
If anything, it grew worse.
Seo Hyun's vision narrowed to a tunnel of red and black as the Crimson Maw Devourer tightened its coils. His thoughts scattered, heartbeat pounding so loudly it drowned out everything else.
I'm going to die.
The realization was calm. Too calm.
His body was failing. His strength meant nothing against something built purely to crush. Panic clawed at the edges of his mind, but beneath it, something colder began to form.
Observation.
The coils weren't tightening randomly.
They moved in rhythm.
Slow. Heavy. Predictable.
Seo Hyun forced himself to focus, even as his lungs burned.
It's not magic. It's muscle.
The serpent wasn't squeezing continuously. It was pulsing its strength, tightening in cycles to exhaust its prey.
That was the opening.
"Damn it…" Seo Hyun rasped.
He stopped struggling.
The sudden lack of resistance made the Devourer hesitate, just for a fraction of a second. Its coils loosened imperceptibly, adjusting its grip.
Seo Hyun waited.
His instincts screamed at him to move, to thrash, to fight back with everything he had left.
He ignored them.
Now.
He twisted sharply, not outward but into the coil, shifting his weight toward the narrowest gap between scales. At the same time, he drove his elbow down with everything he had, pouring his remaining mana into a single, focused strike.
The blow didn't break the coil.
But it disrupted it.
The rhythm broke.
Pressure faltered.
Air rushed into his lungs in a painful gasp as Seo Hyun slipped free, collapsing hard onto the ground. He rolled instinctively, barely avoiding the Devourer's snapping jaws as they closed where his head had been moments before.
He didn't stop moving.
Pain screamed through his body, but he pushed through it, dragging himself behind a collapsed steel pillar. He pressed his back against it, chest heaving, vision swimming.
Blood soaked his clothes.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed weakly.
"So… you're not perfect."
The Devourer turned slowly, head tilting.
It had learned too.
The beast lunged again, tail smashing through the pillar. Seo Hyun was thrown aside, skidding across the floor, but this time he rolled with it, forcing himself back to his feet.
He was shaking.
But he was thinking clearly now.
Running won't work.
Blocking won't work.
Outmuscling it is impossible.
So he changed the question.
What can I control?
The dungeon.
The terrain.
The timing.
Seo Hyun grabbed a fallen metal rod as he sprinted, jamming it into a fractured support beam as he passed. He kicked loose debris, sending it cascading into the Devourer's path.
The serpent smashed through it all, relentless.
But slower.
Each impact took something from it.
Seo Hyun climbed.
Up broken machinery, across hanging platforms, forcing the beast to follow paths that restricted its movement. Every time it struck, it had to adjust.
Every adjustment was a mistake.
"You're strong," Seo Hyun shouted hoarsely, adrenaline burning through pain. "But you only know one way to kill."
The Devourer surged upward, jaws snapping.
Seo Hyun jumped.
He landed hard on its back.
The impact nearly knocked him unconscious, but he clung on, fingers digging into gaps between scales. The beast thrashed violently, smashing into walls, trying to shake him off.
Seo Hyun held on.
"I've lived weak my whole life," he growled, rage and frustration finally boiling over. "You think I haven't learned how to survive?"
He drove the metal rod down, again and again, not aiming for power, but precision. The same spot. Over and over.
The serpent roared.
Its movements grew erratic.
Seo Hyun felt something shift.
Not in the beast.
In himself.
He wasn't reacting anymore.
He was adapting.
The Crimson Maw Devourer thrashed violently.
Its massive body slammed into the dungeon walls, stone cracking as dust poured from above. Seo Hyun was thrown free, his grip finally failing as the beast smashed itself sideways.
He hit the ground hard.
The impact knocked the breath from his lungs, stars bursting across his vision. His body refused to move for a moment, limbs numb, mind lagging behind reality.
Get up.
The thought echoed weakly.
The Devourer didn't give him time.
It turned, slower now but no less deadly, crimson scales scraping against the floor as it advanced. The red name above its head burned brighter, pulsing with hostility.
Seo Hyun pushed himself up on trembling arms.
His legs shook as he stood.
Everything hurt.
His sealed wounds flickered wildly, green lines unstable, barely holding him together. His mana felt thin, stretched to the limit. One more mistake and he wouldn't get back up.
The beast lunged.
Seo Hyun moved sideways at the last moment, the jaws snapping shut inches from his chest. The shockwave alone sent him stumbling, but he didn't fall this time.
He was learning.
It overcommits when it charges.
The serpent crashed into a pillar, its head slamming into reinforced stone. The structure cracked but didn't collapse. For a split second, the Devourer froze, body tensing as it adjusted.
That was the opening.
Seo Hyun ran toward it.
Not away.
The decision felt insane, but fear no longer guided him. Something else did. Clarity.
He slid beneath the serpent's raised body, narrowly avoiding the crushing weight as he rolled through. The heat of its mass passed over him, air rushing violently around his ears.
He came up near its neck.
Seo Hyun grabbed onto a damaged scale, fingers slipping, muscles screaming in protest as he pulled himself upward.
The Devourer reacted instantly.
Its body coiled violently, tail smashing into the ground again and again. The dungeon shook with every impact, debris raining down as the ceiling groaned.
Seo Hyun held on.
"I won't—" he coughed, forcing the words out, "—be abandoned again."
Memories surged.
Standing behind stronger hunters. Being told to stay back. Being left behind without hesitation.
Anger burned hotter than pain.
He drove his fist down, mana flaring in a sharp, focused burst. Not powerful. Precise.
The strike landed between overlapping scales.
The Devourer roared, body spasming violently as it thrashed harder than before. Seo Hyun was thrown free again, crashing across the floor, rolling until he slammed into a wall.
He didn't stop moving.
He forced himself back up immediately, legs barely responding, vision swimming. His body screamed at him to rest.
He ignored it.
The serpent turned again, movements slower now. Its breathing was heavy, chest expanding and contracting with visible effort.
For the first time, Seo Hyun saw it.
Fatigue.
"You feel it too," he muttered.
The Devourer charged one final time.
Seo Hyun ran straight toward it.
At the last moment, he leapt, planting his foot against the beast's head and pushing off with everything he had left. The force sent him spinning upward as the serpent slammed into the wall behind him.
Stone collapsed.
The beast reeled.
Seo Hyun landed badly, knees buckling as he hit the ground. He nearly fell but caught himself, forcing his body to stay upright through sheer will.
His heart hammered.
His mana was almost gone.
The Devourer tried to move again.
It failed.
Its massive body sagged, strength finally giving out as it collapsed heavily against the ruined dungeon floor.
The red glow above its head flickered.
Seo Hyun stood there, shaking, chest heaving, barely able to stay conscious.
He had no strength left to celebrate.
No strength left to even think.
He had won by one step.
One decision.
One refusal to give up.
The system chimed quietly in his mind.
[Boss Condition: Defeated]
Seo Hyun's legs finally gave out.
He dropped to one knee, breath ragged, vision dimming.
Inside his mind, the God of Death spoke again.
Not bored this time.
Amused.
"Good," he said softly. "You didn't beg."
Seo Hyun laughed weakly, staring at the fallen beast.
"…You really are awful," he muttered.
The dungeon began to tremble.
And somewhere deep within him, something settled into place.
Not strength.
Conviction.