The dungeon did not collapse after the boss fell.
Instead, it grew quieter.
Arkio stood in the center of the ruined chamber, chest rising and falling violently. His hands were trembling—not from fear, but from something deeper. Something inside him was still… hungry.
The corpse of the dungeon boss lay split apart, its form already turning into black ash. As the particles dissolved into the air, thin streams of energy were pulled toward Arkio's body without his permission.
He tried to resist.
Failed.
The moment the energy entered him, his vision blurred.
[Warning]
| Unstable assimilation detected. |
Arkio dropped to one knee.
Pain tore through his muscles, not like an injury—but like his body was being rewritten from the inside. His heart pounded harder than it ever had before, each beat echoing in his ears.
This wasn't power…
This was the cost.
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Outside the Dungeon
The survivors were silent.
Ryn sat against a broken wall, staring at the dungeon gate with wide, empty eyes.
"He went back inside…" he whispered. "Alone."
No one answered him.
Hunters were used to death. They were trained to accept it. But what they had witnessed inside that dungeon—Arkio standing against the boss when everyone else had given up—had shaken them.
That wasn't bravery.
That was desperation.
_______________________________________________
Inside the Dungeon
Arkio forced himself to stand.
Every step felt heavier than the last. His senses were sharper now—too sharp. He could hear the faint cracking of mana stones deep within the walls. He could feel the remnants of fear the boss had left behind.
And worst of all…
He could feel it.
The presence inside him wasn't silent anymore.
It didn't speak in words, but in impulses.
Survive.
Grow.
Never be prey again.
Arkio clenched his fists.
"No," he muttered. "I'm still… me."
The dungeon finally began to collapse, the
system forcing him out. Light swallowed his
vision.
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Aftermath
Arkio woke up in a medical room.
White ceiling. Beeping machines. The smell of disinfectant.
For a moment, he thought everything had been a dream.
Then he felt it.
His body was different.
Not stronger in an obvious way—but denser. Like something permanent had settled inside him.
A nurse noticed his movement and rushed out.
Minutes later, officials entered the room, their expressions unreadable.
"You survived a near-death dungeon boss encounter," one of them said slowly.
"That shouldn't be possible for someone of your rank."
Arkio said nothing.
Because deep down, he knew the truth.
He hadn't survived because he was lucky.
He had survived because something inside him had refused to let him die.
_______________________________________________
That Night.
When everyone left, Arkio stared at his reflection in the darkened window.
For a split second—
His eyes weren't his own.
He blinked, and they returned to normal.
Arkio looked away.
"This changes nothing," he whispered.
"I'll decide what I become."
But somewhere deep within him, the hunger waited.
Patiently.
_______________________________________________
End of Chapter 7
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