The forest didn't dissolve.
That was the first thing that felt wrong.
Jihan stood still, boots pressed into damp soil, eyes sweeping across the trees. The air was heavy with the scent of moss and rusted iron. Somewhere in the distance, something screeched—high-pitched and unpleasant.
Practice dungeon.
That was what the instructor had called it.
But nothing about this place felt fake.
He bent slightly and picked up one of the dropped coins. Cold. Solid. Real enough that it bit into his palm.
"…Holograms don't usually weigh this much."
A blue notification flickered into existence before fading quickly, as if embarrassed to interrupt.
[Simulation Integrity: 100%]
[Environment Type: Practice Dungeon (Academy Grade)]
Practice dungeon.
Jihan stared at the line for a second, then shrugged.
"Doesn't matter."
Fake or real, his system clearly didn't care.
Another rustle echoed to his right.
This time, five figures stepped out.
Goblin-type again—but different.
Their skin shimmered faintly, like light bending across their bodies. Their movements were stiff, slightly delayed, like poorly synced animations. One of them raised its weapon a fraction of a second too late.
Training constructs.
Not real monsters.
So that's how they do it, Jihan thought. Artificial monsters with combat patterns.
For students, that made sense. Safe. Controlled. No fatalities.
For him?
He took a step forward.
The goblins reacted as if a switch had been flipped. They rushed him together, movements jerky but aggressive.
Jihan didn't even bother dodging.
He caught the first one by the face and slammed it into the ground.
The creature burst apart into particles of light—clean, silent.
The second swung its blade. He twisted his wrist, grabbed its arm, and snapped it.
No blood.
Just light.
The third and fourth didn't get close enough to try anything clever.
A kick. A punch.
Two more bursts of light.
The last goblin froze mid-step.
Its head tilted slightly, as if confused.
Jihan looked at it.
"…You okay?"
The goblin didn't answer.
It tried to run.
He sighed, picked up a small stone, and flicked it.
The goblin exploded into particles before it hit the ground.
Silence returned to the forest.
Notifications stacked neatly in his vision.
[Training Enemy Eliminated x5]
[Experience Gained.]
[Level Increased.]
[Dungeon Domination Effect Applied.]
[Reward Adjustment: Training Dungeon Detected → Rewards Reduced by 60%]
"Oh?" Jihan raised an eyebrow.
So the system did recognize the difference.
That was fine.
Even with reduced rewards, his levels were climbing far faster than they should.
He checked his status window again.
> Level: 6
Strength: 21
Agility: 19
Vitality: 18
Intelligence: 24
Luck: 12
He whistled softly.
"…This is still ridiculous."
While Jihan calmly assessed his gains, the academy hall above the dungeon was anything but calm.
A massive screen dominated the wall, split into dozens of smaller feeds—each one showing a different dungeon team's progress.
Students clustered in front of it. Instructors stood with tablets in hand, eyes sharp.
Most screens showed predictable scenes.
Teams advancing cautiously. Tanks raising shields. Mages casting spells that lit up the forest with controlled flashes of light. Summoners directing artificial beasts forward.
Normal.
Then there was Feed 27.
A student pointed first.
"Hey… isn't that the F-rank guy?"
Others leaned in.
On the screen, a lone figure walked through the forest with his hands in his pockets. Light particles drifted around him like fireflies.
"That's Kang Jihan, right?"
"No way. He went in alone."
"He should've been eliminated already."
The feed zoomed automatically.
Five training goblins rushed him.
And then—
They disappeared.
Not staggered. Not knocked back.
Deleted.
The room went quiet.
A second later, a line of text appeared beneath the feed.
Dungeon Gate E-17
Solo Participant: Kang Jihan
Clear Progress: 12%
Someone laughed nervously. "Glitch?"
An instructor frowned and tapped her tablet. "No system error detected."
Another instructor stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "Rewind that."
The footage replayed in slow motion.
Every movement was clean. Efficient. Casual.
No wasted motion. No panic.
"That's not how an F-rank fights," someone muttered.
Back inside the dungeon, Jihan continued walking.
The forest path widened, opening into a clearing.
At the center stood a massive stone construct.
Training Boss.
A humanoid golem made of interlocking slabs of gray stone. Its eyes glowed blue. Runes pulsed faintly across its chest.
Above it floated text.
[Training Boss: Guardian Golem]
Recommended Party Size: 5
Threat Level: Moderate
Jihan tilted his head.
"Someone paid a lot to make this look scary."
The golem moved.
Not fast—but with weight.
Stone plates slid against one another with a grinding rasp as its right arm lifted. The runes along its forearm flared, pulsing once.
Then the fist came down.
Jihan felt the pressure before the impact. Air compressed violently, slamming against his chest as he twisted aside.
The ground exploded where he had been standing.
Stone shattered outward in a violent ring. Dust and stone fragments sprayed across his boots. A shockwave rippled through the clearing, rattling the trees at the edge.
Jihan slid back a step, boots carving shallow lines into the soil.
"…So it hits like that."
The golem didn't pause.
Its other arm swung in a wide arc, stone fingers tearing through the air. Jihan ducked under it, but the edge of the blow still grazed his shoulder.
Pain flared—sharp, sudden.
He clicked his tongue and rolled away as the ground behind him cracked again.
Okay. Not completely harmless.
The golem advanced, each step sending tremors through the clearing. Its movements were simple, almost crude—but relentless.
Heavy. Direct. Efficient.
Jihan circled, eyes tracking the joints where stone met stone.
The elbows. The knees. The chest.
Runes pulsed there too—but weaker. Flickering, like a bad connection.
The golem raised both arms and slammed them down together.
Jihan sprinted forward instead of back.
The impact detonated behind him, a wall of force tearing through the space he'd just vacated. Heat and pressure washed over his back as he slid beneath the golem's torso, barely avoiding the crushing weight.
He came up inside its reach.
Too close.
Stone fingers closed around his forearm.
The grip tightened.
His bones creaked.
Jihan grimaced, muscles screaming as he dug his heels into the ground.
"So that's your plan," he muttered. "Grab and crush."
The runes along the golem's chest flared brighter.
For a split second, he saw it.
A thin golden line—almost invisible—running through the center rune. A seam. Not in the stone.
In the energy.
There.
He stopped struggling.
The golem tightened its grip, stone grinding against flesh.
Jihan inhaled slowly.
Then twisted his arm—not to pull free, but to align his palm.
He slammed it forward.
Not with brute force.
With precision.
His palm struck directly over the golden seam.
There was no explosion.
No dramatic flash.
Just a deep, hollow thoom—like striking an empty bell.
The rune flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then shattered.
Golden light bled out in jagged cracks, racing across the golem's chest. Its grip loosened instantly.
The massive body froze mid-motion.
Jihan stepped back as the stone plates began to crumble, collapsing inward rather than outward.
The golem's head tilted, light draining from its eyes.
A second later, it disintegrated into a cascade of glowing fragments that scattered across the ground like embers.
Dust settled.
Jihan flexed his arm, rolling his shoulder once.
"…Yeah," he said quietly. "That would've broken something if I messed up.
He smiled faintly.
Someone in this academy likes to overengineer their toys.
And that was going to be a problem—for everyone else.
Notifications flooded in.
[Training Boss Defeated.]
[Dungeon Clear Progress: 100%]
[Clear Time: 7 minutes 42 seconds]
[Performance Rating: SSS (Adjusted)]
Jihan blinked.
A final notification appeared, text slightly grayed out.
[Note: Practice Dungeon rewards capped by Academy Regulations.]
He sighed. "Figures."
Light enveloped him.
The forest dissolved.
He reappeared in ASTRA ACADEMY – DUNGEON PRACTICE HALL 3.
The transition was instant.
One moment he was standing over a pile of shattered stone. The next, polished concrete was under his feet again.
Silence hit him first.
Not the quiet of an empty room.
The heavy, suffocating silence of dozens of people staring.
Students lined the hall, frozen mid-conversation. Some still held weapons. Others stared at the massive screen behind him.
Jihan glanced back.
His feed was still displayed.
Dungeon Gate E-17 – CLEARED
Solo Participant: Kang Jihan
Clear Time: 7:42
A beat passed.
Then another.
"What…?" someone whispered.
"That dungeon takes at least thirty minutes."
"Even with a full team."
Park Minjae stood stiffly among his group, eyes locked on the screen.
"No," he muttered. "That's impossible."
Seo Hyunwoo swallowed. "It's a practice dungeon, right? Maybe it's bugged."
The instructor stepped forward.
Her heels echoed sharply against the floor.
"Kang Jihan."
Her voice snapped everyone's attention back to him.
"Yes?" Jihan replied calmly.
She studied him for several seconds. Not his status window. Not the screen.
Him.
"You cleared the dungeon alone," she said. "In under eight minutes."
"Yes."
"Did you exploit a system error?"
Jihan thought about it.
Technically… no.
"I just fought," he said. "The monsters were weak."
A ripple of disbelief passed through the hall.
Weak.
The instructor's lips pressed into a thin line. She turned to her tablet, swiped rapidly, then paused.
"…No abnormalities detected."
She looked up again, eyes sharper now.
"Return to your position."
Jihan nodded and walked past the students.
They parted instinctively.
No one laughed this time.
No one spoke.
As he stopped near the back, another notification appeared quietly in his vision.
[Hidden Condition Met: Overperformance Detected]
[Attention Level Increased.]
He smiled faintly.
Good.
Let them look.
Let them wonder.
This was only a practice dungeon.
And he was already bored.
To Be Continued.....