Blue light fractured like broken glass.
Then disappeared.
Silence followed.
Jae-Min stared at the empty air.
"…Tell me that's part of the test."
Nobody answered.
Even the torches along the stone corridor flickered uneasily.
Auxrien didn't turn around.
He already knew.
The ticking sound inside his mind had warned him before they stepped through.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Something had changed the moment they crossed the threshold.
Manji's cheerful voice no longer echoed.
No communication crystals activated.
No emergency recall.
Only damp air and darkness stretching ahead.
Dae-Hyun sighed heavily.
"Well… panicking won't reopen it."
His calmness steadied the others.
Hana tightened her grip on her staff.
"We just clear the floor and find another exit, right?"
Mira nodded nervously beside her.
"Yes… E-class towers sometimes have alternate gates."
Jae-Min forced a grin.
"Easy."
He glanced at Auxrien.
"You've been quiet since entering."
Auxrien finally spoke.
"…Stay close."
The tone made everyone listen instinctively.
Because it wasn't fear.
It was certainty.
They moved forward.
Stone corridors twisted deeper into the tower.
Unlike dungeons, towers felt… deliberate.
Walls too smooth.
Torches evenly spaced.
Like something designed trials intentionally.
Goblin corpses soon appeared.
Dozens.
Split open violently.
None killed by Hunters.
Dae-Hyun crouched beside one.
"…Strange."
He turned it slightly.
Bones crushed inward.
Like struck by enormous force.
Jae-Min frowned.
"Something stronger hunting them?"
Auxrien's eyes narrowed.
Mana pressure thickened with every step.
Cold.
Heavy.
Rotten.
Wrong for E-class.
Then—
a sound echoed.
Deep.
Wet.
Laughter.
Low rumbling voices followed.
Stone trembled faintly.
Hana whispered.
"…What was that?"
Auxrien stopped walking.
Too late.
The corridor opened suddenly into a massive chamber.
And they froze.
Trolls.
At least twelve.
Tower trolls.
Gray skin like cracked stone.
Massive clubs dragging against the ground.
Tusks dripping saliva.
Eyes glowing faint green.
E-class floors were never supposed to contain them.
Jae-Min whispered hoarsely.
"…That's B-rank prey."
Heavy footsteps echoed behind.
They turned.
Three more trolls blocked retreat.
Grinning.
One slammed a club against the wall.
Stone shattered.
They laughed together.
Mocking.
Hunting.
Trap completed.
Dae-Hyun's voice hardened instantly.
"Formation!"
Everyone moved.
Training instinct.
Jae-Min stepped backward toward rear defense.
Sword drawn instantly.
"Backline is mine!"
The first troll charged.
Ground shook beneath its steps.
Dae-Hyun met it head-on.
His gauntleted fist collided with the creature's jaw.
Impact thundered.
Shockwave blasted dust outward.
The troll staggered.
He followed immediately.
Punch.
Elbow.
Knee strike.
Every movement brutal and precise.
A veteran.
But another troll swung sideways.
Club smashed toward him.
Auxrien moved first.
Lightning flashed.
He intercepted.
The blow still launched him across stone.
Pain exploded through ribs.
Too heavy.
Too strong.
"Tch."
He stood again.
Fire ignited along his palm.
The girls began casting immediately.
Golden light wrapped around Dae-Hyun's injuries.
Hana shouted.
"Hold them steady!"
Mira slammed her shield forward.
Barrier expanded.
A troll's claws scraped uselessly against glowing defense.
Jae-Min laughed loudly behind them.
"HEY!"
Two rear trolls rushed him.
He slid forward instead.
Sword flashing.
Clean.
Fast.
One arm severed instantly.
Second swing cut across throat.
Blood sprayed.
But exhaustion followed quickly.
He wasn't weak.
Just human.
More trolls surrounded him.
Auxrien stepped between.
Lightning exploded outward.
Firestorm followed.
Flames crawled across stone walls.
Troll skin burned slowly.
Regeneration already beginning.
"…Annoying."
One grabbed him mid-attack.
Huge hand crushing ribs.
Air vanished from lungs.
It slammed him into the ground repeatedly.
Vision blurred.
Lightning discharged instinctively.
The creature roared and released him.
Dae-Hyun roared loudly.
Together they attacked.
Punches shattered knees.
Lightning pierced eyes.
Fire burned wounds faster than regeneration could repair.
Minutes stretched endlessly.
Sweat soaked everyone.
Mana drained rapidly.
Hana gasped behind.
"I can't keep healing this fast!"
Golden light flickered weakly.
Mira's barrier cracked repeatedly.
Jae-Min staggered.
Blood dripping from forehead.
But nobody retreated.
Because retreat meant death.
Half the trolls finally collapsed.
Bodies smoking.
Limbs severed.
Breathing filled the chamber.
Then—
horns echoed.
Heavy.
Ancient.
The chamber shook.
Stone walls opened slowly.
A shadow stepped forward.
Massive horns scraping ceiling.
Bull skull helmet.
Muscles layered with iron armor grown into flesh.
Eyes burning crimson.
The Minotaur.
Floor Boss.
Everyone froze.
Hana whispered.
"…We're dead."
Even trolls stepped aside.
Fearful.
Auxrien's chest tightened.
Wrong.
Everything wrong.
E-class trial becoming massacre.
The Minotaur snorted.
Steam erupted from nostrils.
Then it charged.
Stone shattered beneath its hooves.
Dae-Hyun barely blocked.
Impact threw him across chamber violently.
Bones cracked audibly.
Jae-Min rushed forward screaming.
Sword struck armor uselessly.
Backhand swing launched him into pillar.
Blood followed.
The girls screamed.
Healing magic surged desperately.
But light flickered weakly.
Hana's hands trembled.
"…It's not working!"
Auxrien realized instantly.
Mana environment.
Dark energy seeped through floor cracks.
Rotten.
Corrupt.
Suppressing healing.
Negative field.
"This place…"
Lightning flickered weakly along his fingers.
"…is eating mana."
Trolls attacked again simultaneously.
Desperation battle resumed.
Fire burst again.
Lightning pierced flesh.
Dae-Hyun rose shaking.
Broken.
Still fighting.
Together—
they finally killed the last troll.
Bodies collapsed around them.
Silence fell briefly.
Everyone breathing heavily.
Three men bleeding badly.
Healing barely slowing wounds.
Hana cried softly.
"I can't stop the bleeding…"
Auxrien stared at dark mist crawling across the stone.
Blocking mana flow.
Poisoning recovery.
His instincts screamed louder than ever.
This wasn't malfunction.
Someone wanted Hunters trapped here.
Behind them—
the Minotaur snorted again.
Unharmed.
Waiting patiently.
Like a judge observing struggle.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Auxrien's eyes darkened.
"…We're not fighting a dungeon anymore."
The beast lowered its horns.
Preparing another charge.
"This time it will different " mc whisper
Shhhhhhh , the minotuar charge
Head blown from the neck , blood emerges like a fountain from the neck.
Now this will be a total Massacre.