The dungeon gate looked like a wound in the air.
It hovered ten meters above the cracked asphalt of the abandoned parking lot, a swirling mass of darkness that distorted the sunlight around it. Purple lightning flickered across its surface, spreading briefly across the sky before disappearing like veins of energy.
Arjun Mehra stared at it from behind the yellow barricade.
Even after two years, dungeon gates still felt unnatural.
Reality was not supposed to look like that.
A group of armored hunters stood near the gate, checking their weapons and equipment while reporters gathered behind a metal barrier further down the street. Cameras flashed. Microphones were shoved forward.
A large banner on a nearby truck read:
HUNTER ASSOCIATION — DUNGEON CLEARANCE TEAM
People watched them with admiration.
Hunters were celebrities now.
Arjun adjusted the strap of his cheap backpack and sighed.
He wasn't part of the team clearing the dungeon.
He never was.
A loud voice echoed through a portable speaker.
"Raid team entering in three minutes."
The hunters gathered closer to the gate.
Their armor gleamed under the sunlight. Mana-infused weapons hummed faintly with energy. Every one of them looked confident.
Strong.
Arjun looked down at his own equipment.
Second-hand dagger.
Cheap protective vest.
No enchanted gear.
No guild emblem.
Nothing that made him look like a real hunter.
"Still hanging around here?"
A voice came from behind him.
Arjun turned.
A tall hunter with a spear resting on his shoulder stood there. The man wore a polished B-rank guild badge on his chest.
Kunal.
They had been in the same awakening group months ago.
Kunal glanced at Arjun's gear and smirked.
"You know spectators aren't allowed inside the raid area."
"I'm not spectating," Arjun replied calmly.
Kunal raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"I'm on cleanup duty."
For a moment Kunal looked surprised.
Then he laughed.
"Cleanup duty? For this dungeon?"
Arjun didn't answer.
Cleanup duty was the lowest job a hunter could get.
After the raid team cleared the dungeon, someone had to enter and collect leftover monster cores, dismantle corpses, and gather materials.
It was dangerous.
And poorly paid.
Which was exactly why people like Arjun took the job.
Kunal leaned closer.
"You're still doing that?"
"Yes."
"Man…"
Kunal shook his head.
"You really got screwed by the awakening."
Arjun remained silent.
Everyone in the hunter world knew about the awakening test.
When a person awakened as a hunter, the Association measured their energy output.
That result determined their rank.
Most hunters were D or C rank.
Talented ones became B rank.
Rare individuals became A rank.
S-rank hunters were almost mythical.
And then there was Arjun.
The testing room had been silent when his result appeared.
The lowest reading ever recorded.
E Rank.
The examiner had looked at him with thinly disguised pity.
Some hunters couldn't even enter dungeons safely at that level.
Kunal tapped his spear against the ground.
"You know, you should just quit."
Arjun glanced at him.
"Quit?"
"Yeah. Go do something normal. Delivery work, maybe." Kunal shrugged. "You'll probably die in a dungeon anyway."
Arjun looked back at the swirling gate.
For a few seconds he said nothing.
Then he spoke quietly.
"My father died during a dungeon break."
Kunal paused.
Arjun continued.
"I know what happens when no one clears them."
The purple lightning across the gate flashed again.
The loudspeaker crackled.
"Raid team entering the dungeon."
The hunters stepped forward.
One by one they walked into the gate and vanished into the darkness.
The air vibrated for a moment.
Then everything went quiet again.
Kunal exhaled.
"Well. Good luck with your corpse collecting."
He walked away.
Arjun remained where he stood.
Cleanup duty meant he would enter the dungeon after the raid team finished.
If they finished.
He sat down on a concrete block and waited.
Hours passed.
The sun slowly moved across the sky.
Normally a low-level dungeon raid would finish within an hour.
Two at most.
Three hours passed.
Arjun frowned.
Something was wrong.
Nearby Association staff began murmuring.
A few of them started making phone calls.
Four hours.
Five.
Then suddenly—
The dungeon gate flickered violently.
Purple lightning exploded across its surface.
The ground trembled.
One of the Association officers shouted.
"Energy fluctuation!"
Another yelled.
"That's not possible! This is supposed to be a D-rank gate!"
Arjun stood up slowly.
The swirling darkness inside the gate began expanding.
Not collapsing.
Expanding.
A terrible thought formed in his mind.
Misclassified dungeon.
The worst nightmare for hunters.
A gate labeled as low-rank could sometimes contain monsters far stronger than expected.
If that happened—
The raid team would already be dead.
The air around the gate suddenly became cold.
Then something moved inside the darkness.
A massive claw slowly emerged from the portal.
Not human.
Not animal.
Something far worse.
The Association officers panicked.
"Everyone back!"
But it was already too late.
The creature stepped out of the gate.
It was enormous.
Three meters tall, covered in black armored scales. Six glowing eyes stared at the humans around it.
Its breath hissed like boiling metal.
Someone whispered in terror.
"That… that's not a D-rank monster…"
The creature moved.
In one motion it tore through a nearby armored truck.
Metal twisted like paper.
People screamed.
Hunters rushed forward, activating abilities.
Flames burst across the street.
Lightning struck the monster's body.
None of it mattered.
The creature moved again.
Bodies flew through the air.
Blood splattered across the asphalt.
Arjun stood frozen.
He had seen monsters before.
But nothing like this.
The monster slowly turned its six glowing eyes toward him.
For a moment, the world became silent.
Arjun understood something then.
He was going to die.
Just like this.
Weak.
Powerless.
The monster took a step toward him.
Then another.
Arjun tightened his grip on the cheap dagger in his hand.
It was useless.
But he refused to die without trying.
He took a step forward.
And ran toward the monster.
The monster moved faster than anything Arjun had ever seen.
One moment it stood near the shattered truck, its six glowing eyes scanning the street.
The next moment it was already moving.
A blur of black scales and crushing force.
A hunter tried to intercept it.
Blue mana erupted around his body as he raised a shield of energy.
The monster's claw struck.
The shield shattered instantly.
The hunter slammed into the pavement with a sickening crack.
Blood spread across the asphalt.
Screams erupted across the street.
Association staff scattered in panic while the remaining hunters regrouped.
A tall man wearing heavy armor stepped forward.
A glowing insignia on his chest marked him as an A-rank hunter.
Mana flared around his body like a storm.
"All hunters regroup! Form a perimeter!"
His voice carried authority.
For a brief moment, chaos began turning into organization.
Two hunters fired long-range abilities.
Bolts of lightning slammed into the monster's body.
Another launched a spear of condensed flame.
The attacks exploded across the creature's scales.
Smoke covered the street.
For a moment it looked like they had succeeded.
Then the smoke cleared.
The monster stood completely unharmed.
Its six eyes glowed brighter.
The A-rank hunter cursed under his breath.
"Damn it… this isn't a D-rank monster."
Arjun watched everything from the edge of the barricade.
His heart pounded violently.
He understood what this meant.
Misclassified dungeon.
The raid team inside the gate was already dead.
And now the monster had escaped.
The creature turned its head slowly.
It was studying the humans.
Like a predator deciding which prey to kill first.
Then its gaze landed on Arjun.
For a moment the world seemed to shrink.
The monster stepped forward.
Each step cracked the asphalt beneath its weight.
Arjun swallowed.
His hands trembled slightly.
He was an E-rank hunter.
Against something like this—
He was less than useless.
But running now wouldn't save him.
The monster lunged.
Arjun moved instinctively.
He rolled sideways as the massive claw slammed into the ground where he had been standing.
Concrete exploded.
Fragments of asphalt shot through the air.
A hunter shouted.
"The kid! Move the kid away from there!"
But it was already too late.
The monster attacked again.
Arjun barely managed to dodge.
His dagger slipped from his hand as he scrambled backward.
The creature towered above him.
Six eyes staring down.
Its breath smelled like burning iron.
Arjun felt something strange.
The monster wasn't attacking immediately.
It was observing him.
Studying him.
Then it raised its claw.
A shadow fell over Arjun.
He closed his eyes.
This was it.
Then—
A blast of mana struck the monster from the side.
The impact pushed the creature several meters away.
Arjun opened his eyes.
The A-rank hunter stood between him and the monster.
His armor glowed with bright blue energy.
"Kid, get out of here!"
Arjun didn't move.
The hunter glanced back.
"Are you deaf? Run!"
Arjun forced himself to stand.
His legs felt like stone.
He staggered backward as the hunter stepped forward.
The monster recovered quickly.
It let out a low, rumbling growl.
Then it charged.
The A-rank hunter met the attack head-on.
His sword erupted with blue mana.
Steel collided with claw.
The impact created a shockwave that shattered nearby windows.
For a moment it looked like the hunter might hold his ground.
Then the monster's second claw struck.
The hunter's armor cracked.
He was thrown through the air like a rag doll.
He crashed into a concrete wall.
The wall collapsed.
Dust filled the street.
Silence followed.
Arjun's stomach tightened.
The monster slowly turned again.
Now there was nothing between them.
No hunters.
No defenses.
Only him.
Arjun looked around desperately.
The other hunters were injured.
Some were unconscious.
Others were retreating.
No one could stop the creature now.
He understood something terrible.
If the monster escaped into the city—
Thousands of people would die.
The creature stepped forward again.
Arjun bent down slowly.
His fingers found the handle of his fallen dagger.
The cheap blade felt almost weightless in his hand.
Useless.
But it was all he had.
The monster moved.
Arjun ran.
Not away.
Toward it.
The distance closed instantly.
Arjun swung the dagger with all his strength.
The blade struck the monster's scales.
And shattered.
The broken metal scattered across the pavement.
The monster paused.
It looked almost confused.
Then its claw moved.
Arjun felt something tear through his chest.
Pain exploded through his body.
The world tilted sideways.
He collapsed onto the cold asphalt.
His vision blurred.
The monster stepped over him.
It no longer saw him as a threat.
Arjun tried to breathe.
Blood filled his mouth.
The sky above him looked strangely calm.
Blue.
Peaceful.
His mind drifted.
So this was how it ended.
Weak.
Powerless.
Just like everyone said.
He thought about his mother.
About the hospital shifts she worked every night.
About the hope she had when he awakened as a hunter.
He couldn't even protect himself.
His vision grew darker.
Then something strange happened.
A faint light appeared in the air above him.
At first Arjun thought it was a hallucination.
But the light grew brighter.
It formed into a small, floating symbol.
A circle surrounded by unfamiliar markings.
The symbol hovered in front of his eyes.
A voice echoed inside his mind.
Cold.
Mechanical.
Ancient.
[Abnormal energy detected.]
Arjun tried to focus.
The symbol pulsed once.
[Candidate identified.]
His vision flickered.
The monster in the distance suddenly froze.
Time itself seemed to slow.
The voice continued.
[System compatibility confirmed.]
Arjun felt warmth spreading through his body.
For a brief moment the pain disappeared.
[Absolute System initialization…]
The symbol burned brighter.
Then suddenly—
Everything went dark.
Silence swallowed the world.
And Arjun Mehra died.
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