The path twisted beneath his feet, winding between decaying, hunched trees whose blackened branches seemed to reach for him, trying to drag him into the clinging darkness. Yeon Woo moved slowly, leaning on the sheathed sword. His body ached after the clash with Lee Sang; every movement echoed with a dull throb in his muscles. Yet within him burned a strange coldness—not anger, not fear—just the awareness that this was only the beginning, and worse lay ahead.
The interface flashed before his eyes:
[Status: Fatigue 35%]
[Minor Injuries: Healing]
[Skill "Regeneration" active]
He glanced briefly at the stats. Everything was within limits. For now.
Through the pale ghostlight of the moon, the outlines of structures began to emerge ahead. A village. Scorched, half-collapsed, as if it had endured more than one war. Roofs sagged, shutters broken, fences scattered in the mud. Only silence—too deep, too suspicious—blanketed the place.
"Smells like death…" Yeon Woo thought, carefully stepping over broken cobblestones.
Each step echoed dully in his ears. As if the world around had held its breath.
[Anomalous Gate detected nearby. Investigate source of corruption.]
He barely had time to read the system notification when the fog at ground level began to stir. First quietly, like raindrops on glass. Then louder—like boiling water.
Something slithered out of it.
A monster. A beast that resembled a dead wolf, only its body was twisted and broken, as though assembled blind. Its eye sockets were hollow, and black ooze dripped from its maw. Behind it—another. And another.
Dozens.
Yeon Woo silently drew his sword.
"Fighting one by one is meaningless…" he thought coldly and activated a skill:
[Activated: "Moonblade Dance"]
[Effect: Speed +30%, Attack Accuracy +15% for 3 minutes]
The world slowed.
He lunged forward, crashing into the monsters. The first strike cleaved one in two, its slime spraying the ground. Yeon Woo spun instantly, slicing at the limbs of the next enemy, twisting joints, dropping the body with a crash.
But there were too many.
Fangs snapped near his throat. Claws scraped his armor, leaving gashes. Yeon Woo dodged sideways, swinging wide and cutting through three creatures, severing limbs.
[Killed: 3 Infected Beasts]
[EXP +300]
[EXP +270]
[EXP +330]
[Level Up! Level 12 → 13]
For a moment, he felt something break within—as if inner walls collapsed, making way for new strength. But he didn't stop. He kept cutting, letting his body move on instinct.
When the final beast fell in convulsions, the forest once again plunged into silence.
Only his heavy breathing and the muffled chimes of the system broke the stillness.
[Looted: "Rotten Fang" ×8]
[Looted: "Fragment of a Corrupted Heart"]
Yeon Woo lowered his sword and looked around.
The mist was thickest near the village's center. Where the ruins formed something like an old chapel, a black void yawned in the air—the Gate.
Its edges pulsed with a dull, sickly glow, as if the very fabric of reality had rotted, oozing dark energy.
He approached cautiously.
[You are standing before the Gate of Decay.]
[Difficulty: Deadly.]
[Status: Early Stage of Corruption.]
[Entry Possible. Rewards Increased by 150%.]
Yeon Woo tightened his grip on the sword.
"Deadly difficulty…" he pondered, weighing his chances. His body ached. His skills, though functioning well, demanded precision. But the temptation was too great.
He exhaled.
And stepped inside.
The world exploded in a burst of bloody light.
He was hurled forward, barely staying on his feet as he landed on cracked, blackened ground. Overhead stretched a warped sky where bloody stains flickered instead of stars. Screams rose from all sides—unreal, like the echoes of dying souls.
The first monster lunged at him immediately.
A thing from his worst nightmares—a creature stitched together from the parts of other beasts. Muscles twitched under its hide, claws snapped, and maws jutted from its shoulders and chest, grinning with drooling fangs.
Yeon Woo instantly activated a new skill:
[Activated: "Heightened Perception"]
[Effect: Increased reaction speed, 10% chance to anticipate attacks for 5 minutes]
The world became sharper, more vicious. Every lunge the monster made, he foresaw. A sidestep—missed strike. A slash to the flank—the foul body reeled back with a snarl.
He aimed for joints. Places even such a creature couldn't quickly regenerate.
The fight dragged on for several grueling minutes until he drove the blade into its very core—where a weak, still-warm heart beat beneath layers of rot.
The creature exploded in a shower of flesh.
[Elite-Ranked Monster Defeated.]
[EXP +1200]
[Looted: "Distorted Soul Crystal"]
Yeon Woo panted heavily.
It wasn't over. Before him stretched a corridor leading to the Gate's center. Darkness thicker than night poured from there. But that was where the answers lay. The answers he had come for.
He opened his profile:
Name: Yeon Woo
Level: 13
HP: 88%
Stamina: 71%
Active Skills: "Moonblade Dance" (Lv. 7), "Regeneration" (Lv. 5), "Heightened Perception" (Lv. 3)
Passive Skills: "Steel Instinct" (Lv. 4)
"I can still go on," he thought grimly, closing the profile window.
And moved forward.
Each step echoed in this rotting world. Each step brought him closer to the heart of madness.
And Yeon Woo knew—there was no turning back.