The air beyond the gate was different. Heavier. Thicker. Yeon Woo felt it the moment he stepped across the rotting threshold—something here pressed on his mind, his muscles, even his soul. Every breath filled his lungs with a strange coldness. Everything in this place was unnatural. Even the light seemed distorted—dim, pale, offering neither warmth nor hope.
He moved cautiously, testing each step. His sword was in hand, not for battle, but for assurance. Here, the worst mistake would be to fight when unnecessary. He knew that now. His first life had taught him harsh and costly lessons: heroism was for fairy tales—here, only the cautious survived.
Rustling sounds followed him from all directions, as if the very walls were watching. But the monsters didn't reveal themselves. Yeon Woo suspected they too felt the shift. The infection had reached some critical point. Now, the gate wasn't just spawning beasts—it was transforming reality itself.
A flicker of fear stirred in his gut. The old Yeon Woo, from his first life, might've faltered here. But the current version only gripped his sword tighter and quickened his pace. Each step forward was a challenge—not just to the world around him, but to himself.
He summoned his profile interface:
Name: Yeon Woo
Level: 15
Health: 78%
Stamina: 68%
Active Skills: "Moonblade Dance" (Lv. 7), "Regeneration" (Lv. 5), "Heightened Perception" (Lv. 3), "Blooming" (2nd cycle), "Rotburst" (Lv. 1)
Passive Skills: "Iron Instinct" (Lv. 4), "Greed" (Lv. 1)
Unique Trait: Regressor (2nd cycle)
He could feel the Blooming digging deeper into him, like a faint heat beneath his heart—a reminder that, at the right moment, its power would detonate like a core. And Greed lay coiled and silent, ready to snatch a reward from anyone foolish enough to block his path.
He walked for another fifteen minutes before something flickered ahead.
Monsters.
But not like the ones before.
This time, they were creatures cobbled together from mismatched bodies. Arms, legs, heads—all fused into grotesque parodies of life. Their movements were jerky, agonized. But in their eyes burned pure, unrestrained hatred.
There were five of them.
Yeon Woo instantly activated Heightened Perception. Time slowed. Every swipe of clawed limbs, every charge, stretched into a sluggish eternity.
He didn't waste energy dancing around them.
He chose a target.
The nearest monster shrieked and lunged. Yeon Woo sidestepped the blow and slashed its belly open. The beast collapsed, spewing black slime.
But the rest didn't wait.
They attacked as one, a crashing wave.
Yeon Woo slid under the second's leap, struck the third in the knee, and dashed aside, triggering Moonblade Dance. His blade flashed through the air, carving bloody arcs in its wake.
[Monster defeated.]
[Gained: EXP +400]
[Monster defeated.]
[Gained: EXP +400]
He could feel every muscle tense, every breath grow heavier. Each kill was hard-earned—and yet, it brought a strange clarity. This was a war of attrition. Victory wouldn't go to the strongest, but to the one who endured the longest.
The third monster, sensing Yeon Woo's rhythm, tried to retreat.
Too late.
Yeon Woo surged forward and pierced it clean through.
[Monster defeated.]
[Gained: EXP +400]
[Level up! 15 → 16]
[Health and Stamina restored by 10%.]
Catching his breath, Yeon Woo surveyed the aftermath.
Victory.
But it had its cost—blood dripped down his arm, and his fingers trembled with exhaustion. He triggered Regeneration, feeling his wounds slowly mend.
"No time to linger," he thought, eyeing the dark arch at the end of the hall.
"These gates don't wait. They consume the hesitant."
He moved on.
Beyond the arch, new trials awaited.
This time, the corridor sloped downward, toward the center of decay. The walls darkened with every step, the floor grew sticky. With each pace, Yeon Woo felt the air thicken—like space itself was resisting his advance.
He walked another hundred meters or so when he heard it.
Singing.
Faint, gloomy… childlike.
He froze.
The tune echoed through the corridor, seeping into his mind like clammy fingers.
And then he saw them.
Childlike figures, sculpted from filth and rot, lined the walls. Their hollow eye sockets were fixed on him.
[New monster type: Wraith of Decay.]
[Trait: Psychological Pressure. Mind Resistance required.]
[Mind Resistance Check...]
[Success.]
Yeon Woo exhaled. In his past life, he had faced such effects before. Fear was their main weapon. But his mind had been forged in pain.
He activated Rotburst.
A tremor passed through the air, and the nearest wraiths exploded into vile residue.
But not all of them.
The rest lunged at him.
Yeon Woo didn't hesitate. He moved like flowing water—slipping past, striking true.
Every motion was honed.
Every strike—lethal.
Soon...
[Monster defeated.]
[EXP +200]
[Monster defeated.]
[EXP +200]
[Monster defeated.]
[EXP +200]
Silence blanketed the corridor once more.
Yeon Woo wiped the blood from his cheek and looked toward the final door at the corridor's end.
A light seeped from beneath it.
Not warm. Not comforting.
Cold. And calling.
He knew what awaited beyond that door—the core of the gate. The source of all this decay.
"Blooming is ready," he thought, feeling its pulsing heat within him.
"And so is Greed."
He stepped forward, stopping just a breath away from the door.
Took a deep breath.
And pushed it open.