'Gods and devils, none of you are worthy…!'
Continuous murmurs snapped Lucas out of his daze. His grip on the pickaxe tightened as he immediately turned around.
His sunken eyes went alert.
But as he scanned his surroundings, he saw nothing unusual.
"..."
Just the same broken figures slumped against the stone walls, half-conscious and silent. Their eyes drifted toward the distant void, lifeless.
No one had the strength to even move, much less disturb him.
How could they?
All of them were suffering the same fate.
Death slaves.
Lucas's grip on the pickaxe tightened even more.
Taken as slaves by a Red Party, they had no right to make requests. It was either obedience—or death.
Red Parties were groups that weren't registered in the Hunter database. Some were legitimate, but most were dark-hearted scavengers.
Modern-day bandits who would kill and commit heinous acts for profit. They would stop at nothing.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, Lucas and the others were kidnapped by a Red Party and forced into slavery.
Their main purpose was to mine minerals while the Red Party cleared the dungeon.
Afterwards, they would be sent to that place.
Just thinking about it made him shudder.
He had almost tried to kill himself—but that wasn't possible.
Lucas looked toward the entrance of the dungeon. A short man leaned against the wall, watching them carefully.
That man was a Healer.
He could patch up Lucas and the others before they could even finish killing themselves. Even death was out of their control.
His body felt immensely tired, and the mere act of moving sent waves of pain through him. He had mined for 48 hours straight, after all.
If it were the old him, he would've collapsed by the 15th hour. But unfortunately, he had awakened a useless F-Rank talent and became a Hunter.
Hunters were physically superior to ordinary humans. Even the weakest among them could crush an athlete with ease.
Many dreamed of awakening—including the old him—but for Lucas, it had become a curse.
Because of his talent, he became eligible to enter dungeons.
That was all the loan shark needed.
He tipped off a Red Party, trading Lucas in to be used as a death slave.
Lucas and the loan shark had a long history.
When he was sixteen, his sister had been diagnosed with a rare, terminal illness—with no parents or relatives, he was forced to take alternative measures to pay for his sister's medical expenses.
Banks wouldn't offer a considerable sum, much less a million credits to a 16 year old kid.
So to save his sister, he didn't have any choice but to take some loans illegally.
He took a deep breath.
The good thing was that his sister's operation was successful. Even if he died to the Red Party, he didn't have to worry about his sister.
At that moment, a scream suddenly resounded deep in the dungeon.
Ah!
Everyone woke up from their daze, the healer included. They turned to look at the dark path in front of them, feeling tense.
"Did something go wrong?"
The healer muttered. He had no way to communicate with the main party, so he couldn't be sure.
After hesitating for a while, he came to a decision. He looked at all the death slaves and glared.
"Don't move! Stay here while I guard outside the dungeon."
After saying that, the healer took out a crystal and destroyed it…
…But to his horror, he didn't return to the real world.
That can only mean one thing: the dungeon's hostile area increased.
But that's impossible!
A dungeon's hostile area increasing?!
That was only the case for special dungeons.
The healer's eyes widened.
"Don't tell me…"
All the color on his face vanished. Special dungeons were abnormal because their danger-level couldn't be measured normally.
Some special dungeons grew from E-rank to A-rank in a span of an hour, while some only grew one or two ranks from its original rank.
His biggest fear was if this dungeon was like the former.
The healer's anxiety couldn't be hidden from the death slaves. They knew that something went horribly wrong.
Lucas saw the crystal fragments and sharply realized what was happening. His heart skipped a beat. It seemed like he jinxed himself.
He couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly.
"Stop whatever you're doing now!"
The healer was no slouch. He pushed aside his panic and ordered everyone.
"Now, all of you lead the way. Go deeper to the dungeon… anyone that dares disobey my orders…"
He raised his hand, and a blazing fire erupted on top. It woke some of the death slaves from their daze.
"...will suffer a fate worse than death!"
No one doubted his words. Even if the healer was weaker than the main party, he was still stronger than the rest of them.
The healer was a genuine E-rank, while all of them were F-ranks. Furthermore, they were working for 48 hours straight, leaving them extremely tired.
Even if they piled together, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Lucas thought for a moment, but some of the death slaves already moved.
Evidently, they decided it was better to die from the dungeon than to live and get tortured.
Soon, all of them started moving. The healer followed from the back as they went deeper into the dungeon.
***
Deathly silence.
Lucas slowly opened his eyes, laying on the ground. The healer's head rolled over the ground with wide eyes, scaring him.
His eyes wandered around the room and his heart dropped.
All over the room, countless corpses lay. It was the other death slaves.
Then, he looked above and saw the hunters that made up the Red Party, hanging in the air as a sharp blade pierced through their chest.
Everyone was dead.
Except him.
He tried to piece together what happened based on his memories, but the last thing he remembered before he turned unconscious was the extreme fear his body felt.
Judging by everyone's state, it was obvious a horrible disaster befell everyone. But how was he still alive?
An answer immediately came to his mind.
His talent.
[Talent: Struggler]
[Description: A struggler is deeply connected to an unfortunate fate. But often, they're the ones that can turn their fate around. Even if such a chance is very miniscule—it's still possible.]
[Effect: When encountering an unfortunate event, there's a 1% chance you can survive.]
[Potential: F-Rank]
Lucas awakened this talent two months ago, but it hadn't activated until now. He couldn't help but smile bitterly.
It was ironic.
It didn't activate when a dungeon monster left a deep scar on his body during his first dungeon expedition.
It didn't activate when he was ganged up together by some official Hunters.
It didn't activate when the Red Party came to kidnap him.
It only activated now when the situation was hopeless.
Even if he did survive, it was useless.
To return to the real world, he could either use a Return Crystal or clear this dungeon by defeating the dungeon boss.
He didn't have a Return Crystal, and even if he did, it wouldn't work. Furthermore, with his ability, he could forget about clearing this dungeon.
As for other Hunters finding this dungeon and helping him, he didn't place his hopes on it.
This dungeon was located deep in the mountains, where a lot of dungeons grow quietly.
He was truly in a hopeless situation.
He could only wait for his death.
'But what happened? What killed everyone?'
Lucas asked himself. Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well try to see what was the cause of everyone's death.
Feeling a wave of exhaustion, his body instinctively flinched while he tried to get up.
Lucas groaned, looking all over the room.
His eyes widened.
He saw a large altar with four ghostly white lamps surrounding it.
On the center of the altar, a large, withered skeleton lay. Its bones dimmed in a golden light.
"Gods and devils, none of you are worthy!"