Raden Dharma woke up gasping for air. His vision was blurry, and his whole body ached as if he had been thrown from a great height. The beeping of the monitor beside him was the only sign that he was still alive. The white ceiling of the hospital greeted him in silence—so foreign, yet so comforting.
"Ah…"
He tried to sit up, but pain shot through his body. The wounds on his arms and back still stung, even though they were neatly bandaged. A few seconds later, the door to the room slowly opened.
"Good morning," said a soft voice. A young nurse entered with a faint smile on her face. "You're awake. Thank goodness…"
Raden turned his head slowly, his eyes still half-closed. "W-Where am I?"
"You're in a hospital. You were found by a rescue team two days ago inside a gate that experienced a dungeon break."
Raden closed his eyes for a moment. All the memories came back—screams, blood, bodies crushed under rubble, and finally… that transparent screen.
"Was I… the only one who made it?" he murmured.
The nurse nodded. "Yes. You were the only one found alive inside. We weren't sure if you were going to wake up."
Raden Dharma fell silent, letting the stillness sink into his thoughts. His blank gaze fixed on the ceiling of the hospital room.
"I… really survived?" he whispered, still in disbelief.
The nurse, who looked about twenty-five, approached carefully. She checked the monitor beside the bed, then wrote something on the small clipboard hanging around her neck.
"My name is Sari," she said, trying to soothe him. "The doctor will be in shortly. But if you need anything, press the button next to your bed, okay?"
Raden only nodded weakly. He wanted to say thank you, but the words were too heavy to speak.
Once Nurse Sari left and gently closed the door, silence returned to the room. Raden turned his head toward the window, staring at the view of the city. The Jakarta sky that morning was overcast, as if mourning the tragedy he had just lived through.
In the silence, the voice echoed again in his mind.
> System Active.
> User Status: Stable. Recovery in progress.
A transparent screen slowly appeared in front of him, like a faint shadow in the air.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Raden Dharma
Level: 1
EXP: 0/100
HP: 35/100
MP: 10/10
[STATISTICS]
STR (Strength): 4
AGI (Agility): 3
VIT (Vitality): 5
INT (Intelligence): 2
WIS (Wisdom): 2
LUK (Luck): 0
Unspent PTS: 0
[Active Skills]
None
[Passive Skills]
None
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Raden fell silent. He wasn't hallucinating. This was real—just like inside the gate. But why was he the only one who had it?
"System... Rank Gate," he whispered. "Why me?"
The question echoed in his mind, but no answer came. The screen slowly faded, vanishing as if it didn't want to draw attention.
Several minutes passed before the door opened again. A middle-aged man in a white coat and stethoscope walked in.
"Good morning, Raden Dharma," the doctor greeted warmly. "I'm Dr. Bayu. How are you feeling?"
Raden turned to him slowly. "Still hurts... but I can move a little."
"That's normal. You suffered internal injuries and extreme exhaustion. But thankfully, none of your vital organs were severely damaged. You're very lucky."
Raden nodded, but inside, he didn't feel lucky. He felt confused, empty, and a little afraid.
Taking a deep breath, Raden spoke softly, "So... they all didn't make it?"
Dr. Bayu looked at him for a moment before nodding. "That's right. Ten hunters… and you were the only one found alive."
Raden closed his eyes. He could still remember their faces. Now, they were only memories.
"I entered as a porter... they were all much stronger than me," he muttered to himself.
"That's what makes this situation confusing," Dr. Bayu continued as he sat in the chair beside the bed. "The gate you entered was initially detected as Rank E. But after the dungeon break, the rescue team said it felt more like Rank C... or even higher."
"The dungeon changed?" Raden asked, furrowing his brows.
"Maybe. Or perhaps it was misclassified from the start. They're not sure yet. But one thing is certain… you shouldn't have survived in a place like that. Even a Rank C hunter could die if they're not careful."
Raden remained silent. He knew there was a reason he had survived—the system. The transparent screen that appeared when everything fell apart.
He remembered the freezing air, the black fog, and the sudden appearance of the hobgoblin. He gripped his blanket tightly.
Dr. Bayu slowly stood up, understanding that his patient wasn't ready to talk about everything yet.
"Well then, get some rest. We'll keep you under observation for two more days. If everything's stable, you'll be discharged."
After the doctor left, Raden closed his eyes. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or afraid.
---
Two days passed.
During those days, Raden barely spoke. He ate, drank, and followed medical orders, but his mind kept circling back to one thing—the system.
Every time he activated it, the same screen appeared. No skills, no weapons, just stats that were all terribly low.
But this morning was different.
> [Daily Mission: Defeat 10 monsters]
Reward: Will be granted upon completion
Failure: -5 random stat points
Raden stared at the screen. The mission... was telling him to kill monsters?
"But I don't even have a skill... not even a weapon," he murmured.
However, the fear slowly gave way to curiosity. If he completed this mission, he could become stronger. He could survive… if it happened again.
That evening, as the doctor conducted his final checkup and declared he could go home the next morning, Raden stared at the twilight sky through the window.
The outside world was waiting for him.
And for the first time in his life, he was no longer a mere porter. He had a system.
He had a chance.
And he wasn't going to waste it.