Chapter 9: Into the Dungeon

The next morning, the academy grounds were buzzing with energy as students prepared for their first real dungeon raid. The portal to the dungeon swirled before them—a massive, dark vortex that pulsed with unknown power. The instructors watched closely as each group stepped forward.

Jinyoung felt the familiar hum of the dungeon’s chaotic energy as he approached with his group. His eyes narrowed slightly as he activated Ultra-Instinct, scanning the mana patterns in the air. The dungeon’s mana was… erratic, fluctuating wildly. Something’s not right.

They stepped through the portal, and the world shifted.

The dungeon’s interior was a twisted labyrinth of dark stone and jagged rocks. The air was thick with humidity, and faint growls echoed through the corridors, though no monsters were immediately visible. The oppressive energy of the place weighed on them, creating a sense of foreboding.

“Stay sharp,” Yuna said, her voice steady but tense.

Kim Haejin, a brawler with earth manipulation abilities, cracked his knuckles. “Let’s just smash through anything that moves.”

Lee Minho, the agile swordfighter, remained quiet but nodded in agreement. He had always been the cautious type.

Jinyoung took the lead, his senses heightened as he carefully guided the group through the dungeon’s winding passages. His instincts screamed at him to stay alert. The system had warned him of an anomaly in this dungeon, and the erratic mana he sensed confirmed it.

They fought through waves of low-tier monsters—goblins, shadow wolves, skeletal warriors. Yuna’s ice magic was precise, forming barriers and sharp projectiles that dispatched enemies with ease. Haejin used his earth magic to control the battlefield, summoning walls and traps to ensnare the enemies, while Minho’s sword cut through them with swift, efficient strikes.

Jinyoung held back, only stepping in when necessary. He didn’t need to reveal his true power—not yet.

But as they ventured deeper, the dungeon began to shift. The walls trembled, and the air grew heavier, charged with a new kind of energy. The distant growls grew louder, more menacing.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet rumbled.

“Something’s coming,” Yuna warned, her eyes scanning the darkness ahead.

Jinyoung’s heart raced as the sound of heavy, dragging footsteps echoed through the cavern. He could feel it now—an overwhelming presence, far more powerful than the creatures they had faced so far. His Ultra-Instinct flared to life, revealing the source of the anomaly.

A massive figure emerged from the shadows—a National Disaster-Class Monster.

Its body was a towering mass of twisted stone and dark energy, its jagged limbs scraping against the dungeon walls. Its eyes glowed with a deep, malevolent light, and the air around it warped and distorted as if the very fabric of reality was being bent by its power.

The monster let out a deafening roar, its voice reverberating through the cavern like a thunderclap. The ground shook, cracks splintering across the floor as its immense weight pressed down on them.

“Fall back!” Yuna ordered, her voice sharp.

But it was too late. The monster lunged, its massive claws slashing through the air toward them.

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Chapter 10: The First True Test

Jinyoung’s instincts took over. He leaped forward, moving faster than anyone else in the group could react. His Ultra-Instinct illuminated the monster’s weak points—its joints, the vulnerable spots in its rocky exterior.

BOOM!

The monster’s claws slammed into the ground, sending a shockwave through the cavern. Jinyoung dodged, his movements fluid and precise. His sword—an ordinary blade, which he carried around sliced through the air, aiming for the creature’s exposed flank.

CLANG!

His strike barely left a scratch on the monster’s rocky hide.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath. This thing is tougher than I thought.

The monster roared again, and the walls of the cavern seemed to tremble with its fury. Haejin and Minho were already trying to flank it, while Yuna summoned a wall of ice to slow its movements.

But this wasn’t enough.

Jinyoung’s mind raced. He knew he had the power to defeat it, but revealing too much now would raise too many questions. He needed to find a way to end the battle quickly, without drawing attention to himself.

Time slowed as he activated the Ultra-Instinct once more, studying the monster’s movements. Every shift of its massive body, every ripple of dark energy—it all became clear.

There. A crack in its armor, just beneath its left arm.

Jinyoung leaped forward again, faster this time, his sword glowing faintly with mana as he poured a small portion of his power into the blade. He dodged another swipe from the monster’s claws, twisting his body mid-air as he drove his sword into the crack.

CRACK!

The sword sank deep into the monster’s flesh, and it let out a guttural scream of pain. Black ichor oozed from the wound, and the creature stumbled, momentarily weakened.

Yuna seized the opportunity, launching a barrage of ice spears that pierced through the monster’s defenses. Haejin followed up with a massive earth spike, driving it further into the wound.

But it wasn’t enough to kill it.

Jinyoung gritted his teeth. I can’t keep holding back.

With a deep breath, he summoned the power of Ultra-Instinct, his mana swirling around him in a violent storm. He could feel the energy coursing through his veins, threatening to overwhelm him. But he focused, channeling it into his sword.

SLASH!

With a single, devastating strike, Jinyoung unleashed the full force of his mana, slicing through the monster’s core. The ground shook as the monster let out one final, earth-shattering roar before collapsing into a pile of rubble.

The cavern fell silent, save for the faint echoes of the battle. Jinyoung stood over the remains of the creature, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

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Chapter 11: The Aftermath and the System’s Gifts

As the dust settled, Yuna approached Jinyoung, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“You… you’ve been holding back,” she said, her voice low.

Jinyoung said nothing, wiping the sweat from his brow. He couldn’t deny it—he had revealed more of his power than he intended.

Before he could respond, the system appeared before him once again.

[Mission Complete: Defeat a National Disaster-Class Monster.]

[New rewards unlocked: Beelzebub (The Devouring Sword), Supreme Sword Master, All-Knowing Eye.]

Jinyoung felt the surge of power from the rewards, but he remained silent. The others were already watching him too closely, and he couldn’t afford to reveal more.

The cavern had gone quiet, the monster’s enormous body reduced to rubble and dust. A dull ache pulsed through Jinyoung’s arms and legs, and his breath came out ragged, though he managed to stand tall. His mind was racing, trying to calculate how much of his power he had shown—and whether Yuna had noticed the full extent of it.

Yuna approached cautiously, her ice-blue eyes scanning the debris and then locking onto Jinyoung. Her outfit, a mix of black tactical gear and lightweight armor, was smeared with dirt and monster blood. She still had her guard up—unsure of how to process what she had just witnessed.

“You didn’t fight like someone experiencing a first dungeon,” she said, her tone cold yet laced with curiosity.

Jinyoung turned away, avoiding her piercing gaze. His heart still raced from the battle, but it wasn’t from exhaustion. He had felt the pull of something darker inside him—a deeper reservoir of power, dormant, waiting to be unleashed.

“Luck, maybe,” Jinyoung said nonchalantly, brushing dust off his shoulders. “We all have our moments.”

But Yuna wasn’t convinced. She took a step closer, her eyes narrowing slightly. “That monster wasn’t something a low-level trainee should be able to handle with ease. You knew where to hit it—like you’ve fought something like this before.”

Her voice cut through the cavern’s silence, but Jinyoung stayed composed. He could feel the weight of her suspicions growing, and though they were teammates for now, he knew that Yuna’s curiosity could lead to complications.

“I’ve studied,” he replied after a pause, keeping his voice neutral. “Observation is key. I watch, and I learn quickly.”

Yuna remained silent, but her sharp eyes told him that this conversation wasn’t over. She would keep digging. The truth was, Jinyoung had no choice but to show a fragment of his true power to defeat the National Disaster-Class Monster. He had held back, but even so, he was pushing dangerous limits.

Suddenly, the familiar blue screen appeared before him, transparent and faint, visible only to him.

[Congratulations! You have acquired the following abilities:]

[New Skill Unlocked: Dawn of the Summoner – Summon any magical beast to fight for you temporarily or permanently.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Space Manipulation – Control a personal dimension to store objects, weapons, and living organisms. Accessible only by you.]

The system's gifts resonated within him, but Jinyoung kept a straight face. The new powers were formidable, but they also required control, and he wasn’t yet sure how to harness them. More importantly, he had to learn to balance his power growth without drawing unnecessary attention.