"Thank you so much!" the mage said, her voice trembling with relief as she bowed slightly toward Jae Min. Her hood draped low over her face, hiding most of her features, but the gratitude in her tone was unmistakable.
Jae Min rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin."Oh—ahaha, I wasn't really the one who saved you. If it weren't for my friend and his wires, you'd be sliced in half by now," he said, casually tossing the credit over his shoulder as he turned to face me.
The mage seemed to hesitate, her lips parting slightly—as if she was about to speak again—but he had already turned away, too distracted to notice her lingering words. She stood there quietly, watching us, though I couldn't quite tell what expression was hidden beneath that hood.
All around us, the remnants of the first wave littered the stone floor. The twisted bodies of demons lay sprawled in grotesque heaps—some lifeless, others writhing weakly as they bled out under the dim shimmer of spelllight. The air was thick with the iron scent of blood, and the fading growls of dying beasts echoed faintly across the cave's jagged walls.
It was far from over—but for now, there was a brief and heavy silence.
Though some of us sustained injuries during the skirmish, the presence of high-ranking healers—particularly from Jae Min's pantheon—meant that wounds were swiftly treated. Golden light pulsed gently through the air as healing spells wrapped around the wounded like silk threads, sealing gashes, mending bones, and quieting pain. Thanks to them, we moved forward with fewer concerns.
Once all were seen to, the raiding party regrouped and pressed on. The cave widened as we ventured deeper, its walls stretching taller and the ceiling pulling farther away, until it no longer felt like a tunnel but a gateway into another realm.
We carry on exploring the dungeon, fully aware that the beast responsible for nearly wiping out the previous raiding squad was still lurking somewhere within. We remained on high alert—every movement, every shadow was met with cautious eyes.
After some time, we stumbled upon a vast cavern. At each edge, flames roared like infernos, casting flickering light across the ancient stone walls. Standing between the fires was a looming, gigantic gate.
"what is that" asked by one, and then by others.
"A gate," The blind man with white long hair says, staring directly at it.
"The Gates of the Underworld," Byeom In-seok muttered, his voice low. He slowly placed his helmet over his head, bracing himself.
A strange feeling clawed at the back of my mind. Not fear—no, something more unsettling. Familiarity. It was like déjà vu pressing against my skull. I've imagined this before—have read them say these exact words along in the draft chapter.
Reality was catching up to the story again.
[Climactic Scene is Now Active.]
Alright... here goes nothing.
With a quiet exhale, I subtly slowed my pace, allowing the others to move ahead of me. Step by step, I drifted behind the crowd, my presence growing smaller, less noticeable—preparing myself for the shift I knew was coming. I didn't need to fight here. Not yet. This moment didn't belong to me—it belonged to him.
All I had to do was wait… just a little longer.
Then, like a whisper through static, the message flickered before me in pale blue light.
[Hidden Skill: ???? activated.]
There it is.
My eyes flicked up to the crowd just in time to catch sight of Jae Min, his golden armor catching the light of the cavern's flames, his grip tightening on his sword. His breathing was steady, focused. Ready.
And just as I locked onto him—I dissolved.
My body unraveled like threads pulled from a tapestry, fragmenting into spectral particles. Weightless. Silent. Unseen. I slipped from the plane of the living into the space between panels—an observer once again.
The noise dulled, the world stilled.
Only one thought pulsed in my mind now: Protect him. This scene was his… but I would be there—hidden—if things went wrong.
I hovered higher, each step weightless as I walked across invisible floors layered in the unseen code of this world. I sat mid-air—legs crossed, elbows on my knees—gazing down upon them all.
Then, I heard it.
A voice that didn't belong.
Sinister, crooked, malformed.
It didn't speak so much as it scratched its words into the air, dragging each syllable like rusted metal against stone.
The cavern fell to a hush as gasps escaped the lips of seasoned hunters. The voice slithered into their ears.
"Ahhh… humans… pity little things."
The words echoed, impossibly, from everywhere and nowhere.
Then came the change.
The flames that once roared proudly at the edges of the Underworld Gate began to shrink—dim—flickering like candles caught in a windless void. Their fiery gold bled into an icy blue. Cold, ethereal. Wrong.
And then—it emerged.
From within the shadows of those dying flames.
From the place where fire became frost.
From the place where light was strangled.
A silhouette peeled itself from the dark, its form stretching with unnatural fluidity.
"How could we resist..." the voice hissed again, now no longer bodiless."...our urges upon killing some pesky little mongrels?"
A hunter gagged. Another took a step back.The pressure in the air shifted—heavier, suffocating.
And I, from above, narrowed my gaze.
The first of the Three Entities had arrived.The distortion had begun to show its teeth.
"I'd love to… twist every arm that my eyes will lay upon," came the second voice—sharper, more unhinged. It echoed like metal dragging across bone, and as it spoke, the figure behind it emerged.
Gangly. Twitching. Its shoulders hunched like it bore the weight of hatred alone. A grin was carved into its face—not natural, not human—too wide and too eager.
Then the third one came, slowly slithering out of the darkness like a serpent dressed in man's flesh. Its voice was low, but thick, saturated with hunger.
"Once we kill the exact amount of mortals… we'll reek behind the gates… and drench our thirst of blood…"
Its neck cracked to the side with a sickening snap, followed by another. Its eyes—if they could be called that—were pits. Not dark, not hollow—voids. As if looking into them was to risk being devoured entirely.
All three now stood tall, silhouettes haloed by the dying blue fire. The air felt heavier, suffocating. The distortion was alive in them—coiled beneath their skin—but it hadn't triggered yet.
Not yet.
Their faces were painted in shadows, masked by a dark tint that seemed to move on its own, crawling across their features like living ink.
And down below, the hunters still didn't realize—
These were not just monsters.
They were something worse.
As the hunters tightened their formation, bracing for a clash, the middle entity slowly raised its warped limb—its fingers like rusted hooks—and uttered a single word:
"Anistēmi."
The word didn't just echo—it reverberated, like a chime struck from the depths of the underworld itself.
And then—it began.
The stone beneath the hunters' boots split in jagged, spidery lines. From the cracks oozed dark ichor, thick as tar and reeking of rot.
Hands—if they could be called that—burst forth, followed by limbs twisted backward, skulls half-crushed, and torsos reanimated by agony. Daemons, crawling, drooling, dripping with black fluid, began to pull themselves out of the ground—not summoned, but reborn from the dungeon itself.
The hunters reacted instantly, some swinging weapons, others casting shields or light wards—but it was chaos.
Screams tore through the cavern like glass shattering in a storm. One hunter was dragged down, his legs pierced by jagged claws before being swarmed. Another tried to cast but was tackled mid-chant, her staff rolling uselessly across the stone.
They were surrounded.
And still, those three entities stood unmoved—watching.
Smiling.
Floating above the fray, I curled into myself midair—knees tucked in, arms around them—as if I were some bored deity perched on the edge of heaven, watching mortals writhe and scream below. Only difference was, unlike the ones who simply "watch from the realms," I was here—on site, front-row seat, sipping chaos with a smirk.
Now that's real privilege.
A grin tugged at my lip—not joy, not amusement, just the absurdity of it all—as my hand slipped instinctively into my coat. My fingers brushed the familiar grip of my combat knife.
Weapons clashed below me—swords, axes, spears—they passed right through my intangible form as I began to descend. Like a ghost sliding through a battlefield no one could see.
I landed lightly among them, unseen, unheard, untouched.
But not unthinking.
The moment my boots hit the cavern floor, I scanned the battlefield.Not the demons. Not the hunters.No—I was looking at them.
Those three things.Those mockeries of humanoid form.Twisted. Uncanny. Disturbing in ways that broke symmetry and sanity.
There was no record of this.No entry in the lore of Hades that mentioned these creatures.
And if that's true...Then someone—or something—rewrote the plot.Inserted these three into the main storyline.
A distortion.This is the distortion.
I turned my head, gaze drifting back to Jae Min—his sword like a streak of radiant silver,flashing and tearing through daemon after daemonas if they were nothing but soaked parchment.
He moved like conviction incarnate,each swing fed by a quiet fury,each step forged by something deeper than training.
And the entities noticed.
I felt it—their attention shifting, the air growing heavier with a hunger not born of appetite, but of something worse. Something ancient.
My eyes slid back to the three figures that stood beside me. Twisted, ink-drenched shadows barely resembling anything human.
They weren't watching the battle anymore.They were watching him.
"Brother… brother, would it be okay if I devour that one?"The one on the right said, its voice wet, gurgling—like it spoke through drowning lungs.
"No… no… I—I shall devour that one, brother,"the other rasped from the left, eyes wide and twitching."I should be the one who shall eat the golden will in his heart…"
As I listened to their eerie words, a chill crawled under my skin.It wasn't fear—no, not quite.But something deeper.A creeping, unsettling revulsion, like my very instincts were recoiling.Their presence—it wasn't just wrong.It was unnatural, as if disgust and dread had been twisted into one grotesque form.
Then, without warning, one of them moved.
Fast.
Unnaturally agile.
In a blink, it was among the hunters,tearing through bodies like paper.
Bones snapped.Limbs bent at impossible angles.And then—CRUNCH.
A wet, brutal bite sank into flesh,followed by a guttural, animal scream.
One hunter writhed beneath its grip,his voice breaking into raw agony as the thing began to devour him alive.
"STOP!!... MAKE IT STOP!! IT HURTS!!" the hunter screamed, his voice cracking with raw terror.
Jae Min's eyes widened as the scene unfolded—without hesitation, his body moved.
A golden streak tore through the chaos,his blade dragging light through the corpses of fallen daemons.
"Get away from him!!" he roared, sword raised high.
The swing came fast, a brilliant arc aimed at the creature.But this was no ordinary monster.
With a blur, the entity vanished from the sword's path—too fast.
Still, Jae Min reached the hunter just in time,pulling him away before the beast could finish its grotesque feast.
But the damage was done.
The hunter's arm was gone,torn from its socket like it was nothing—blood fountaining from the woundas he shrieked in pain,his body trembling in shock.
And then, the other one moved.
The entity on the left surged forward—a blur of shadow and sinew, eyes wild with bloodlust.If it had a face, it was a mask of hunger and madness.
It lunged straight for Hwang Jae Min.
Jae Min reacted quickly, leaping back with the wounded hunter clutched in his right arm.Around them, chaos reigned—hunters still battling the endless tide of daemons,the ground vomiting up more with every passing second.
He landed hard, a thud kicking up dust and blood.But the entity was relentless—it slammed down in front of him, cutting off any escape,its jagged maw twisted in a grotesque grin.
Just as its sharpened limb came slicing down—clang!
A massive claymore intercepted the blow,its blade crackling with electricity.
Byeom In-seok had moved.
The raid leader stood firm,his stance unshaken, even as sparks hissed from the collision.
"Stay focused," he muttered coldly,eyes never leaving the creature."This isn't even the worst part."
Hwang Jae Min planted his sword into the ground beside the wounded hunter and shouted,"Healer!!"His voice rang out like thunder through the cavern, urgent and commanding.
A group of healers, already sprinting across the battlefield, veered toward them.
"You'll be alright," he told the hunter, voice low but steady.It wasn't just reassurance—it was a promise.
Without wasting another breath, he retrieved his sword and turned, stepping up beside Byeom In-seok.
Across from them, the entity sneered—its face splitting in a way that defied anatomy,revealing rows of twitching, blood-stained teeth.
From behind it, the third one crept closer, dragging its malformed limbs,tongue slithering out to lick the gore from its mouth.The hunger in its eyes was primal—something no human could ever understand.
"I'll handle the other," Byeom In-seok said,his voice low and steady before charging forward in a blur of speed.
The creature lunged to meet him,its twisted, bladed limbs crashing forward with wild violence—only to be parried cleanly by the crackling edge of Byeom In Seok's blade.
Steel screamed against bone as they clashed,the cavern trembling from the impact.
"I will eat... even your soul," the entity hissed.
Its eyes widened unnaturally, and a grotesque smile carved its way across its face—too wide, too wrong.Cryptic. Utterly disturbing.That's the only way I could describe it.
Then, in the time it took to blink, it vanished—and lunged.
Hwang Jae Min met the attack head-on, parrying the flurry of strikes with precision.Steel met claw, light met shadow, again and again.But each blow came faster than the last—frenzied, wild, evolving.
He was starting to fall behind.
Sensing a fatal strike coming, Hwang Jae Min leapt back, his boots scraping the ground as he barely avoided the sweeping limb meant to tear through him.But the entity was relentless.
It followed—uncoiling like a beast loosed from the depths, hunger in its howl.
I tore my gaze away from the two in combat and locked it on the last one—the third entity, the one that hadn't moved a muscle.
It just stood there, staring.Its gaze was fixed solely on Hwang Jae Min, eyes brimming with silent, calculated malice.It wasn't bloodlust.It was worse—premeditation.
As if it were waiting for the right moment to end him.
But that's not how this damn story plays out.Not in this timeline.
If someone really rewrote this with powers similar to mine, then whoever they are... they want Hwang Jae Min dead.They must have a grudge. A deep one.
I glanced back at the battle just in time to see Jae Min still on the retreat—Dodging, stepping back, pivoting, his sword barely keeping up.The entity was reading him like an open book.
But then—
A flash.Flickering light ripped through the chaos, followed by a deafening crack that made the whole cavern shudder.
The entity was sent flying, crashing into the stone wall with a sickening boom. The impact left a crater behind, dust and debris raining down like ash.
And from the clearing smoke—
She stood.
Clad in fitted armor, her saber gleaming in the lingering light.She calmly slid the blade back into its sheath beside Hwang Jae Min, her expression unreadable.
All of a sudden—
"The boy... with the golden will... you have to die... I have to consume you... I have to be the one... that will devour your very soul..."
The voice slithered out beside me.Garbling, warping, layered with too many echoes—like multiple beings speaking through a single throat.It was the third one.Finally moving.
Its body jerked with unnatural rhythm, limbs twitching like a puppet with too many strings pulled wrong.It crept toward Hwang Jae Min, crooked and deliberate.
And I followed.Silently, step by step.
Jae Min wasn't even looking at it.His focus was still on the woman in front of him—the one who just saved him with a single blow.
"Let me finish this," she said.Her voice firm, without hesitation.She turned and sprinted off, closing the distance toward the wall where the second entity had been flung.
She left Hwang Jae Min completely exposed.
And there was no more doubt in my mind.
This...This wasn't just a threat.This wasn't part of the original Plotline.
The distortion is targeting him.Trying everything it can to end him here and now.
Whatever rewrote this story—wants him gone.