If that boy could kill a false face and call it progress… what had I done when I let her die?
The fire inside me flared—silent and hungry.
And it led me to the job board.
The notice was nailed to the board with a broken dagger.
DUNGEON CONTRACT: Copper-Eyed Catacombs
Threat: D-Rank.
Bring Fire. Regeneration Present.
Signed: Captain Saela
Crawlers. Dark tunnels. Guaranteed blood.
I ripped the paper down. Turned—and there she was.
Saela. Leaning against the wall, watching me.
"You sure about that one?" she asked. "That's not a beginner's crawl."
"I'm not a beginner," I said.
Her gaze didn't flinch.
"You're not a team, either. But this is a group contract."
"I don't work well with others."
She stepped closer. "Then learn. Fast. Or that flame of yours will be nothing but smoke in your lungs by the end of the crawl."
And just like that, I was walking toward the south pass—toward the place where the System would test how much of me was still human and how much had already burned away.
They waited for me near the dungeon mouth.
One was lean, twitchy, with eyes that darted like flies. His name was Ren, and his daggers were cleaner than his conscience.
The other was a broad, armor-clad girl named Gerrin, who spoke like someone who'd killed a few people just to see what it felt like.
"You're the fireboy?" she asked, grinning.
"You're the girl who keeps losing her team?" I replied.
"Still standing."
"Not a comfort."
Ren just giggled. "I like this group already."
I didn't.
But I stepped forward anyway.
The entrance yawned like a wound in the hillside. Black stone. Old blood.
The System chimed in my head.
🕳️ You are entering: Copper-Eyed Catacombs
Dungeon Modifier: "Insatiable Hunger"
Expect regeneration. Expect suffering.
"Let's get this over with," I muttered.
And the dark swallowed us whole.