CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER NO.27 DUNGEON (2)

[Location: Morningstar Manor, New York]

"Okay, what now?"

My voice bounced along the dust-choked hall, a sound far too alive in a place that hadn’t heard life in over a millennium.

The sealed entrance to Basement No.5 loomed before me. It wasn’t a door—not in any normal sense. A slab of stone stretched from floor to ceiling, seamless and unyielding, yet when I stared long enough, its surface shivered. Not visibly, not to human eyes maybe, but to mine? It was like staring at still water and suddenly noticing the reflection breathe back at you. The stone blurred, then rippled faintly, as if some ancient thing beneath its surface had turned over in its sleep.

The portal.

The dungeon.

My first official one.

I inhaled slowly, lungs filling with air that reeked of stale dust, rust, and the faint metallic bite of old wards. A thousand-year-old mausoleum of secrets. Morningstar Manor had always been too quiet since I’d woken, the kind of silence that wasn’t peaceful but oppressive, pressing on your ears until you started to hear phantom whispers. But now? Now that silence had weight. It clung to my shoulders like invisible eyes, and every beat of my heart sounded far too loud.

The Lucifer System bled into my vision.

🔻 [DUNGEON NOTICE] 🔻

⚔ First Dungeon Unlocked: [Basement No.5 – Sub-Realm Instance]

– Difficulty: E (???)

– Objective: Survive, Clear All Enemies, Defeat Dungeon Warden

– Failure Penalty: HP = 0 → Permanent Death

– Special Condition: Dungeon Exists Only For The Host.

I stared. Permanent Death.

The words glared back at me like they were carved into my bones. Not a scare tactic. Not a metaphor. The System didn’t bluff. HP dropped to zero in here? I was gone. Body, soul, cheat, all of it—deleted.

I swallowed. My lips quirked despite the dread crawling in my stomach.

"Great. Nothing like cheerful encouragement."

My laugh was hollow in the hall.

I stepped closer, boots grinding against stone crusted with centuries of dust. The wards etched across the floor were half-buried, faded symbols gnawed by time, but I could still feel the sting of them. Old Morningstar magic. A seal to keep the dungeon shut, to keep... whatever was inside from leaking out.

Basement No.5 had been sealed long before I was born. I’d overheard whispers once, back when I was a child in the old manor. Servants too drunk on fear to speak in full sentences. Something about "a mistake" ... "a failed experiment" ... "something the bloodline never admitted."

And now here I was, about to crack it open like an idiot with a key to his own grave.

"So, do I just enter, or, you know, put this key into a keyhole and twist? Because you forgot to add the tutorial prompt, System."

[Note: Just walk through. The Dungeon Key will be used automatically.]

I snorted.

"Just walk through, huh? Real fancy. Guess pressing [E] to interact was too much coding effort."

The surface of the stone rippled harder, the shimmer spreading like a drop of ink in water. The Dungeon Key in my pocket burned hot for a second—then dissolved into nothing. Gone. Absorbed.

The wall... wasn’t a wall anymore.It yawned open, black as pitch, rimmed with faint crimson light that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Not welcoming.Not threatening.Just... hungry.

My body moved before my brain could talk me out of it. One step. The air bent, thick as tar, and the Manor vanished behind me.

🔻 [SYSTEM UPDATE] 🔻

– Dungeon Entry Confirmed.

– Time Remaining: Unlimited.

– Escape: Only through defeating the boss first or find the return crystal.

The world slammed shut.

And I was inside.

A rancid stench hit me like a fist. I staggered, gagging on air that reeked of rotting meat, mildew, and something metallic, like old blood soaking into stone. The basement was gone. In its place stretched a jungle.

Walls were thick with twisting vines, and rancid odour akin to rotting corpse assaulted my senses. Hell, I even heard the cries of what sounded like wild beasts from afar every now and then, too. "..." It wasn’t that there was a hidden entrance somewhere near the entrance of the basement no.5, but the entire basement had become a dungeon, instead.

I grimaced.

"...So much for cobwebs and broken furniture."

It wasn’t that there was a hidden entrance somewhere near the entrance of the basement no.5, but the entire basement had become a dungeon, instead.

I pulled the Muramasa blade out of the system inventory.

Tti-ring~

[Item: Muramasa Blade (Replica)]

– Rank: ??? (Bound)

– Effect: Increases physical damage output by 35%.

– Lifesteal: Converts 5% of inflicted damage into HP.

– Malice: The longer combat continues, the sharper the blade becomes (+1% damage per minute of continuous battle).

– Bound to User. Cannot be dropped, stolen, or sold.

– Limitation: Being a replica, its growth potential is capped unless ???.

The portal sealed behind me. No way back.

Forward was the only option.

My grip tightened around the hilt, sweat slicking my palm despite the chill of the blade. My boots sank into damp earth as I moved down the vine-choked steps.

Silence pressed against my ears.

Then it hit me.

I wasn’t using it.

I froze.

"...I’m really stupid."

I shut my eyes and let my will expand outward.

◉ [Observation Grid: Level 7 Activated]

– Passive: Danger sense sharpens.– Active: Expand perception field, overlay hostile intent.

The world shifted.

The dungeon snapped into sharper focus, every detail whispering secrets. My hearing stretched—each drop of water falling from the canopy was a drumbeat. My skin prickled as unseen movements stirred the air: claws dragging over bark, wings fluttering in the shadows, mandibles clacking faintly.

And beneath it all, threads of intent.

Killing intent.

Not one. Not two. Dozens. Surrounding me. Watching. Waiting.

They knew I was here.

And they were hungry.

I opened my eyes, breath steady despite the weight crushing my chest. My fingers flexed around Muramasa’s hilt. The crimson edge gleamed hungrily in the half-light.

"Alright," I whispered to the dark.

"Come on, then."

The dungeon answered with movement.

Leaves rustled. Vines shivered. Eyes glowed faintly in the black.

And the first beast lunged.

RAWRRRRR!

I had already sensed its presence, so almost immediately, I swung the blade in the direction of the sound.

It was a perfectly executed instinctive counter!

Swish!

The sharp edge of the blade sliced open the creature’s maw.

The monster spat out a pained cry as it flew away from me and crashed on the ground, rolling around in a heap.

Whimper!

It was a huge wolf with a reddish coat of fur.

The wolf, with its maw sliced away, wiggled around and threw a seizure-like fit as if it was in great deal of pain. When I took a closer look, its name also appeared on top of its head.

[Iron-Fanged Wolf]

However, unlike before, its name was in white letters, not the usual blue.

’There is no time to waste here!’

This was the perfect opportunity while the monster could not move from its wound. I threw my body forward.

I ran hard and fast, and chopped down with my blade, separating the creature’s head from its body.

Rawrrr—

The head rolled across the damp earth, leaving a slick streak of dark blood behind. My chest heaved, but my mind was already spinning ahead, evaluating, calculating, adapting. One kill wasn’t enough to relax; it was a warning shot from the dungeon itself.

The body of the wolf twitched once, then stilled. The faint hum from the Muramasa Blade thrummed in my hand, absorbing a portion of the wolf’s life force. But as I was already at full HP, it was wasted.

[You’ve killed an Iron-Fanged Wolf.]

"Good!"

However, the joy of victory was temporary!

Two more wolves jumped out from their place from behind the rocks and vines, almost in unison, eyes glowing red with the same feral hunger. Their snarls intertwined into a chorus of pure malice, echoing across the dungeon’s dense canopy.

My grip tightened on the Muramasa Blade. The twin wolves were faster, lean muscle coiling beneath fur that shimmered like wet bronze in the faint crimson light.

"Fucking pack bullshit!"

They bared their big fangs and closed the distance in an instant.

My expression crumpled dismally as I tugged at the blade lodged on the ground.

’Shit! I must’ve chopped down too hard from all the excitement.’

The blade lodged in the ground too deeply, and it stubbornly refused to come out.

It’s stuck somewhere deep in the earth. My fingers tensed around the hilt, muscles coiling like springs, but it wasn’t budging. The Muramasa hummed faintly, almost irritated.

"Of course," I muttered. "A cursed blade with a mind of its own—and now a vendetta against being pulled out."

It was at this moment that one of the wolves aimed for my face and leapt up.

"Damn it!!"

It immediately let go of the hilt and spun around.

The black ink-like sheen spread across my arm, crawling up like a living shadow. Muscles, tendons, even the veins beneath my skin seemed to shimmer as the Armament Core activated. The sensation was almost intoxicating—a fusion of flesh, spirit, and willpower, all coalescing into a single weapon. My bones felt denser, my grip like iron, and every fibre of muscle responded as if it had been waiting centuries for this moment.

The first wolf, teeth bared, claws extended, crashed into me with a guttural roar. I pivoted, and my fist crashed down on its snout with a satisfying crunch. Teeth shattered. Jaw collapsed under the reinforced strike, a fine mist of blood spraying into the damp air. The wolf yelped, staggering back, stunned by the unnatural strength behind my Armament Core. Its companion froze mid-leap, eyes wide, as if suddenly realising it had miscalculated its target.

The Muramasa pulsed violently, sensing the raw intent of the remaining wolf. I yanked it free from the earth with a grunt, feeling the blade’s alignment finally click into place as it hummed, eager for blood.

The second wolf lunged again. I sidestepped with unnatural speed, thanks to Sprint, letting it overshoot and slam into a thick vine-covered trunk. Its momentum pinned it awkwardly against the wood, leaving it vulnerable. A quick pivot, a slash across its flank, and a gush of dark blood sprayed over the mossy floor. Its eyes dimmed—another kill.

The surviving wolf was whimpering on the ground with its snout bleeding so badly that I almost felt sorry for it. Almost.

The wolf staggered as it stood up with its tail lowered after seeing this scene and began taking faltering steps backwards.

"Huh...?"

Was this the result of seeing its companion sliced open or decapitalised?

[You’ve killed an Iron-Fanged Wolf.]

[Level up!]

"My level rose up?"

To make sure that I didn’t mishear that, I hurriedly accessed my Status Window.

• Name: Dominic Nocturne von Morningstar

• Race: Demon (Suppressed) / ???

• Level: 2

• Job: None

• Rank: H

• Title: [The Forsaken Lucifer(Locked)], [He Who Shouldn’t Be Awake(Locked),]

• HP: 910/910

• MP: 0/610

[Attributes]

• Strength: 160

• Agility: 106

• Stamina: 91

• Intelligence: 61

• Sense: 81

—Available Stats Points: 0)

My level really did go up.

And when a level went up, a single point was added to all of my Attributes.

As it turned out, it wasn’t only the quest rewards that could impact the values of my attributes. It was also possible to improve my Attributes by levelling up, too.

’So killing is really the way to grind, huh?’ I muttered under my breath as my gaze fixed on the whimpering wolf with intense scrutiny. Its chest heaved, lungs ragged, and each shallow breath sounded like a countdown to its inevitable collapse.

"Sorry, dude, it’s either me or me~"

Slash!

[You’ve killed an Iron-Fanged Wolf.]

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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