The air inside the gate was heavy. Not just with humidity or stench—but with tension.
Akira moved low to the ground, stepping silently across moss-covered stones and tangled roots. The walls around him pulsed faintly, as if the very world within the gate was breathing. He'd never ventured this far inside before. Most times, he would clear a few small dens of crawlers—short, vicious lizard-like monsters that barely posed a threat if you kept your guard up.
But this time was different.
This time he was desperate.
His sword was already red-stained, flicking warm droplets of monster blood behind him as he pressed forward.
Three fights down, five more to go. He was collecting Zeir shards and body parts—monster fangs, talons, core sacs—anything that could sell. Even the smallest loot meant meals for a few days or medicine for his father.
His scarf clung to his neck with sweat. The lamp strapped to his shoulder flickered slightly as the Zeir batteries thinned out.
He crouched, pulled out a wrapped rice ball from his side pouch, and took a slow bite.
His ribs ached from where one of the crawler beasts had landed a hit earlier.
He exhaled sharply, stretching his arm before wincing. "Damn it… that one cracked something."
Still, he ate quietly. Alone, under the faint blue glow of the gate's strange sky.
Then he felt it.
Rumble.
A tremor.
Soft at first.
Then again—rumble. Stronger this time. The walls of the den shook. Stones loosened and dropped from the overgrowth above.
Akira froze, rice still in hand.
"...What the hell?"
Gates didn't shake like this. Not the small ones. Not ever.
He rose to his feet, blade back in hand, body tense. His heartbeat began to race—not from exertion but instinct.
Something was wrong.
Something was coming.
Still, something inside him—some strange pull—urged him forward.
Deeper.
Deeper into the den than he had ever dared to go.
The passage narrowed, leading into a tunnel carved from old roots and petrified bark. He moved slowly, eyes wide, scanning every shadow, every strange pulse of Zeir energy.
Then he heard it.
Thud.
A footstep.
But it wasn't human.
Thud. Thud.
It was rhythmic. Too heavy. Too deliberate.
Then it came into view.
A creature at least twice his size, its body plated in bone and moss, shaped like a malformed gorilla with six glowing eyes, claws as long as kitchen knives, and a mouth full of jagged, mismatched teeth.
A Gate Stalker.
Level 3 class.
It shouldn't be here.
No Level 3s belonged in a gate this small.
"…This… this is wrong," Akira whispered, gripping his blade tighter.
The beast turned, locking eyes with him.
It let out a bellowing roar—and charged.
---
The Fight for Life
Akira dove to the side, barely dodging the first slam. The monster's claws crashed into the earth, throwing up dirt and broken stone.
"Shit!"
He rolled, cutting at its leg, but the blade bounced off its armor-like skin.
Too thick.
The beast spun, a backhand swipe catching Akira in the ribs and sending him flying into a pipe with a sickening crack.
His lungs screamed. Blood filled his mouth.
But he forced himself up, knees shaking.
"You're… kidding me…" he muttered, spitting red.
The monster roared again and charged.
This time, Akira ran to meet it.
He ducked the first swipe, sliced low, then jumped up, slashing across its chest. A faint scratch. Barely anything.
It grabbed him.
In one massive clawed hand, it lifted him by the torso and slammed him against the wall.
CRACK.
Akira screamed in pain. His vision blurred.
"Is this how I die?" he gasped.
The grip tightened.
"Dad…" he coughed. "Yuna…"
His mind spun. His heart thundered.
"No… not here. Not yet."
He reached into his pouch, grabbed a flare shard, and jammed it into the beast's arm. It exploded in a flash of searing light, forcing the creature to drop him and stagger back, roaring in pain.
Akira hit the ground hard.
He crawled. His left arm hung limp. Probably dislocated.
His blade was cracked now. His lamp flickered and died.
He could barely see.
Everything blurred.
Blood spilled freely from a gash on his side.
"I can't win this…"
"I wasn't supposed to come this far…"
He coughed violently, each breath a struggle.
He looked up at the beast approaching, now angrier, snarling, bleeding from the flare wound but still strong.
It raised both arms to crush him.
And in that moment—Akira closed his eyes.
A flicker.
A faint memory.
His mother's voice, blurry, almost gone.
"Your name will mean light. Always remember that, Akira…"
Then—his father, weak but smiling in a hospital bed.
"Even if you're not born strong… you can still become strong."
Then Yuna, tugging at his hand with that stubborn grin.
"Don't you dare break your promise, stupid onii-chan."
And then…
He opened his eyes.
The monster roared—and began to slam down its arms.
But Akira didn't move.
He felt something stir.
Deep inside him.
A flicker of warmth. A rising tension under his skin.
Like a sleeping flame stretching for the first time in years.
His vision sharpened.
His blood pulsed not with fear—but with pressure.
Zeir.
A tiny spark.
His eyes lit up—literally.
Golden-red light shimmered faintly from his irises.
The monster's arms struck—
—but Akira had already moved.
He rolled, not with skill, but pure instinct, blade flashing upward and cutting a deeper gash into the beast's underarm.
It screamed.
Akira stood now, barely upright, panting, blood running down his face—but something new crackled at the edge of his fingertips.
He didn't understand it.
Didn't know what had changed.
But it was there.
He looked at his trembling hand.
A faint trail of glowing Zeir curled around his fingers, like smoke.
For the first time…
He felt something.
Power.
He slumped down, falling to one knee, still bleeding, still broken, still very much dying.
But the spark didn't leave.
It stayed.
Burning quietly.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
And darkness took him.