The remains of the dungeon were slowly fading away, as if swallowed by an invisible sea. The energy had stopped pulsing. Around them, the ground was becoming solid again, silence falling like a sentence.
Ha Neul remained motionless, palm outstretched toward the air still laden with Flux. Where another player might have retrieved a card or some crystals, he... absorbed. Directly.
— "I should never have tried this so soon."
But it was too late to back down.
His body trembled under the influx of raw Flux. It was different from the cards: more unstable, purer, almost alive. A wave of electricity ran through his spine, his veins, his heart.
Nero watched him, arms crossed.
— "You'll burn yourself out if you continue. Even a Fortune Teller like me couldn't stabilize such a dose."
— "I'm a Fusioner." Raw Flux, I don't control it... I fuse it."
His gaze blazed for a moment, a deep blue.
In his former life, he hadn't discovered this technique until he was 25. Too late. Too slow. But this time... he was going to force the evolution.
His interface flashed:
📜 [Technique Learned: Cellular Absorption of Raw Flux]
☉ Processing raw Flux without crystalline support.
☉ Risks: Bodily instability, mental overload.
☉ Benefits: +300% experience gain (Fusioner only).
☉ Awakening Condition: Pure Flux voluntarily absorbed without a catalyst.
A second message followed:
📘 [Rank 9 Dungeon Successfully Cleared]
Participants: Ha Neul / Nero
Time: 18 minutes
Survival Rate: 100%
Temporal Collapse: 3%
🎁 Reward Obtained: Fragment of the Lince of Oblivion [Seal Artifact - Incomplete]
✅ +1 Authorization to Official Hunter Status
📍 Dungeons Remaining Before Certification: 3
Ha Neul closed his eyes for a moment.
The Lince of Oblivion… a forgotten relic, sealed in the records of a dead era. In his past life, he had only seen a fragment, in a forbidden room under the Eastern Empire.
Why had it reappeared here, in such a basic dungeon?
Nero frowned.
— "You never told me exactly what your class does."
— "I don't know everything either."
A smirk played, but in his gaze, Nero understood. He was half-lying. Not to protect himself. But because some truths... still needed to be told.
They left the ruins of the dungeon, the portal closing with a dull rumble.
The landscape greeted them with its eternal chaos: frozen spiraling clouds, levitating rubble, the distorted remains of a world where the Flux had redefined matter.
In the distance, the suspended train waited, the only connecting thread between the still-stabilized areas.
— "Three dungeons left," Ha Neul murmured.
Nero raised an eyebrow.
— "And then? You become an official hunter?"
Ha Neul looked away.
— "No." Then I can finally start... fighting."
✦ Player Status – End of Chapter 3
Ha Neul
Class: Fusioner
Rank: 8
Level: 77
Comprehension: 46
Specialty: Raw Flux Cellular Absorption [unique]
Dungeons Remaining Before Certification: 3
Reward: Fragment of the Shroud of Oblivion
Nero
Class: Fortune Teller
Rank: 8
Level: 86
Comprehension: 51
Ability Used: Vox Replica (instant copy of a card within a limited time)
Reward: Partial Sealing of an Ancient Card (future use)