After a few minutes, the elevator stopped. The door slid open. My eyes widened. The corridor was bathed in blood—Grunto zombies and humans piled up together like discarded meat. Even the red-skinned high-tier zombies, known for their hard exteriors, had been sliced clean through.
My heart pounded. I swallowed hard.
Who could've done this? Who had the strength to kill this many high-tier Grunto and humans?
I forced myself to breathe and calm down.
I needed to find the item before the one responsible showed up.
『Item Finder Activated』
I closed my eyes and focused.
The Item Finder would locate hidden items and point them out with a red arrow—but it needed a few seconds to do so.
Moments later, a red arrow appeared, pointing across the hall, towards Jan Jiwoo's office.
I turned to Han Seoyeon.
"Stay here."
"Where are you going?"
"I think I saw a gun here."
"...Okay. Be careful."
The stench of blood assaulted my nose. I covered it with my sleeve and trudged toward the office. The arrow floated over the desk—I hovered my hand until I touched a small box.
[You have obtained the Key to the Hidden Dungeon - Floor 1: Etopia]
I exhaled. All that risk—for this one item. But it was worth it. If I could use this and maybe even recruit her, I wouldn't have to struggle as much climbing later.
Suddenly, Han Seoyeon screamed.
The sound of something, or someone—being smashed echoed down the hall. Laughter followed. A deep, deranged laugh that made my spine go cold.
"Die, die, die, weaklings!"
No doubt about it, he was here. From what I saw earlier, there was no way I could fight him. He cut through high-tier Grunto zombies like paper.
If he wanted to kill me, it'd only take seconds.
I swallowed my fear and edged closer to the sound. I already knew what was waiting—but it didn't stop the chill that crawled down my neck.
"Two more worm... and I can leave this trash heap."
The man's eyes locked onto us cold, bloodthirsty. He raised his curved dagger, still dripping, and pointed it straight at us.
Han Seoyeon was near the door, shaking, and breathing heavily.
I whispered, "I would blink three times, think about the skill and keep your palm straight."
I glared back at the man—and I knew who he was, Ravon. He was the most annoying to deal with. I hardly managed to kill him. He works for the Eternals... If he's here, that means the other 'Contractors' would be, too.
But why is he here?
In a blink of an eye, he dashed forward and yanked me up. A grown man being lifted like a kid, like I weighed nothing.
Then he slammed me against the wall. As I hit it, my head went dizzy. My vision blurred. I was more worried about myself than anything—Han Seoyeon would probably survive. This bastard doesn't kill women. Maybe it's part of his contract.
Ravon slowly walked toward me again.
If this doesn't work I would surely die. I blinked three times and hoped she understood what I meant back then. I closed my eyes, that's all I could do for now.
Boom.
A loud explosion, Ravon flew back a few feet from me. Another explosion followed.
I sighed, she understood.
I should probably stop gambling my life like this.
A thick smoke still lingered in the air—no way Ravon even got a scratch from that. He isn't called the fourth strongest contractor of the Eternals for nothing.
I stared at the haze without blinking, still on the ground. My legs wouldn't move. A shadow emerged, and as the smoke slowly cleared, Ravon stood there, untouched by the two fireballs he'd just taken head-on.
He grinned, wiping his mouth.
"That was a cute trick."
Same cocky bastard as the game.
But I was no match in this state. Ravon was a contractor working under one of the strongest Eternals. I'd expected to meet him eventually, sure. Just… not this early.
"Cute? I thought we got you for a second."
"Nah! That fireball didn't even itch."
"Yeah, I can see that."
Before I could say another word, pain exploded in my abdomen. A solid jab, fast and clean.
"Ah...Ugh!"
It felt like he hit me with full force, but it wasn't. If he had, my insides would be paste.
"Oh? You're pretty tough for a newbie. Did you pick the Warder class?"
"Yeah... same with you?"
"Hm. Nah."
Smack... another jab, this time to my chest. I gasped. Breathing was getting harder. If we were still normal humans, my ribs would've snapped. But we aren't normal anymore.
Ravon's class was Blade-Wielder. But he also mastered mix martial arts. His stat growth snowballed overtime. He was a monster bound to his Eternal's contract.
"I like how calm you are... even though you know your life ends here."
I didn't answer. This situation—this exact worst-case scenario, I'd imagined it before. If I met a contractor early, what would I do? Didn't think I'd have to find out this fast, I had no class either.
What luck.
"Tch. Talk, worm!"
He ducked down and threw a liver shot. This time, I blocked it with both arms. Felt like my bones cracked. He dashed back, twin daggers drawn, glowing faintly. Then he slashed the air.
My eyes widened.
"Han Seoyeon-ssi! Move!"
My body jolted, I dove toward the wall—
BOOM!
The wall behind me was marked with a deep X. I recognized that move.
Air Slash, that damn skill. Took me hours to figure out its pattern back in the game. But once I learned it, dodging was simple. Still annoying though.
Before I could recover, he was already on me again, lifting me like a ragdoll.
"How did you dodge that? Answer, or I'll rip your head off."
I blinked. What does he mean—why wouldn't I dodge it if I knew how?
Pain pulsed through my chest and arms.
"My body... moved on instinct."
"Why should I trust you?"
Of course, Ravon wouldn't trust me. He didn't even his own faction, the other contractors.
"Ravon! Don't you want the Chains of Abyss?"
His expression froze. He threw me against the wall again. I was basically his stress toy at this point.
"How do you know my name?"
I clutched my side and forced a breath.
"I have the skill... Insight. I saw your status window."
"Hmph. That doesn't explains how you know about the Chains of abyss... stop screwing with me."
He grinned an unnerving, sharp grin.
I gave a faint smile back.
"You don't know? I got a contract from the Demon Clan Eternal. They warned me about you. And what you're looking for."
—
[The Eternal of the Demon Clan wants to know your motive.]
—
So they're still watching.
Ravon growled.
"Prove it."
"Fine. Why do you think I know about contracts at all? None of us expected this tutorial to go real. There's no reason I'd know about Eternal deals unless I got one myself."
He went quiet for a second.
"Tch. Those bastards. They do whatever they want….
"Do. You trust me now?"
"Yeah, I trust that. But don't think that saves you."
I let out a breath. "I know. But you also know the rule, you can't kill another contractor, right... Ra~von?"
He didn't answer, either moved a inch.
He wouldn't know I was bluffing. Once someone binds with one Eternal, others can't communicate with them directly. So the Demon Clan shouldn't be able to speak to him anymore.
If he bought it, I'd survive for a while.