The countdown struck zero.
[00:00:00]
There was no explosion. No booming announcement. Just… a shift.
Rei, standing silently in a sea of Players near the towering gate marked [Floor 2], felt it like a pulse through his bones. The air vibrated—not loud, not sharp—but ancient, like a forgotten god had just exhaled.
The obsidian doors shimmered. Runes once dull and etched into the gate began to glow softly—green, warm, like morning sunlight filtering through leaves.
Then they opened.
Not with a mechanical grind, but silently—graceful, like curtains parting. The blinding glow inside bathed everyone, forcing Players to shield their eyes with a hiss.
Rei squinted. "Tch—damn bright…"
When the light finally faded, gasps followed.
In front of them was not the Floor 2 they remembered.
There were no rolling plains. No open grasslands. No simple wolves or beetles wandering starter fields like in the Dream.
Instead, a massive forest world sprawled before them—ancient, towering trees wrapped in bioluminescent vines. Glowing spores floated like drifting stars beneath a green-gold sky. Mist clung to the roots, and distant roars echoed through the treetops.
The very air smelled alive.
A new system window bloomed above everyone's heads:
-----
[You have entered Floor 2: Verdant Dominion]
[Realm: Primeval Forest Biome
Faction: Beastkin Clans, Druidic Circles
Affiliation: Loose ties to Elarian Dominion
Entry Requirements: Player must be Level 5 or Higher
Warning: Environmental Hostility – HIGH]
-----
Silence.
Then—
"What the hell is this?" someone muttered.
"Wasn't Floor 2 supposed to be grassland?"
"Why does this look like a whole different world?"
"Yo, this ain't what I remember…"
"Hey did we get the wrong gate?" a confused Player near Rei whispered.
Rei glanced at him sideways. "Yeah," he said dryly. "Clearly Floor 32. Took a wrong turn at the glowing apocalypse tree."
The guy blinked. "Huh?"
Rei kept walking. "Dont worry. The grasslands will be back in the next patch."
He took a few more steps, letting the sarcasm fade. His smirk lingered for a breath longer–then slipped.
because deep down, he already knew.
His eyes narrowed, scanning the treeline–those ancient, unnatural boughs wrapped in glowing vines. This wasn't a simple reskin.
"So they really changed everything," he murmured. "This isn't Floor 2 in the dream."
Now the reality hit: the Dream was just a tutorial.
He stepped forward slowly, one boot crunching on gnarled root tendrils that stretched past the gate's edge.
Instinctively, his finger moved through the air–just like in the dream. A shimmering panel bloomed before him.
-----
[Status Window]
[Name]: Shiver
[Age]: 22
[Gender]: Male
[Level]: 13
[Class]: Swordsman
[Unique Ability]: None
[Title]: The One Who Ended It All
(Tap for full description)
[Skill]: World Decipher (Passive)
[Stat Points Remaining]: 78
-----
Rei exhaled through his nose, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Good thing I have you two," he said quietly, eyes flicking between the glowing Title and Skill.
He began distributing points, his thoughts sharp and practiced.
[STR]: 20
[AGI]: 20
[VIT]: 20
[DEX]: 18
The numbers locked in with a satisfying chime. He flexed his fingers.
"Level 13… but with these stats, I'm basically Level 26," he muttered. "Thanks, title."
With the rest of the crowd hesitating near the gate, Rei walked deeper into the forest.
The canopy thickened. Vines slithered at the edges of the path. Faint growls echoed between bark-covered trees. Moss shifted unnaturally underfoot.
This realm felt alive, and territorial.
-----
It didn't take long before the forest made its move.
A faint click. A shadow shifting overhead.
Rei dropped low just in time as something ripped past him—fast, lean, and lethal.
A creature landed where he'd stood, claws digging into earth. It was covered in thorny vines, its frilled face flaring open like petals before it hissed.
[Thornlurker – Lv. 9]
A second one burst from a bush to his left, followed by a third from the trees. Petal-frilled. Camouflaged. Razor-sharp.
A full pack.
Rei's blade slid free with a whisper.
"Ambush predators, huh… Cute."
[World Decipher – Activated]
[Petal Veil – Brief invisibility burst]
[Spine Burst – Death-triggered spike blast]
[Venom Fang – Poison stacking debuff]
[Weakness: Light-based AoE, Sensory disruption]
The first lunged—Rei met it mid-air, slicing across its ribs. Glowing sap splattered. Another struck from behind; he twisted just enough to catch it on the back swing.
[Thornlurker – Defeated]
[EXP Gained]
He pivoted into a low spin, kicking vines aside, dodging poison-laced fangs.
Three more leapt in.
Too slow.
He ducked, rolled, came up slicing. Sparks flew from his Adaptive Blade, the friction cutting straight through bark-hide and bone.
[Thornlurker – Defeated]
[Critical Hit]
The final one tried to flee, but Rei didn't let it.
He hurled a nearby stone. The beast flinched. He blinked forward and finished it cleanly.
The forest fell quiet again—except for the crunch beneath his boots.
Rei exhaled slowly, cleaning the blade with a flick. Thorn petals and greenish blood scattered into the moss.
But something still felt… wrong.
He didn't move. Not yet.
Instead, he knelt near where the last Thornlurker had fallen, hand brushing against the soil. The ground was uneven—no, not physically. It was subtle. Tension, like a string pulled too tight beneath the roots.
Then—
A pulse.
[World Decipher – Activated]
[Analyzing terrain anomaly…]
[Pattern mismatch detected – False Root Layer]
[Hidden Pathway Unlocked – Signal Source: Dungeon Proximity]
Rei's eyes narrowed.
A faint shimmer bloomed beneath the moss. Bioluminescent light laced through the undergrowth—forming a trail. Almost like veins, pulsing faintly toward something deeper in the woods.
"So that's why you attacked in packs," he muttered. "Guard dogs, huh?
Then came the system prompt:
[Secret Path Unlocked – Heart of the Wild Detected]
Rei stood, blade still humming faintly in his hand. He followed the glow, weaving through trees that leaned in too closely—as if watching.
Soon, a curved archway of living roots emerged ahead, grown together to form a perfect natural gate.
Beyond it: a heartbeat. A hum. A presence.
The forest felt thicker here. More ancient. A dungeon—hidden not just by design, but intention.
[Dungeon Discovered – Heart of the Wild]
[Access Method: Pass Wildroot's Trial or defeat Elite Thornlurkers
Status: Entrance Unlocked]
He stepped through.
-----
Inside, the air was denser—muggy with mist and raw wild energy. Spores drifted lazily like embers. Bark cracked in the distance, deep like bones snapping.
Two massive shadows stirred.
A hulking tree-beast stepped forward, each step sinking into the moss like the earth itself bent to its will.
[Primal Ent – Lv. 11]
Rei narrowed his eyes, letting the interface flicker alive.
[World Decipher – Activated]
[Boulder Toss – Area damage]
[Earthen Grasp – Immobilizes with roots]
[Thorn Slam – Heavy AoE knockdown]
[Weakness: Fire, Arcane]
"Boulder Toss and AoE root spam?" Rei tilted his head. "Congratulations. You're a Druid player with arthritis."
The Ent let out a guttural roar and hurled a massive stone straight at him.
Rei casually sidestepped.
"Yeah, nah. Seen faster throws at kindergarten dodgeball."
He drew his blade, letting fire spark along the edge with a pulse from the hilt.
"Let's see how you like fire damage, Mr. Nature."
He charged in low, flames trailing behind the blade like a comet. The Ent raised an arm to swat, but Rei rolled under it and slashed across its root-like foot.
Splinters flew. Sap hissed as fire kissed the wound.
Behind him, the second Ent stirred. A thicker, bulkier one.
[World Decipher – Activated]
[Ent Variant: Greater Rootwarden
Increased armor
Slight fire resistance
Weak to piercing strikes behind the knee]
"Oh," Rei grinned. "You're the mini-boss version. Fancy."
The Rootwarden stomped, vines bursting up from the ground.
Rei blinked forward, flipping behind it. "Too slow."
He drove his blade into the back of its knee—right where the Decipher prompt had marked weak. The Rootwarden let out a groaning creak as it dropped to one knee.
Rei leapt up and cleaved through the exposed neck-joint, fire flaring with impact.
It crashed down, still burning.
Then the air shimmered again. Wind—sharp and unnatural—slipped through the mossy air.
Whispers. Laughter. Female.
From the trees came three figures—twisted and graceful.
[Corrupted Dryads – Lv. 11]
Their eyes glowed a toxic green, their limbs part-vine, part-human.
[World Decipher – Activated]
[Entangle Soul – Drains HP and binds]
[Mist Mirage – Creates up to 3 illusions]
[Rebirth Bloom – Revives one Dryad at low HP unless stunned]
[Weakness: Sudden noise or visual disruption during casting]
"Revive skill, huh? Great. You're support mains with attitude."
One of them hissed. The others shimmered, vanishing into illusion.
"Here we go."
Vines lashed toward his legs.
Rei jumped back, slashed the tendrils midair, and yanked a glowing moss-pod from the floor.
"Visual disruption, right?"
He hurled the pod to the side—it burst with a flash of spores.
One illusion fizzled. The second one flickered.
The third snarled.
"There's my girl."
Rei blurred forward and stabbed, twisting the blade into the Dryad's chest. Green energy rippled around her before snapping—cut off before she could activate Rebirth Bloom.
Another Dryad leapt from the mist behind him.
Mist Mirage!
"Nice try," he said, spinning into a low sweep. "My skill already told me you suck at sneak attacks."
He dropped low, stabbed upward—straight into the illusion's core. The real Dryad collapsed with a strangled hiss.
As she faded, silence returned.
Only the sound of bark settling, and mist drifting remained.
Sunlight filtered through the cracked canopy above. Ahead, the roots parted like curtains—leading into the dungeon's heart.
Rei sighed, cleaning his blade with a slow flick. Thorn petals and glowing sap drifted to the moss.
Then he cracked his neck and started walking.
"Alright, that's enough leafy foreplay," he muttered. "Boss room better be something special."
He stepped through the veil of roots–and stopped.
The air changed. Thicker. Heavier. Like walking into a cathedral made of trees.
There she stood.
[Ysera, the Worldroot – Lv. 19
Mythic Forest Entity]
Tall, regal, and vaguely terrifying—like an ancient goddess someone dropped into the Tower from a fantasy artbook. Antlered crown, emerald glow, eyes full of judgment. Her bark-armored body hummed with magic, vines curling and pulsing with life around her.
Rei stared.
Then squinted.
"…Oh great," he muttered. "A cutscene boss."
The runes on her chest flared.
Ysera raised her hand, and tried opening her mouth to speak.
"Intruder… You dare bring flame into the Heart of—"
"Okay, yeah, nope." Rei held up a hand. "Let me stop you right there, Poison Ivy."
Ysera blinked.
He kept going.
"I've seen this movie. You're about to give a dramatic speech about balance, defiling sacred groves, the wrath of nature—blah blah vines, blah blah sins of man." He twirled his blade lazily, letting sparks dance along its edge.
"I just soloed a bunch of your spiky puppies, two Ents, and dryads who thought turning invisible was a strategy. If you're the final boss of this jungle musical, you're gonna need a better opening act."
She tilted her head—just slightly.
Rei grinned wider. "What? Don't tell me you practiced that whole monologue and now you're shy?"
Vines curled, magic pulsed.
Rei stepped forward, completely unfazed.
"You're like Disney's Evil Mother Nature—but make it eldritch. Honestly? Kinda hot in a terrifying-tree-deity way."
Ysera's eyes glowed.
He rolled his shoulders and lifted his blade.
"Well, sorry, Mother Nature. But I'm here for loot, not life lessons."
Pause.
"…And maybe a new pair of boots, if you drop anything bark-textured."
The forest groaned.
Rei smirked. "Aww. Did I hurt your feelings?"
And then he dashed in—flame first.