That night, the city was wrapped in a quiet haze, streetlamps casting their dim glow over half-empty streets. The noise of the day had faded, leaving only the occasional hum of passing bikes. Arkan had just returned from his part-time shift when it appeared—
A system warning, flickering right in front of his eyes.
[Minor Domain has formed at the City Terminal. Threat Level: Medium.]
His gaze sharpened. Notifications like these had been popping up ever since he gained the system, sudden and uninvited, hovering in the air as if the world itself were updating around him. And yet, every time the blue panel flared into existence, his heart still jolted—caught between dread, curiosity, and a spark of excitement.
"Elara," he called.
The silver-haired woman was already at the window, her calm violet eyes tracing the streets below. It was as if she had been waiting for this very alert. She gave the faintest nod. "We need to move. Now."
They left the dorm in silence.
The night air pressed against their skin, cool and restless, carrying with it the faint roar of engines in the distance. The walk to the terminal wasn't far. Normally, the place would still be alive even at this hour—buses pulling in, cabs crowding the lot, vendors lingering with stubborn stands of late-night snacks.
But tonight… it was different.
The closer they drew, the heavier the atmosphere became. The vast terminal stood in eerie stillness. Not a single vehicle in sight. The vendors were gone. Instead, a faint violet mist curled along the ground, swallowing the streetlights. Their glow, once sharp and bright, now looked drained, as if the fog itself devoured light.
Arkan inhaled sharply. "It's already shifted into a domain."
The moment they crossed the invisible threshold, the city terminal dissolved around them. In its place rose a twisted reflection—a shadow version of reality. Benches split and cracked. Departure boards splintered. The entire structure seemed to groan under a suffocating, ominous aura.
A scraping sound tore through the silence.
Metal against stone.
From the haze, they emerged.
At first glance, they looked like rats—but grotesquely altered. Their bodies were stretched thin, scales rippling under patches of mangy fur. Their teeth gleamed like sharpened steel, clamping together with a metallic clang every time they snapped their jaws. A dozen of them, maybe more, slinking forward with a hunger that prickled the back of Arkan's neck.
Elara's voice was low, clipped. "Dimensional gnawers. They're usually deployed first to test whether a domain is stable enough to expand."
Arkan's jaw tightened. "So this is just the trial run?"
She nodded once. "If left alone, they'll multiply fast. Kill them before they spread."
The gnawers lunged in unison, claws shrieking against the fractured tiles.
Arkan drew his blade—Expert's Sword, Lv.1. The steel trembled in his hands. No matter how many times he had entered domains, the opening clash always rattled him. His swings came stiff, sometimes too short, sometimes too wide.
One of the vermin dove for his leg. Arkan pivoted, cutting across its body. The blade sliced shallowly, dark blood spraying before the creature tumbled away with a hiss.
But the others were faster. Two attacked from opposite sides. Arkan turned too late—sharp pain slashed across his arm as one set of teeth grazed his skin.
"Elara!"
Her hand lifted, light blooming at her fingertips. Bond Skill—Healing Light, Lv.1. A warm glow surged into him, the wound knitting shut almost instantly. The pain ebbed, replaced by a fleeting warmth. Arkan gave her the briefest nod of thanks before bracing himself again.
The swarm circled. Their movements weren't random—they attacked like a pack, coordinated, relentless. Arkan stumbled more than once, his breathing harsh, but he forced himself to remember the lessons beaten into him by the system's daily quests: stay calm, focus, endure.
He triggered Dash, Lv.1. His body flickered forward, steps cutting sharper, faster. The skill's cooldown was mercifully short, letting him chain bursts of speed to weave between the creatures.
Bit by bit, his strikes grew steadier. His footing firmed. The blade began to sing with momentum, slicing through vermin after vermin.
One down. Another. Then another.
+50 Exp!
+50 Exp!
"These things don't fight well," Arkan muttered, smirking faintly as he skewered another. "Just banking on numbers. Good thing they pay in exp."
If he were still the same trembling wreck who faced Dr. Armand days ago, he'd be a corpse by now. But the system had prepared him, brick by brick. He was already level 8, no longer the powerless human he once was.
From behind, Elara frowned, her gaze darting uneasily over the battlefield. "Something's wrong. Their numbers… it doesn't add up. Colonies like these don't spawn endlessly."
Arkan thought the same, his grip tightening. How long was this going to last?
Slash!
Screech!
+50 Exp!
+50 Exp!
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
Host: Mile Arkan
Level: 8 → 10
EXP: 15 / 10,000
Half an hour passed. Nearly a hundred gnawers lay dead at his feet—yet more kept coming, pouring in as if conjured by an unseen hand.
"Damn it," Arkan hissed, sweat dripping down his chin. "I'm running out of mana!"
His inventory was already littered with empty vials—Small MP Potions consumed in desperation. Dash drained him faster than he liked, and every burst pushed his MP closer to empty.
He forced his mind into overdrive, leaning on his INT stat. There had to be something. Some pattern.
Then he saw it.
The vermin weren't just swarming randomly—they were herding him. Pushing him away from the deeper halls of the terminal.
"You see it too?" Elara's voice cut through, strained but steady. She had already burned through much of her bond skill keeping him alive. She couldn't sustain this much longer.
Arkan's eyes narrowed. "They're guarding something. Or rather… they're being mass-produced."
Elara's expression hardened. "A summoning core."
His heart skipped. If that were true—then the fight wasn't against the gnawers at all. It was against the machine feeding them.
He cut his way forward, sprinting deeper into the terminal, carving a path with each swing.
And there it was.
In a storage bay at the back of the building, a crystal stood like a twisted monument. A prism of dark violet light, pulsing with energy atop a stone pedestal.
The system's Appraisal flickered to life:
[Appraisal Active: Scanning Object]
Object: Dimensional Creation Crystal
Output: Red-Eye Gnawer, Lv.8
Production Capacity: 100/hour
Mana Consumption: ???
Arkan exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing. "So you're the machine."
The gnawers surged from behind, their shrieks filling the chamber. But before they could close in, another blue panel flashed into existence.
[Side Quest]
Objective: Destroy the Dimensional Creation Crystal.
Eliminate all surviving Dimensional Gnawers.
Rewards:
– 2,000 EXP
– Upgrade: Expert's Sword Lv.1 → Lv.2
– Upgrade: Dash Lv.1 → Lv.2
– 1,000 USD
Arkan's eyes lit up. Not just upgrades—but cash. Real, tangible cash.
A laugh broke from his chest, sharp and wild. "Ha! You vermin are about to turn into dollars!"
He activated Dash, lunging at the crystal. His blade rang against it with each strike.
100 Attack!
120 Attack!
90 Attack!
[Dimensional Creation Crystal]
HP: 2,690 / 3,000
His eyes widened. "Tough bastard…"
The gnawers closed in, dozens strong. He had no time left.
Snatching another potion from his inventory, Arkan downed it in one gulp. MP surged back into him, flooding his veins with icy clarity.
MP: 130 / 350 → 350 / 350
He planted his feet.
"Energy Burst—activate!"
The system chimed.
[Skill: Energy Burst Lv.1 Activated]
[MP Consumed: –280]
[Attack Boost: +2,800]
The Expert's Sword ignited in radiant blue, vibrating with devastating force. The very air cracked as the energy gathered, the blade howling as if eager to cleave the world itself.
Arkan swung.
The crystal shattered in a single, explosive strike.
CRAAASH!
Violet shards burst outward, a shockwave ripping through the bay. Arkan was thrown back, glassing the floor with blood as fragments tore across his body.
-50 HP!
-40 HP!
[Status Update]
Host: Mile Arkan
Level: 10 (EXP: 155 / 10,000)
HP: 560 / 650
MP: 70 / 350
STR: 41 | AGI: 37 | VIT: 31 | INT: 32
Free Stats: 10
Skills: Dash Lv.1, Appraisal Lv.1, Shadow Bind Lv.1, Energy Burst Lv.1, Focus Lv.1
Bond Skill: Elara — Healing Light Lv.1
Item: Expert's Sword [Lv.1]
Balance: $252
The fragments of the destroyed crystal hissed, their light guttering out into darkness.