The room's pale white floor reflected every flicker of the torches—cold, sterile, and hollow. The moment the exploration team stepped into the domain, the air changed.
Teddy was the first to cross the threshold, his boots echoing against the stone like a heartbeat that didn't belong. Taewoo and Xinglian followed close, shadows lengthening beneath the soft glow of the wall torches. I-Seul slipped in behind them, quiet but tense, while Wolf was the last—closing the formation like a silent wall behind them.
The boss didn't wait.
The moment Teddy's foot landed fully inside, the creature stirred—its massive form shifting like a storm beneath fog.
Shhhhhhhh—chrrrhhhhhh
Thick gray smoke bled from its body in a violent gush, swallowing the room in seconds. The torches' glow drowned under the expanding murk. The thing's silhouette vanished.
"Just like what Captain said…" Teddy muttered, tightening his grip on his spear, knuckles whitening. His breathing slowed—measured. His stance sank lower, knees bent, weight balanced on the balls of his feet. His heartbeat thudded against his chest, but his focus sharpened like drawn steel.
Xinglian and Taewoo moved up beside him without needing a word. Xinglian's eyes narrowed, faint glimmers of light tracing along the spear she carried.
Taewoo clenched his spear tighter than ever before, jaw locked, tendons rigid against the trembling in his hands.
Meanwhile.
I-Seul and Wolf broke formation. They moved fast and silent along the curved wall, guided by the faint halo of light leaking through the smoke.
Wolf gave her a quick glance, then crouched slightly and cupped his hands near the next torch mounted high above."I'll boost you," he whispered—low, rough, deliberate.
I-Seul nodded, inhaling sharply. She stepped onto his interlocked hands and he lifted her up with a controlled grunt, muscles in his arms tightening like iron cables. She grabbed the torch, twisting it out with a muted clank of metal against stone.
"One…" Wolf's thought cut clean and cold as his eyes darted through the smog. Only one torch remained.
He scanned left—empty. Right—shifting smog.
Gotta be fast before it turns to smog…
The thick smoke was already moving differently, as if breathing, alive.
Then—
"Tschhh—ACKK!"
The creature's scream ripped through the white chamber like tearing flesh and broken glass. The sound shook the air, vibrating the walls. Wolf's entire body jolted from how primal that sound was. I-Seul flinched too, her eyes flicking to him, wide and worried.
Wolf jerked his chin toward the next torch and sprinted low, cutting through the smog.
Meanwhile at the center—
Teddy's body twisted hard to the left, the air beside him whooshing violently as something massive cleaved past.
ShhhhhhK!
A shadow brushed by him so fast that he didn't even hear a footstep.
"It can actually move without sound," he hissed under his breath, sweat rolling down the side of his face. "Suddenly it was in front of me…"
He raised his spear again, pressing the base against the stone to steady his shaking hands.
"I stabbed through its nose," Xinglian said in a whisper.
She kept her eyes fixed ahead, scanning the undulating haze for movement. But in her chest a quiet voice whispered:
they better finish it fast.
The smoke had changed. It was no longer just smoke.
It was smog—thicker, heavier, crawling along their boots, swallowing every shadow and sound.
Taewoo's knuckles cracked as he gripped his weapon. His breathing grew shallow.
This is crazy… this is wrong… this is a mistake!
His mind screamed louder than the silence around him. Every muscle told him to run, but his feet stayed planted like stakes in the ground.
On Wolf's side—
They finally got the last torch. One torch in each of I-Seul's hands. Her breath came in sharp bursts, sweat glistening at her temples. She had no weapon. Not since the beginning.
Wolf slipped something from his pouch—a vial containing a thick lump of sticky black resin collected from the tree roots deeper in the mine. Its surface glimmered faintly, slick and tar-like.
He kneaded it between his fingers quickly, forming a rough, elongated strand.
He drew his machete with a low metallic shringg, the blade catching faint red light from the torches. He smeared the resin along the steel, coating it with steady, practiced movements.
The air around them was tense and hot.
When he finished, the blade looked blackened, heavier, a dark tongue ready to bite.
Wolf turned the blade and lowered the tip toward I-Seul's torch.
FffwoooSHHH!
Flame erupted instantly—angry, bright red, licking up the length of the blade like it had been waiting to burn. The rubbery resin popped and crackled as it melted, flaring wide.
The heat seared the air between them, stinging their skin.
The sound of the smog moving answered the flame.
The burning stench filled the chamber, thick and chemical—sharp enough to sting their noses.
Wolf narrowed his eyes through the haze. He could feel the heat radiating against his knuckles, but he held on, tightening his grip around the handle until his fingers ached.
"Hold," he whispered to I-Seul, voice low, steady.
He exhaled slowly through his nose, the hot air misting in front of his face.
The hunt had begun.
Skrrrhh—Thkkk—Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The smog shivered, as if the creature itself was crawling closer.
The heat of the burning resin still clung to Wolf's skin, leaving a thin sheen of sweat across his face and forearms. The smog—dense and shifting—coiled around him like a living thing as he crouched low, inching toward the center where the creature lurked.
Every step was measured. Silent.
His breathing was long and controlled, lungs dragging in the thick, tainted air.
Behind him, faint footfalls—barely a whisper—marked I-Seul's retreat back to the group. She clutched the torches tightly in both hands as she sprinted through the haze, their flickering light barely visible before vanishing into the smog.
Then—
SHHHHRRrrRAKK!
The boss lashed out again, a claw cutting through the mist with brutal speed, the force rattling the air itself. Wind snapped against Wolf's back as he dropped flat into a crouch, teeth clenching.
"Fuck…" he hissed under his breath, the word spilling out like steam.
Out in the distance, Xinglian's sharp voice tore through the air, "Here it comes!"
The group snapped to attention. Taewoo and Teddy both jerked their spears forward in unison, their feet braced against the slick stone floor. Their movements were clumsy—but fast enough.
Whump!
The sound of woods meeting bone—or something close to it—echoed. The monster's claw slammed against their extended spears, sparks scattering. Its weight was immense, enough to make their wrists ache and their boots skid a few inches back. But it was stopped.
And just like before—
Whoosh.
It melted back into the smog, gone like a nightmare just out of reach.
"There you are…" Wolf thought, a cold glimmer sparking behind his eyes.
He seized the opening. Without hesitation.
He lunged forward, weaving through the drifting mist. His boots barely kissed the floor as he sprinted low, then with one clean push off the ground, vaulted onto the creature's broad, scaled back.
The beast didn't even flinch.
It didn't notice him.
Wolf climbed like someone scaling a crumbling cliff, using the grooves between its thick plates of scale as handholds. One breath. Two. He positioned himself right above its head.
The flame on his blade crackled, light spilling across the dark gray surface beneath him.
"Die quietly," he whispered through his teeth.
He raised the machete high, twisted his wrist, and drove the blade down into the thin gap between the creature's thick head scales—precise, surgical.
KRRRRSHHHHHHHHHHH!
The scream that followed shook the room. The sound was wet, guttural, and violent—like something drowning and howling all at once. The boss reared its colossal head back, the impact shaking Wolf's balance. He clenched his jaw, grabbed onto a scale, but the monster thrashed violently.
"Shit—!"
Wolf was flung off. Time slowed just enough for him to see the writhing beast's head, the dark flame still flickering inside the wound he had made. But then—his expression twisted.
"That should've melted even its brain…" he breathed, disbelief flashing across his face.
I stabbed it there..
His body rotated mid-air. He threw his machete toward the ground before he landed—hands out, knees bent, boots thudding lightly against the stone. A perfect landing.
He snatched the weapon from the ground, still hot, the resin coating hissing faintly.
And then the smog moved.
Not like a breeze. Not like wind.It converged.
The smog was being sucked in—pulled toward the monster like a tide being dragged back to the ocean.
The haze peeled away, and for the first time since the battle began, the boss was fully visible.
Massive. Towering. Its body glistened with wet, blackened scales, and its mouth gaped wide like a living furnace. The glowing white chamber stretched around it, clearer now.
"Most of the smog was inside it the whole time," Wolf thought grimly.
He sprinted back toward the group.
Taewoo nearly stumbled when Wolf emerged from the clearing smog.
"W-What now, Captain?!" His voice cracked. Fear naked in every word.
Wolf didn't slow. "I suppose you can call it a second phase," he said, his voice flat, almost detached.
Xinglian's voice came out strained, "I got… some blistering on my skin." Her hand brushed the side of her neck where the burn had started to appear—small, reddish welts.
"Me too," Teddy and I-Seul echoed together. Their skin was flushed in patches where the smoke had touched longest.
Taewoo didn't say a word. His face was pale, eyes locked on the beast.
Wolf rolled his sleeve up slightly and checked his arm. The skin was raw, irritated. He exhaled sharply through his nose. I got some too..The smog effect… no doubt about it.
As they watched, the boss's wound sealed itself shut, the blackened flesh smoothing over like wax. The smoke began to bleed from its body again—slow at first, then in thick waves.
A grim smile flickered at the corner of Wolf's mouth.
Hm. It acknowledged me now.
His earlier theory flashed through his mind—the conversation that led to this moment.
Back then—before the fight—
"Come here," he'd said. "I'll tell you the plan."
But his tone wasn't hurried. It was calm—almost indifferent, as though he was reciting a fate already sealed.
"But before that… I'm going to tell you my thoughts."
He looked around at each of them, his eyes heavy, yet sharp.
"From Teddy's words—you think that it wouldn't attack until you entered the white room, right?"
Teddy nodded.
"So that can means it only reacts to intruders inside its domain. But that's not what matters."
Wolf's voice lowered. "What matters is how it prioritizes. The order of its hostility."
They stared at him, uncertain.
"If I go in first," he continued, "I become its first priority. Then if Taewoo follows, he's second. The boss will do anything to kill me before touching anyone else. It's instinct—or whatever it is."
Xinglian frowned slightly, but listened. I-Seul looked unconvinced.
Wolf's mouth curled faintly. "Now, if that's the case, we can use it to our advantage. First—Teddy, Taewoo, Xinglian go in. Then I-Seul and I follow. If the theory's right, it'll see you three as the first run—its registered enemies. That gives me a chance to sneak in unseen."
Taewoo raised his voice, his brows tight with worry. "But that's not going to be enough, right? It's still a damn boss."
Wolf nodded once. "Of course. That's why I'll make a fire weapon inside."
He'd paused then, tapping his machete's hilt. "The resin on the trees around here is flammable. I'll use that to make a flame blade. It should melt through the scales."
Teddy raised a hand slightly. "Captain… how are we going to defend ourselves?"
Wolf's eyes slid to him. The grin that followed was faint—almost human, almost cruel. "Well… you'll figure that out yourselves."
Teddy blinked, speechless.
"The faster we secure this place," Wolf continued, his voice quieter now, "the faster we can develop. And behind that door—" he pointed toward the iron seal Teddy mentioned—"there'll be rewards. Think about that, Teddy. Think about the future... the future"
The words hung in the air for a long moment. Teddy looked down at the floor, repeating softly under his breath, "...the future."
Wolf's attention shifted to I-Seul. "Hand over your spear."
"What?" Her face tightened in disbelief. "Why—"
"I can't risk damaging my weapon. I'll use yours. You won't be fighting up close anyway."
She hesitated, frustration flashing across her face, but eventually handed it over.
Now, the theory had proven true.
Wolf looked at the boss again—its smoke reforming, its head healed.
Although I didn't expect it to ignore me till I hurt it… Guess it works like a loop run. Teddy's group went in first—so it only registered them as enemies.
Even when I entered right after, it didn't see me at all.
His fingers tightened around the machete.
The heat still pulsed faintly from the blade. The smog was thickening again, creeping along the walls.
And the boss was coming back to life.
The smog trembled—almost like breath being drawn in—before the hulking creature lunged forward with a deep, thunderous thud. Its body blurred in motion.
Then—nothing. It vanished mid-charge like smoke devoured by wind.
"Dodge!" Wolf's voice cracked out a second before the beast reappeared in front of them in a flash of warped air and smoldering ash.
The ground roared as its claws swept across the floor—fast, vicious, and merciless.
Wolf's boots skidded on the stone as he jerked himself out of the way, the air slicing past his face. The claws tore gouges into the floor, leaving molten streaks of blackened earth that hissed.
"So it's a… teleport skill?!" he muttered under his breath, a stunned half-laugh escaping his dry throat. His pupils dilated as he scanned the field—his breath shallow, adrenaline needling through his nerves.
Then he saw it.
I-Seul… the torch.. no—
"Ah, shit." he breathed out through clenched teeth. I-Seul had thrown it away earlier when the first strike came. The torch lay sputtering weakly in the corner, the last ember clinging to its soaked head like a dying firefly.
The flame on my machete's already gone… I need to charge it again. His mind raced—short, efficient, like someone used to making hard decisions before. His hands twitched at his sides, fingers curling against the resin vial hanging from his belt.
"Teddy! Use it!" Wolf's voice cut through the smoky air, rough and urgent.
Teddy flinched but reacted immediately. He gritted his teeth, steadying his stance.
Woodsman's Lie activated!
The thought echoed in his mind like a bell tolling.
"Your enemy is near that door!" Teddy bellowed, pointing toward the iron gate. His voice cracked midway, but it was enough.
The boss twitched violently. Its head snapped toward the iron door as if some invisible tether yanked its attention. Its whole body followed with a guttural snarl, feet scraping like anchors dragged across stone.
Wolf didn't waste the opening. He bolted forward, boots slapping against the slick ground.
The resin vial was already in his hand before the second step. He popped the cap with his teeth, the bitter, chemical tang biting into his mouth as he poured the viscous sap over the dull blade. It dripped thick like amber blood, sticking to his gloves.
The torch flickered. Too close—too fucking close.
He lunged and snatched it just before the last ember died, sparks licking his fingertips.
A sharp breath left him, more instinct than relief, and he shoved the blade against the flame. It roared to life in a sudden bloom of orange light, resin hissing like furious serpents.
But by the time he turned—the boss had already turned too.
Its many-eyed face fixated on him. Something like hunger burned behind its smoky gaze.
"Shit—" Wolf muttered as his body moved on instinct, bending his knees, feeling the heat of the fire flare along his blade.
The monster's low snarl vibrated in the air, deep and ancient.
Wolf jumped!
For a heartbeat, his world shrank to the wet shimmer of its chest plates, the dull throb of its heartbeat echoing through the smoke.
Time to die…
His fingers tightened around the handle. His wrist rotated slightly downward—no hesitation. The blade slid into the narrow seam between scales, right where its heart throbbed beneath the plated shell.
The creature screamed.
A sound like a storm tearing apart metal bellowed out of its chest. Its claws lashed forward, catching nothing but air as Wolf had already let go of the blade and spun out to the side.
He hit the ground on one knee, sliding on grit, feeling the scorch of its roar against his back.
The fire caught. It spread like liquid fury—burning through resin, through veins, through flesh.
The boss convulsed, a towering shadow writhing in an inferno of its own making.
It bellowed and slammed against the walls, each strike shaking the chamber. The air was filled with the smell of burning tar and sulfur.
Then—finally—its body collapsed with a dull whump against the cracked stone. Its claws twitched once… twice… then stilled.
Silence.
For a moment, none of them moved. The orange light from its burning body painted their faces in raw disbelief. Teddy's mouth hung open. Xinglian clutched her own arm, as if making sure she was still real. I-Seul's breathing came in ragged bursts, both hands gripping her knees.
Then, like a dam breaking—laughter, tears, gasps of shaky relief.
A notification shimmered before their eyes like a verdict from the heavens.
[Congratulations you have killed the First Boss]
Wolf exhaled slowly, the tension leaking out of his shoulders like air from a punctured lung. He rubbed his face with the back of his glove, smearing ash on his cheek. "...Finally."
He strode toward the corpse, steps slow but sure, each one echoing against the hollow chamber. The smell of scorched flesh clung to the air, heavy and nauseating.
His blade was still buried deep in its chest. He grabbed the hilt, planted his foot against the dead thing's ribs, and pulled.
The machete came out with a wet squelch—and a sight that made him go still.
The edge was warped, blackened—melting.
"Damn…" Wolf muttered, his voice low but heavy with an odd softness.
"I already saw it start melting the second time I lit it up, but…" He turned the machete slightly, watching a warped reflection of the dying flames. "Still feels like a pity."
His thumb brushed against the ruined blade like someone brushing dirt off a grave.
"But stand proud," he murmured, a wry smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"You've carried me through two big meals… You'll be honored, my machete."
The flames hissed lower behind him. Wolf's gaze lifted to the iron door—the one that moments ago was sealed in chains of smoke and binding runes. Now it stood bare. The seals had vanished like mist after rain.
He inhaled deeply. He could hear footsteps behind him—the rest of the group slowly approaching, their breaths uneven, their bodies trembling between exhaustion and victory.
They finally came to check…
"Alright," he whispered to no one in particular, tightening his jaw. "Let's see what lies ahead."
With that, Wolf stepped toward the door. His hand pressed against the cold, iron surface. He pushed—slowly.
The door groaned open.