The words he had screamed earlier echoed in his mind. His hatred for everyone was still there, burning deep inside. Perhaps that was why this class had chosen him.
Arthur didn't want to waste time. He left the abandoned building and set out to find a dungeon portal of the lowest level he could connect to.
All portals were under strict control, making it nearly impossible for Arthur to approach one. The Hunter Association managed every single portal.
This time, he hired a driver with the little money he had and went to the only low-level portal he knew of.
It was an F-rank portal—the weakest kind. Even so, it was still dangerous and closely guarded by the Association.
The portal was housed inside a building. Arthur walked up to the entrance and spoke to the guard stationed there.
"I'd like to enter the portal," Arthur said.
"Show me your hunter ID, please," the guard replied.
Arthur didn't have one. He hadn't taken the test to become an official hunter yet, and it wasn't something easy to obtain.
"I… forgot it. I can bring it tomorrow. It's late, and I don't want to waste time."
Strangely enough, the guard hesitated but eventually let him through.
"Fine, go ahead. But I'll want a share of whatever you collect in there, understood?"
"Of course, of course," Arthur answered quickly.
As Arthur walked through the corridors of the building, he passed several hunters. Most of them weren't particularly strong—after all, this was the weakest portal in existence—but they were still stronger than him.
When his eyes fell on the portal, it was as if something was calling to him. Even before using his ability, Arthur felt a strange connection, as though he and the dungeon were already bound together.
He approached slowly. Just before stepping inside, a group of three hunters noticed him.
"You're going in without anything?" one of them asked. "Where's your backpack? Your weapon? You're going alone?"
They couldn't understand how anyone could be so reckless. Arthur, filled with hatred for everything and everyone, ignored them and stepped into the portal.
At last, the moment had come. He was ready to use his Soulbound ability to connect with the dungeon. He had no idea what would truly happen once he did…
After Arthur stepped through the portal and vanished, the group of hunters outside began mocking him.
"What a lunatic. We'll probably find him dead in there tomorrow… Who goes into a portal this late at night?"
"Yeah, and without any gear."
They simply couldn't believe anyone could be as reckless as Arthur.
The moment he crossed the threshold, everything around him changed. The teleportation process was instantaneous—one second he was inside the building, the next he was somewhere completely different.
It was his first time entering a dungeon, his first time seeing what lay within. Hunters often described the interiors on TV programs, but those were only words.
Inside a dungeon, recording was impossible. Phones shut down automatically due to mana interference and wouldn't power back on until leaving. Hunters had tried cameras and other devices, but none worked. It was as if some greater force ensured that no recording could ever succeed.
Because of that, Arthur was finally seeing the truth with his own eyes.
He found himself in a forest, utterly alone.
Being alone in a forest was already frightening, but knowing he was inside a dungeon made it far worse.
Arthur could feel something watching him, hidden behind the trees and bushes. Maybe it was only his imagination, his mind playing tricks on him. Or maybe something was truly there, waiting for the right moment to strike.
He lifted his gaze to the sky.
The light above was bright, almost too perfect. The sun blazed down, but it felt artificial, as though it wasn't the real sun at all. The clouds drifted lazily, yet they seemed painted, unreal.
Arthur frowned. The dungeon was alive in ways he couldn't understand. Was this sky genuine, or just an illusion crafted by mana?
The silence pressed down on him. No birds, no insects, no wind rustling the leaves—only the heavy stillness of a world that wasn't truly a world.
Arthur didn't want to waste time. He tested his Soulbound ability, unsure of what would happen once he did.
It was surprisingly simple to use. All he had to do was focus on the skill and channel the mana within his body. The system would handle the rest.
At that moment, something extraordinary occurred. Threads of blue energy descended from the sky, weaving toward him like spiderwebs stretching across the entire dungeon.
The strands of mana connected to his body, then vanished as if they had never been there.
Arthur's eyes glowed a brilliant blue for a brief moment, as though mana itself had taken control of him. Then they returned to normal—but something had changed.
The hostile aura he had felt earlier was gone. In fact, it was the complete opposite. It felt as though he were standing in a peaceful park, not a terrifying forest.
The sensation of being watched had disappeared as well.
"Feels like home now," Arthur muttered.
That was the feeling filling his heart. For the first time, he felt safe. He decided to explore the dungeon and see exactly what his class could do.
But after only a few steps, his body began to change. His nails lengthened into sharp claws, and his ears grew pointed, resembling those of goblins.
"What the hell is this?" Arthur thought.
He quickly opened his system, and the answer appeared before him.
[Connected to F-Rank Dungeon: Goblin Forest]
[Passive Skill Acquired: Goblin-Like]
[Goblin-Like: Your appearance has shifted slightly to resemble goblins. Additionally, +3 points to all attributes.]
Arthur hadn't imagined his class would work this way. Not only did it make him an ally of the monsters inside the dungeon, it also altered his appearance to resemble them.
Then another notification appeared.
[New Quest Received]
[A goblin tribe is under attack by wolves. Please go to the village and protect them to earn rewards.]