Breaking Limits – Mana Rampage

Jinjeop F-01 Dungeon felt different from the very air. Passing through the gate, the stench of rusty metal assaulted my nose, and faint metallic sounds echoed along the walls.

“Never thought the smell of scrap metal could be this thick…”

The resonance meter in front of the gate read 6.4. An unstable zone.

“Perfect. This is ideal for training.”

The first clash erupted without warning. Three metal remnants burst from the walls simultaneously, and my dagger instinctively sliced through the air. Clang— Sparks flew, but no wounds appeared.

“Swords don’t work on them.”

I retreated, lowering my stance, and channeled psychokinesis at my fingertips. Nearby iron parts floated up, aligned, and shot forward. Crash. The wall cracked deeply, and the remnants reacted to the vibration. Metal mana entities began gathering toward the sound one by one.

“Good. Let’s gather them in groups of ten.”

I tapped an iron plate with my toe to create resonance. The vibration echoed through the tunnel, drawing the remnants toward the metallic sound. In that opening, I pulled out a bomb. Click. After a brief silence came BOOM. Blue light flashed with the explosion, scattering chunks of metal into the air. Fragments struck the walls, sending sparks flying.

Even after the blast, I finished off the surviving metal mana entities and extracted mana stones one by one from inside their mechanical bodies.

“They’re metal mana entities, so the harvest is clean.”

“Swords don’t work, but the loot’s decent.”

After clearing the corpses, I took a moment to steady myself. While moving toward the dungeon’s center, six mana entities entered my fixed line of sight. The previous tactic came to mind. I sprinted forward, lifted a metal remnant corpse, and hurled it into the clustered group. The impact rang out, and the remnants all turned their heads at once. They charged as one.

I quickly changed direction, lowering my body as I moved toward the center. Just then, another group of remnants appeared from the opposite side. This time I drew my dagger and spun it with psychokinesis. I threw it with force and watched the movement from a short distance. The moment the pursuing group from behind and the charging group from ahead crossed paths, I kicked off the floor, lifted an iron plate, and used the rebound to flip my body upward.

“Now.”

I flicked my wrist and threw a mana stone bomb. Spinning through the air, it lodged right in the center of both groups. The instant it touched, a brief flash of light erupted. I twisted behind a pile of metal fragments and pressed flat to the ground. Pressure surged inside my ears.

The next moment—BOOM.

The explosion roared, and metal shards rained down like a storm. The remnants’ outer shells tore open, scattering iron dust. A few were still alive, dragging themselves slowly across the floor. I drew my sword and charged the first one. When I stabbed its neck, a hard resistance met the blade. Channeling psychokinesis, the metal shattered with a crash. As the next one swung its arm down, I twisted aside and drove the dagger into its side. Fragments burst upward.

The air was thick with the smell of metal and burning energy. I checked my bombs. One left.

“Saving one for Chuncheon. E-rank is different.”

I tucked the bomb deep into my backpack. While crossing the tunnel, a heavy vibration rumbled from beneath the floor. I oriented myself with my toes.

“The core.”

Clearing away metal debris and digging into the floor, blue light seeped through a gap in torn iron plates. It didn’t take long to recognize it as the dungeon core. The moment I placed my hand on it, mana flooded into my body and my heart pounded violently. The core soon melted away and vanished.

The pain was milder than before, but my body was reacting in an unfamiliar way. I couldn’t fully explain it, yet the sensation that I could now control it was becoming clear. A tingling remained at my fingertips, spreading like current through my veins. Thanks to the improved physical abilities, my breathing stayed steady. My muscles felt firmer, and my senses sharper. I clenched my fist and struck the wall. A dull sound echoed as the metal dented inward. My fingertips stung, but the motion itself was stable and unwavering.

After collecting the mana stones, I walked toward the gate, loaded my gear into the truck, and started the engine. A low rumble slowly filled the space.

“Whew~ Let’s head straight back to Uijeongbu today. Two dungeons in one day is still pretty good.”

By the time I reached Uijeongbu, night had already fallen deep. Streetlamp lights lined the road, and between them, the signboard of the dungeon equipment shop glowed faintly. I parked the truck by the roadside, opened the door, and stepped inside, cutting through the familiar air.

“Thanks for your hard work today.”

“Yes, just the usual inspection, please.”

I handed the gear to the mechanic and headed to the sundae-guk restaurant. When a bowl of sundae-guk arrived, hot steam rising, my body that had been tense all day finally began to loosen.

“Ah… This is what living feels like.”

I scooped up a mouthful of broth. After finishing the meal and paying, I drove the truck home. City lights of Uijeongbu streaked past the window.

“Yeah, this much is enough for today.”

I pressed the accelerator gently. Arriving home, I took off my shoes and collapsed onto the sofa. The clock read 10:40 p.m.

“Two dungeons in a day… Honestly, it’s an insane schedule.”

I pulled out my notebook from the bag, placed it on the desk, and flipped through the pages, calmly organizing today’s records. As numbers and short notes took their place, the flow of the day felt neatly arranged as well.

I closed the calculator and leaned back in the chair. The smell of blood clinging to my hands didn’t fade easily, but my mind felt sharply organized instead. The deficit remained, yet the fact that I had returned alive today was enough to settle the calculation. That alone was sufficient.

Perhaps because I had fought alone the entire time, my muscles ached all over. Most hunters formed teams of three or four to enter dungeons, but I handled everything myself—from gear maintenance to combat to collection. There was no one to help, no one to watch over my recovery. There were times when running two dungeons a day felt overwhelming, but thanks to my improved physical abilities, my movements were gradually stabilizing. My muscles had grown firmer, and my senses far sharper than before.

“Just hold on one more day. Fighting.”

I lightly clenched and released my fist. When I threw myself onto the bed, the sheets sank deeply. My body slowly sank, and the remaining strength drained away with it. The moment I closed my eyes, sleep descended faster than expected.

The dawn air was cold. Stepping out of the truck and looking up at the sky, the Chuncheon E-01 gate came into view. Blue light rippled through a gap far wider than usual, pulsing at a steady rhythm like a heartbeat. Resonance meter reading: 7.1. Clearly an unstable zone.

“Today won’t be easy either.”

I tilted my chin up slightly and looked at the gate again. While checking my gear, I confirmed my last bomb. Only one remained, and two daggers were securely fastened at my waist. This should be enough. Just like always, I only needed to move as my hands remembered. I shook off the tension in my body briefly, then stepped straight into the gate.

The inside of the dungeon was cold. The damp air felt pressed down and heavy, carrying a faint scent of earth and dust. The floor was cracked in places, and dark moisture slowly seeped down the walls. With every step, fine soil scattered lightly.

The first one appeared. An elite goblin. Its skin was nearly gray-black, and it held a crude stone spear. I drew my sword. Shing. The blade slid free with a sharp sound, immediately clashing against another. I twisted my body, dodged its shoulder, and brought my arm down.

“One.”

Two, three, four. Goblins kept pouring in. Red mana particles scattered through the dark cave air as I pushed fragments away with psychokinesis and drove into the gaps. When the sword pierced a torso, blood sprayed, and the flow never stopped.

“Ha… They really are different.”

I exhaled shortly and stabbed another one. My body grew heavier, my fingertips numb, yet my senses remained sharp. Only processed monster corpses lined the floor.

“All of this is money.”

The moment I extracted a mana stone and dropped it into my backpack, a short laugh escaped. Then a rough scraping sound echoed from the passage behind me, and ten pairs of red eyes flashed simultaneously, tearing through the darkness.

“Elite grade.”

The instant I corrected my stance, a thick metallic scent of blood surged through the air. Before I could even raise my sword, the first one charged. I lowered my body and unleashed psychokinesis. The two scattered daggers rose at once. Whoosh! Blades flashed and pierced a goblin’s abdomen. Blood sprayed and spread across the floor. The second one lunged from the side.

“Damn… They’re fast.”

I threw a dagger with my left hand. Twisting its trajectory midair with psychokinesis, the blade curved and sliced across the back of its neck.

“Two.”

Eight left. Lifting all the scattered goblin weapons and daggers at once, over ten blades trembled low in the air, brushing past one another. The sound of stone scraping spread through the passage. “Come on, all at once.”

The goblins screamed and charged. I brought my hand down, adjusting the blades’ directions. The daggers poured down like a storm and interlocked. Crash, crash, crash! Solid impacts rang out in succession. Five fell immediately, but the remaining three twisted their bodies and barely deflected the blades.

“That’s it. Try to hold out a little.”

Readjusting with psychokinesis, I pulled the daggers back into the air. Blades spun and changed direction. Whoosh! One pierced a shoulder, followed by another stabbing into an abdomen. Screams rang out as blood scattered like mist. Two remained.

One climbed the wall and leaped, changing direction, while the other charged straight ahead without stopping. I raised my sword to block the front. Crash! The impact reverberated through my arm. The one on the wall fell sideways and swung its blade. I ducked and spun my sword.

“Move.”

The blade carved deep into its abdomen. As the last one charged, I threw the remaining dagger with my free hand. Whoosh! Its forehead split open, dark blood flowing down.

The passage fell silent. The air, thick with moisture and the stench of blood, felt heavy in my throat. My arms throbbed, the sensation spreading heavily to my shoulders.

“Ha… Damn, is it finally over?”

I muttered while shaking blood from my sword.

“Ten elite goblins… My body won’t hold up tomorrow.”

Ten elite goblin corpses lay scattered through the passage, blood spreading widely across the floor. The scene was a mess, but my hands moved without hesitation to the next task. Kneeling beside the nearest corpse, I flipped it over, split open its chest, and reached inside. The hot smell of blood surged all at once. A hard sensation met my fingers near the chest, and faint blue light seeped through the gap. Widening the incision slightly with my dagger, I pushed my hand in and pulled out the mana stone. Blood and mucus clung to my fingers as they slid down, yet my movements maintained their familiar rhythm. One, two, three— I dropped the extracted mana stones into my backpack.

Just then, the flow of air around me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shifted, and the mana density thickened.

“Hey, how about taking it easy for a bit, huh?”

The words left my mouth first. The moment I lifted my head to look ahead, a heavy mana vibration pressed down. The sound of stone scraping continued endlessly, and from deep underground came overlapping low, dull rumbles. Soon the ceiling trembled, and a black shadow pushed through fragments and rose. Dust and broken rock pieces scattered all at once, briefly clouding my vision.

“Goblin Warlord… Good. Now it’s a boss fight.”

D-rank elite boss — Goblin Warlord. Its size was nearly twice that of a human, with a hardened outer shell over its muscles. It held a blunt weapon in its left hand and a mana sword in its right. Red eyes fixed on me.

“Damn… It really is D-rank.”

When the Warlord roared, the ground shook with it, sending rock fragments flying in all directions. I rolled sideways to avoid the impact and, without missing the opening, threw a dagger. Clang! The dagger struck the outer shell and bounced off.

“Its shell’s thick. Direct hits won’t work.”

The moment the Warlord’s club struck the floor, a shockwave spread and dust erupted all at once. I pushed fragments away with psychokinesis, widening the distance as I retreated.

“Alright, let’s test this.”

Spreading my right hand, I lifted a fallen iron club into the air with psychokinesis. Spinning it, I brought it down on the Warlord’s knee. Crash! The metal crumpled, but the creature only staggered. The Warlord roared and charged. Its swinging hammer grazed my side. My body rolled and crashed to the floor, the impact digging dully into my ribs.

“Kuh… Feels like my ribs are broken.”

My breathing grew ragged, but I couldn’t stop. Gritting my teeth, I pulled the bomb from my waist with one hand while keeping my sword in the other and regaining my stance.

“Fine. Let’s end this with this.”

I gripped the bomb tightly. The Warlord charged again. I poured out psychokinesis all at once, briefly seizing its legs. Unable to overcome its own momentum, its body pitched forward and fell. In that instant, the back of the Warlord’s head filled my vision. I jumped with all my strength to strike down, but it sensed my presence and rolled aside. The sword aimed at the back of its head missed, carving into its abdomen and embedding deep into the floor.

“Damn it, the sword’s stuck!”

“You… bastard, just die already and stop making this hard for people.”

“You’re dead… you bastard…”

Looking at the Warlord, I saw the abdominal wound where my sword had grazed it. I threw a dagger toward its face with force to draw its gaze upward, then quickly approached, widened the wound with psychokinesis, and shoved the bomb inside.

“My last gift. Goodbye!”

I kicked the Warlord’s body and sprang backward, rolling across the floor and pressing flat. Moments later—BOOM. The explosion roared alongside the Warlord’s scream. True to its D-rank elite status, it was still breathing. I slowly approached and picked up the mana sword that had fallen to the floor. I brought it down with force toward the Warlord’s neck. Thwack. The tough resistance gave way, and its head came off cleanly.

“Whoa~ This is better than the sword I was using. Is this an item? I’ll have to get it appraised at Hunter Department Store Appraisal Center. Better keep it safe.”

I searched the Warlord’s corpse for a mana stone. A much larger E-rank top-grade mana stone than usual rested in my hand.

“Yes! Top-grade… I’ve only been getting low-grade ones. Guess the tougher it is, the better the reward.”

After finishing the corpse cleanup, I searched the dungeon’s heart for the core. Mana veins from the dungeon core spread across one section of the wall. Using psychokinesis, I lifted a goblin-sized rock from that direction and hurled it. The wall cracked, revealing a small gap behind it, and blue light from the dungeon core shone through. Staggering forward, I reached out and grasped the core. The moment I did, mana surged through my entire body. My vision flashed white, and a burning pressure rushed along my veins.

“Kuh… Aaaagh!!”

My heart pounded as if it would explode, and blood felt like it was boiling all at once. My joints twisted from within, and mana spun through my blood vessels, wrapping around my entire body. The aftermath made my muscles feel like they were tearing and my nerves flare with tension, but I endured on my knees, forcibly maintaining balance. I held onto consciousness to prevent rampage and didn’t let go of my breathing. Blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flowed from my nose, and a dull pain pressed deep in my head. Then all the pressure suddenly drained away, leaving only the sensation of my body being lightly organized. Mana scattered in the air seeped into my fingertips, and as my psychokinesis grew thicker, even the surrounding rocks began to tremble. Maintaining the flow without losing it, I lifted the target slowly into the air.

“I’m… lifting this?”

A rock the size of a person and the Warlord’s corpse floated simultaneously in the air, remaining steady without shaking for ten seconds, fifteen, twenty. When I brought my power down, a crash rang out as both the rock and corpse shattered at once, fragments flying everywhere. I clenched my fist and struck the side wall. The impact spread, punching a hole the size of my fist while cracks spiderwebbed rapidly across the surrounding walls. When I jumped lightly, the ceiling struck right above my head.

“Damn… That hurts. Still can’t control it properly. Good. At this level, both my physical abilities and psychokinesis should match C-rank hunters. I’m no longer an F-rank with trash combat power.”

My strengthened body and mana surged together. Broken weapons, torn armor fragments, and ripped gloves lay scattered around me.

“Ha… This is a total loss. Still, at least my wrists are still attached, so that’s something.”

A short laugh escaped. I took out a low-grade recovery potion and drank it. The liquid slid down my throat, gradually calming the remaining heat. After gathering my gear and items one by one, I turned my back to the passage and began walking slowly, as if catching my breath. Before long, the gate’s light filled my vision. Reaching it, today’s balance naturally organized itself in my mind. There had been gains and losses, but ultimately, the fact that I had returned alive settled the calculation. While I paused briefly in front of the gate, the blue light flickered as if breathing, then gradually, very gradually, began to fade. Only then did the state of my gear catch my eye. The one-handed sword was broken in half, the daggers’ blades bent. Armor was scratched and torn in places, and the impact pads inside had already burst, no longer serving their purpose.

“Today’s earnings are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all going to equipment costs.”

A chuckle slipped out. I was exhausted, but even that state felt oddly amusing, so I let it be for a moment. Walking toward the truck, I glanced back once. The passage that had felt like hell just moments ago now felt strangely quiet. As if nothing had happened, it remained still, leaving only traces behind. Opening the truck door and climbing in, I started to turn the ignition but paused. My wrist trembled faintly, and mana still simmered restlessly inside my body without fully settling.

“Just… rest a little.”

Leaning against the driver’s seat, I gulped down water. Cold water slid down my throat, but my insides remained hot. Mana was still circulating within me. Starting the engine, the truck vibrated lowly.

“Ha… Now it’s really over.”

A red sunset stretched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long across the road, flowing past the window. The wind slipping through the open window carried the smell of oil instead of blood. As evening sunlight filled my vision, pushing away the dungeon’s darkness, I slowly accelerated along the sunset-tinted road. Today, too, I had ultimately survived.