Descent into the Volcanic Maw
Tunnel 972 was pitch black.
The light from the lamp on his hat wasn't enough to fully pierce the darkness of the shaft.
Zeon stood facing the dead-end wall of the tunnel.
The marks from pickaxe strikes were still visible on the wall.
Traces left by whoever had come in before him.
He could almost picture the miners who'd ventured into this sunless underground to dig for Magic Stones, swinging their pickaxes with all their might.
And four of those miners had died right here.
"Why?"
Miners didn't just die for no reason.
There had to be something in this place that led to their deaths.
Effects didn't exist without causes.
Zeon leaned his pickaxe against the wall and began scrutinizing the tunnel more closely.
"The mana here's thick..."
The tunnel was saturated with mana.
Before awakening, Zeon wouldn't have noticed it at all.
"Why's the mana pooling only here?"
He'd heard stories that prolonged exposure to mana could cause side effects in ordinary people.
Cell necrosis from mana oversaturation, rapid organ aging—there were countless possible issues.
If what he sensed was real, then the miners had clearly died because of the mana concentrated here.
Park Man-ho was an Awakener too, so he would've sensed the excessive mana buildup if he'd come in here. But he'd been too deep into his gambling to enter the tunnels personally for a long time. That must be why he hadn't noticed.
The real question was why the mana was pooling specifically here.
Zeon eyed the tunnel wall.
Right now, that wall was the only suspicious thing around.
He picked up the pickaxe and swung it at the inner wall.
Clang!Clank!
Sparks flew as the pickaxe struck.
Each swing crumbled the rock effortlessly.
Thud!
This time, the pickaxe sank in unusually deep.
"What the—?"
Zeon frowned in confusion and swung hard again.
Boom!
A roar echoed as the wall collapsed in a heap.
In its place, an oval space shimmered.
Zeon's eyes widened at the sight of the unnaturally black, alien void—like a beast's gaping maw.
"What is that?"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a powerful force yanked him in.
Before he could resist, Zeon was sucked into the black space.
"Urk!"
The moment he entered, crushing pressure assaulted him.
Pain like his whole body was being pulverized overwhelmed him.
His mind went white; he couldn't think through the agony.
All he wanted was to escape this instant.
Thankfully, it didn't last.
Splat!
The black space spat him out.
Zeon tumbled across the ground before scrambling to his feet.
"What the hell? This hellish landscape..."
He'd been deep underground just moments ago. Now, a completely different scene unfolded before him.
A massive mountain loomed in the distance.
Black as night, it belched black smoke and crimson lava. The sky choked with volcanic ash, the ground carved by rivers of molten rock.
All vegetation burned to ash, the air thick with sulfur.
Intense heat rose from the cooled lava fields—far beyond anything the desert could muster.
Zeon's face flushed red in seconds, sweat pouring like rain.
His clothes were already soaked through.
"A dungeon?"
He glanced at the dungeon entrance that had ejected him.
It was sealing shut at rapid speed, as if its job was done.
"Shit! No!"
By the time he rushed over, it had vanished completely—no trace left.
"This is insane!"
Zeon clawed at his hair.
Getting pulled into a dungeon was one thing, but like this? Totally unprepared?
Even in Neo Seoul, raid teams prepared meticulously for dungeons.
They gauged the rank from the scale and assembled Awakeners accordingly.
Even then, casualties were massive. Dropped into one without any prep? Absurd.
"What a perfectly shitty day. How can my luck be this bad?"
It was beyond ridiculous.
From getting ripped off on Magic Stones by old man Clexy, to the bad blood with Park Man-ho, and now this sudden dungeon suck-in.
Everything was perfect.
As if some fate-weaving god had orchestrated it all.
Zeon pulled the sandglass from his pocket and stared at it.
"At least I salvaged this one thing."
Fiddling with it calmed him a bit.
Finally, he could think straight.
"First, check if my abilities work in here."
He crouched and swept his hand across the ground.
Black grains clung to his palm.
Volcanic ash.
Zeon summoned his control.
The ash slowly floated up from his hand.
Good—volcanic ash responded to his power like sand.
Relief washed over him.
If his sand control hadn't worked, he'd be screwed.
The dungeon was full of ash.
Weapons everywhere.
Zeon exhaled in relief.
He wouldn't die helplessly, at least.
Next, he checked his backpack.
Thankfully, several days' worth of rations were intact—no damage from the entrance transit.
"This'll hold me for a few days."
With food secured, the goal was finding the exit.
Problem was, no clue where it was in this vast space.
Only one way: walk and search.
"Probably near the volcano, right?"
Anyone could see the volcano was the dungeon's core.
Clues to escape must be there.
"Hoo!"
Zeon took a deep breath.
His throat burned.
The airborne ash irritating his airways.
Stay too long, and it'd wreck his lungs.
He pulled a cloth rag from his backpack.
A makeshift mask for blocking dust while mining.
Covering his mouth and nose eased the pain.
"Let's go!"
Zeon headed for the volcano.
＊＊＊
The more he saw, the more surreal it felt.
He knew dungeons defied human logic, but this level of otherworldliness? Unbelievable.
The massive volcano in the distance was no illusion.
A real one, spewing lava and flame.
The scorching air and ground screamed authenticity.
Sweat poured relentlessly.
Even as an Awakener, this was brutal. An ordinary person would've died fast.
"I can get out, right?"
Zeon prided himself on toughness, but this harsh new environment daunted him.
Still, he pressed on.
"Ugh!"
He halted.
A massive lava river blocked his path.
Even from afar, the heat seared his skin.
The river spanned dozens of meters.
Too wide to jump straight across.
Zeon searched for a narrower spot, heading upstream.
Eventually, he found a section about ten meters wide. Jumpable, maybe.
"Hoo!"
He paused, breathing deep.
His current physique could make it. But one slip mid-air? Straight into the lava.
Melted to nothing.
No choice, though.
After glaring at the river, Zeon sprinted full tilt.
"Hyah!"
Right at the edge, he leaped with everything.
His body soared like a bird.
At the apex—
Sploosh!
Something burst from the lava toward him.
"What?!"
Zeon looked down in horror.
A gaping maw.
Rough, flame-wreathed hide.
Long serpentine body on four stubby legs.
A crocodile.
A giant one lurking in the lava river, hunting prey.
Teeth thick as human arms, packed densely.
One snag, and he'd be shredded.
No dodging in mid-air.
Sand Blaster too slow—sand too far; it'd gather too late.
Zeon gathered what ash he could while twisting his body.
Snap!
By a hair, the croc chomped air and plunged back into the lava. But Zeon was off-balance now, plummeting toward the river.
The croc below waited with jaws wide.
No stop, and it'd devour him.
Then he spotted the floating ash.
The bit he'd gathered.
Instinct kicked in.
He envisioned a foothold of ash beneath him.
It became real.
Pop!
No time to think—Zeon kicked off the ash platform and launched himself.
The platform crumbled, but he barely reached the other side—crashing back-first.
"Urk!"
Pain like his body shattered; he groaned. But no time to hurt.
Roooar!
The massive croc hauled itself from the lava, charging.
Sticky magma dripped from its bulk.
"Fuck! A monster like this..."
Zeon backpedaled frantically. But the croc was faster.
Its "short" legs were tree-trunk thick.
And quick.
"Sand Blaster."
He fired. The high-pressure stream hit... and melted on contact.
The croc radiated heat like the lava itself. Ash vaporized before impact.
"Crazy!"
Zeon's eyes bulged.
He hadn't expected his attack nullified so easily.
The croc lunged with impossible speed, jaws agape.
Zeon froze, helpless.
Then—
"Using sand, huh? Interesting ability you've got."
A rough, gravelly voice boomed from above.
Zeon instinctively looked up.
Someone plummeted through the ash, sword in hand.
Like a bird folding wings, hurtling down.
He slammed into the croc sword-first.
Boom!
A meteoric crash; shockwave ravaged the area.
Lava sprayed wildly.
"What?!"
Zeon clamped his ears, face incredulous.
The fearsome croc was pulped like tofu. Atop the mess stood a hulking old man.
His eyes blazed with inhuman ferocity.
The old man fixed on Zeon.
"What's your name, brat?"
His voice rumbled from deep within, more terrifying than the croc's roar.