The Abyss Guardian Awakens

She must have misheard the Master's Token. Or maybe her brain had completely fried from the extreme terror she'd endured. Unless this was some deathbed hallucination like a life-flashing-before-your-eyes montage, there was no way she'd spout nonsense like that…

Eugene barely squeezed out the words in his trembling voice. "Um, excuse me. I think you've got the wrong guy. Creator? Wrong address, you must have…"

But before he could finish, the silver-haired woman slowly lifted her head. Her silver eyes brimmed with transparent tears. The emotion in that gaze was unmistakable—pure love and reverence.

"This warmth. The great waves of mana enveloping my entire body. How could I not recognize the soul of my one and only savior and master, Eugene-nim?"

In that instant, his heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach.

What did she just say? She knows my name… how?

He wasn't some famous ranker on TV. Well, okay, he was famous in a different way—the one and only unawakened in all of Korea. But the woman prostrated before him wasn't some news-watching human. She was an unknown monster that had crawled out from the heart of that hellish disaster-grade gate.

She gently wrapped Eugene's dirt-smeared hand in both of hers, then rubbed her cheek against it like it was a holy relic, her face lost in ecstasy.

"Ahh… ten years. I thought Master had abandoned us. How much blood I wept at the bottom of the abyss during that endless time…"

Ten years?

That word cleared the thick fog in his mind.

Ten years ago. The day the world turned upside down in the Great Cataclysm. Right before his memories cut off. The Dungeon Maker status screen he'd left open on his monitor in his dingy room.

That memory flashed through his head.

He slowly turned his head, scanning the surroundings. The bloodthirsty wolf pack that had been tearing people apart just moments ago.

Now the puzzle pieces in his head clicked into place.

He remembered. The Crimson Wolf Legion guarding the 1st floor outer defense line.

No wonder they felt strangely familiar.

He'd thought he was just hallucinating on the brink of death. But no. He'd been too frantic earlier to see clearly.

The woman prostrated before him now matched the image in his memory perfectly.

The 4th floor guardian. The Abyss Archwitch and…

Holy shit…

It was too identical to the game screen to dismiss as coincidence. With a cautious hunch, he opened his mouth.

"…Aria?"

At Eugene's call, the silver-haired woman snapped her head up. Tears welled in her eyes as she beamed radiantly.

"Yes! Master, it's Aria!!"

Aria rubbed her face against his pant leg, grinning like she'd gained the whole world.

It was really her. The final boss guarding the dungeon's deepest level—the character he'd raised like his own child.

But in the very next moment, Aria's expression, gazing up at him, hardened coldly. Her eyes fixed on Eugene's busted lip, bloodied chin, and the dirt-caked clothes stamped with clear shoe prints.

"Master…"

Her angelic voice twisted into a demon's snarl in an instant. The air grew heavy, suffocating. Even the blood wolves cowering on the ground whimpered in terror, scrambling backward.

"Which maggot…"

Aria rose slowly, her silver eyes blazing red.

"Who dares?! Which worthless scum dared spill blood on the body of the great Creator?!"

Crack! This was the feeling of killing intent so thick it could stop hearts. Black mana swirled at her fingertips.

Was Aria always like this? The weeping girl clutching his pant leg was gone. Standing before him now was a destroyer god come to end the world.

His instincts screamed: That's no ordinary skill. A power so overwhelming it could erase existence on a mere brush. If that erupted, the gate's front yard—and the nearby city—would vanish entirely.

Aria glared murderously in the direction Park Cheolgi's gang had fled, eyeing their mangled corpses courtesy of the wolves.

"I'll shred their souls to ribbons and cast them into eternal flames—!"

"St-stop! Hold it!!"

Eugene yelled in panic. At his desperate shout, the surging black mana vanished like a lie.

Good thing he'd stopped her.

"Understood, Master."

Aria clasped her hands demurely again, eyes downcast like a meek lamb.

That was close. If he accidentally ordered the world's end, she'd do it for real.

Eugene steadied his shaking legs and swallowed dryly.

He had no idea what was going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on. But one thing was clear: the dungeon from the game he'd created was now real, alive before his eyes.

Is this my awakening power?

He couldn't confirm that yet. But with Aria calling him Master and obeying blindly…

This Black Abyss Gate was his dungeon.

"Aria, so… the others are all in there right now?"

"Of course. They're all waiting desperately inside the dungeon for Master's call."

Relief washed over him briefly, but then a question hit.

They'd waited ten years—why show up now? "But why didn't you come find me even once in ten years?"

She could've come out like this, but never had. It was weird.

Aria's gaze dropped to the ground—at the vivid bloodstain where he'd vomited after Park Cheolgi's beating. Her face paled.

"Forgive this worthless servant. For arriving late, please sate your wrath with my life…!"

Without hesitation, she raised a hand swirling with black mana toward her own heart.

"W-wait! Stop?!"

Eugene lunged ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in horror, grabbing her wrist just before it plunged in.

She's insane! Trying to end it without blinking.

Cold sweat trickled down his spine at her extreme loyalty. A second later, and he'd have watched her die right there.

Eugene patted his pounding chest and shouted, "That's an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠order! No dying without my permission—ever!"

Her eyes shook at the firm command. Misinterpreting it as forgiveness, tears of gratitude welled up.

"Haa… Anyway, I need to know why. Calm down and answer. Why didn't you come for ten years?"

Aria bowed her head. "We were bound by powerful restrictions preventing us from leaving. But the moment Master's blood touched the ground, I felt the wave and forced my way through the door."

Blood? Oh, right—from Park Cheolgi's gang.

Eugene's mind reeled. Especially that word: restrictions.

"Restrictions? What do you mean?"

"The rules Master set. Guardians cannot leave the dungeon."

Eugene frowned. He didn't remember setting that. Probably the game system's default carried over to reality.

"On top of that, there's some constraint imposed on this entire world suppressing us. It made escaping even harder."

Someone else's constraint? Questions piled up, but pondering wouldn't solve them now. First, head into the dungeon and assess…

Then, silence fell. The air grew crushingly heavy, the ground rumbling unnervingly underfoot. The clear sky blackened like ink had been spilled.

This wasn't a mere quake or weather shift. Every hair on his body stood on end—an instinctive warning of something impossible approaching.

A heaven-shattering roar erupted. A massive black rift tore open above the gate, cracking the sky like glass. From the gap burst something enormous.

Crimson scales, mountain-like bulk. Wings blotting out the heavens.

A gate…?

Of all places, here. Eugene froze in shock.

It was a dragon-form beast. Memories flashed of cities vanishing without trace to one such monster. That size could obliterate a metropolis effortlessly. Even hordes of national-rank rankers couldn't stop a true disaster like this.

Eugene's legs buckled, nearly collapsing him.

But Aria, stepping protectively in front, didn't flinch. Her eyes just chilled coldly.

"How dare a mere insect fly over the great Master's head."

She lightly extended her hand skyward. A small black orb formed at her fingertip.

And then—

BOOM!

Immense mana exploded outward. The sheer force cracked the earth, hurling rocks and trees like paper. The area became a wasteland of destruction—but where Eugene stood behind Aria remained eerily serene.

Flying debris shattered against an invisible barrier like grains of sand. Perfect protection.

Her black pillar of mana pierced the heavens in one shot.

"Kieeeek?!"

The dragon shrieked but had no chance to dodge. The mana impaled it.

Or rather, that was just the beginning. The beam slammed into a distant rocky peak.

RUMBLE!

An ear-splitting explosion tore through. Eugene stared blankly. The massive mountaintop shrouded in clouds had vanished entirely—like it'd been erased from the map.

Terrain-altering destruction. The dragon's bisected corpse rained blood as it plummeted.

Aria brushed dust from her clothes nonchalantly and turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Eugene with a bright smile utterly at odds with the mountain she'd just obliterated.

"I've dealt with the noisy pest."

Grateful, sure—but smiling so innocently while saying it was honestly terrifying.

Eugene swallowed dryly. "Oh. Looks like time's up."

"Time's up?"

"Yes. I forced through the restrictions, so this is my limit."

Aria slipped a ring with a black gem onto his finger, her expression wistful.

"This is…"

"Master's Token. Absolute proof that you are the Ruler of the Abyss, our true lord."

Now he remembered. Back when he first created the game dungeon, the auto-issued master authentication mark.

"Master. Until we meet again, stay strong."

With those words, Aria's body dissolved into silver dust and scattered. Simultaneously, the Black Abyss Gate—yawning wide as if to devour the world—melted away smoothly.

As if it no longer needed to stay open now that its master was found.

Silence blanketed the spot where the gate had been.

Eugene stared blankly around him. The halved dragon corpse. The erased mountaintop. The ring on his finger.

This was all real.

…Not a dream, right?