Chapter 22 - XXII

[Content Warning !!]

[This chapter contains intense scenes involving blood, violence, and graphic depictions of injury and destruction. Reader discretion is advised, especially for those sensitive to vivid descriptions of gore and traumatic events.]

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Your eyes are closed, and at first, there's just a faint tremor, like the ground itself is breathing beneath you. A distant rumble reaches your ears, barely noticeable, but it starts to grow—slowly at first, then all at once. The whole world begins to quake violently beneath your feet. From somewhere far off, you hear noises, indistinct at first—screams blending with a deep, monstrous roar that makes your chest tighten. Something's wrong, something big, but you can't quite piece it together yet.

Your eyelids twitch. Your breathing quickens, heart hammering in your chest. You force your eyes open, but the world is blurry. You're lying on the ground, your body barely able to move, heavy with exhaustion and fear. You try to raise your hands in front of you—they're slick with blood. Is it yours? No... it's not just yours.

With a shaky effort, you push yourself up. Your hands slip on the wet ground beneath you as you struggle to stay upright. The street—wait, you're in the middle of the street? How the hell did you end up here? Your vision starts to sharpen, and you see people, lots of them, rushing past, trampling over you like you don't even exist. Men, women, kids—even babies carried on shoulders—everyone's running, faces twisted in terror.

"Run! Run for your lives!"

"Where's my mom?!"

"Somebody, please help!"

Screams fill the air, a chorus of pure panic. You look up, and for a moment, it feels like the world's moving in slow motion—people tripping, falling, covered in blood. Not just yours anymore, but everyone's. The street is smeared with it. Then, a sharp scream cuts through the chaos. You turn, and there's a girl standing still, frozen, staring up at something behind you.

A monster. No, not just a monster—it's a nightmare in the flesh. A dungeon creature, towering, grotesque. Before you can even react, it lunges, its massive jaws ripping into the girl. Blood sprays across the pavement as she collapses, lifeless, in a mangled heap. Time seems to stop, and you're stuck, watching helplessly, unable to move, unable to process.

You stumble backward, heart pounding. What the hell is going on? How did you get here? Your mind races, trying to make sense of the chaos. Then you see it—massive black gates, twisted and unnatural, scattered throughout the city. From those gates, more dungeon creatures pour through, their hulking forms tearing through the streets, devouring everything in their path.

"My God... it's the end of the world."

"God, have mercy on us!"

The desperate voices of old men rise in shaky prayers, their faces pale with fear.

You try to get to your feet, but your legs feel like they're made of lead. You stumble, but you can't afford to stay down. The air is thick with smoke, the scent of blood and death choking you. You push yourself up, staggering forward, trying to keep pace with the fleeing crowd. Every step feels like a battle.

The city is falling apart. Buildings crumble around you, the sky above twisting with dark clouds and thunder. One of the creatures, massive and lumbering, crashes through, flattening cars beneath its feet like toys. The cries of children ring out through the madness—"I want my mommy!"—as a small boy is separated from his mother, swallowed by the chaos.

A voice inside you screams, Run! Just run!

You bolt. There's no plan, no thought—just raw survival instinct. You run, faster than you've ever run before, desperate to escape this nightmare.

But then the ground trembles again, and out of nowhere, a huge chunk of debris crashes down right in front of you. For a second, time slows down again, and you feel death brush right past you. One more step and that would've been it. Dust and rubble cloud the air, but there's no stopping now. You keep going. The sounds of screaming, of destruction, flood your senses. Every direction, there's someone crying, shouting, praying.

"Please, God, have mercy!"

You barely hear it before another building collapses, sending a deafening crash through the air. It slams down onto one of the old men, the same one who'd just been praying for mercy. His body is crushed beneath the rubble, blood spraying across the street. His eye rolls out from under the wreckage, stopping right in front of you. Your stomach churns, but there's no time to think about it. You've got to keep moving.

"Alright, take a breath if you need to."

"…"

"Ready to keep going?"

"..."

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Okay,Let's finish this."

You keep running. The screams are everywhere—echoing from every direction. People are falling, getting trampled, crushed under the chaos. The monsters are tearing through everything, and the buildings around you are coming down.

Out of nowhere, a hand grabs your shirt. You freeze, heart stopping with fear, thinking it's one of those creatures. But when you turn, you realize it's a woman. Her face is streaked with dirt and tears, her eyes wide with terror. Her voice is shaky, barely able to form words, but you get what she's asking.

"Please... my daughter..." she chokes out, pointing toward a pile of rubble.

You look over and spot a small hand sticking out from under the debris. Your gut twists. You want to keep running, get away from all of this. But the desperation in the woman's face stops you in your tracks. For a second, you hesitate, but then something inside you snaps, and you know you can't leave her.

You sprint toward the rubble, your hands trembling as you start lifting the heavy stones. Your body is exhausted, every movement feels like a struggle. The weight of each piece is overwhelming. The smell of blood and smoke fills your lungs, and the sky above seems like it's closing in. Your hands feel numb, covered in blood—maybe yours, maybe someone else's. Your arms burn with fatigue.

"Please, hurry!" the woman cries out, her voice cracking with panic.

You're on the edge of collapse. Everything is spinning, your vision blurring, but you don't stop. You can't. Finally, after what feels like forever, you lift the last stone. The little girl is barely moving, but she's alive. You look at her, feeling a strange mix of relief and something else—something you can't quite put into words. Maybe it's hope, maybe it's something deeper.

You take a deep breath, but the air is thick with blood, sweat, and dust. The mother stumbles forward, her eyes wide and locked on you. "Thank you... thank you," she whispers, her voice shaking with disbelief. She reaches out to her daughter, her hands trembling, her face wet with tears.

And then—everything changes.

"RIP!"

The sound of tearing cuts through the air. The mother's body goes stiff, her eyes wide with horror. Slowly, she turns, and you see it—a monstrous, black hand piercing through her chest. "The sound of flesh tearing" is the only thing you hear, like the world has gone silent.

Blood drips slowly to the ground, each drop reminding you this isn't a nightmare. The mother doesn't scream, her fear has frozen her. Her body hangs there, lifeless, with that grotesque hand still buried in her chest.

The sharp, metallic smell of blood fills the air. Warm droplets land on your face, mixing with the smoke. It stings as it runs down your cheeks. You can taste something bitter—maybe ash, maybe blood—but you can't tell.

"Oh... God..." you try to speak, but your voice catches in your throat. Your heart is pounding, and your legs start moving on their own.

Survival instinct kicks in.

Nothing else matters now…

You spin around and run. The ground shakes beneath your feet, but you don't care. You just run...

The sounds around you grow louder. Screams cut through the air, sharp and painful. "Run! Run!" "Mom! Where's my mom?!" "Help us!" The voices blur together, waves of panic and terror crashing all around you.

You glance back, just for a second, scanning the rubble and smoke, hoping to spot the girl. But there's another monster there, darker than the night, standing over her tiny body. Its teeth tear into her flesh, and "the sound of it chewing" hits your ears like nails on a chalkboard. You watch, horrified, as a piece of her flesh flies into the air. Your heart feels like it's going to burst, and your stomach twists in ways that make you want to throw up.

It's like a cold knife sinking into your gut, slow and deep. But you can't do anything. "This isn't a fight you can win right now."

"It's about survival" That's the only thing keeping you going.

Tears fill your eyes without you even realizing it. The salty taste hits your lips, your throat dry and scratchy, and everything around you feels like it's on fire.

You just keep running, but your legs are shaky, stumbling more with every step. The ground is a mess of debris—sometimes it feels like you're stepping on bodies, but you don't stop to check. You just pull yourself up and keep moving.

Somewhere nearby, you hear an old, broken voice whisper, "Oh God... please, have mercy..." It's barely more than a whisper, lost in the wreckage of the city, but it hits you like a punch to the gut.

You push through the crowd, people all around you. The noise is overwhelming—screams of terror, cries of pain, the wailing of infants. A little kid, probably no older than five, stumbles through the masses, tears streaming down his face as he searches for his parents. An old woman sits on the sidewalk, sobbing for her lost son, her voice so broken, it's like her heart's being torn apart.

A father stands alone in the corner, his eyes blank, lost after watching his daughter die right in front of him. His hand hangs in the air like he's reaching out for someone—anyone—but there's no one there. The screams, the cries, they all blend together, filling the air with nothing but hopelessness.

Suddenly, everything goes dark, like something massive just covered the whole city in its shadow. The light starts to vanish, and the streets are swallowed by darkness.

You can feel it—something huge fills the air. People slowly lift their eyes to the sky, their faces frozen in pure fear. The screams stop, all at once. And for a moment, there's just this heavy silence, like the whole world's holding its breath.

You try to wrap your head around what's happening, but it's too much to take in. On top of one of the tallest buildings, a massive dungeon monster perches—a black dragon so huge, it nearly blocks out the sky. Its wings spread wide, covering what little light is left, cutting you off from any hope.

The dragon's dark scales shimmer faintly, and its glowing red eyes burn with pure malice. Every breath it takes rumbles like distant thunder, and when it roars, it feels like the entire city is about to shake apart.

The screams come flooding back. "No... no, this can't be real! Wake me up!" someone cries. "God, please save us!" a woman begs. An old man collapses to his knees, arms reaching toward the sky, "I don't want to die like this!"

You feel completely helpless. The ground's shaking beneath you, and it's like you're part of something way too big, too unstoppable. Destruction is all around you, fear digs into every nerve. You can't move forward, but you can't run either. You're just... stuck, watching the nightmare unfold.

Suddenly, the dragon's mouth starts glowing red, brighter and brighter , the heat hits you. It's intense, searing, and everything feels like it's about to end.

But then—everything stops. Time seems to freeze. The roar, the heat, the terror—it all fades into silence. The light dims, and the world blurs into darkness.

You feel a hand on your arm, gently pulling you back. Slowly, you turn, and it's Alex, the main character. He's pulling you away from the chaos, his expression soft with concern. His eyes meet yours, filled with empathy.

"I know , that was scary...," Alex says, his voice calm and steady. "But the writer just wanted to show you what the dungeon's really like, That was just a scene depicting the first appearance of the dungeon gate, long before I was even born..."

He brushes a hand gently through your hair and adds, "You don't need to be afraid anymore. It's over for now. I'll take you somewhere safe."

You start to feel the scene fading, reality slipping back in. The colors shift, the heat dissipates. "No more running," Alex says softly, "things will get better from here."

Alex snaps his fingers, and suddenly, you find yourself in his dorm room. The familiar furniture, scattered books, and soft lighting instantly put you at ease.

He looks around, as if he's trying to shake off the last remnants of the chaos. "Wait, haven't we been here before? The scene with the tattoo?" he asks, looking a bit puzzled.

You nod, confirming his memory, and you can see the confusion on his face. "I'm really sorry you had to go through that," he says, his tone genuine. "I didn't want you to experience any of that. But it's going to be easier from here on out. We'll pick up where we left off."

With another snap of his fingers, you seamlessly transition back to where you were. You're back in your spot, holding your phone, fully immersed in the story. The fear has faded away, and a sense of calm washes over you. You can finally relax;

the nightmare is over...

____

"Ding…"

"The hell?!" Alex snapped, yanking the dull gray stone from his pocket. His eyes widened, pupils catching the purple glow spiraling around the markings on the stone. His temper flared. As soon as the stone was in his hand, his tattoo lit up with green flashes, and more notifications bombarded him.

"Rune Stone detected!"

"Evaluation: A rare stone of unknown origin."

"Description: This rune stone requires feeding from a level-four dungeon core or higher to unlock its hidden potential."

Alex just stared at the words for a second, his brain struggling to catch up. Then it hit him, and he let loose. "A level-four dungeon? Are you freaking serious?!" He cursed out loud, throwing a hard punch into the nearest wall. Pain shot up his arm, but he didn't care. "You've gotta be kidding me! A goddamn level-four dungeon?!"

He kicked the floor in frustration, muttering, "It takes ten rank-five hunters to clear something like that. What, do you think I'm an entire squad now?!"

Taking a shaky breath, he tried to cool down, but it wasn't happening. "Screw this! And screw that stone! Both of you are complete bullshit!"

Sliding down to sit against the wall, still fuming, Alex caught his breath. The tattoo, of course, didn't give him a moment's peace:

"Warning: Stone is unstable. Incomplete feeding may cause unforeseen consequences."

"Reward: A new ability will be unlocked once conditions are met. Details undisclosed."

"Unforeseen consequences? Seriously? What the hell is this?!"

Just as Alex was getting ready to smash the stone against the floor, a knock at the door made him jump.

"Great... what now?" he muttered, stomping toward the door. He swung it open, irritation all over his face, only to find...

To be continued…