For a long time, there was nothing.
No sound, no light, no sense of time passing. It felt as if everything had been swallowed by darkness, leaving behind only an empty silence that stretched endlessly.
Then, slowly, something returned.
Pain.
It came first as a faint sensation, distant and unclear, before spreading through his entire body. His chest tightened as if something heavy was pressing down on him, and his limbs felt numb, unresponsive.
Suho's eyes opened.
At first, he couldn't see anything. His vision was blurred, filled with darkness that refused to clear. He blinked several times, trying to focus, until faint shapes began to form.
Stone.
Rough, uneven ground beneath him. Cold air brushing against his skin. A faint glow somewhere in the distance.
He tried to move.
Pain shot through his body instantly.
His breath caught as he clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to cry out. Every muscle felt torn, every movement sending sharp signals of resistance through him.
"…I'm alive."
The words came out weak, barely a whisper, but they were enough to confirm it.
He wasn't dead.
Memories returned in fragments. The Black Azure Dungeon. The dragon. The retreat. The gate.
And then—
The fall.
His expression darkened slightly.
"…They pushed me."
There was no anger in his voice. Not yet. Just a quiet realization, something heavy settling in his chest.
He slowly pushed himself up, ignoring the pain that followed. His arms trembled, but he managed to sit upright.
The space around him was unfamiliar.
Massive stone walls stretched upward, disappearing into darkness. The ground was cracked and uneven, as if something enormous had once moved through this place. The faint glow he had noticed earlier came from veins of blue light embedded within the walls, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
It didn't feel like the surface of the dungeon.
It felt deeper.
Far deeper.
"…The pit."
He remembered now. The endless fall, the darkness swallowing him whole. There had been no bottom, no indication of where he would land.
Yet here he was.
Alive.
Suho let out a slow breath and looked down at his body.
His armor was gone.
The equipment he had relied on for years—everything had disappeared. What remained was a torn, simple outfit, barely offering any protection.
His weapon was gone too.
For a moment, he just stared at his empty hands.
Then he clenched them.
"…Figures."
He didn't panic. There was no point.
Panic wouldn't change his situation.
Instead, he focused on what he could do.
He had survived.
That alone meant something.
A faint sound echoed through the space.
Suho froze.
It was subtle, almost easy to miss, but it was there. A low, distant rumble, like something shifting deep within the darkness.
He turned his head slowly, eyes narrowing.
"…I'm not alone."
The realization settled in quickly.
This place wasn't empty.
Whatever existed in the Black Azure Dungeon—
It extended down here as well.
Suho forced himself to stand.
His legs trembled at first, threatening to give out beneath him, but he steadied himself against the wall. The cold stone helped him stay grounded.
Step by step, he began to move.
Each movement was slow, careful. His body wasn't in any condition for a fight, and without his equipment, he had to rely on instinct alone.
The faint blue light along the walls guided him forward.
The deeper he went, the stronger it became.
And with it—
That presence.
Heavy.
Overwhelming.
Familiar.
Suho stopped.
His breath grew shallow as something pressed against him, an invisible force that made it difficult to move.
"…This feeling…"
He had felt it before.
At the center of the dungeon.
In front of the dragon.
His grip tightened.
"No way…"
Another sound echoed.
This time, it was clearer.
A slow, heavy movement.
Something was approaching.
Suho's body tensed instinctively, every sense sharpening despite his condition.
From the darkness ahead, a shape began to form.
Large.
Massive.
Each step it took caused the ground to tremble slightly.
The blue light reflected off something—
Scales.
Black.
Cold.
Ancient.
Suho's eyes widened.
"…It followed me down here?"
The creature stepped fully into the light.
Its form was smaller than before, but there was no mistaking it.
The same overwhelming presence.
The same suffocating pressure.
The Black Ancient Dragon.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
The dragon's glowing eyes fixed on him, observing, studying.
Suho felt it immediately.
That gaze—
It wasn't just looking at him.
It was measuring him.
Judging him.
His body reacted before his mind could catch up. He took a step back, his breathing unsteady.
He couldn't fight this.
Not like this.
Not without his equipment.
Not in this condition.
"…So this is how it ends."
The thought crossed his mind, calm and strangely clear.
There was no escape.
No allies.
No second chance.
Just him—
And the creature that had brought the Eight Stars to their knees.
The dragon moved.
Suho braced himself.
But instead of attacking—
It stopped.
Right in front of him.
Close enough that he could feel its breath, hot and heavy against his skin.
Its head lowered slightly.
Those glowing eyes locked onto his.
Silence filled the space.
Seconds passed.
Then—
Something unexpected happened.
A faint light flickered between them.
Suho frowned.
"…What is this?"
The air shifted.
The blue glow around them intensified, gathering slowly in front of him.
Then, a familiar shape appeared.
A window.
Transparent.
Floating.
Exactly like the ones from Immersion Reality.
Suho's eyes widened slightly.
"That… shouldn't be possible."
The system.
It was here.
In this place.
In the real world.
The window flickered once before stabilizing.
Words began to form.
Suho stared at them, his expression slowly changing as he read.
A strange silence followed.
Then—
He let out a quiet breath.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The dragon didn't move.
It simply watched him.
Waiting.
As if it already knew what choice he would make.
Suho closed his eyes for a moment.
Everything that had happened ran through his mind.
The fall.
The betrayal.
The gate closing.
Being left behind.
When he opened his eyes again, they were steady.
Different.
"…So this is what you want."
He looked up at the dragon.
There was no fear left in his expression.
Only a quiet resolve.
"If I accept this… I don't stay human, do I?"
The dragon's eyes glowed faintly.
It didn't answer.
But it didn't need to.
Suho gave a small, almost amused smile.
"Figures."
He looked back at the system window.
There was only one option.
No alternatives.
No escape.
Just a single path forward.
He raised his hand slowly.
For a brief moment, it hovered in the air.
Then—
He pressed it forward.
The moment his hand touched the light, everything changed.
The space around him trembled.
The blue veins along the walls flared brightly, flooding the area with intense light.
The dragon let out a low sound, something deep and resonant.
Not a roar.
Something else.
Something older.
The system window shattered into fragments of light.
And Suho's vision went white.
---
Far above, in a world that had already moved on, people continued their lives, unaware of what had been left behind.
The story of the Eight Stars had already been written.
Seven heroes who saved humanity.
One who fell.
A sacrifice.
A legend.
A memory.
But deep beneath the surface—
Something had changed.
And the one who had been forgotten…
Was no longer the same.