Noontime arrived, and the sun rose to its zenith, making the very air sweat across Pyradine City. But inside the Origins Dungeon Hall, there was no such thing as warmth. There was only the chilling resonance of screams.
Wu Feng stood at the entrance, arms crossed, looking unusually serious. Beside him stood a young woman in pale blue robes. her posture was elegant and disciplined, her long hair tied neatly with a silver ribbon.
Her name was Wu Xueyin. She was cold, sharp, and currently—deeply unimpressed.
"Brother," Wu Xueyin said calmly, her voice like cracking ice, "this is the place you've been wasting your family's resources in?"
Right on cue—"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!!!"—a soul-shattering scream erupted from a nearby throne.
Wu Feng coughed into his hand. "…Correction. This is where I refine my martial soul."
Wu Xueyin slowly turned her gaze toward him, one eyebrow arched. "…By screaming?"
Wu Feng straightened his posture, instantly switching into "serious explanation mode." He pointed toward the pulsating Illusion Thrones. "This is not a parlor trick. You enter a digital purgatory. You fight monsters. You experience the absolute threshold of life and death." He lowered his voice. "And every battle… stays with you. Your muscles remember the strikes. Your mind remembers the fear."
Wu Xueyin frowned. "…So you pay seven crystals to die?"
Wu Feng paused. "…You're focusing on the wrong part of the transaction."
Before she could respond, Min Luan rushed past them like a mad bull. "MOVE! I'M ABOUT TO BREAK MY RECORD TODAY!" BANG! A pile of crystals hit the counter, and he leaped into a throne without waiting for a receipt.
Wu Xueyin blinked. "…Is he mentally stable?"
Wu Feng nodded grimly. "…No. None of us are anymore."
Wu Xueyin's gaze shifted toward the counter. There sat Yuan Bi. He was silent, calm, and seemingly unbothered by the cacophony. But something was different today. Behind him, a small crowd of players had gathered—not to play, but to watch.
"Shh… Shopkeeper Yuan is in the deep floors…"
"Look at his weight distribution… so clean…"
Wu Xueyin narrowed her eyes. "…People are spectating him?"
Wu Feng smirked. "…He's the real monster of this hall." He suddenly leaned closer. "…What do you think of him?"
Wu Xueyin appraised Yuan Bi with a clinical eye. "…Cold. Taciturn. Looks financially unstable."
Wu Feng nodded. "Perfect."
"…What?"
Before she could react, Wu Feng dragged her forward. "Shopkeeper Yuan!"
Yuan Bi didn't look up. "Pay first."
The watching players burst into quiet laughter. "Told you… he only recognizes the sparkle of crystals."
"Even Young Master Wu gets treated like a commoner…"
Wu Feng's face twitched. "…Can you at least pretend to recognize a regular customer?"
"No."
Wu Feng took a deep breath. "I brought my sister. Wu Xueyin."
There was a beat of silence. Yuan Bi glanced up briefly. Their eyes met—his, a calm, bottomless dark; hers, a sharp, unyielding frost. For two seconds, the air in the shop seemed to drop ten degrees.
Yuan Bi looked away. "…Seven crystals."
Wu Feng: "…"
Wu Xueyin: "…"
From the back, a player whispered, "…That's the most romantic line I've ever heard from him."
Another replied, "…Truly touching. He didn't even charge her double."
Wu Xueyin turned slowly toward her brother. "…This is your attempt at matchmaking?"
Wu Feng panicked. "No! I mean—yes—no—just try the dungeon first!"
Sighing, Wu Xueyin placed the crystals down. "I'll see what kind of nonsense has captivated the Wu family heir." She sat, and the helm lowered.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH—!!!"
She tore it off instantly, her chest heaving. "There was a corpse!"
Wu Feng nodded. "Yes."
"…It moved."
"Yes."
"…It tried to eat my face."
"Yes."
The watching players nodded in communal agreement. "Classic first-run reaction."
Wu Xueyin stared at them. "…You people should see a doctor." Then, without another word, she jammed the helm back on.
Wu Feng smiled. "…Hooked."
The Descent of the Shopkeeper
Meanwhile, at the back of the Hall, the spectators pressed closer to Yuan Bi's personal monitor.
"Watch closely… he's entering the forbidden zone…"
"He's not like us… he doesn't waste a single breath…"
Inside the dungeon, Yuan Bi knew the air had changed. It was heavier, colder, and oppressive. Three zombies lunged from the gloom. Yuan Bi moved—a step, a pivot, a strike. CRACK. THUD. DROP. Three bodies fell in under four seconds.
Outside, a player whispered, "…Did you see that? No wasted movement. He's essentially a machine."
But inside, Yuan Bi's eyes remained wary. A sound echoed through the rotted mansion. THUMP. It wasn't the dragging of a zombie or the skittering of a Hunter. It was heavy. Intentional.
The corridor darkened as a shadow stretched across the floor. Then, it appeared.
It was massive, towering twice the height of a man. Its body was wrapped in hardened, dark flesh like natural obsidian armor. Muscles bulged like forged iron beneath the skin. Its arms were elongated, ending in claws the size of shortswords. Its head was a distorted, half-human nightmare with eyes that glowed a predatory red.
Yuan Bi tightened his grip on his dagger. "…Titan."
Outside, a player swallowed hard. "…Shopkeeper Yuan… is actually going to fight that thing?"
Inside, the Titan stepped forward. BOOM. The ground trembled. Yuan Bi didn't retreat. He measured the distance. Suddenly, the Titan vanished.
CLANG!!!
An impact like a falling mountain exploded against Yuan Bi's guard. He was thrown twenty feet across the corridor, smashing through a rotted wooden door.
Outside: "OH SH*T! He got hit!"
Inside, Yuan Bi rolled, coughing up a spray of blood. He stood up immediately. "…Fast."
The Titan turned slowly, advancing with an unstoppable momentum. Yuan Bi exhaled, his gaze remaining terrifyingly calm. "…Not yet."
Then—he turned and ran.
The crowd outside erupted. "He's running?! The Shopkeeper is retreating?!"
Liang Shi, the mercenary, crossed his arms. "…No. Look at his eyes." His own eyes sharpened. "He's not running. He's hunting."
Inside, Yuan Bi led the beast deeper into the labyrinth. Every step, every turn, every breath was a calculation. Behind him, the Titan followed like an inevitable disaster. And yet, Yuan Bi smiled faintly.
Because now—he had seen the rhythm. And anything that could be seen… could be killed.
The entire Hall began to echo with a rhythmic whisper: "Shopkeeper Yuan… Shopkeeper Yuan…"
At the center of it all, Yuan Bi disappeared into the deeper darkness, the Titan's roar shaking the foundations of the world.
End of Chapter 11