Chapter 8 — Non existing Gate
Morning traffic had grown heavier by the time Aken and Jae-Min stepped outside the Korean Player Union. The glass doors slid shut behind them, for a moment they simply stood there. Jae-Min stretched his arms above his head. "Another day of slaughter."
Aken glanced at him. "For you maybe."
Jae-Min grinned. "For all of us."
He held up the quest registration slip proudly.
[E-Rank Dungeon Clearance
District 4
Reward: ₩95,000]
"Dude, this is the easiest money one can find." Jae-Min spoke.
Aken said nothing, the system message from earlier still lingered in the back of his mind. He had searched the Union hall thoroughly and still nothing, no unusual items, no strange energy. Just Players and noise. Yet the system had definitely reacted, which meant the source was still nearby. Jae-Min waved a hand in front of him again. "You're doing that quiet thing again."
Aken started walking. "We should head over to the gate."
Jae-Min hurried after him. "You're changing the subject again but yeah your right."
They crossed the busy street and moved toward the subway station. District 4 was nearly twenty minutes away, most low-rank gates appeared in outer districts where abandoned structures were common. Cheaper areas, less collateral damage if something went wrong. Jae-Min tapped the quest slip against his palm. "You know what I'm excited about?"
Aken already suspected the answer. "No, but I sure know you'll love to tell me about it."
"Money." Jae-Min said proudly.
Aken kept walking. Jae-Min continued happily. "Ninety-five thousand won."
"Split between two people. Which means…"
He started calculating. "…forty-seven thousand five hundred each."
Aken glanced at him. "You're math is as bad as a bosses on payday."
Jae-Min frowned. "…Don't ruin this for me."
They reached the subway entrance, descending into the underground station. The city noise faded into the distant echo of trains. Players were scattered throughout the platform, some wearing armor, while others looked like ordinary commuters. In this world it was often difficult to tell the difference. Aken leaned against a pillar while they waited. Jae-Min checked the dungeon information again. "E-Rank cave-type gate with two floors, expected monster type: Stone Crawlers."
Aken nodded. Those where standard dungeon creatures with low intelligence, slow movement and hard shells that possessed weak joints. Jae-Min looked pleased. "Perfect beginner dungeon."
The train arrived, they stepped inside. For several minutes neither of them spoke, the train moved smoothly through the tunnels beneath Seoul.
Aken's eyes drifted to the reflection in the window, a twenty-three-year-old man stared back, sharp eyes, dark hair, dark skin and calm expression.
Yet behind that lived memories of an eight-year-old boy falling from the sky. The train slowed—District 4. They stepped off and exited the station. This part of the city looked much different, older buildings, narrow streets, less traffic and one very obvious anomaly.
The gate hovered above an abandoned parking lot, a large oval distortion in the air, like space itself had been twisted. A blue vortex swirled slowly inside the opening.
The sight was both beautiful and unsettling, a small temporary barricade surrounded the area. A Union employee sat at a folding desk nearby, he looked somewhat bored. Jae-Min approached him cheerfully. "Dungeon clearance team."
The man glanced at their Player IDs and stamped the quest paper. "E-Rank, Two floors with Standard monsters." He gestured lazily toward the gate. "Here you go, and also...don't die."
Jae-Min nodded seriously. "We won't"
They walked toward the swirling entrance, Aken stopped briefly. The air near a gate always felt different, heavy and charged, like standing close to lightning. Jae-Min rolled his shoulders. "Alright." He drew his sword. "Let's make some cash."
Aken stepped forward, the moment he crossed the threshold— The world twisted. A flash of blue light enveloped them, they stood inside the dungeon, the environment looked exactly like the description. A cave, wide tunnels carved through dark stone, moist air, drops of water echoing in the distance and glowing crystals which provided faint illumination along the walls.
Jae-Min looked around. "Classic dungeon style."
Aken agreed, but his system suddenly flickered again.
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[Curse Resonance Detected]
[Hidden Condition Progress: 23%]
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His eyes narrowed slightly, the number had increased. Jae-Min noticed his expression. "What is it."
Aken closed the window. "Nothing."
Jae-Min sighed. "You keep saying that."
Aken unsheathed his katana. "Stay alert."
They moved deeper into the tunnel. The first monster appeared within minutes, a Stone Crawler emerged from behind a rock formation. Its body resembled a massive insect, thick grey shell, six jagged legs with mandibles clacking aggressively. Jae-Min grinned. "Dinner time."
The monster charged. Aken was the first to move, one step forward, his blade flashed. Steel sliced through the creature's leg joint, the Stone Crawler collapsed instantly. Jae-Min finished it with a downward strike. The creature dissolved into particles, a small crystal dropped onto the ground. Mana Stone. Jae-Min picked it up happily. "One down."
They continued forward, more monsters appeared, three Crawlers, then five. Each encounter ended quickly, Aken's movements were precise and efficient, his strength increase from earlier was noticeable. Jae-Min fought energetically beside him, within thirty minutes the first floor was nearly cleared. Jae-Min wiped sweat from his forehead. "Not bad."
He dropped several mana stones into his pouch. "Seven already."
Aken suddenly stopped walking. Jae-Min noticed. "…What?."
Aken stared at the tunnel ahead. The system window appeared again.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Curse Resonance Intensifying]
[Hidden Condition Progress: 31%]
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Jae-Min followed his gaze. "…Is there a monster?"
Aken shook his head slowly. "No, lets continue."
The tunnel ahead curved sharply, beyond it…
Something felt strange, the air had grown heavier. Jae-Min tightened his grip on his sword, they moved forward cautiously. The tunnel opened into a wide chamber and then they both froze, because something stood in the center of the room. Not a monster but a sword. A black sword was embedded into the stone floor. Jae-Min blinked. "…What?"
The weapon looked ancient, its blade was completely dark, not reflective and neither metallic. Just black, with faint crimson lines running across the surface like veins. Jae-Min whispered.
"…Is that an artifact?"
Aken's system exploded with notifications.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Curse Resonance Confirmed
[Source Detected]
[Hidden Condition Progress: 49%]
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His heartbeat slowed, the sword, the resonance was coming from the sword. Jae-Min slowly stepped closer. "This is kind of weird." He circled the weapon carefully. "No monsters guarding it, and also no traps. Just a random cursed-looking sword in the middle of a dungeon."
He looked at Aken. "…That's pretty suspicious."
Aken approached slowly, the closer he got… the stronger the feeling became. Something inside the blade was reacting to him.
No.
Reacting to his curse, the system message expanded again.
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[Hidden Condition Trigger Approaching]
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Jae-Min leaned down. "Do you think it's valuable?"
Aken spoke calmly. "Don't touch it."
Jae-Min froze mid-reach. "…Right, good idea."
Aken stood directly in front of the sword, for a few seconds nothing happened. Then— the blade vibrated, a faint pulse spread through the chamber. Jae-Min's eyes widened. "…Aken." The sword trembled harder, the crimson veins along the blade began glowing, and the system finally displayed the final message.
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[Hidden Condition Complete]
[Curse Compatibility Detected]
[Artifact Candidate Identified]
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The sword suddenly erupted with dark energy. Jae-Min jumped backward. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
Aken remained perfectly still, the energy circled him like a storm. Then the blade ripped itself free from the stone, floating, turning slowly in the air. Its tip pointed directly toward Aken. Jae-Min whispered. "That's definitely not normal."
The sword hovered for seconds, then shot forward. Aken instinctively reached out, his hand closed around the hilt. The moment he touched it— Dark energy exploded across the chamber. Jae-Min shielded his eyes. "WHAT IS GOING ON TODAY?"
Inside Aken's mind…the system revealed a new window.
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[Artifact Acquired]
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Name: Unknown Cursed Blade
Rank: ???
Condition: Sealed
Requirement: Curse User
Compatibility: 100%
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Aken stared at the weapon in his hand, the blade felt somewhat alive. Not hostile, not friendly, but aware. Jae-Min slowly peeked through his fingers. "…Did the sword choose you?"
Aken exhaled slowly. "…Looks so."
Jae-Min dropped his hands, then sighed deeply. "Of course it did."
Aken glanced at him. "What does that mean."
Jae-Min pointed dramatically. "It means my friend with the weird Level 1 Curse just found a mysterious cursed sword inside a dungeon!" He paused. "…Which means our lives are about to become extremely complicated."
Aken looked down at the blade again, the crimson lines were still pulsing. The system window flickered one last time.
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[Curse Artifact Synchronization Initiated]
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END OF CHAPTER 8