บท 11: Dungeon 0-1

Lex walked through the dungeon like he'd been there a hundred times before, his pace steady, almost casual. The air was damp and cold, brushing against his skin, but he didn't react.

The dungeon was a twisted mess. Numerous incoherent rooms were connected in a highly complex manner, almost like a maze.

He passed through a room resembling a bedroom from some long-forgotten medieval castle. The bed was large, draped with tattered, moth-eaten curtains. Rusty handcuffs crusted with old bloodstains were bolted to the headboard.

The room next to it was a prison with numerous cells. Rusted chains hung from the walls, and the air reeked of old decay, the kind that would quickly get stuck to the back of the throat.

One moment, he was stepping over the cracked marble floors of a kitchen with jars filled with human teeth on dusty shelves. The next, he was in a dark hallway lined with suits of rusted bloody armor, followed by a catacomb with stone coffins stacked carelessly along the walls.

There was no logic to it. The whole place felt wrong. It was as if the dungeon had been cobbled together from pieces of places stitched together without rhyme or reason. It was very similar to a dream. It was as if the dungeon had been constructed from the nightmares of a madman—or perhaps the memories of multiple persons. Each room Lex passed through seemed to have its own story—its own pain.

Despite the strangeness, Lex didn't seem bothered and walked leisurely as if he were taking a stroll. He would sometimes check the time on his phone at odd intervals and make a large detour as if he were avoiding something.

Other than that, his journey was rather peaceful, and he didn't encounter any danger whatsoever. No trap, no monsters, nothing.

He walked for what seemed like hours, passing through rooms. As he walked deeper into the dungeon, his mind wandered to the reward he had just received as compensation instead of an aspect.

Lex reached into his pocket and pulled out a shining coin—no, not a coin, a coupon. Its surface glowed faintly, reflecting off the walls as he turned it in his fingers. He pulled it up in the system window in front of him.

[Name: One-time-use 50% Discount Coupon]

[Stars: —]

[Effect: Grants a one-time 50% discount at any Game Merchant. Valid only during the tutorial and will disappear if not used.]

[Requirement: Must be a player.]

As the description suggested, it was a 50% reduction discount coupon.

In a world where you could buy anything with enough coins, this was one of the most precious items one could ever obtain. It wasn't false to say that players, even on the lower floor, would do anything for that discount.

Lex let the coupon slip back into his pocket, barely giving it another thought.

He kept walking, the cold stone under his feet barely registering. The twisted rooms and strange hallways didn't bother him. He was focused, moving without a care, as if the dungeon was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Lex stepped into yet another room, this one resembling a medieval butchery. The walls were stained with old blood, and the air was thick with the stench of rotting flesh. Chunks of unrecognizable flesh hung from iron hooks, full of maggots. One particularly large slab of greenish meat was lying on a table in the center of the room.

Lex's eyes were drawn to a short, rusted knife planted firmly in the meat. Without a second thought, he stepped forward and pulled it free, his fingers barely brushing the rot. It was lighter than it looked, but its blade seemed extremely dull.

He flicked his wrist, and the system window popped up before him.

[Name: Knife of the Hungry Family]

[Stars: ★★★]

[Effect: ???]

[Description:???]

[Current Status: Sealed]

[Unsealing requirement: Repeat what the father did. Until the blade is satisfied.]

Lex didn't blink. Sealed items always came with strange conditions, usually tied to the story behind them—the lore. Most players would have to dig through clues to figure out how to unseal it. Sometimes, without understanding the lore, the requirements could seem nonsensical.

Lex barely glanced at the blade in his hand and then shifted his gaze toward a journal, half hidden beneath a pile of rotten meat. The leather cover was cracked and had some human bite marks as if someone had tried to eat it out of desperation.

It almost seemed like it had been placed there on purpose, just out of sight—waiting for someone to notice. It was obvious that the book would give clues about what "Repeat what the father did. Until the blade is satisfied." really meant.

He sighed, already bored with the puzzle. If he wanted, he could skim through the journal, piece together the story behind this, and figure out how to unlock the blade. But to Lex, the thought of wasting time on lore he had seen before wasn't appealing. He already knew how to unlock the blade, so its story is irrelevant.

With a shrug, he pocketed the knife and walked out of the room.

The dungeon stretched on, with more random rooms and corridors that seemed to go nowhere. But eventually, he reached a strange hallway.

It was a large, rectangular space with a high ceiling stretching above him. The polished walls glowed unnaturally clean compared to the grimy, bloodstained halls he had passed through. It felt out of place, almost sterile in contrast to the filth of the dungeon.

On the far wall, faint markings were carved into the surface in a language most would struggle to read. Lex stared at them for a moment, his expression unchanged.

"You had a long journey. Rest here. Your wounds will heal."

It was a message left by the Game itself. This was a safe zone, a rare place where the monsters couldn't enter. A haven meant for players to recover.

Lex smirked at the irony. The "long journey" had been anything but difficult. He had navigated through the dungeon with terrifying precision, purposely avoiding every danger despite the potential rewards. He knew he wasn't prepared to handle those yet. Not now.

With a sigh, as if he wouldn't like what is going to happen, he stepped just outside the entrance to the safe room and took out the knife he had just acquired—the one with the strange, cryptic requirement.

Then, without warning, Lex did something unthinkable.

He gripped his arm and, with a brutal movement... He began skinning himself.

The blade dug deep, shredding flesh to the bone. Blood poured out as he sliced through muscle, cutting through veins and tissue with cold, mechanical brutality. There was no hesitation, no flinch or pain.

His arm was a mess of torn skin and exposed bone, but his face remained calm—unbothered as if he were simply following a process he had memorized.

Lex stood just outside the safe room, gripping the knife tightly. His expression didn't change as he lifted the blade again and slammed it into his arm—this time aiming for the bone. The dull knife struggled, but Lex didn't stop. He drove it in, twisting and forcing it deeper, scraping against the bone until a sickening crack echoed through the dungeon.

"Not enough."

His arm dangled loosely, bones shattered, but it wasn't enough. Lex smashed his arm against the stone wall, over and over, the bones breaking more with each hit. His muscles tore further with each brutal strike, and chunks of flesh ripped away, blood spattering against the wall.

"Still a bit more."

With each crack, his arm became less recognizable—just a mangled mess of skin, bone, and muscle barely hanging together. His grip on the knife didn't waver as he carved into his own flesh again, cutting deep and pulling chunks out. He was precise, tearing into the muscle fibers as if trying to rip them apart entirely.

But even that still wasn't enough for him.

Lex slowly raised the knife to his face. His eyes—sharp and focused—looked down at the blade before he pressed it against the corner of his eye. With deliberate care, he slid the knife beneath the soft tissue, digging deep. There was no hesitation, no tremble in his hand as he began to carve his own eye out.

The sensation of his eye tearing free from its socket wasn't even worth a flinch. Blood poured down his face as he skillfully avoided the brain, cutting only the optic nerve before the eyeball came free. He tossed it aside like trash.

With his left eye gone, he started on the other. The same methodical motions. The same calm. Lex's remaining vision blurred as he twisted the blade into his second eye, pulling it free with the same detached efficiency.

Blood ran down his cheeks, mixing with the sweat on his face as his vision faded into darkness. His legs wobbled slightly from the blood loss, and he could feel his heartbeat slowing. His body was on the verge of shutting down.

Gathering all the strength he had left, he stepped into the room.

The second he crossed the threshold, the magic of the room took over.

His body began to knit itself back together, bones resetting, muscle tissue regenerating. His skin grew back layer by layer, covering the raw muscle beneath. The blood that had been pouring from his body slowed and then stopped entirely. Within seconds, his eyes were back, perfectly intact, as if they had never been torn out in the first place.

The enhanced regeneration did more than heal—it rebuilt him. His left arm, which had been nothing but shredded meat and broken bone, was more robust now. The muscles that had been torn apart regenerated thicker and denser.

It was a strange sight. The regenerated arm was now way more bulky than the other one.

Lex flexed his fingers, feeling the power in his arm. He blinked, testing his new eyes, the vision clearer than before.

He didn't smile or gloat. There was no satisfaction, no relief. He had done this countless times to become stronger.

The safe room didn't simply "heal" him. Instead, it enhanced his natural regenegarion to the extreme. It didn't simply restore the body to its original state. Instead, it encouraged the body to rebuild itself stronger, like the process of hypertrophy—destroying muscle fibers so they'd grow back denser.

It would even allow organs that couldn't be regenerated to be regrown, such as a lung or kidney.

Lex knew this. That's why he had to break his bones, cut through muscle, and even rip out his eyes. By destroying his body completely, the regeneration would build it back better and stronger. This process was absolutely terrifying and extremely painful. Yet

Lex still decided to do it because it was the most efficient way.

Lex turned and walked back out of the safe room.

"I should do my other arm and then my organs next and legs for last."