Chapter 31: Rank B Mission
The rain hit the steel rooftops like a steady drumbeat as neon lights flickered in the sleepless streets of Axis City. In a corner of the Hunter's Guild HQ, the mission board glowed with requests ranging from pest exterminations to full-scale dungeon suppression. Most Hunters walked past the Rank B listings without a second glance.
But not Ryo.
He stood in front of the board, hood drawn low, his eyes scanning the listings with laser focus. His presence didn't attract much attention. Not yet. But the air around him was different — denser, sharper, almost electric.
"You sure about this?" a voice asked beside him.
Kara, now one of the few who knew even a fraction of what Ryo had become, eyed him with concern. The bruises on her arms were fading, remnants from their last covert raid together.
Ryo nodded without looking at her. "This one," he said, pointing to a high-reward listing.
Mission ID: #B1027 — Unstable Dungeon Surge – Sector 14. Unknown Threat Level. Guild Members Missing. Immediate Containment Required.
"Going straight into a chaotic zone?" she asked. "You're either insane or..."
"Prepared."
She couldn't argue with that.
Ryo had changed — not just in strength, but in how he moved, thought, fought. There was precision now. Ruthlessness. And something else... something colder.
Minutes later, they were on an armored transport skimming across the rain-slicked skyrails, headed toward the quarantine zone. The city blurred past them — massive billboards flashed system warnings, while shadows danced in alleyways like whispers of a larger conspiracy.
"You really think this mission has something to do with the Protocol?" Kara asked.
Ryo looked out the window, then answered, "The Protocol doesn't leave loose ends. This dungeon appeared the same day I activated Shadow Reaper mode. That's not a coincidence."
She frowned. "You think it's watching you?"
"No," he said quietly. "I think it's testing me."
Sector 14 – Quarantine Zone
The gate to the dungeon was unlike any they'd seen before — a warped tear in the air, like broken glass suspended midair. The color was wrong. Not purple like most unstable gates, but a deep, sickly black laced with green digital veins.
Warning: Incompatible Protocol Detected. Proceed with Extreme Caution.
Even the system sounded nervous.
Kara hesitated. Ryo didn't.
The moment he stepped through, the world twisted.
Inside the Dungeon
They were in a city — or at least what was left of one. Skyscrapers hung sideways, gravity malfunctioning in strange pulses. Data glitches tore through the environment like static storms. Corpses of Hunters floated in midair, frozen in loops of death.
"This isn't just a dungeon…" Kara whispered. "It's a memory."
Ryo's eyes darkened. "No. It's a simulation."
Suddenly, the shadows around them writhed, pulling together to form a monstrous humanoid figure — made entirely of corrupted code and fragments of past Hunters. Its eyes glowed red with stolen system energy.
"WELCOME BACK, SHADOW USER."
Kara raised her daggers. "It knows you!"
"Because it was made for me."
Ryo stepped forward, activating his shadow wings — slick tendrils of black energy unfurling from his back like a fallen angel's feathers. The air trembled.
"Shadow Reaper Mode: Engaged."
The creature roared, launching toward them with blistering speed.
Ryo met it head-on.
The Battle
He moved like a blur, phasing in and out of the shadows. The corrupted monster was strong — its strikes shattered buildings, its voice caused code breaks in the environment. But Ryo's blade, summoned from the Shadow Arsenal, sliced through its attacks with terrifying precision.
Assimilation in Progress…
Every strike Ryo landed absorbed fragments of the monster's data. He wasn't just fighting — he was learning, syncing, becoming more.
But the monster was evolving too.
Kara shouted as a tendril nearly caught her. Ryo dashed to her side, shadow-arm impaling the appendage mid-air.
"Stay behind me," he growled. "This is more than a test."
"Then what is it!?"
Ryo's eyes gleamed. "It's a message."
With a roar, he activated a new ability: Void Breaker Slash — a condensed shadow line cut across space, erasing the monster's body from reality in a single, silent stroke.
The dungeon shuddered. Glitched buildings froze mid-collapse. Then:
Mission Complete. Threat Neutralized.System Message: Shadow Core Upgrade Available.
But just before the dungeon collapsed around them, another message flickered into Ryo's vision:
"LEVEL ONE COMPLETE. YOUR PATH TO SOVEREIGNTY BEGINS NOW."
Back in the real world, Kara looked at him, shaken.
"That thing knew your name. It knew everything."
"Not everything," Ryo said. "Just the parts it helped create."
End of Chapter 31