Jin stood at the entrance of the Gate—a swirling vortex of dark energy, alive and humming with power. The Elysian Academy's emergency task force was still organizing the perimeter. Instructors barked orders, advanced students prepared for backup, and healers stood by with their staves glowing faintly. Everyone was tense, but Jin's expression remained unreadable.
This wasn't his first time seeing a Gate. In the world he came from—the one buried deep within his memories—Gates were the harbingers of change, pain, and growth. He had once sealed Gates that tore mountains apart, fought creatures born from chaos, and led armies through despair. But now, he was back in a time when the world still considered these Gates new and mysterious.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" asked Theo, gripping his staff tightly, standing beside Jin. His face was pale, but his eyes gleamed with resolve.
Jin gave a short nod. "You don't get ready. You stay ready."
Behind them, Kael and Lira approached in their combat gear, weapons strapped and eyes alert. Headmaster Vael briefed them quickly, pointing toward the swirling vortex.
"This Gate's energy signature spiked an hour ago. It's unstable—and worse, we believe it might be connected to an emerging Rift-Class dungeon."
The word Rift made the students murmur. Rift-Class dungeons weren't just dangerous—they were unpredictable. They changed layouts, mutated monsters, and sometimes swallowed entire teams whole.
Headmaster Vael turned to Jin. "You're with the front scouting team. Analyze, retrieve data, survive. We'll follow if the core needs extraction."
Jin didn't flinch. "Understood."
Without hesitation, Jin stepped into the Gate, the swirling mist of dark violet and blue wrapping around him. His vision twisted for a moment—and then everything fell silent.
---
The inside of the Rift was... wrong.
Jin landed on his feet in a barren world where gravity seemed inconsistent and the sky was fractured with crimson veins. Floating stones spun lazily in mid-air, and the wind whispered unintelligible voices. Theo, Lira, and Kael emerged seconds later, each reacting differently to the strange pressure around them.
"It's like… the dungeon is alive," Kael muttered.
Jin narrowed his eyes. "It is."
A thundering roar echoed from the horizon. All heads turned.
Charging toward them was a massive, armored beast—four-legged, covered in obsidian spikes, with glowing red eyes and steam pouring from its mouth like a furnace. It was a Molten Abyss Guardian, a monster that should only appear in upper-tier Gates.
"Positions!" Jin shouted, instantly slipping into command. He didn't even realize the way they all followed his lead, not questioning his authority.
Theo raised his staff and created a barrier of compressed light. Lira stepped forward and fired concentrated wind projectiles toward the creature's joints. Kael lunged, striking the creature's leg with a burst of flaming energy. But the beast didn't slow—it was too strong.
Jin exhaled slowly and moved. One step—then a flash.
He was suddenly beneath the creature, sliding between its claws, and with a single upward slash of his short sword—an unnamed relic he'd kept hidden—he carved a glowing sigil into its underbelly. The beast staggered, howling in pain.
"Now!" Jin shouted.
Kael and Lira unleashed their strongest strikes simultaneously. Theo shattered his own barrier and turned the fragments into razor-like spears of light. They pierced the exposed sigil.
The Guardian fell with a guttural roar, its body dissolving into shards of obsidian and mana dust.
Everyone stood still, catching their breath.
"…What the hell was that move?" Theo asked, wide-eyed.
Jin looked away. "Just something I picked up."
---
They ventured deeper into the Rift, collecting rare materials—core stones, spirit grass, and a peculiar orb pulsating with chaos. But something was wrong. Jin felt it in his bones.
The landscape began shifting. Walls moved. Gravity inverted. A second Gate formed inside the Rift—an anomaly even Jin hadn't encountered before.
Suddenly, the sky above cracked like glass, and from it descended a being that made even Jin's blood chill.
A humanoid creature—twice the height of a man, with wings made of bloodied blades and eyes like twin eclipses. It was a Gate Sovereign, a rare monster believed to guard the secrets of the dungeons themselves. Its aura paralyzed Lira, and Kael dropped to one knee.
But Jin didn't falter.
He stepped forward and said calmly, "Stay behind me."
He drew his blade again. This time, it shimmered with a spectral flame. Not one from this world—but from the realm he had left behind. His presence shifted, and for a split second, Theo saw an echo of something ancient and terrifying in Jin's silhouette.
The Sovereign attacked. Its wing-blades hurled toward them like homing spears. Jin deflected them with impossible precision, his movements flowing like water, each strike echoing with a pulse of ancient energy.
Then he vanished—blink step—appearing above the Sovereign, slamming his palm against its head.
A pulse erupted—a force wave that flattened the terrain and cracked the air itself.
The Sovereign screeched, retreating into the second Gate. But before it disappeared, its eye met Jin's.
Recognition.
Jin stared back, frowning. "You've seen me before... haven't you?"
The Gate closed behind the Sovereign, leaving the team breathless.
---
Back at the academy, the group was silent as they were debriefed. Headmaster Vael's eyes lingered on Jin longer than usual.
"You encountered a Sovereign?" he asked quietly.
Jin nodded. "Briefly."
"I didn't think you'd survive one, much less drive it away."
Jin didn't answer. But as he turned to leave, Vael called after him.
"You're not who you seem. One day… I'll find out what you're hiding."
Jin paused at the door, then walked away.
---
That night, alone in his room, Jin opened his palm. The chaos orb they had collected pulsed faintly.
He could feel something inside it—a memory not his own. A voice whispering from beyond the veil.
"The seal is weakening. They will come for you soon."
Jin's eyes narrowed.
He wasn't just fighting monsters.
Something—or someone—was hunting him.