Kai stood outside the collapsed dungeon, blood drying on his skin, his hoodie shredded like it had beef with a blender.
[Skill Unlocked: Bloodbound]
Description: Gain power by absorbing enemy blood. Buffs scale with kill strength.
Level: 1
Bonus: +5% Strength per kill (temporary)
"Alright, that's… creepy cool," Kai muttered, half in disbelief. "Blood XP. That's definitely not E-Rank stuff."
A notification pinged again in his vision.
[Title Gained: Cursed Survivor]
Effect: You scare monsters a little. And people. Oops.
Before he could process it, footsteps echoed behind him.
"You're alive?" a shaky voice asked.
Kai turned. It was Reyna, a healer he vaguely remembered from earlier raids. Her mouth hung open like she'd seen a ghost—or a walking crime scene.
"What happened in there?"
"Statue went psycho. Squad wiped. I got lucky."
Reyna glanced at the blood on him, then the cracked earth. "That's not luck. That's… something else."
"Yeah," Kai muttered, brushing past her. "Tell the guild they're gonna need new healers."
He left her standing there, too stunned to follow.
Later that evening, at the Hunter Registry, Kai walked up to the scan booth. The receptionist barely looked at him until her monitor started glitching.
[Subject: Kai Draven]
[Class: — ERROR —]
[Rank: Undetermined]
[Status: System Linked]
She blinked. "Uh… is your ID cursed?"
A moment later, the Guild Manager herself—Selene Voss, a B-Rank badass in black boots and no patience—appeared.
"Kid, come with me."
Inside her office, she scanned him again with her private gear. Her eyes narrowed.
"You're not reading as E-Rank. Hell, you're not reading as normal."
Kai stayed silent.
"Explain."
"Dungeon got weird. Everyone died. Some system thing offered me a deal. I didn't exactly have time to swipe left."
Selene stared at him like he just told her he saw God—and won the fight.
"That kind of power doesn't come free."
"I'm not asking for your blessing," Kai said. "Just give me access to more dungeons. Off-grid."
She leaned back in her chair, analyzing him like he was a ticking bomb.
Finally, she slid him a keycard.
"C-Rank. Unregistered. You die, nobody files paperwork."
He took it.
"Deal."
That night, under the glow of neon signs and a too-bright moon, Kai stood before a new portal.
His hands were still bandaged. His hoodie was swapped for something tighter. Leaner. He looked like a problem—and he was becoming one.
"Alright, dungeon number two," he whispered. "Let's vibe."
He stepped through.
Inside: chaos. Blood wolves. Shadow imps. Fangs and claws and zero chill.
But he was different now.
He moved like he'd been born in a fight. Each kill fed him, lit up his system like a dopamine rush.
[Bloodbound +1% Strength]
[Bloodbound +1% Agility]
His eyes glowed crimson. The monsters started backing off—but too late.
By dawn, the dungeon was a graveyard.
[Class Evolution Complete]
New Class: Bloodshade Hunter
New Skills: Crimson Veil, Blood Echo
Kai smirked as the stats loaded in.
"This ain't solo leveling anymore," he muttered. "This is my bloody ascension."