A green mist blanketed the area.
Crash!
Razen tumbled to the ground.
At the last moment, he had flown at full speed on his Bone Broom—and collided headfirst with the Golden Spider before crashing down.
Naturally, his body was wrecked.
Thankfully, he had been wearing the Felox Spider Silk armor, which reduced impact damage.If not for that, he would've died on the spot.
His body was a mess.
His mind was fuzzy.
There was barely any feeling in his right arm.
He knew full well that it needed urgent treatment.
But before anything else, Razen forced himself upright.
He reached out with his trembling hand and gripped the Venom Fang tightly.
Drip, drip—
Blood was trickling from his nose.
His body felt hollow.
The nosebleed was likely a symptom of extreme mana depletion.
But he couldn't afford to pass out just yet.
As Razen quietly waited for the result...
Boom—
He heard a loud crash through the mist.
Then, he saw it.
The Golden Spider had collapsed.
Its core, embedded deep in its body, had shattered from the venom explosion.
No matter how tough that beast was, it couldn't survive this.
He had taken it down.
He'd defeated the Golden Spider—the creature immune to magic.
But there was no sense of victory, no triumphant music like in a game.
All he felt was a wave of relief at having survived.
And that was enough.
Razen smiled faintly.
"It's not over yet."
Now was not the time to relax.
Soon, the spiders in the plaza would respawn.
That was when Razen noticed a glow coming from the Golden Spider's abdomen.
Don't tell me… there's a different drop pattern from the game?
Just as he tensed, a beam of light shot toward him.
Ping!
A golden gem rolled to a stop in front of him.
Razen's eyes widened.
The Golden Eye—an ultra-rare drop with only a 3% chance of appearing from the Golden Spider.
A valuable crafting material that could be sold at a high price or used to create items with magic immunity.
"The equipment crafted from this has a magic resistance trait…"
To think such a rare drop had actually appeared.
Even Razen was a little shocked.
"Guess I got lucky."
It had been worth it—taking down that monster with everything he had.
"Good fortune always circles back eventually."
He snatched up the Golden Eye without hesitation.
Then, he somehow managed to push himself to his feet.
Rummaging through his bag, he pulled out the potion vial from earlier.
It was nearly empty, but he poured the remaining drops onto his injured arm.
A burning sensation spread.
At least the nerves weren't severed—he could still feel pain.
"...Let's go."
Razen started walking.
He passed through the plaza and into a side passage.
The spider webs the Golden Spider had scattered were now melted away.
He walked and walked.
The shortcut felt far longer than it had earlier.
The adrenaline from battle was fading, replaced by throbbing pain radiating through his body.
His legs were fractured from the earlier impact.
His ankles and joints were swollen, bruised all over.
He had been dragging his feet since earlier.
Naturally, his pace slowed to a crawl.
It could barely be called walking anymore.
But even that was better than what came next.
Thud!
Eventually, Razen's legs gave out, and he collapsed.
He had no strength left to lift his body.
The last of his adrenaline had burned out.
His body felt like lead, heavy and boiling from exertion.
"Haah… haah…"
Now he dragged himself forward using only his left arm.
He had to get out.
If he lost consciousness here, he'd never wake up again.
All of his remaining willpower focused on that one arm.
How long had he been crawling?
He didn't know. He just kept moving forward.
"Why am I doing this again?"
His mind began to fray.
"Why else…?"
But Razen grabbed hold of his sanity once more.
He forced a smile.
"To survive, obviously."
His survival instinct was far stronger than most.
That single drive kept his mind from collapsing.
He'd already overcome countless obstacles.
To give up now would be the greatest regret of all.
So he crawled.
And crawled.
And crawled.
Over and over.
Until—
Flash—
Light flooded into his vision.
It was sunlight—something you'd never see inside the Dungeon's underground zone.
It was warm.
Razen's body came to a near halt as it basked in the glow.
"Told you."
He hadn't given up. And in the end, he reached the light.
Luck favors those who fight for it.
"Hey… is that a person?"
A voice rang out.
Razen's consciousness began to fade.
There was no guarantee that the voice would help him.
This was Dungeon Replay, after all.
Bandits often prowled the outskirts of dungeons, and lawless zones were common.
Especially near dungeon exits.
So Razen decided to spend his last shred of luck right now.
"...Advance… pay…"
He pulled the Golden Eye from his pouch.
"Let's… make a deal."
He squeezed out the words through ragged breaths and smiled, even though his vision was blurry.
Smiling, even now. What a stubborn man.
"If you heal me… I'll give you something even better!"
That was all he could do.
He threw his last card on the table—And lost consciousness.
Back at the computer…
A boy sat in front of a monitor, playing Dungeon Replay.
"Mom, look! If you press here like this, the door opens! I solved this puzzle myself. Cool, huh?"
He grinned and proudly explained the solution to his mother.
She watched him with a warm smile.
Back then, they had just finished paying off the loan sharks.
They still had debts at the bank, sure.
But no more collectors banging on their front door.
It was a peaceful time.
Perhaps the happiest Razen had ever known.
Before his father relapsed into gambling and his mother walked out.
Flash—
Razen's eyes snapped open.
Sssssss—
Somewhere nearby, he heard a pot boiling.
Slowly, he sat up.
"Ugh!"
Pain flared across his entire body.
It felt like every bone inside him had been shattered.
He glanced down at the bandages wrapped around him.
"...I'm alive."
It finally sank in—he had survived.
Razen clenched his fist.
The moment he did, memories of the battle with the Golden Spider resurfaced.
Reality had been nothing like the game.
Letting his guard down nearly cost him everything.
He could have handled that fight much better.
If only he'd been more composed, more focused.
The Poison Necromancer he'd possessed had the power to make it through.
"Still… thanks to that, I gained experience."
No point in regretting what he'd done wrong.
Failure was just a stepping stone to improvement.
"I learned something invaluable today."
Some lessons can't be bought—no matter how much money you have.
It had been the perfect first trial.
Razen decided to view it positively.
"I can't afford to underestimate real combat ever again."
Here, he was a beginner.
He needed to live with the mindset of starting from zero.
As he steeled his resolve, Razen heard voices outside the door.
He stood and quietly approached.
"…Son, why bring someone like that here and go through all that trouble?"
"I couldn't just leave an injured man behind, could I?"
A young man and an older one were speaking.
"Father, if someone can be saved, we should save them."
"…Even so."
The conversation ended there.
Didn't sound like the warmest exchange.
Razen opened the door.
Both men turned to face him.
"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
The young man smiled brightly and spoke kindly.
The older man, in contrast, looked at Razen with clear disapproval.
He likely wasn't thrilled about helping a total stranger with limited resources.
Razen gave a deep, polite bow, smiling.
"Yes, thank you. I owe you my life."
No one spits in the face of a smiling man.
The son smiled at Razen's gratitude.
"Haha, anyone would've done the same. You must be hungry—I've made some stew. Please, have a seat."
He returned to the kitchen.
Razen pulled out a chair and sat down.
The old man remained silent.
It created a strange, lingering tension between them.
Still, it was better than unnecessary conflict.
Silence was preferable to pointless arguments.
Razen embraced the quiet.
Only the clattering from the kitchen broke the stillness.
Then the old man spoke.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-seven."
"Young. Same age as my son. Any family?"
"No wife, no children."
Razen replied matter-of-factly.
The old man nodded.
"Then take your things and go."
Razen looked up.
The man pulled a cigarette from his sleeve.
"You're a necromancer, aren't you?"
Razen's eyes were gray.
In Dungeon Replay, a wizard's eye color changed based on their magic affinity.
The man had likely noticed.
"After the Gray Tower fell about ten years ago, the Empire began hunting necromancers. Best not to get involved."
The fall of the Gray Tower?
Necromancers being hunted by the Empire?
That wasn't in the game.
What the hell is going on?
"Consider it the price for saving your life. Leave, and don't say a word."
The man had just issued a dismissal.
Razen stood without complaint.
"I'm lucky to have met people like them first."
They could've easily handed him over to the authorities.But they didn't.
Even the gruff old man valued life—just like his son.
Razen returned to the room and gathered his belongings.
Then, he pulled the Golden Eye from his pouch.
He smiled.
"This is for saving my life. If you sell it to a magic artifact dealer, you could probably buy two houses like this."
The old man's eyes widened.
Clearly, he hadn't realized its value.
Which explained why he'd just left it lying around.
Razen hadn't known the Empire was hunting necromancers.
If someone else had found him unconscious…
He'd probably be in chains right now.
This gem was his way of repaying them.
Their kindness had saved his life.
And to Razen, favors were always returned twofold.
That was his creed.
He bowed again with a smile.
"Thank you for saving me."
The old man twitched his lips but said nothing.
Razen stepped outside.
He wouldn't impose any further.
Judging by the farmland and wilderness, this was a rural village.
"Bone Broom."
He mounted his magical broom and soared into the night sky.
The starlit sky was nothing like the one back in Korea.
This was Dungeon Replay.
A world twisted between good and evil.
And Razen would survive it.
He looked up.
What did he want to do in this world?
The answer was simple.
"I'm going to survive… and return home."
This world wasn't Ryu Han-hyuk's.
It was Razen's.
His original world—his real world—was Earth.
Anyone who gives their all every day… would choose the present, even if given the chance to redo the past.
Because that means they lived their best life.
Ryu Han-hyuk had worked harder than anyone to survive.
That's why he had to go back.
Return—and climb the corporate ladder, all the way to executive or even CEO.
And more importantly…
"Whoever threw me into this damn world…"
He would get revenge.
Kindness would be paid back twofold.
But—
"Grudges… are repaid tenfold."
A mad grin spread across Razen's gray eyes.
Once he set a goal, he always achieved it.
And now… he had one.
A clear, unshakable goal to live for.