They burst out of the tunnel, gasping for air.

Soo-Min and Mira, who had been waiting near the cave's mouth with weapons ready, turned at the sound of pounding footsteps. Their expressions shifted instantly, from relief to confusion.

"Why are you three running like that?" Mira asked, her bow half-drawn.

Rylan didn't answer. He was too busy scanning the area, wild-eyed. Daesung stumbled to a stop beside him, clutching his mace and trying to steady his breathing.

"Where's the exit?" Rylan barked. "The damn light, it ended here!"

Soo-Min frowned, pointing toward the faint shimmer forming in the air near the entrance. "It needs all of us to open. I was waiting for you three, but"

"Wait," she said, noticing Hyun-Jae's face. "What happened in there?"

Hyun-Jae tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat. His lungs burned, his pulse hammered against his ribs. He turned his head back toward the dark tunnel, the faint scent of rust and rot already creeping out.

The sound followed next, clink… clink… clink.

Chains dragging against stone.

Then, it appeared.

The creature emerged from the shadows, its pale frame stooped but disturbingly human-shaped. Chains wrapped around its limbs like living things, scraping the rock with every step. Its hollow eyes flicked up and met theirs.

Soo-Min instinctively stepped closer to Hyun-Jae, while Mira drew an arrow and took aim.

The creature smiled. A slow, broken stretch of skin and shadow that didn't belong on something that once looked human.

The portal finally began to form a swirling rift of light hovering just outside the cave entrance, humming with energy. Relief flickered through the group; it was right there. Salvation, just a few steps away.

Rylan moved first. "Go!" he shouted, sprinting toward it. Daesung followed without hesitation, desperation overtaking reason.

But they never made it.

A sharp clang echoed through the cavern then, in an instant, the creature blurred. The chains dragging behind it snapped taut as it appeared between them and the glowing portal.

It didn't move fast. It didn't need to.

Its head tilted slightly, the dim light reflecting off its chained body as it blocked their only exit.

Soo-Min froze mid-step, her book trembling in her hands. Mira's arrow wavered in the air.

Rylan and Daesung stumbled back, pale-faced.

"Wha, how did it," Daesung's words died in his throat as the creature slowly lifted its head.

Hyun-Jae's heart sank. Even without understanding much about ranks or power levels, he could feel it, an oppressive weight pressing down on his chest, heavier than Aureon's aura had ever been.

This wasn't a C-rank beast. Not even close.

Soo-Min whispered, voice barely audible, "That thing is definitely… it's above B rank."

Everyone froze. Even the others knew what that meant, it was something none of them could possibly touch.

The creature's expression didn't change, but its smile widened, jagged and unnatural. Its voice came next low, distorted, almost curious.

The chains rattled once more as it took a step forward. The ground cracked beneath its heel.

Hyun-Jae now stepped in front of Soo-Min, though his hands were shaking and the small blade he held felt utterly useless.

The portal shimmered behind the monster, still open still so close but now hopelessly unreachable.

Then without warning it the it swung one the chains on its at the party and it extended with its reach. 

Hyun-Jae stumbled back from the swing, a shallow cut forming across his forearm. He hissed, instinctively raising his arm to protect himself, while Soo-Min immediately moved to his side.

"Hyun-Jae! Hold still," she called, placing her hands on his arm and opening the book. A soft glow of healing energy spread over the wound, but to her alarm, the cut didn't close. Instead, the glow was absorbed into the Etherea-infused flesh, making it shimmer unnaturally.

Hyun-Jae's brow furrowed. "It… it won't heal. Something's different about this Etherea," he muttered, his grip tightening on his small blade.

The creature didn't move. Its chains lay coiled around its form like heavy serpents, clinking softly as it settled onto the cavern floor. Its head remained tilted, eyes fixed on the group, but its body no longer radiated the overwhelming pressure from before.

"it's… not fully awake," Hyun-Jae whispered to Soo-Min, realizing aloud what the others hadn't yet noticed. "It's been asleep a long time. Its body… it can't control its power yet."

Soo-Min nodded, keeping her eyes on the creature while still maintaining her focus on the unhealing cut. "That's why it hasn't struck again. But we can't stay here. The moment it adapts, we're in real danger."

Rylan and Daesung, who had been frozen in shock, exchanged uneasy glances. Mira's bow remained drawn, her hands trembling slightly, but she didn't let go of the arrow.

Hyun-Jae, though feeling the sting of his Etherea-infused wound, took a deep breath and whispered to himself, This is my chance. We survive now, or we die later.

The creature's expressionless face and the silent clang of its chains filled the cave, a chilling reminder: it was still above their ranks, even in slumber. Yet for the first time, the team realized, they might have a slim window to escape.

Hyun-Jae adjusted his stance slightly, scanning the cave entrance and the shimmering portal beyond. The creature was slow, its movements cumbersome from the long slumber, and he knew one thing clearly: they had to move, and they had to move now.

Mira and Daesung darted toward the portal, slipping through just as Soo-Min grabbed Hyun-Jae took him on her should, and began walking to the end.

Then through the corner of Hyun-Jae's vision his eys widened as he saw Rylan inching closer to the creature, his sword raised high, a confident grin on his face as if the chains and hulking frame before him were nothing more than practice dummies.

The creature's head tilted slightly, its expressionless face turning toward Rylan. The slow, deliberate movement of its chains made a faint metallic groan that echoed against the walls. Hyun-Jae could feel the tension in the air spike, a pulse of unrefined Etherea radiating from it in waves.

For a brief moment, Rylan froze, his grin faltering as he saw the subtle shift in the creature's posture. But stubbornness, and perhaps arrogance, kept him moving forward, sword raised, ignoring the wary looks from Hyun-Jae and the others.

Hyun-Jae's mind raced. It's not fully awake… yet. But if he strikes it, even one miscalculated move could trigger the full power of that thing. He'll get obliterated before any of us can react.

Rylan glanced at him and Soo-Min, eyes narrowing slightly, but he didn't stop. The creature, unnervingly still, seemed to follow Rylan's approach with a faint clinking of its chains.

He raised his blade.

Hyun-Jae barely had time to react. The chains of the creature lashed out with terrifying speed, severing Rylan's arm before he could even scream. That should have been the end but, one of the chains whipped toward Soo-Min, and instinctively, Hyun-Jae shoved her into the portal just in time.

Pain exploded in his chest as another chain impaled him fully, pinning him in place. He gasped, shock and agony twisting his face, his vision blurring as he struggled to remain get upright again. The world around him seemed to tilt, the faint glow of the portal beckoning, but his body refused to move.

For a fleeting moment, all he could think was Soo-Min's safety, and the terrible weight of what his mistake had nearly caused.

His fingers dug into the dirt as he tried to drag himself toward the portal. Each breath came ragged, blood spilling from his mouth as the metallic taste filled his throat. The pain was unbearable, but the sight of the glowing portal kept him moving, inch by inch.

Then

Footsteps. Fast. Panicked.

Rylan.

He didn't even look at him. With a wild, desperate shove, Rylan kicked Hyun-Jae aside, sending him rolling across the rocky ground.

"Move, damn it!" Rylan snarled, clutching his bleeding arm as he bolted toward the portal.

Hyun-Jae hit the ground hard, the impact forcing a choked sound from his throat. He could barely see through the haze of pain, his vision tunneling as Rylan dove through the shimmering light.

For a moment, Hyun-Jae just lay there, half his body slick with blood, the faint hum of the portal growing dim behind him. The creature still loomed near the cave's mouth, unmoving but watching, its head tilting ever so slightly, as if studying the one human who hadn't yet fled.

But he continued again as his trembling fingers reached toward the portal, the light brushing his bloodstained hand so close he could almost feel its pull.

Then came the metallic rattle.

The chains.

Before he could even turn, one of them coiled around his leg like a serpent. His body was yanked backward with brutal force, the breath torn from his lungs as he was dragged across the cold stone. The portal's glow faded behind him, swallowed by darkness.

He hit the ground near the creature's feet, his body screaming in pain. The last thing he saw was its expressionless face leaning close, eyes like empty voids reflecting his own terror.

Then everything went black.

A ding echoed faintly in his mind, cold, mechanical.

[Quest Failed.]
[Reverting progress… restoring to original state.]

The voice was flat, detached, almost familiar. But then, static. Glitches flashed across the dark screen in his mind.

[Error: Administrative Permissions Not Attained.]
[Restoration Incomplete.]
[Redirecting…]
[Returning to the Ethereal Abyss.]

Hyun-Jae's consciousness plummeted, falling, falling through an endless dark expanse streaked with faint silver threads. The sensation wasn't just falling; it was being unmade. Every sound, every thought, every breath dissolved into nothing.

And as the last fragment of his awareness slipped away, the world finally went completely still.