Tae-woo stepped through the violet portal, and the moment his foot touched solid ground, he knew exactly where he was.
The Abyssal Gate.
Even though every logical part of his mind screamed at him to turn back, his body had moved on its own. He had willingly stepped into the one dungeon in existence that was widely regarded as suicidal for even the strongest S-Rank Hunters, the one nicknamed "The S-Rank Hunter Killer." And now, as he took in the familiar sight of the dark, poorly lit cave around him, he realized the full extent of his mistake.
Glowing purple crystals jutted from the cavern walls and ceiling, casting an eerie luminescence over the jagged rock formations. The air was thick, carrying an almost oppressive stillness that made the silence feel deafening.
Tae-woo exhaled sharply.
"This place again…" he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. His instincts had been screaming at him ever since he saw that miniature portal in the alleyway, but now he finally understood why.
And that was when the true weight of the situation hit him.
He had entered a dungeon without any proper preparation. While he could create his own weapon, she didn't bring his armor or supplies.
It was a reckless, stupid move, the kind that got Hunters killed. And before he could even consider stepping back through the portal, it suddenly vanished without a trace.
His stomach dropped.
"Damn it!" Tae-woo cursed, spinning on his heels, but the portal was already gone. Just like that, his only way out had disappeared, leaving him trapped inside the infamous dungeon where even S-Rank Hunters had met their end.
His mind raced. He had to think.
The longer he stayed here, the higher the chances of something happening to him. If he wasn't careful, he could end up just like Jae-sik, corrupted beyond recognition, twisted into some monstrosity.
And then, he heard a whisper.
[You will not suffer such a fate, Master.]
Tae-woo's entire body tensed.
"Who's there?!" His voice echoed through the cavern. He turned wildly, scanning the surroundings for any sign of movement.
Nothing.
No monsters. No creatures lurking in the shadows.
Only the sound of his own breathing and the faint hum of the glowing crystals overhead.
[Ah, I suppose this is so sudden. My apologies.]
Tae-woo's eyes narrowed.
"Show yourself!" he demanded, frantically looking for the source of the voice.
[I am nothing more than a phantom whose role is to serve you, my Master.]
Tae-woo furrowed his brows.
"Phantom? Master? What the hell are you talking about?"
[Just think of me… as an assistant of sorts. I shall guide you through the Abyss.]
Tae-woo's heart pounded. First, he was the only one who could see the portal. Now, there was a mysterious voice inside his head calling him Master.
"Guide me?" Tae-woo frowned. "Wait… are you related to that thing? That figure that dropped blood into my mouth last time I was here?"
There was a pause.
[Perhaps. But the real answer is more complicated than that. It is in my best interest to guide you and ensure that you will stay alive throughout your journey into the Abyss.]
Tae-woo rubbed his face, exhaling through his nose.
"Alright, okay," he muttered to himself. "So, for the record, I'm not actually going crazy, right?"
The voice chuckled, sounding faintly amused.
[Stepping into the Abyss without any prior preparation could be considered a rather… crazy action, I might say.]
Tae-woo scowled. "Not my point!"
This felt too surreal, too much like some cliched novel or manhwa plot, where there was a voice in his head acting like some kind of omniscient guide.
"Alright, fine. If you're here to help, then answer me this. What the hell actually happened to me? What's my Class? Because I know for damn sure it's not just Fighter anymore." Tae-woo demanded.
There was a brief silence.
And then, the voice spoke.
[That, I can answer. Your kind has classified the Job System into Classes, though they could not pinpoint exactly what your true Class is. No, it is not Fighter.]
"Then what is it?" Tae-woo asked.
Another pause.
Then, a single answer.
[Abyss Walker.]
Tae-woo frowned, his arms crossing over his chest as he processed what he had just heard. "Abyss Walker?" The name alone sounded ominous, and more than that, it was completely unfamiliar. He had never come across such a Class before, not in any records, discussions, or the annual compilations that cataloged newly Awakened Hunters and their respective Classes.
Every year, the Hunter Association and various research institutions published updated lists detailing newly discovered Classes, yet nothing remotely resembling Abyss Walker had ever been documented.
He controlled his breathing, forcing himself to focus. There was no use panicking or getting worked up over something he couldn't change. "So, this is a special Class unique to me?" he asked, keeping his tone steady. "No one else has this Class?"
[None. You are the only Abyss Walker in this world.]
Tae-woo's brows furrowed slightly as he took in the voice's response. The confirmation was oddly unsettling, even though he had already suspected as much. Having a completely unique Class sounded like a terrible fiction with him as a main character. "I see," he muttered under his breath. "So, a one-of-a-kind Class, huh?"
That also meant there was no prior knowledge or references to rely on. No other Hunter had experienced this path before him, meaning he was venturing into completely uncharted territory.
Unlike established Classes such as Warrior, Mage, or even rare ones like Dragoon or Merchant, there was no precedent for an Abyss Walker; no known abilities, no recorded growth patterns, and no comparisons. He was the first and only one of his kind.
He rubbed his chin, thinking out loud. "That means no one has actually documented what this Class has in store yet. I have no idea what to expect or how it'll develop."
[Actually, I can inform you of the Class Features of Abyss Walker.]
Tae-woo blinked, feeling a bit foolish for not realizing it sooner. "Right. Silly me," he muttered. He still wasn't used to having an unseen voice act as his personal assistant.
It was strange, hearing a presence in his head so clearly and having it respond to his thoughts like a sentient guide.
Shaking off the momentary awkwardness, he straightened up. "Alright then. What can this Class do?"
He remained where he stood, his shoes shifting slightly over the uneven cavern floor as he listened intently. Each Class had defining traits that set it apart from the others, granting Hunters unique skills or abilities tailored to their particular role. Even within broad categories like Warriors or Mages, there were countless specializations, some focusing on brute force, others on agility or magic.
Given that Abyss Walker was an entirely unknown Class, he had no idea whether it fell under any existing category or if it operated on completely different mechanics.
[For starters, your first unique ability is Devour.]
Tae-woo's lips pressed into a thin line as he heard the name. "Devour?" he repeated, already having an inkling of what it entailed.
[It is an ability that allows you to inherit the abilities of creatures that you consume.]
A long silence stretched between him and the voice as his thoughts slowed, piecing together what this meant. So, his suspicions had been right all along. What happened with Jae-sik wasn't a coincidence. It was a direct result of this ability activating. He had gained something from devouring him. Those crystalized blade-like appendages weren't a random mutation but a direct inheritance from the corrupted Hunter's abilities.
"So that's how it works," he murmured, rubbing his thumb against his palm in thought. His mind was already racing through the implications. "What exactly does consume mean? Do I have to eat the entire creature, or would eating just a part of it be enough?"
[You can inherit a creature's abilities even with just a small portion of its flesh. However, the more you consume, the more potent the abilities you gain. Additionally, the process works regardless of whether the target is alive or dead.]
Tae-woo absorbed this information carefully. That was useful to know. He didn't necessarily have to devour an entire being to gain its power, which meant he wouldn't need to rely completely on consuming human-sized creatures like Jae-sik. Perhaps even small bits of the creatures or dungeon monsters would be viable sources of new abilities.
But at the same time, the confirmation left an uneasy feeling in his gut. The more he ate, the stronger the ability would become. It almost sounded like an incentive, a built-in mechanic that encouraged him to indulge. He didn't like that.
Still, he couldn't deny that Devour was an ability unlike anything he had ever heard of before. He had a feeling that he would get the chance to test it soon.
For better or worse.
"Any other skills or abilities?" Tae-woo asked, crossing his arms as he listened intently. Most Classes had at least three core abilities, sometimes more, depending on their rank and specialization. If Devour was the first, then he needed to know what else came with being an Abyss Walker.
[Yes. Your other ability is called Voidblooded. It grants you immunity to Abyssal Corruption.]
Tae-woo nodded slowly, absorbing that information. "Alright, good to know," he muttered. If there was one thing he wasn't keen on experiencing, it was undergoing the same grotesque transformation that Jae-sik had suffered. The way the corruption had twisted his body, warping him into something monstrous, was something Tae-woo had no desire to experience.
[It also grants you the ability to sprout crystals from your body. In addition to that, it allows you to ingest all kinds of materials that are normally harmful to humans, including poison.]
Tae-woo exhaled sharply. That explained a lot. The incident with Jae-sik's bone blades flashed in his mind. The way he had bitten into them without hesitation, chewing through hardened bone as if it were nothing, swallowing the shards without feeling even the slightest discomfort.
Even now, just remembering it left an odd sensation lingering in the back of his mind as if his body had known all along that it wouldn't suffer any consequences from consuming something so unnatural.
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"That explains it," he muttered to himself. Then, after a brief pause, a more troubling thought surfaced. "Wait. Does that mean this Class has… changed what I am?" He frowned slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Like, am I still human? Or has this Abyss Walker thing turned me into something else entirely?"
It was an important question, and he had to know the answer. He could deal with new abilities, strange powers, and even the unsettling hunger, but if this Class had fundamentally changed what he was, that was an entirely different issue. He wasn't even ready to open that can of worms.
[No. You are still 100% Homo sapiens, in addition to the enhancements granted through the Awakening process that your kind undergoes.]
Tae-woo let out a small breath of relief. "Well, that's good to hear," he said, his shoulders easing just a little. He had been bracing himself for something worse, like some revelation that he had unknowingly become an entirely different species, or worse, a monster. Even though he was now capable of doing things that no human should, at least he was still, at his core, the same person he had always been.
[And you still have the potential to grow. In order to unlock more of your abilities, you must undergo a series of trials.]
"Trials?" Tae-woo's brows furrowed. "What kind of trials?" He hesitated for a moment before glancing around at the cavernous expanse of the Abyss. "You mean… I have to do something here in the Abyss?"
[Correct. I shall show you the way. Please walk ahead.]
Tae-woo sighed softly and rolled his shoulders before taking his first step forward. The path ahead was unknown, and this whole situation was already absurd, but if these trials were the key to understanding his new abilities and possibly his way out of here, then he had no choice but to follow where the voice led him.
----------------------------------------
Now that he no longer had to worry about succumbing to Abyssal Corruption, Tae-woo took his time to observe his surroundings as he moved further into the cavernous expanse. The eerie glow of the purple crystals embedded in the walls, ceilings, and floors remained the only illumination source, casting long, distorted shadows that stretched and flickered with every step he took. The silence was unnerving, not just in how absolute it was but in how his own footsteps seemed to echo just a little too loudly as if the cavern itself were listening.
And yet, despite the ominous atmosphere, everything seemed... oddly normal. Or at least as normal as a place like this could be. He hadn't encountered any monsters yet, nor had he felt any immediate threats lurking in the darkness. The oppressive weight that had crushed down on him the last time he was here, the feeling that something unseen was watching him was noticeably absent.
For now, at least.
As he walked, Tae-woo mulled over everything he knew, or rather, everything he didn't know about the Abyss. It was connected to the dungeons that had appeared all over the world, that much was clear, but beyond that, everything else remained a mystery. Even the greatest minds in the world, the most powerful Hunters and scholars, had failed to uncover anything substantial about it.
"Anyway, can you tell me what the Abyss is all about?" Tae-woo finally asked, breaking the silence. "I know it's closely related to the dungeons that have been popping up all around the world, but what makes this place different? What's so significant about it?"
For a moment, there was no response. Then, the voice answered.
[Apologies. Currently, I am not authorized to answer that question.]
Tae-woo frowned at that.
"Not authorized?" He echoed, stopping briefly in his tracks. That wording implied something important. "So, that means there is someone, or something, above you, right? Some kind of higher power pulling the strings?"
The voice did not answer.
That, in itself, was an answer.
Tae-woo exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple as he resumed walking. If even this so-called assistant, or whatever it was, was withholding information from him, then it meant that there was a larger picture he wasn't seeing yet.
Perhaps that thing, the shadowy figure that had dripped its blood into his mouth, was the true mastermind behind all of this. Or maybe there was something even higher than that.
Either way, he wasn't going to get any answers by pressing further. At least, not yet.
Letting the matter rest for now, another thought crossed his mind.
"Actually," Tae-woo said, "do you even have a name?"
There was a brief pause.
[As a matter of fact, no. I am currently nameless. My entire purpose is to serve you, Master.]
Tae-woo scratched his head. The more he listened to the voice, the more he realized how strange it was. It was androgynous, neither male nor female and while it carried a neutral tone, it still had an almost unnatural smoothness to it. Having a conversation with someone who didn't even have a proper identity felt strange as if he was talking to a glorified system notification instead of an actual being.
"Well, that's weird," Tae-woo muttered. "Would you mind if I gave you a name? Calling you 'voice inside my head' feels a little too weird, not gonna lie."
[A name?]
Tae-woo nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I don't even know if you're actually a person or not, but at least having a name would make it easier for me to talk to you."
The voice was quiet for a long moment as if contemplating his offer.
[Very well. What do you wish to call me, Master?]
Tae-woo hummed in thought, crossing his arms as he considered his options. "Let's see... A name for a disembodied voice in my head…" He tapped his foot against the rocky floor, mulling it over. Then, another thought struck him. "Actually, do you even identify as anything? Like, are you supposed to be a guy or a girl?"
[I identify as neither, though if you wish to follow genre convention, I can identify myself as a female.]
Tae-woo blinked. "...Genre convention?"
[Yes. It is a common archetype for a spirit advisor or guide to be female. Thus, it is more logically sound for me to adopt a feminine persona.]
Tae-woo narrowed his eyes. "That's... not how that works."
[How about now?]
The moment the voice spoke again, it had changed. It was no longer ambiguous or androgynous but distinctly feminine, smooth and pleasant to the ear.
Tae-woo stared into the darkness for a moment before sighing. "Alright, sure. If you're really into that, who am I to argue?" He waved a hand dismissively before thinking further. "Since you're going for the whole female guide thing, I guess I'll just call you Alice. Does that sound good to you?"
[Alice? The main character of Alice in Wonderland?]
"Yeah, sure," Tae-woo replied. "You're fine with that?"
There was another brief silence. Then, the voice, now Alice, spoke again.
[...Very well. Starting now, my name shall be Alice.]
----------------------------------------
After trekking deeper into the dungeon, Tae-woo finally encountered his first enemies.
Five goblins.
As always, they were small, humanoid creatures with grotesque, twisted faces, their beady eyes glinting with malice. Their thin, wiry bodies with bloated bellies were covered in tattered rags, and they clutched crude weapons, which were rusty knives and makeshift swords that looked like they had been scavenged from somewhere. However, unlike the goblins he had encountered in normal dungeons, these ones were different.
Their skin wasn't the usual sickly green.
It was purple.
The goblins let out ear-piercing screeches, baring their jagged teeth as they cackled and jeered at him. They moved in quick, jittery motions, their movements almost unnatural, as if their limbs were being controlled by unseen strings.
Tae-woo frowned, gripping his fists instinctively. "Do I have to fight them?" Tae-woo asked, his voice low.
[Yes. To continue, you must eliminate any monsters standing in your way. I have faith in you, Master.]
Tae-woo exhaled sharply. He still wasn't used to hearing Alice's soft, almost teasing voice in his head. It was strange, almost surreal. The fact that this voice was guiding him through a literal nightmare didn't make things any less bizarre.
"Well, I guess I don't really have a choice," Tae-woo muttered. His arms tensed as he focused, and almost instinctively, dark purple crystallite blades jutted out from his wrists, forming sleek, deadly weapons that hummed with raw energy. "At least I don't have to worry about finding a weapon."
The goblins didn't hesitate. The moment his weapons emerged, they let out shrill war cries and charged.
Tae-woo reacted instantly.
He moved forward, launching himself toward them with a burst of speed. The goblins may have been fast, their wiry limbs propelling them forward with surprising agility, but Tae-woo was faster. His enhanced reflexes kicked in as he weaved between their attacks, his movements sharp and precise.
The first goblin lunged, swiping its rusted blade toward his midsection. Tae-woo twisted his body effortlessly, dodging the attack before countering with a quick, clean slash. His crystallite sword carved through flesh like a hot knife through butter, and the goblin barely had time to let out a strangled gasp before it collapsed to the ground, its body convulsing in its final moments.
The second and third goblins attacked in tandem, their jagged knives aiming for his sides. Tae-woo ducked low, sliding between them before springing up and delivering a powerful upward slash. The force of his strike tore through the goblins' torsos, sending a spray of dark, almost ink-like blood splattering against the cavern walls. Their mutilated bodies crumpled into a heap before they could even register what had happened.
The last two hesitated for a brief second.
It was all the time he needed.
Tae-woo surged forward, closing the gap before they could retreat. He grabbed one goblin by the throat, lifting it off the ground effortlessly before driving his blade through its chest. The final goblin let out a terrified screech and attempted to scramble away, but Tae-woo wasn't about to let it escape. He spun on his heel, bringing his blade down in a clean, decapitating strike. The goblin's head tumbled to the ground, rolling a few feet before coming to a stop.
Silence.
Tae-woo let out a slow breath, lowering his weapons as he took in the scene. The goblins lay scattered around him, their lifeless bodies still twitching slightly.
"That was easy," he muttered. The fight had barely lasted more than a few seconds.
With the battle over, Tae-woo turned his attention to something else. He needed to test his ability, Devour.
His gaze drifted toward the nearest goblin corpse. The sight of its torn flesh, its unnatural, purple-tinged blood pooling on the cavern floor, made his stomach churn. He wasn't exactly eager to go through with this.
Still, if this ability really allowed him to inherit the traits of whatever he consumed, then he had no choice but to test it.
Steeling himself, Tae-woo knelt beside one of the bodies and reached out, grabbing a chunk of flesh. It was still warm, sticky with blood, and up close, it smelled even worse than he had anticipated.
He grimaced. "This is disgusting."
[Goblin meat is typically unsafe for human consumption due to its high acidity. However, due to your Voidblooded ability, you will be able to consume it without issue.]
Alice's words didn't exactly make him feel better about it.
Tae-woo exhaled through his nose, forcing down his revulsion. His hands clenched around the piece of goblin flesh, and after one last moment of hesitation, he brought it to his mouth and took a bite.
Tae-woo scrunched up his face the moment he took a bite. The texture was atrocious. It was chewy, rubbery, and slimy all at once, as if he had decided to gnaw on a damp, rotting sponge. Worse, the taste hit his tongue like a combination of burnt rubber and something that had been left to ferment in a sewer drain for several weeks
His jaw worked slowly, each chew making him regret his life choices more and more.
He had eaten some questionable things in his life, like cheap, barely edible convenience store food or Ji-hoon's horrendous attempts at cooking, but this? This was on a whole new level of awfulness.
Still, he forced himself to keep going, chewing through the toughness of the goblin meat until it was at least somewhat manageable. Then, with the sheer force of will, he swallowed it down, feeling it slide unpleasantly down his throat like a lump of regret.
The moment it hit his stomach, Tae-woo gagged.
"Eugh! Ugh! W-what the hell? It smells like used shoes! And the taste... urgh!" he sputtered, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as he tried to suppress the urge to vomit. He coughed a few times, his entire body shuddering at the sheer wrongness of what he had just consumed.
[Congratulations.]
Alice's voice chimed in his head, completely unfazed by his suffering.
[You have inherited a new ability from the goblin. It is Scavenger, which allows you to consume anything without having to worry about any negative effects.]
Tae-woo paused mid-gag, blinking as he processed what she had just said.
"…Wait," he said slowly, a terrible realization dawning on him. "I already have Voidblooded, right?"
[Correct.]
"And Voidblooded already lets me eat anything without side effects?"
[That is also correct.]
Tae-woo felt a slow, creeping sense of dread. "…So, what you're saying is…"
[Considering that Voidblooded and Scavenger share the same effect, Scavenger will be absorbed into Voidblooded. You have lost Scavenger ability.]
Tae-woo's head drooped so low it was almost touching the cavern floor.
"So, I ate that disgusting thing for nothing?!"
[You could see it that way.]
Tae-woo groaned loudly and let himself fall backward onto the cold stone floor. His arms spread out to his sides as he stared at the glowing purple crystals above him, completely dead inside.
His first experiment with Devour… and it had resulted in absolutely nothing.
Not a powerful new skill. Not a cool ability. Nothing.
He had choked down the worst thing he had ever tasted in his life, and all he had to show for it was a bad memory and a burning desire to never eat goblin meat again.
Alice, however, remained completely unbothered.
[At the very least, this confirms that your Devour ability functions exactly as intended.]
Tae-woo groaned even louder. "Oh, great, so I wasted my dignity and my taste buds just to prove a hypothesis!"
[Indeed.]
He shot a glare at nothing in particular because there was nothing to glare at. If Alice had a physical form, he was sure he'd be giving her the most unimpressed stare of his life.
After a moment, he let out a defeated sigh and pushed himself back up. "Fine. Whatever. Lesson learned. Maybe I'll have better luck with something that isn't a stinky little gremlin."
Shaking off his lingering frustration, Tae-woo dusted himself off and prepared to continue forward, hoping that the next monster he encountered would at least have something useful to offer.
"Hopefully, whatever I need to eat next is less awful than the goblin," Tae-woo muttered to himself, still trying to scrub the memory of the vile taste from his mind. His stomach was fine, his body unbothered by the consumption, but his soul? His soul had suffered.
[Some monsters are edible, even for normal humans.] Alice's voice chimed in his head, matter-of-factly. [If you are lucky, then you may encounter something that isn't as horrible as the goblins.]
Tae-woo let out a long, weary sigh. It almost felt like Alice was trying to console him, though he wasn't entirely sure if that was just wishful thinking on his part.
"Well, thanks, Alice," he said, shaking his head. "I guess that makes me feel a little better."
[You are welcome, Master.]
There was a brief moment of silence as Tae-woo continued walking through the cavern, his boots crunching against loose gravel. Despite his initial frustrations, he was already adjusting to the flow of the Abyss, his hunger, his powers, and now, this odd, ever-present voice that had become his guide.
It was strange how quickly things could change.
And then, he stopped.
A low growl rumbled through the cavern, followed by the unmistakable sound of claws scraping against the stone. Tae-woo turned his gaze toward the source of the noise, and there, emerging from the shadows, was his next opponent.
A wolf.
But not just any wolf.
Its fur was black as pitch, darker than the cave around it, almost as if it absorbed the light rather than reflected it. Its eyes glowed a menacing, unnatural shade of red, burning like embers in the darkness. Its mouth curled into a vicious snarl, razor-sharp fangs bared as drool dripped from its maw. Its stance was low, muscles coiled tight, ready to strike the moment it saw an opening.
Tae-woo readied himself.
"Alright," he muttered, willing the crystallite swords to emerge from his wrists once more. The twin blades formed with ease, humming faintly with an unnatural energy. He rolled his shoulders, loosening himself up as he stared the beast down.
"I really hope you taste better than goblin, dog."
The wolf growled, lowering its head.
"Or else I'm going to be extremely upset."
And with that, the black wolf lunged.