We had been wandering through this damn dungeon for three hours now, but in real time, it was only about forty minutes. The distortion between dungeon time and reality always unnerved me, though I’d never let it show. This place was a maze, the walls shifting ever so slightly, almost as if the dungeon itself was alive, breathing. My team moved in a tight formation, their senses on high alert, every shadow a potential threat.

We had encountered the usual assortment of monsters, nothing we couldn’t handle, but something felt off. The deeper we went, the more I felt it—a strange presence, lingering in the air like a scent you couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t just the usual stench of blood and rot; this was something different. Something… human.

"Wait," I said, raising my hand to halt the team. "Do you smell that?"

The others paused, sniffing the air, their expressions turning from wary to confused. It was faint, but there—an unmistakable trace of a person. But how? No one else had entered this dungeon before us. I could feel my heart rate pick up, a mixture of curiosity and unease bubbling in my chest.

We continued forward, following the scent, moving through the dark, winding corridors with a renewed sense of urgency. Whoever it was, they had been here recently, and if they were still alive, we needed to find them.

Another ten minutes passed, the dungeon stretching out before us like an endless tunnel. Then, as we rounded a corner, we saw him. A man, lying on the cold, hard ground, his body scarred, bloodied, and unconscious.

"What the…?" Minsoo whispered, his voice trailing off in shock.

We approached cautiously, weapons at the ready, though it was clear this man wasn’t in any condition to fight. He was a mess—his clothes torn, his face smeared with blood, and yet there was something about him… something that made me hesitate.

"How is this possible?" I murmured, more to myself than anyone else. "No one should have survived this far in, not alone."

As I knelt beside him, I felt the dungeon around us begin to tremble, the walls cracking, dust falling from the ceiling. It was crumbling—a sure sign that the dungeon had been conquered. But how? We hadn’t even reached the core yet, hadn’t engaged whatever boss was supposed to be waiting for us.

"Ma’am, we need to move," Jonghoon urged, glancing around as the tremors grew stronger. "This place is coming down."

I nodded, my mind racing as I looked down at the man’s battered body. He had done this. Somehow, this unknown man had soloed the dungeon, cleared it before we even got close. But who was he? There was no way someone with this kind of power could have slipped under the radar, not without someone noticing. Yet, as I searched my memory, I couldn’t place him.

"Get him up," I ordered, my voice steady despite the chaos around us. "We’re taking him with us."

The team moved quickly, lifting the man as carefully as they could while I scanned the area for an exit. Just as I started to worry we wouldn’t find one in time, a portal appeared—a shimmering doorway out of this collapsing nightmare.

We hurried through, the dungeon collapsing behind us as we emerged into the cool night air. The sky was a welcome sight after the oppressive darkness of the dungeon, but I couldn’t shake the unease gnawing at me. We loaded the unconscious man into one of the waiting vehicles, and I watched as the medics began their work, stabilizing him as best they could.

The drive to the hospital was quiet, the team subdued, each of us lost in our thoughts. I sat beside him, my eyes never leaving his face. Who are you? The question kept running through my mind, over and over, like a broken record.

As we reached the hospital, he was rushed into the emergency room, doctors and nurses swarming around him, doing everything they could to save him. I remained outside, arms crossed, my mind a whirl of conflicting thoughts.

"Ma’am," Seungmin approached, his expression as serious as ever. "We’ve run his face through the database. There’s nothing. No records, no identification. He’s not registered to any country. It’s like he doesn’t exist."

I frowned, a chill running down my spine. How could someone this powerful not be in the system? The world was monitored more closely than ever before; every hunter, every ability user was documented, tracked. Yet this man… he was a ghost.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

And that made him dangerous.

I turned back toward the hospital room where they were still working on him, my mind already running through a dozen different scenarios. Who was he? A rogue hunter? An experiment gone wrong? Or something else entirely?

But more than that, why did he do it? Why did he solo a dungeon? Was it sheer desperation, or something more calculated?

I needed answers, and I would get them. Whatever it took, I would find out who this man was, and why he had crossed our path. Because if he could conquer a dungeon alone, then he was either the most dangerous man we’d ever encountered—or the most powerful ally we could ever hope for.

Either way, I wasn’t about to let him slip through my fingers.

----------------------------------------

As I stood amidst the ruins of those golems, my breath heavy and ragged, I felt a strange sensation wash over me. It was as if the world around me shifted, bending to some unseen force. Before I could even process what was happening, a glowing screen appeared in front of my eyes—my status window, flickering with a message that shouldn’t have been there.

[System Notice: Forceful Intervention]

"You passed this time, but not next time."

The words were bold, almost taunting, and I couldn’t help but feel a wave of irritation boil up inside me. This damn "system"—the very thing that had sealed my powers, that had thrown me into this mortal shell—it was toying with me, testing me like I was some common pawn.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. It was as if the universe itself was laughing at me, daring me to survive again and again. I could feel my consciousness slipping, the exhaustion from the battle finally taking its toll. My vision blurred, and the last thing I remembered was the cold stone floor rushing up to meet me as I crumpled to the ground.

When I woke up, it was like being thrust into another nightmare. I jolted awake, my eyes snapping open to the sight of wires—dozens of them—attached to my body. The cold, sterile scent of antiseptic filled my nostrils, and I realized I was in a hospital bed. Monitors beeped around me, their screens displaying vital signs, and the unfamiliar hum of machinery filled my ears.

"What the hell…?" I muttered, my voice hoarse, as I tried to sit up. Pain shot through my body, a sharp reminder of the beating I’d taken. I gritted my teeth, pushing through the discomfort, but the wires and tubes pulled at me, keeping me anchored to the bed.

I scanned the room, my eyes landing on a woman standing near the foot of the bed. She was watching me intently, her arms crossed, a mix of curiosity and caution in her gaze. Her white hair was striking, her presence commanding—a woman who clearly wasn’t used to being ignored. I recognized her instantly from the whispers I’d heard during my brief moments of consciousness. Kang Yeonhee—the leader of the strike team that had pulled me out of that dungeon.

"Good, you’re awake," she said, her voice steady, almost business-like. "Mind telling me who you are?"

I frowned, the fog of confusion still clouding my mind. "Where am I? What… what happened?"

She sighed, taking a step closer. "You were found in a dungeon, unconscious and barely alive. My team and I pulled you out just before the entire place collapsed. The dungeon was cleared, but not by us. By you."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I had cleared the dungeon? The memories were hazy—flashes of combat, of golems crumbling under my fists, but nothing concrete. It was like trying to grasp smoke.

"I… don’t remember," I admitted, my voice low, frustration gnawing at me. "But if I did… why am I still here? Why am I in this mortal body?"

Yeonhee’s eyes narrowed slightly, clearly picking up on my choice of words. "Mortal body? Just who exactly are you?"

I met her gaze, debating how much to reveal. She seemed sharp, not the type to easily buy into wild stories. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t even begin to piece together the truth of what had happened without someone’s help.

"That’s a complicated answer," I said, leaning back against the pillows. "But let’s just say… I’m not exactly from around here."

She arched an eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with my vague response, but before she could press further, I felt a strange sensation in the pit of my stomach—an unease, like the lingering echo of the "system's" intervention.

That damn message—it was still haunting me, like a shadow I couldn’t shake. "You passed this time, but not next time." It felt like a warning, a threat that something even worse was coming. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to face it in this weakened state.

But for now, I had to focus on the present. And that meant figuring out how I ended up here, who Kang Yeonhee really was, and how I was going to regain my powers before the system decided to toy with me again.

I forced a smile, trying to push the thoughts away. "So, what happens now, Kang Yeonhee? Are you going to keep me here, hooked up to these machines like some lab rat? Or are we going to figure out what the hell is really going on?"

Yeonhee studied me for a moment, her expression unreadable, before she finally nodded. "We’ll figure it out. But first, you need to rest. You’re not going anywhere until we know you’re stable."

I didn’t like the idea of being confined to this bed, but I knew she was right. My body was still weak, still healing. And as much as I hated to admit it, I needed her help. For now, I would play along, but as soon as I had the strength… I’d find a way to get answers. About the dungeon, about the system, and about what the hell I was supposed to do next.

But one thing was certain—I wasn’t about to let this strange new world, or whatever was controlling it, break me again.