[The 20th century's nuclear war and resource shortages led humanity to the brink of extinction. The saviours of mankind turned out to be an alien race, who proclaimed themselves gods and ruled over humans.]
[Dungeons. In return for rescuing Humans, the alien race insisted that they entertain them and summoned portals spawning monsters. One day, dungeons suddenly appeared, like tumours, polluting the land and spawning monsters.]
[To deal with them, the 'Awakened'—humans blessed by the so-called gods—are tasked with eliminating the dungeons. These Awakened ones, known as 'Raiders,' continue to fight as the dungeons collapse and reappear into the present 21st century.]
[The 'Violent Dragon' Ethan Wilder has been called both the most reckless human trash and the greatest Raider in history. Both opinions are hard to refute.]
Excerpt from the magazine "Raid Today", September 2026 Monthly Edition.
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Ethan woke up on the damp floor of a dungeon. Moreover, he was naked.
"Goddamn it."
He cursed as he stood up instantly feeling the unpleasant air around him. The stench and humidity typical of dungeons filled the air. Ethan, as if normal quickly scanned the surroundings.
I don't know where I am. Fortunately, no monsters nearby. I'm naked. However, I need to get out of this dungeon.
Ethan instinctively reached out his left palm to summon equipment from his spatial magic circle. However, there was no appreance of the items or equipments he wanted instead only the empty void fillied his vision, "Eh? What the hell?"
He looked at his left hand, realizing there was no magic circle. Instead of the hardened calluses from constant use, his palm felt smooth and soft.
"Oh Ethan, my servant. Congratulations on your new beginning."
The voice of Isaac, the God of Chaos, echoed in his mind. Suddenly, a dark space opened in front of him, and from it fell a mirror, a set of clothes, and a sword.
Clan-Clank-
Ethan picked up the mirror and looked at his reflection. His body trembled in anger as he shouted.
"…What kind of joke is this? You damn alien!"
What reflected back was a face of young man in his early twenties.
"Blasphemy! How dare you question back your God?"
Crack!
Aburptly, Electricity surged from the mirror, shocking Ethan. His body jerked in pain, frothing at the mouth.
"Hisss--!"
Rather than the pain, it was the situation that was too difficult for him to accept.
'My body has changed.'
It was the body of a young man, fresh and youthful, likely in his early twenties. It was a far cry from his previous, well-trained physique.
'My spatial magic circle…!'
All his treasures and wealth were stored in his spatial dimension. Without that, starting over from scratch seemed like an insurmountable task.
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"Is he telling me to start from nothing?"
Ethan reluctantly donned the clothes—a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with "I love Isaac" printed on the front and back.
'What a ridiculous bastard,' Ethan thought, realizing that the so-called God of Chaos was just as insane as his name suggested.
Ethan drew the sword Isaac had given him. It wasn't a muscle-bound fighter's weapon, yet the sword was easy to wield, almost as if it were part of him.
'Luckily, my body is still awakened. At least I know enough to handle this.'
An Awakened is a human who has received Blessings from the gods, breaking the physical limits of their body. They are capable of limitless growth depending on their training.
Even a level 1 Awakened is considered superhuman.
Ethan used one of the basic abilities of an Awakened, [Observation], to examine his sword.
[Ordinary Iron Sword]
The stats of the sword appeared in his vision. It was, quite literally, just an ordinary iron sword.
"What the hell? This is the best gear a god can give me?" Ethan muttered, strapping the sword to his waist.
His gaze then shifted to the mirror that had shocked him earlier.
[Isaac's Mirror]
It is said that speaking blasphemous words will bring down divine punishment.
With a frown, Ethan threw the mirror away.
The mirror flew back toward him like a boomerang.
Wham!
It hit Ethan's face, causing a sharp pain, as if his nose bone would break.
"Arff! Damit!"
Holding his face in agony, he stood up muttering to himself, "Ugh, damn it. I've got a cursed item bound to me now. This trash of an item with a curse on it..."
Isaac's Mirror was an curse item that couldn't be discarded unless the curse was removed. If one tried to get rid of it, it would resist and torment its owner.
Sitting down, Ethan took a deep breath.
'Now's the time to think calmly. Isaac must have transferred my soul into this new body. I'm inside a dungeon, likely a resting area somewhere in the middle. Isaac only gave me clothes and a sword. With just these, I need to conquer the dungeon and make my way back to the surface.'
Ethan, who had once been a master of close combat and energy manipulation, stood up, ready to move forward. He opened the door, revealing a dungeon corridor. Dungeons are divided into pathways and rooms, and one needs to navigate through them, creating a mental map as they go, whether they are going up or down.
The door opened.
Ethan looked at the large shadow.
"Grrrr."
A huge ogre, over three meters tall, was standing beyond the passage.
Before the ogre could charge, Ethan slammed the door shut.
Bang! Bang!
The ogre relentlessly pounded on the door.
The room where Ethan stood was a safe zone where monsters could not enter.
Dungeon entrances or resting rooms are protected by a safety zone buff.
'If I had my original body, this monster wouldn't even be a challenge…'
Ethan examined his current state.
A brief status window appeared in his vision.
[Ethan Wilder (Raider)/Level 1]
Even if an AWAKENED superhuman, even they couldn't defeat monsters out of their caliber.
'An ogre at level 1? That's a bit much.'
Ethan was known as the Violent Dragon—a ruthless individual—but not reckless.
He knew how to objectively compare his limits with the capabilities of his enemies. Raids weren't games; they were a matter of life or death.
Thud, thud.
The ogre stopped pounding on the door.
Ethan scanned the other doors.
'There are two exits from this room. One leads to the ogre, and the other is…'
Ethan opened another door.
Screech.
"Aaaaah!"
The sound was so shrill, it felt like it would tear his ears off.
A giant, black bat appeared, showing its fangs as it charged toward him.
Thud!
Ethan expressionlessly closed the door.
"This one's a Giant Bat. This is tricky."
The ogre and the Giant Bat.
With his current gear, Ethan thought the ogre might actually be the better choice.
'The Giant Bat has less health and attack power, but it's a flying creature, so it's harder to hit. I'd struggle to take it down with just this sword. And if its claws scratch me, I could get poisoned or diseased. That'd be the end.'
Ethan glanced at the iron sword in his hand.
"Pathetic."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
Once, he'd worn equipment so valuable he could have lived his entire life in luxury by just selling one piece of it.
Ethan silently stood in front of the door where the ogre waited.
'Level 1, armed with nothing but an iron sword. The ogre is around level 15—about the point where it would be a fair fight.'
Screech.
The ogre, who had been sitting in the darkness, stood up.
Its red eyes followed Ethan.
For an ordinary Raider, this would be a hopeless situation.
Ethan pushed open the door and murmured.
"…But I am Ethan Wilder."
Clang.
Ethan swung the iron sword as though to strike the ground.
Hearing the sound, the ogre charged.
'I haven't faced an ogre in ages.'
Ethan had long since forgotten the ogre's attack patterns.
For a time, monsters like ogres were no challenge—just a single slash would take them down.
'Now, this is like facing an S-rank boss, or something even harder.'
Each minor attack from the ogre was a potential death blow to Ethan, who was just level 1 awakener.
'I need to dodge without taking any hits and wear it down over time.'
"Raaaah!"
The ogre swung its club at him.
It struck the spot where Ethan had been standing.
Thud.
Ethan rolled to the side.
He tumbled, jumped, fell awkwardly, and rolled again.
But his eyes never left the ogre, tracking every movement and attack pattern.
"Hah, hah."
Ethan's breath was already ragged just after dodging 3 of the Ogre's strikes.
Sweat dripped onto the floor.
'This is bad. My stamina is lacking. If I make a single unnecessary move, it's over.'
The ogre attempted another strike. Ethan focused on the path of the ogre's club.
He watched the attack to the very last moment and narrowly dodged it. While dodging Ethan also mentally locked in the ogre's final attack pattern.
'Now I can see its trajectory and movements clearly.'
The ogre's actions played out in his mind. The combined series of 4 attacks of an Ogre would be no problem if a Raider could grasp it, since they were basically very low brains, the Ogre's only knows to repeat the same attack time after time.
Ethan finally took his chance to strike. He slashed at the ogre's lower body with the iron sword.
SWISH--!
The ogre's hide and muscles were tough. Ethan's strike only left a shallow wound.
'I knew it. This will be a battle of focus and endurance.'
He took a deep breath and rolled again. The ogre had many openings after its attacks.
During those brief moments, Ethan relentlessly slashed with his sword.
Little by little, he built up the damage. Not a single mistake could be afforded. The life he had just been given was fragile, like a candle flickering in the wind.
'Until my revenge is complete, I will not die.'
Ethan's eyes glinted with hatred. No matter what body he was in, or where he started, it didn't matter.
'I am me. I am Ethan Wilder. The fact that I am the strongest doesn't change.'
Slash!
Ethan slashed at the ogre's leg once more. A multitude of small cuts marred its flesh.
"Grrr."
The ogre drooled, groaning in pain.
Ethan's body was drenched in sweat. Hundreds of repetitive movements. His endurance was slowly eroding his stamina.
If his stamina were to be quantified, only 1 point would remain.
'Now is the time.'
Whoosh!