← # The Last Survivor of the S-Rank Gate
I don't know how much time has passed.
In the endless darkness, I had lost all sense of time. Days blended into nights, and nights stretched into what felt like eternities. The only thing I could be certain of was the cold stone beneath me and the weight of despair pressing down on my chest.
My name is Kang Tae-oh. I'm a hunter—or at least, I was.
Three months ago, an S-rank gate appeared in Seoul. The hunters' association mobilized all available S-rank hunters to clear it. I was among them, confident in my abilities. We were the strongest. We were invincible.
We were fools.
The gate was different from anything we'd encountered before. The monsters inside were beyond our comprehension. One by one, my comrades fell. I watched them die—watched their bodies crumble to dust as the creatures tore through our ranks like we were nothing.
In the end, only I remained.
I don't remember how I survived. Perhaps it was luck. Perhaps it was cowardice—I had hidden while the others fought. The guilt of that possibility gnawed at me more than any monster's claws ever could.
Now I was trapped in this darkness, in what I assumed was the deepest part of the gate. The monsters didn't come anymore. Maybe they had forgotten about me. Maybe they were waiting for me to die on my own.
I was dying. Slowly, but surely.
My supplies had run out days ago. My mana was depleted. My body was covered in wounds that wouldn't heal. Every breath felt like drawing glass into my lungs.
This was how it would end. Not in glorious battle, but alone in the dark, forgotten by the world above.
I closed my eyes and waited for death to take me.
Then, something changed.
A sound echoed through the darkness—a sound like shattering glass. My eyes snapped open. Light. There was light.
A crack appeared in the stone wall before me, and through it poured a brilliance so intense it burned my eyes. I shielded my face with my arm, squinting against the glare.
"Is anyone there?"
A voice. A human voice.
I tried to respond, but my throat was too dry. Only a hoarse croak emerged.
"There! I see someone!"
Footsteps. Multiple people. Hunters, judging by the aura of mana I could sense.
"My God," one of them breathed. "How long has he been down here?"
Hands reached for me—gentle hands, careful not to aggravate my injuries. I was lifted, cradled like a child. The light grew brighter, and I felt warmth on my skin for the first time in what felt like forever.
"Stay with us," a woman's voice said. "You're going to be okay. You're safe now."
Safe. The word seemed foreign, almost meaningless. But as consciousness began to slip away, I held onto it like a lifeline.
I was alive.
Against all odds, I had survived.
And as darkness claimed me once more—a different kind of darkness, the merciful darkness of sleep—I wondered what awaited me in the world above.
The world that had left me behind.The cave exhaled a mixture of fish stench and rotting earth.
Junhyuk breathed shallowly, moving his pen. His fingers trembled slightly. But this wasn't trembling—it was vibration. A vibration that resonated through his entire chest as his heart lurched.
*Movement detected. Direction unclear. Estimated distance over 40 meters. Presumed movement caused by acoustic vibration.*
The pen didn't stop on the notebook. Junhyuk's hand moved automatically, as if his body were thinking separately from his mind.
The bioluminescent moss around them seemed darker. No, it wasn't darker. Junhyuk's pupils had dilated, making everything sharper. Fear state. Survival mode.
The cave ceiling remained invisible. The flashlight beam traveled upward and disappeared somewhere. As if the ceiling didn't exist at all. Or as if it was too high for the light to reach.
Park Seoyeon drew her sword. The metallic sound rang through the entire cave. The echo bounced around, repeating multiple times. Echo. A sound that revealed just how massive this space was.
Junhyuk recorded that too.
*Acoustic reverberation in cave. Estimated scale minimum 1km+ height. Limestone-based rock. Sound wave vibration sustained approximately 3 seconds.*
Choi Minjun's blade reflected in the faint light. That reflection entered Junhyuk's eyes. For a moment, the blade appeared red instead of yellow to him.
The color of death.
"Something seems to be moving."
Oh Jieun whispered. Her voice maintained a normal tone, but Junhyuk noticed. She was afraid too.
Park Seoyeon's eyes, standing beside the E-rank corpse, sharpened. She still held her sword, and it rotated slowly. The movement of one prepared. The movement of one experienced.
"Everyone, large monster formation positions."
Park Seoyeon's command fell.
Junhyuk stood at the very back of the team. This was the right position. It was the best an E-rank support could do. He could have put down his pen and drawn a sword, but that would be suicide. It was better to record. Someone had to remember this. Someone had to preserve this.
Another sound came from deep within the cave.
This time it wasn't acoustic. It was a physical sound. The sound of something moving. A wet sound, like something falling into water. A noise like skin and slime rubbing against each other.
Junhyuk's pen stopped.
"Junhyuk, do you see anything?"
Park Seoyeon asked. She knew of Junhyuk's ability. Not much, but she did. Junhyuk suspected that was why Choi Minjun had brought him along.
"I don't see anything."
Junhyuk's voice trembled. He tried to hide it, but he couldn't.
"But..."
Junhyuk moved his pen again. His hand shook, but the letters his fingers traced were precise.
*Unidentified large monster. Movement speed approximately 8 meters per second. Movement on land. Sliding motion rather than stepping. Number of legs unclear. Minimum 4 or more. Skin texture moist. Body fluid secretion presumed.*
Junhyuk didn't read it aloud. He simply left it on the open notebook. For someone to see.
No, if one person remained, they would be able to see this.
That thought suddenly came to him.
Eyes glowed in the darkness. Not two eyes. Junhyuk counted. One, two, three... six. More than that.
Luminous eyes stared at Junhyuk.
"What is that..."
Oh Jieun's voice trembled.
Park Seoyeon said nothing. She simply raised her sword. Spread her legs. Combat stance.
Choi Minjun did the same.
Junhyuk moved his pen.
*Multiple luminous organs. Estimated monster body length 5 meters or more. Threat level S-rank or above. Complex nervous system presumed. Intelligent monster. Cooperative hunting possible.*
It emerged from the darkness.
Tentacles.
Multiple long, resilient tentacles with suckers at their ends descended along the cave wall. They swayed left and right like snakes, moving toward the team.
Junhyuk stepped backward.
The pen continued moving.
*Combat initiated. 0 seconds.*
Park Seo-yeon's blade cut through the air.
A silver trajectory split the darkness, flying toward the tentacle. In that instant, the tentacles bent sharply to the left. The blade sliced through empty air, and one tentacle traced a slick arc toward Park Seo-yeon's flank.
"Move left!"
Park Seo-yeon's voice echoed through the cave. It wasn't a command—it was a declaration. Her body was already moving. Her shoulder twisted, and the angle of her blade shifted. When the tentacle and blade met, the sound—*crack*—was the collision of moisture and metal.
Choi Min-jun quickly circled behind Park Seo-yeon. The twin blades in his hands glinted. The lowest tentacle in the mass came crashing down toward his head. He rolled to evade—and simultaneously, one blade curved upward. The tip of the tentacle was severed.
Dark liquid sprayed into the air.
"Ah, ah!"
Oh Ji-eun screamed. The moment the liquid hit the cave floor, it made a *sizzling* sound. The voice of flesh burning. It was acidic. Jun-hyeok instinctively stepped back another pace.
*Tentacle tip auto-regeneration suspected. Acidic body fluid. High corrosivity.*
His hand moved across the notebook. Jun-hyeok's eyes were fixed on the battle, but his pen never stopped.
Park Seo-yeon moved again.
"Min-jun, focus on the left beam! I'll handle the right. Ji-eun, fall back!"
Her command wasn't an order—it was a prediction. Park Seo-yeon moved as if she already knew the monster's movements. When multiple tentacles attacked simultaneously, her blade struck precisely at the intersection of their trajectories.
"One more time!"
Park Seo-yeon shouted. In that moment, something new emerged from the darkness. Not a tentacle. Something thicker, faster.
Jun-hyeok saw it.
The monster's body detached from the cave wall. It looked like a giant octopus, but its body—its body wasn't skin. Something that resembled scales glinted. Irregular-shaped scales. No, carapace. No, something more intricate. An exoskeleton that looked like biological armor covered its entire body.
*Not just tentacles—main body exposed. Estimated body length 5.5~6 meters. Possesses exoskeleton. Suspected adaptive or absorption-type defense mechanism.*
With each movement, the darkness trembled. The air itself seemed to compress. Jun-hyeok's chest sank. This wasn't an E-rank hunt. This was a scale that no briefing document had anticipated.
Choi Min-jun screamed.
"Park Seo-yeon! Full deployment!"
His face had gone pale. The confident expression he'd worn until now was instantly replaced by fear. A tentacle grazed his arm, and his sleeve began to dissolve in the acidic fluid.
"Got it!"
Park Seo-yeon's voice changed.
She began to bring her twin blades together. The angles of the two blades aligned perfectly. The blades overlapped and shone. It was as if—as if they were transforming into a single weapon. In that moment, a new energy emanated from her body.
*Ability activated. S-rank hunter's unique technique? Exact classification impossible. Observation required.*
Jun-hyeok's pen moved faster.
Park Seo-yeon charged. Her speed was instantaneous. She pierced through the mass of tentacles and closed in directly on the monster's main body. In that moment—
The monster cried out.
It wasn't a sound. It was a vibration. A low rumble that shook the entire cave. Jun-hyeok's teeth chattered. His internal organs resonated. There was intelligence in that cry. There was emotion.
Rage.
"Stay calm! Look at me!"
Park Seo-yeon shouted. Her blade struck the monster's exoskeleton. Sparks flew. The sound of metal against carapace rang through the cave. And—
The counterattack came.
Three tentacles tried to wrap around Park Seo-yeon simultaneously. She rolled to evade, but one tentacle grazed her leg. Her forearm was exposed. Blood flowed.
"Park Seo-yeon!"
Choi Min-jun quickly stepped in front of her. His blades blocked the incoming tentacles. One, two, three. His arms trembled. This intensity was exceeding what he could handle.
Jun-hyeok stepped back further, pen still moving.
The cave wall touched his back.
That was the end of his retreat. Death ahead, wall behind. Jun-hyeok leaned against that wall and continued writing.
*47 seconds since combat began. Park Seo-yeon injured. Choi Min-jun fatigue rising. Combat sustainability low. Team survival probability...*
The pen stopped.
He didn't write the number. Because he already knew it. That number was far too small.
In the darkness, six or more eyes glowed. Those eyes were looking at Jun-hyeok.
Jun-hyeok's pen moved again.
*We will die here.*