The alley became a cage of teeth and shrieks.

  Do?Hyun moved through the swarm like something just as dangerous. Running served no purpose. He pivoted instead—short steps, sharp turns, clean cuts.

  Side?step. Slash. Duck. Pierce.

  Each motion stayed deliberate, stripped down to what mattered. Wasted effort meant death.

  The Executed's Shiv slipped through the dark with a faint, eager hiss.

  Rust no longer clung to it the way it once had. Wherever black blood touched the blade, the corrosion cracked and peeled away, revealing dark, folded steel beneath—razor?sharp, drinking the alley's dim light.

  The next strike landed with a wet squelch.

  Do?Hyun severed a rat's spine mid-air. It hit the concrete hard, twitching once before going still.

  [Combo: 12 Hits.]

  [System Note: Not bad for a cripple. You're actually sweating. Is that... effort? Gross.]

  Do?Hyun ignored the text floating in his vision. Breath tore through his chest, each inhale sharper than the last, his heartbeat slamming fast and frantic beneath his ribs.

  [Vitality: 12.5% Dropping due to exertion.]

  He was cutting them down, but the swarm never ended. Rats kept spilling from the sewers, chittering and shrieking as if the alley itself were vomiting them out.

  One of them—huge, nearly the size of a bulldog—shot toward his leg.

  Do?Hyun swung his foot up to drive it back, but his body answered a fraction too late, exhaustion dragging at his muscles.

  Crunch.

  Its teeth clamped onto his boot. The leather resisted, but the pressure jolted through his bones, sharp and bruising.

  "Tch."

  Do?Hyun grimaced. In the same motion he brought the dagger down hard, steel biting into skull and concrete together, pinning the creature to the pavement before it could tear free.

  [Critical Hit.]

  He wrenched the blade free, only to see three more lunging toward him, teeth bared. The brick wall pressed against his back, closing off any escape.

  "Enough," he hissed, eyes snapping shut for a heartbeat as he drew the shadows coursing through him.

  Shadow Bind.

  Shadows spilled from the overflowing dumpsters, stretching like black tentacles that lashed out and coiled around the nearest five rats. They squealed, limbs pinned by the dark, twisting hands of night.

  Do?Hyun moved down the line without hesitation.

  Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.

  The Shiv arced through the air, slicing clean and true. Five heads toppled before the shadows retracted, leaving the bodies to dissolve into curling smoke.

  He sagged against the wall, breath steaming in the cold air, arm trembling from exertion, heartbeat hammering as if trying to escape his chest.

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  [Mana: 15/100.]

  [Warning: You are depleting your reserves. If you faint here, they will eat your face first.]

  Suddenly, the chittering stopped.

  The remaining rats froze, noses twitching, ears flicking. One by one they skittered back into the sewers, whimpering like frightened children.

  Silence swallowed the alley.

  The ground trembled beneath Do?Hyun's boots.

  Thump. Thump.

  From the shadows at the far end, something immense pushed through the rift.

  The Plague Alpha emerged—a rat the size of a compact car. Its bloated body bulged with sores that oozed dark, sticky fluid. A thick, hairless tail whipped behind it like a living whip, lashing the air with each twitch.

  Its jaws opened wide, exposing jagged yellow teeth, and it let out a wet, gurgling roar that shook the windows of the deserted buildings lining the alley. The sound vibrated through the ground, rattling Do?Hyun's bones and freezing the air with raw, primal menace.

  [Boss Detected: The Plague Alpha.]

  [Rank: D-.]

  [Status: Hungry.]

  [Objective: Surv— actually, just run. No, wait. You can't. The exit is blocked. Good luck!]

  Do?Hyun straightened, wiping sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand. Across the alley, a towering monstrosity loomed, all ragged muscle and crooked teeth.

  "You're ugly," he said, voice flat.

  The Alpha charged, surprising speed for something that size. It barreled down the narrow lane, smashing dumpsters and throwing sparks from the brick as its bulk scraped past.

  Do?Hyun stayed rooted, studying the creature's movement—left heavy, right leg dragging slightly. He waited for the right moment.

  When the beast lunged, jaws yawning wide enough to swallow him, Do?Hyun dropped and slid beneath its belly. The slick pavement carried him as the Shiv whipped up.

  Gut him.

  The blade tore from chest to groin, the dark steel slicing through hide like a zipper. Black blood erupted, soaking his clothes and skin.

  The Alpha screamed and slammed into the wall, thrashing until brick and mortar gave way. Do?Hyun pushed himself up, slime clinging to his arms, the stench of the creature clinging to his clothes.

  The creature, still alive, whipped its tail through the air.

  Snap.

  A glancing blow caught his chest like a sledge. Air exploded from his lungs as he flew backward, colliding with a metal dumpster and folding over it, breath gone.

  [Health Critical.]

  [Rib fracture detected. Vitality: 10%.]

  Coughing, Do?Hyun tasted copper as pain flared across his ribs.

  The Alpha turned, its entrails dragging, eyes blazing with pure hate as it readied to charge again.

  A wheeze escaped him, half laugh, half blood.

  "Finally," he whispered, fingers whitening around the dagger. "A challenge."

  The Shiv pulsed in his hand, rust flaking away. Dark steel drank the light and blood, glowing a deep, living crimson.

  [Weapon Evolution Complete.]

  [Name: The Headsman's Edge.]

  [Effect Unlocked: Serrated Wound — Bleeding cannot be stopped.]

  The Alpha charged, its bulk surging down the alley.

  Do?Hyun pushed off the dumpster, ignoring the scream of pain that shot through his ribs.

  He leaped for the eyes. The Alpha snapped where he had been, but a flicker of Shadow Step shifted him three inches to the left—just enough to dodge the bite.

  Landing on the creature's snout, the Headsman's Edge drove into its left eye, burying the blade to the hilt.

  ROAR—

  The roar cut off as the blade twisted, releasing a surge of shadow mana straight into the creature's brain.

  The Alpha stiffened, then collapsed.

  Do?Hyun slid down its bulk, letting the corpse hit the ground beneath him.

  [Boss Defeated.]

  [Level Up!]

  [Level Up!]

  [Reward: +5 Stat Points.]

  [Item Drop: Rat King's Whisker Crafting Material.]

  The world blurred as the purple sky cracked, revealing the familiar night above Seoul. Moss and rot vanished, replaced by the sharp, biting smell of cold trash.

  Do?Hyun rolled off the dissolving body, landing hard on the asphalt of the alley, his head spinning as he tried to steady his vision. His eyes flickered to the floating display in front of him, scanning the numbers as they swam slightly in his mind.

  [Name: Kang Do?Hyun]

  [Level: 3]

  [Vitality: 14.5% Recovering]

  [Strength: 12]

  [Agility: 15]

  Cold snow fell on his burning face as he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

  "Two levels," he muttered. "Pathetic."

  Still upright, weapon in hand—enough to survive. The sun would rise soon, and he needed to get back to his room before it did.

  Groaning, Do?Hyun pushed upright, ribs screaming with each movement, and limped out of the alley. Dark drops of blood sizzled where they touched the snow, leaving a trail behind him.