Marcus was on his way back home when his dysfunctional TacMa interfaced, flickering faintly over his eyes. He leaned against the wall, water soaking into his thin hoodie. The rain didn't bother him. He was exhausted.
A screen popped in before him. Tacma was still doing its defective job as if it were following the main server in Celestial Axis.
[DUNGEON SITE IDENTIFIED - E RANK
LOCATION: SECTOR 10- PLATFORM 30]
"What? Dungeon? Now? I just want to disappear," he murmured. The memories of his first dungeon raid were not that really exciting. It was the other way around. His tacma was reset and the old him returned, the depressed one, the always-looking-down guy. And what did he get after? A smug mask named Anomaly, a crazy virus terrorist, and his sidekick, a sharp-tongued dagger.
Fang materialized beside him into a humanoid forma and leaned way too close to him.
"This is fate, Marus! We're gonna fight, no, maybe a real dramatic boss fight! Come on, Marcus. This one's calling your name."
Marcus turned his head slightly.
"Na, I think I'll pass this time. You have said that about every weird Tacma glitch this week."
"Yeah, but this one glitched with style. You know, a fascinating burst, corrupted metadata, and a dungeon signature that made your Tacma interface cough. Tell me if that's not destiny," he said, pouting.
"Or it's a trap. Or another divine joke or maybe your idea of fun," Marcus paused, looking at him. "What are you really pushing for, Fang?"
Fang grinned. He twirled his dagger like a conductor ready to cue an orchestra.
"Because this dungeon?" He said, sounding serious. "It's not a tutorial. It's not a test either. It's the real deal, your very first door, Marcus. And the thing behind it? They're waiting to meet you. And hungry."
Marcus was too suspicious of Fang.
"You're enjoying this way too much, Fang."
Fang smirked.
"Well, excuse me for being thrilled to watch a soft-boiled lose like you walk into hell for the first time. It's cute."
Marcus narrowed his eyes. Of course. What should Marcus expect from a talking dagger?
"And what if I die?"
There was a pause. And then Fang's smugness dropped for a moment.
"You won't. You'll be good," he casually replied, which didn't really calm Marcus.
"Fine," he said, gritting his teeth. "If I come back missing a limb, I'm feeding you to a blacksmith."
"Awww. You do care for me!" Fang replied cheerfully.
Marcus rolled his eyes.
"Do I at least get hazard pay?"
"You get trauma, experience, and the satisfaction of not being an average depressed boy forever," Anomaly said out of nowhere.
And with that, they vanished into the rain, heading for Platform 30, to the cathedral of flesh beneath.
Marcus stood at the edge of a rusted subway tunnel, his breath misting in the cold air. Tacma pinged in his vision.
[Entering Dungeon: Subterranean Rank E
Threat Level: Unknown]
"Looks familiar," Marcus said. "Moldy walls and smell like dying rats. I can do rats."
Anomaly chuckled
"Rats? Oh my dear Marcus…if only."
A low rumble echoed through the tunnel. The lights above flickered. The ground beneath him shifted. Suddenly, the station collapsed, swallowing him whole. The floor dissolved into black tar, warping around him like a molten dark chocolate.
[Error: Dungeon parameters exceeding E-rank limitations]
[System Breach Detected: Data Unknown]
[Reconnecting to Tacma: failed]
Marcus stumbled through the dark.
"What the hell?! Tacma? Hel-"
Marcus landed with a harsh crunch, coughing into a floor that smelled of iron and rot. He blinked, trying to adjust, his eyes and then he saw it:
A cathedral of flesh and stone, pulsating with red veins that throbbed like arteries. The towers rose like twisted ribs, and the ceiling above looked like a starless void smeared with eyes.
"This…this isn't E-rank at all!" he said, gritting his teeth as fear started to crawl under his skin.
"Welcome to your dungeon, Marcus…" Anomaly said, his voice trailing, echoing inside Marcus' head. "It was built for you. Built to break you," he added and then laughed maniacally.
Fang materialized in his humanoid appearance and tapped Marcus' shoulder.
"Honestly, I voted for lava, but blood cathedral's also have a vibe," he said.
Suddenly, a shadow detached from the far wall: a beast made of stitched corpses and armor, dragging a blade longer than a sports car. Its eyes burned like a torch. It let out a screech that made the air ripple.
[Warning: ]
[Dungeon Presence Detected: Black Executioner]
[Threat Level: Fatal]
"Be ready, Marcus," Anomaly hummed.
"W-wait what? I don't even have a weap-"
"Here," Marcus gave him a dagger. A plain dagger. "Use that and good luck." He said, distancing himself from Marcus.
Marcus looked at the shadow, and then it charged.
"Are you sure he'll gonna survive this?" Fang asked Anomaly while he was busy doing something in his personal glitching Holographic Screen.
"He needs to," he answered, not sparing a glance at Fang.
"Look at your pet's sword. It's freaking huge. It's like a slab of iron that could cut a city bus in half. It's like an underdog versus impossible force battle. That's cruel."
"Shut up, Fang. Just watch. I need this phase one to be completed, and we'll move to the next stage after this."
"If Marus' survives."
"T-that's a huge sword. That thing needs a wheel," Marcus muttered as he prepared himself for the impact.
Fang laughed lazily in Marcus' mind.
"Now that's a real weapon. Yours looks like a toothpick that someone cried on."
The executioner raised its massive sword with one hand and dragged it across the dungeon floor, its sparks flying like a flint. It didn't speak. It just charged as the ground cracked beneath each footfall. And then it disappeared.
Marcus braced himself, but it's too late.
Its sword came down like a guillotine.
He barely rolled to the side, the impact splitting the stone in a perfect line where his spine would've been.
The impact created shockwaves and static in the air.
Marcus coughed and stumbled, gripping Fang's weakest dagger with his shaking hands. He darted behind one of the towers for cover.
"Any damn advice!?" He yelled internally.
"Die slower," Fang chirped.
"I hate you!" he yelled.
There was a loud crash. The spire exploded as the blade cleaved through it. Marcus flung again, his vision blurred. Blood dripped into his eyes.
"Damn it. I can't win this," he whispered.
And that's when Anomaly's voice slipped in. It was soft instead of his mocking one.
"Then devour what you can't defeat," he said.
[Devourer now Activated]
Marcus's dagger pulsed.
"Eh? That's so soon," Fang whined.
"Oh, shut up, Dagger boy. He'll die if I delay it. You haven't devoured anything to make me process anything. The thing's hungry."
Fang whined.
"Do your job."
Fang pulled out another dagger from his body before disappearing and appearing beside hopeless Marcus as he took cover to a broken pavement.
"Here toy boy. Handle her with care. She bites a lot," he said, giving Marcus the dagger. "Not my best work but she'll help you. Don't lose her, rookie. I hate replacement," he said as he swallowed the dagger that he first gave to Marcus as a mock.
The dagger was a jagged, chipped thing wrapped in worn leather. It throbbed, faintly like it had a pulse.
"It's heavier than I thought," he said as he gripped the Dagger's handle.
"Remember, she likes to draw blood. It doesn't matter if it's your enemies' or yours. Good luck." And with that, Fang vanished.
Executioner growled as it marched towards Marcus' hiding. He swung his massive sword right above Marcus, but he was able to dodge it before the sword collided with the pavement.
"Hoooh! That was close," Fang sang. "All you have to do is dodge. You're good at dodging, boy."
"Shall we spice it a bit?" Anomaly said.
Marcus was clueless about what he meant and focused on running away, creating a distance between him and the executioner. But the executioner was fast despite its massive build. It shortened their gap and left Marcus in panic as the executioner swung came in slow motion. Marcus' instinct screams to dodge it and run, but Anomaly has a plan.
"It's time to stop running and dodging, boy. You have to take it," he whispered.
Marcus' feet rooted on the ground. No matter how hard he tried to uproot, his feet didn't bulge.
"Ayo! It's a game over, boy," Fang smirked.
"Think think think!" Marcus mind screamed in desperation as he watched the sword slowly descending on his head.