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In a world where people run after bread more than they run after their dreams, "Yunho" was just a shadow in the hustle of the cities. A college student barely able to pay his tuition fees, working day and night in jobs unworthy of his dignity, but he didn't have the luxury to object.
A delivery worker, a warehouse worker, and finally... a janitor at a giant pharmaceutical company. "Nova Pharma," a bright name in the world of medicine, but to him, it was nothing but a toilet to scrub in exchange for a few won.
The night was still, and the silence in sanitized places was always suffocating. The long corridors, the shiny floors, the smell of disinfectants... everything felt lonely. And Yunho was alone there, on the night shift, mopping the floor to an old song whose lyrics he couldn't even remember.
Then...
"ZZZZZZ..."
A faint sound, like the buzzing of a bee near his ear, made him stop. He looked around. No one. Only the cold machines flashing with their blue lights.
"Boom!"
A sound like an explosion, followed by a slight tremor in the floor. His heart jumped in his chest. He ran towards the sound, but found nothing but an open door to a lab that was usually closed.
"Impossible..." he whispered. He entered slowly, dragging his steps, his eyes scanning the dark place. Suddenly, from the heart of the lab... the ground cracked.
A black crack, as if the black sky itself had fallen on him.
Gravity disappeared. The air swallowed his breath. The ground swallowed him.
He fell.
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A World Without the Sun
When he opened his eyes, there was no ceiling. The sky was black, without stars. The cold bit at his bones, and dust filled his mouth. He struggled to his feet, feeling his injured head, trying to make sense of what was happening.
The city around him wasn't a city. It was ruins, the remains of broken buildings, and scattered human bones. No sound. No life.
"Am I... dreaming?" he asked himself, then slapped his cheek. The pain was real.
This was another world.
With every step he took, he felt something watching him.
Then he heard it...
"Hiss... Hiss..."
The sound of many feet... crawling.
He ran.
Without a goal. Without direction.
Until he found a mysterious cave, from which a faint purple light seeped.
He entered, panting, nervous, every cell in his body screaming danger.
---
The Spider Throne
Deep in the cave, the scent was different... fragrant, warm, but poisonous.
Then he saw her...
In the center of the hall, a black stone throne, atop which sat a woman of extraordinary beauty. Skin as white as snow, long black hair flowing like the curtains of night, and eyes that glowed red with madness. But... from the waist down, her body was covered in massive spider legs.
And around her... dozens of servant-like women, with spider bodies and deadly femininity.
He froze in place.
"W... Who are you?!" he screamed, but received no answer.
Suddenly...
[ System not activated yet ] [ To activate the system, consume the heart of the "Spider Queen" ] [ Reward: "Spider Web" Skill ]
A black screen appeared before him.
Yunho gasped. "Aaaaaaa... Eat her heart??!"
His body trembled, his hands shaking, and his heart pounding wildly. He hadn't received any skills. No sword. No shield. Not even a map. All he had... was a fragile body.
And now... he had to kill a royal monster.
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Fighting for Life
The Spider Queen looked at him with a sinister smile, then raised her hand with a slight gesture.
Hiss...
One of her servants shot toward him. Her eyes gleamed, her fangs dripping poison.
"I don't want to die... not now..." he muttered as he stepped back.
He threw a cleaning bag at her, ran, slipped, but dodged her strike.
"Damn!!"
He grabbed a rusty metal rod, swung, but it had no effect.
Another one lunged at him, slashed his shoulder, and blood exploded.
He fell, gasping, silently crying.
"Please... just give me a weapon..."
[ The system cannot be activated before completing the mission ]
Cruel... as if the universe were mocking him.
---
The Last Temptation
He saw the queen watching him... smiling.
He thought: "If I'm going to die... let me try the impossible."
He stood, cleaned his blood, and walked toward her with confident steps.
"Your Majesty..." he said softly, desperately.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I know you don't care about me, but... could you give me a chance? To be your slave? Your soldier? Or... something else?"
He drew closer.
His scent was alluring, despite the blood and sweat. His face handsome, his eyes sincere. Something about him confused her for a moment.
He moved closer... until he was at her throne. He whispered to her: "Your beauty is deadly... should I be killed by your tenderness?"
Silence.
Then...
She drove her claw into his stomach!
But instead of pain... he felt something else.
The system screen appeared again:
[ You failed to seduce her, but you intrigued her ] [ Sympathy system temporarily activated: "Survival Trick" skill ] [ Acquired ability: Deceiving the enemy for 10 seconds ]
---
Yunho smiled. Blood was flowing, but he understood.
This was his one chance.
And in the next moment... he raised his hand toward her heart...
---
Continuing Chapter One: Spider's Heart
Yunho raised his trembling hand toward the Queen's chest.
She looked at him without fear, but with a smile... mocking, confident, as if saying: "Do you think you can?"
But he wasn't thinking. He was moving on instinct. Ten seconds of the "Survival Trick" skill was all he had, and every second of it was worth his life.
He leaped with all the strength left in him, and drove his fist into her huge chest covered in black muscular armor. His weapon wasn't strong, but that deceptive skill made her see another shadow, distracting her for a moment... and that was enough.
"Ahhhh!!" he screamed with all his might, his hand sinking into her hot flesh, tearing, searching for the heart.
A powerful claw strike threw his body to the ground, but his hand had grasped something that was still beating...
Her heart.
---
[ Mission completed ]
[ System activation... initializing ] [ Acquired skill: "Spider Web - Level 1" ] [ Physical strength increased: +2 ] [ Evolution system activated: "Hunter's Heart" ]
The system screen lit up his face with a blue glow, while he writhed in pain.
The Queen screamed, the first time he saw her angry. Her eyes glowed, her voice echoed through the cave.
"You... you scum!!"
She lifted her massive body, and with the speed of a demonic spider, she charged at him like a hurricane. But now, he was no longer the same as before.
Yunho got up. His hair flying, his eyes blazing with blood and madness.
He raised his hand...
"Spider Web!"
A sticky silver thread shot out at an astonishing speed, wrapping around her claws, pulling her toward the wall, and slamming her against it with explosive force.
He was stunned himself. He breathed deeply.
"Did I... do it?"
---
Transformation
He approached her steaming corpse, her heart still beating in his hands. The warmth in it wasn't just biological; it carried something else... power.
Another screen appeared:
[ Do you want to consume the Spider Queen's heart? ] [ Yes / No ]
He hesitated for a moment. He knew this wouldn't come without a price. But he looked at his wounds... at his trembling hand...
Then pressed:
[ Yes ]
---
Heat. Flames. Dizziness. Then... screaming!
It wasn't an ordinary scream, but as if something was being torn from inside him. His nerves burned, his bones reformed, his heart was beating three beats per second, then five... then ten.
[ "Hunter's Heart" system activated ] [ Acquired negative ability: "Poison Immunity - Level 1" ] [ Acquired ability: "Spirit Thread" - An invisible thread that connects you to enemies you've defeated ]
He was trembling. But this time... not out of fear.
But from ecstasy.
"I... am strong?" he whispered as he looked at his hands.
As the Queen's heart decomposed in his hands, the cave began to tremble.
It wasn't an earthquake... but something deeper, as if a great soul had been lost, and the entire ecosystem was starting to collapse.
The maidservants who had been lined up beside the throne suddenly collapsed, their bodies shrinking, releasing sharp, inhuman screams.
Their spider eyes burned with crimson, and then their bodies turned to black ash, scattering in the air.
It seemed their lives were tied to one Queen...
"Did... they all die?" Yunho whispered with a trembling voice.
He began to realize that he hadn't just defeated a creature, but eradicated an entire nest.
The throne the Queen had sat upon cracked, and the ground beneath it split open, revealing a dark tunnel, pulsing with faint blue light... as if something new was opening.
A new notification appeared on the screen in front of him:
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[ Dungeon Cleared: "Royal Spider Cave" ] [ A gate to the next dungeon has been opened ] [ Warning: From now on, every step will meet potential death. There is no turning back. ]
---
Yunho closed his eyes, took a deep breath. He no longer felt the same as he had. The blood running through his veins felt different, power flowing like magical energy. Something inside him had changed... forever.
"This world... won't return me unless I force it to."
He opened his eyes. There was no trace of weakness in them.
He stepped toward the dark tunnel, muttering:
"If I have to eat their hearts one by one... then so be it."
And silence fell.
Except for the sound of his footsteps dissolving into the darkness.