1 Prologue

"Marc, we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Luan, next to me, said as his body trembled and sweated.

Next, I felt something approaching.

I looked through a small hole in the wall and could see a Minotaur getting closer and closer to the only stone wall protecting us.

After we entered the dungeon and realised that it had been a terrible decision, we put ourselves behind a stone wall to hide. Because of this, we were completely trapped.

Behind, another stone wall prevented us from escaping, and to the left, there was also a wall. The only way out was to the right, a small narrow hole where we had entered.

And while we were hiding, monsters and more monsters were coming from all corridors of the dungeon.

Within seconds, we were surrounded.

Ogres, Goblins with black skin that used sharp single-edged swords, giant vipers almost five meters long, and the dreaded minotaurs.

Four meters tall, with an incredible movement speed and a lot of physical strength. RANK-A monsters.

All of them had formed a siege just in front of us.

"There's no way we can get out of here without being seen. Let's stay here and wait for the monsters to leave. They won't be here forever."

"Are you kidding? It won't be long before one of those minotaurs feels our smell." Luan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

After making some strange sounds, he slammed his head into the wall. He damaged his head, and blood dripped down his face.

I looked at him without understanding the reason behind what he did. I was utterly terrified.

Not because he was injured, but because just that cut would be enough to do we get noticed. The smell of blood was something very "tasty."

"You idiot..." I said as I looked at Luan. With a smile on his face, he took his sword from his waist and then crawled out of the hiding place.

"Luan, what do you think you are doing?" He completely ignored me. Luan seemed to have suddenly gone crazy. He ran towards the crowd of monsters while smiling.

I looked through the hole in the wall and could see the monsters going on alert.

I thought it would ignore me, but the Minotaur closest to the wall moved even closer to it and then snorted. I could see a "smoke" coming out of his nostrils.

And after snorting, it screamed.

AAAAAAH~~~

Using the big club made of solid iron, the Minotaur slammed it against the stone wall, causing it to crack. Next, another attack hit it.

After three more strikes...

The wall collapsed completely, leaving me exposed.

Further away, I could see Luan using his sword to try to cut some monsters. But being surrounded by so many, it was only a matter of time before they would kill him.

I gritted my teeth and then embedded magic into my sword. A single-edged sword that was severely damaged from my previous battles.

Glowing a fiery red colour, I used this same blade to strike the Minotaur's right leg.

It was a single move, and I ducked, avoided his iron club, and then slashed its leg.

The Minotaur's leg was slightly cut and burned because of the magic embedded in the blade. But the Minotaur didn't seem to feel that wound. As if unharmed, it tried to step on me.

I managed to avoid its foot after spinning my body. After turning a few times on the ground, I stood up and started to run away. I had to find the way out of this place as quickly as possible.

"My bad, Luan."

I started to hear some screams from Luan right behind me.

They were cries of desperation. He was screaming for help, but the "voices" of the monsters overlapped his voice.

Even with his pleas for help, I didn't stop running.

Avoiding the monsters in front of me, using all the strength I had left, I managed to get out of that room. It was one of several rooms that existed inside a dungeon.

After leaving, I ran through long corridors while continuing to be chased. Behind me, two minotaurs were chasing me as if their lives depended on it.

The speed was unimaginable, and they didn't look like they would tire any time soon, unlike me, who was already physically exhausted.

"Damn, why did I decide to become a hunter? It wasn't supposed to be like this! That damn system lied to me!" I wailed as I continued to run.

I was tired, and I couldn't take it anymore.

I couldn't run anymore, so I decided to stop running and waited for the minotaurs to approach me.

"Okay, system, you're going to help me!"

[ Note: The user has his mana gradually reduced ]

[ Note: The user's strength has halved. The Glutton skill has been deactivated ]

[ Note: The user has had his agility halved due to fatigue ]

[ Note: The user's battle power is almost nil ]

"Shit, shit, shit! You useless system, you've ended my life!" I shouted and again started to run.

However, with my reduced agility, I was quickly caught up.

Feeling death closing in on me, I threw myself to the ground. The Minotaur had almost taken my head off.

And the second Minotaur next to it had also prepared to make an attack. It made a vertical movement aiming to hit directly in the middle of my belly with the iron club.

I spun my body to the side with difficulty and avoided its attack. But only partially.

With the force of its attack, the ground cracked. On the ground, it formed a spider web pattern. And from the cracks, thorns made of iron appeared and pierced my back.

Guuh~~ I groaned in pain after being pierced.

"What? Where did that come from?" I tried to get up, but the iron thorns pinned me to the ground. I felt it move inside me.

As I suffered and groaned from the discomfiting pain I felt, I continued to stare directly into the red eyes of the Minotaur in front of me.

It raised the club just above me and then swung it down.

I felt my heart stop for an instant, and my eyes widen.

The last thing I gave was a scream.

****

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH"

I screamed loud enough that my mother and father downstairs in the house could hear me.

I was sweating non-stop. My bed was completely soaked with my sweat. I looked around in desperation, and I couldn't see any stone walls, just a bookcase, my computer, and my closet.

There were no minotaurs, but my dog, Bob. He looked at me, concerned about my condition.

I put my hand on my chest and felt my heart. It was beating so fast that it could jump out of my body at any moment.

"Was it all a nightmare? But it felt so real." I looked at my hands and noticed the big difference in their size from the hands I had in that dream.

"Besides, who is Marc?" I asked myself. I dreamed about a person I didn't even know.

I could hear my mother's footsteps coming up the stairs the next moment.

"Son, are you okay?!" She opened the door roughly.

She sighed with relief when she entered the room and saw me lying on the bed.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" She approached the bed and then looked at my clothes and the mattress, "You're all sweaty. Did you have another nightmare? This is becoming more and more common."

"..." I looked at her for a while and then got out of bed.

I put on my slippers and got a new set of clothes so that I could take a shower.

I didn't say anything to my mother, and I went straight to the bathroom.

After taking my shower and changing my clothes, I went down the precarious stairs of my house and reached the first floor. It was just a single room divided between the kitchen, living room, and dining room.

My sister was watching TV in the living room, and my mother and father were sitting at the table drinking coffee. My sister, as usual, was eating some cereal.

As soon as I grabbed a loaf of bread and sat down with her on the couch, my sister asked: "What happened? Was it another one of those nightmares?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm, what did you dream this time? Was it another nightmare involving dungeons?"

"Yes, but this time it was different."

"Different?"

"Yes, there were two people I didn't know."

"Two people you didn't know?"

[ Hunter World News ]

[ This evening, the bodies of two hunters were found in a dungeon located in the far south of the country. According to authorities, the two hunters entered the dungeon without permission. ]

[ Both Marc and Luan were Rank-C Hunters. The dungeon where the bodies were found is a Rank-B dungeon. What do you think about that, Mr Phil? ]

[ The two were irresponsible. Marc had a wife and a daughter. I wonder how they are feeling knowing that he did a stupid thing like that and ended up dying. ]

[ You didn't have to speak that way, Mr Phil ]

[ I have to say this. These idiots think they can kill any monster and get into any dungeon because they gained abilities! ]

[ All right, let's let the head of the Hunter association talk about what happened and let him alert the spectators. ]

[ But I'm not done talking yet. ]

[ Shut up, Phil. ]

After that, a reporter appeared smiling a little awkwardly. She put the microphone in the mouth of the head of the association, and he began to speak.

"What? You look like you saw a ghost."

"It's nothing."

I remained silent, but my mind was a mess at the moment.

'What's going on here? What the fuck is this?'

I felt my body sweat and shake. Because of nervousness, I started to feel a little short of breath. I put my bread on top of the couch and concentrated on calming myself down.

My sister realised that something was wrong with me.

"Hey, you don't look good at all." My sister put her hand on my forehead, "You have a fever."

Then she called our mother.

"What is it?"

"Lukas has a fever."

"Hmm, let me see. It's true. Are you feeling anything else?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm going to go upstairs and lie down for a while."

"Okay... I'll make some tea for you, okay? If you don't get better, I'll ask your father to take you to the hospital."

"Okay. Thanks, Mom." I went to my room.

Then I sat down in front of the computer and turned it on. I started researching cases of people who had had nightmares like mine. Nightmares that came true.

I was able to find a few things, but nothing like my situation.

I also did some research on the two dead hunters.

Luan was an ordinary man, but apparently that Marc was someone special. He was a Hunter who had only recently awakened but had evolved quickly.

"Does it have something to do with that 'system' that appeared in my nightmare? I've never seen something like that before."

I grabbed a towel and dried my face. After closing the browser and turning off the computer, I threw myself on my bed again.

After closing my eyes and falling asleep, I dream about something different. Letters and numbers appeared in front of me. In addition, a girl's sweet, soft voice began to read what appeared.

[ Congratulations, you have been chosen as the system's new user. ]

[ All needs have been met. ]

[ Implementing System...10%...30%....50%....100% ]

[ System successfully implemented ]

[ Update in progress. 10%...50%...100% ]

[ Update complete ]

[ System being assembled according to the user's wishes ]

[ ACADEMY system has been added ]

[ NULL System was added ]

[ RECOMPENSATION System was added ]

[ LITRPG System was added ]

[ Skill 'Divine Eyes of Doom' was added to the skill catalogue]

[ Skill 'Glutton' was added to the skill catalogue]

[ System is complete ]

[ Reboot in progress ]

[ System successfully rebooted ]

[ Welcome to the system ]