The narrow passageway closed in around them as they slipped through the Rift's thin threshold. The air grew colder, heavier, and thick with a mist that curled and twisted like restless spirits. Every step echoed faintly, swallowed quickly by the oppressive silence.
When they stepped fully inside, they found themselves in a labyrinthine chamber—endless corridors twisting and folding back on themselves, walls slick with moisture and etched with strange, faded markings. Above, decapitated skulls of Rift Hounds hung from the ceiling, suspended by frayed ropes. Their jagged teeth and cracked bones stared down like grim trophies, silent reminders of past battles and brutal fates.
A faint, eerie glow pulsed from the Rift's core deep within the chamber, casting long, trembling shadows over the scattered remains of shattered weapons and broken bones littering the uneven floor. The heavy air pressed against their lungs, as if warning them that this place was soaked in death.
Jaemin's pulse quickened, cold sweat prickling at his neck. This was no ordinary Rift.
"Auxiliary Core: Guardian's Domain."
A soft, protective shimmer spread outward, enveloping the group in a faint, shimmering light that Minjae created.
Minjae's voice was calm but firm.
"This place isn't like the lower tiers. The environment here is unstable—twisted by the Abyss itself.
Jaemin looked toward Hana, curiosity in his eyes.
"Why did Minjae activate his core powers now? Why not you?"
Before Hana could answer, Jisoo stepped in, her tone sharp and certain.
"Because this is Tier 3. The hazards here are different from anything we've faced before. We're no longer inside some mirror of our own world. This place is a warped fragment of time and space—something the Abyss created to trap or test us."
She scanned the endless twisting corridors, shadows playing tricks in the dim light.
"To be honest, this place barely exists by normal rules. It's the Abyss's actual domain, where laws like gravity or inertia only faintly apply—if at all. If something breaks those laws, it can happen here."
Jaemin's heart pounded as he pictured the danger surrounding them — the skulls of Rift Hounds hanging like morbid ornaments from the ceiling, silent witnesses to countless failed expeditions.
They pressed deeper into the labyrinth, winding through corridors of obsidian stone that groaned and whispered as if alive. The walls were slick with condensation that shimmered unnaturally, and every step echoed like thunder in a place that shouldn't exist.
They rounded a corner—and stopped.
Before them stood a massive stone door, nearly four meters tall, embedded in the black rock like a monument to some ancient civilization long erased. It pulsed—breathed—with violet veins that coursed across its surface like arteries under skin.
Carved into the stone were three pedestals, each waist-high and flat-topped, shaped in perfect circles. Atop each was a glowing symbol:
A Clock, suspended in time, its hands twitching in reverse.
An Eye, ever-shifting, with concentric rings inside it.
A Flame, flickering but leaving no heat.
Above the door, words burned themselves into visibility in ancient Core script—yet Jaemin understood them immediately, as if whispered into his mind.
"Only those whose eyes see beyond time survive the fire."
The glyphs on the door rearranged every few seconds, always in a different configuration, but in the brief moments between the shifts, three icons would flash for a breath:
Clock → Eye → Flame.
"Another dead end?"
Jinhwan muttered, gripping his sword tighter.
"No…" Jaemin stepped forward, his eyes tracing the shifting glyphs.
"This isn't a wall. It's a lock."
"A puzzle?" Hana blinked, tilting her head. "Interesting. We usually see these in T2s. T3s really are something else…"
"And deadly, if solved wrong. Careful."
Minjae raised an eyebrow.
"So what's the play, rookie?"
Jisoo stepped beside Jaemin, arms crossed.
Jaemin nodded toward the pedestals.
"Three symbols. Three of us. But it's not just about who steps up. It's about order. Clock… Eye… Flame."
"Bah!!"
Jinhwan grunted, already stepping toward the Flame symbol.
"No puzzle. Fire's clearly mine. Flame always meant Lions Mane. Don't overthink it."
"Wait, no—!"
Jaemin's warning came too late.
Jinhwan slammed his palm onto the Flame pedestal.
With the sound of an angry lion's roar, lion's mane burst through Jinhwan's palm
The pedestal glowed red—and then pulsed a deep, angry black.
A shockwave exploded out from the stone with a piercing screech that dropped half the team to one knee. The hallway trembled.
Jinhwan coughed, staggered backward, and growled.
"What the hell was that?!"
Jaemin exhaled.
"Not Lion's Mane, apparently."
"You think?"
Jisoo smirked.
"Die alone man; try not to get us all killed, tank boy."
Jinhwan grumbled something obscene and stomped back to the group, his armor still smoking.
The massive door groaned open, its stone slabs retracting with a hiss into the walls, revealing a dim chamber ahead lit by nothing but swirling violet fog.
But before they could take a single step forward—
CRACK!!!!.
A fissure tore open in the black stone beneath Jinhwan's feet. Energy surged from the break like a geyser of darkness.
"Wait—!" Hana shouted.
Too late.
The air split open above the fissure, and a hand—no, a clawed appendage the size of a human torso—reached out from the void.
The team backed away instantly, forming a circle as the space between realms convulsed. The stench of acid and rot poured into the corridor like a wave.
From the wound in reality emerged a creature that scraped its claws against the walls with a sound like shrieking metal. A Rifthound, but three times larger than any they'd encountered. Its back arched like a panther's, hunched with exposed ribs that pulsed with green, sickly light. Its fangs dripped venom that sizzled upon touching the stone.
"Riftlord…"
Jaemin whispered, stepping back.
"It's a Riftlord-class variant!!!"
The beast didn't look at the group—it looked directly at Jinhwan, huffing as though it had smelled guilt.
Jisoo muttered under her breath.
"A punishment. These rifts really do have a mind of their own…"
Hana's expression hardened.
"It's bound to Jinhwan. We intervene, and more might come through."
Jinhwan flexed his arms, cracking his neck with a grin that barely masked the sudden chill in his blood.
"You want me? Then come, you oversized dick!!"
He stepped forward, separating himself from the group. His crimson aura flared violently.
"Bastion Core: Lions Mane — Apex Ignition."
His shield expanded with roaring flame patterns, his armor thickening with radiant red plating. This was no longer reckless swagger—it was full battle mode.
The Riftlord lunged.
Claws met steel. Poison clashed against flame.
A solo duel began in that narrow corridor as the others could only watch—tense, ready to intervene if the tide turned. But this was Jinhwan's mess. His fight.
It wasn't just a wrong answer. The Rift had judged him unworthy.
And now, Jinhwan had to survive it.
Jinhwan looked like he was having fun.
Jinhwan grinned—actually grinned—as the Riftlord bared its fangs, venom sizzling onto the blackstone floor.
"Let's make this interesting."
With a sharp inhale and a low stance, he crossed his arms and drew twin blades from the magnetic clasps on his back. His shield shattered into embers.
"Bastion Core: Bastion Blades."
The twin swords gleamed—then glowed. The moment the skill activated, his armor, already radiating from Apex Ignition, pumped intense heat through his entire frame. The blades absorbed every ounce, the hilts hissing in his grip as they hardened, then burned red-hot, almost white at the edges.
The Riftlord lunged, claws outstretched like spears.
CLANGGGGG
A clean slice—and the poison-tipped claws hit the ground, severed. Steam hissed from the lacerations. The beast recoiled, letting out a guttural, gurgling howl.
"Bitch"
The squad, watching from the rear, let out small exhales of relief.
"He… really calculated that."
"Dude's reckless, but he's not stupid…"
But the Riftlord wasn't finished.
With a sickening crack of bone, it whipped its spine like a serpent, a barbed tail flailing outward. Jinhwan didn't have time to dodge.
CRACKKKKKK!!!
He was launched across the corridor like a cannonball, slamming into the far wall, stone bursting outward from the impact. Dust flooded the air, obscuring him from view.
"Jinhwan!"
Hana called out.
Silence.
Then—
A shape surged through the smoke.
A blur of crimson flame, arcing high into the air above the Riftlord.
"Nice hit, bastard. Now take mine!!."
Jinhwan brought both blades together and dove down, his armor ablaze, the very air rippling around him.
"Bastion Core: Overburn Cleave."
He slashed directly at the beast's nape, the twin blades igniting. The hit didn't just burn—it overloaded, detonating the poison sacs with volatile heat.
[The status effect: "Overburn" kicked in.]
The Riftlord howled as its acidic mist vaporized instantly, searing the toxin from existence.
"No more poison. My family back home is enough for me!"
Landing smoothly, Jinhwan didn't pause.
In a single fluid motion, he spun and dashed beneath the beast, driving both blades into its underbelly.
SLASHHH!
Like a zipper being undone, the Riftlord split clean from abdomen to skull—steam, bile, and sizzling tissue exploding outward as the creature fell in two, collapsing with a wet thud.
The Rift crack sealed behind the corpse with a faint pop, as if acknowledging the end of its sentence.
Jinhwan stood amidst the smoke, blades still glowing faintly red, chest rising and falling calmly.
"Hah… riddles, screw those."
"He fought like a lunatic,"
Naeun said.
"He fought like a leader,"
Jisoo corrected.
They are thrown back and the door shuts back to continue the riddle.
Jaemin knelt before the symbols, eyes scanning every curve and carve of the glyphs: a Clock, an Eye, and a Flame—each one etched into its own pedestal, glowing faintly.
"Let's try this again."
he murmured, steadying his breath.
"Clock, Eye, Flame… they're not just literal—they're metaphorical."
"The Eye isn't about fire. It's about seeing—light, maybe insight."
Everyone turned toward the pedestals again, more thoughtful now.
"Hana."
Jaemin said, turning to her.
"Take the Eye. You've got Shimmering Light too, right? It's healing, sure, but more than that… it's vision, illumination. That's what the Eye needs."
Hana blinked, then nodded slowly.
"Got it."
"Auxiliary Core: Shimmering Light."
Her healing lamp flickered into existence, spinning gently in her palm. She let it hover over the pedestal, and a pulse of pale gold surged through the stone. The Eye glyph glowed softly, lines of light crawling toward the door.
Jaemin turned next to Jisoo.
"Clock's yours."
She cracked her knuckles.
"Right. Flux Core fits with temporal flow anyway."
She stepped up and placed her hand on the Clock pedestal.
"Flux Core: Temporal Sync."
Her aura flared a smooth indigo as the glyph thrummed beneath her fingers. The circular pattern ticked once… then aligned.
"Minjae's still running Guardian's Domain, so…"
Jaemin looked at Naeun.
"You're up for Flame."
"Auxiliary Core: Strings of Life."
Golden threads unfurled around her arms and shoulders, wrapping delicately around the Flame pedestal. As the light met stone, a deep hum vibrated through the room.
"Flame isn't destruction—it's passion, connection, energy. And Naeun's threads? They burn with purpose."
For one tense second, nothing happened.
Then—
CRACK—THOOM!!.
The stone door split open down the middle, mist pouring from the dark corridor beyond.
They had passed the test.
Jaemin stood up slowly, dusting his knees off.
"Well done!!!!"
Jinhwan grunted with a rare nod of approval.
"Didn't think I'd see brains before brawn today."
"Speak for yourself."
Jisoo smirked.
"I just followed the nerd's lead."
Jaemin just smiled awkwardly...what a way to compliment....
The stone parted with a low grind, revealing a dark hallway cloaked in dense mist. The group exchanged glances, nerves still high from the earlier tension. Without a word, they began stepping through.
The moment the last boot crossed the threshold, the stone door slammed shut behind them—no warning, no delay. A cold rush of air surged through the hall as the floor rumbled beneath their feet.
CRACK—CHUNK.
The very ground beneath them began to split and fall away in massive stone segments, like a collapsing puzzle. Jaemin's breath caught as the stable floor beneath him shrank and lifted, separating into a single floating platform suspended over a void of swirling abyssal mist.
One by one, the others steadied themselves as their footing adjusted to the now-isolated platform drifting in the vast, hollow chasm. There were no walls anymore—only endless shadows surrounding them.
"Yeah. No. I'm not paid enough for floating ghost floors."
Jinhwan said as he turned to Jaemin.
"We are getting paid for this???"
Jisoo asks
"Go on, chosen one. Lead the way. Hero moment fr."
"Me???"
" Look at this—does this scream 'tank terrain' to you?"
Jisoo leaned over and grinned.
"Aww, what happened to our fearless meat shield?"
"Fearless meat shield doesn't like floating death LEGOs."
Jinhwan shot back.
"This was not in the tank manual."
"Did you even read the tank manual?"
"It was in Latin. I skimmed."
"We live in korea...how did you get a latin one in first place????"
The platform creaked ominously.
Everyone stopped joking.
"…That wasn't funny anymore," Jisoo muttered.
Each of them stood on separate circular platforms — discs of ancient stone, floating midair in a chasm of nothingness. No visible floor. No ceiling. No gravity, it seemed. Just mist and flickering motes of light — and somewhere in the deep, something breathing.
"Uh... guys?"
Naeun called out nervously, peering into the dark. Her platform wobbled slightly.
Jinhwan stepped back, eyeing the separation.
"This is new. Don't look at me. Jaemin, you're up."
"Oh, how the mighty tank retreats. I'll make sure Yura hears about this."
Jinhwan scoffed, folding his arms.
"Tell her I chose life."
Jaemin ignored their banter. Something was wrong. A subtle hum vibrated beneath his feet, like tension building in the air.
He looked down.
A chill crawled up his spine.
"Is it getting colder?" he asked, his breath forming fog.
"I feel it too," Hana nodded.
"We shouldn't be feeling temperature shifts here. This place—it's sealed."
"It's not the cold that matters," Jaemin murmured. "It's what it means."
His eyes widened as he pieced it together.
"Temperature drop... increased density... we're sinking."
"Sinking into what?"
"Whatever is under this mist," Jaemin said. "And I don't think it wants us here."
He spun around. The platforms weren't just lowering. They were descending at different speeds. Like weights being pulled down based on mass — or energy.
"Try activating your Corewheels!" Jaemin shouted.
Jisoo instantly caught on. "Flux Core: Dynamic Overdrive!"
Her purple aura shimmered into a soft indigo, and her platform slowed... then lifted slightly.
"It's gravitational!" she yelled. "Core resonance is resisting the pull!"
"We're not just on floating discs," Jaemin said.
"This is a flux field. We have to balance our Core output to counter it."
"Minjae!" Hana called out. "Your domain!"
"Auxiliary Core: Guardian's Domain!" Minjae roared.
The dome expanded around his platform, stabilising his position.
One by one, the others flared their Cores. Bright auras lit up the mist. Naeun's healing threads. Hana's shimmering lamp. Even Jinhwan ignited his Lion's Mane again to keep the balance.
But Jaemin stood still.
His platform continued to sink.
"He doesn't have a Core!" Jisoo snapped.
"We need to pull him up!"
Naeun acted fast. "Auxiliary Core: Strings of Life!"
Golden light coiled from her arms like celestial threads, latching onto Jaemin's platform. Hana reinforced it with her light. The two began pulling him toward a central position.
But something resisted.
Jaemin squinted downward. His platform trembled as it scraped against others. The surfaces — they weren't smooth. They had grooves.
"Wait... stop!" he shouted.
Everyone froze.
He knelt, running his fingers over the platform. The carvings were angular, overlapping. Not random.
His mind flashed back to the wall etchings they saw earlier — that twisting, spiraled abyss symbol.
"These tiles... they form a symbol," he whispered.
"A spiral?" Jisoo asked.
"A perfect spiral. But right now, we're just floating out of order. That's why we can't combine the platforms. The energy's resisting."
"So we rearrange?" Hana asked.
"Yes. Align the grooves to match the symbol. Then we connect."
"Easier said than done," Jinhwan grumbled. "We're floating. Not exactly mobile."
"Jisoo," Jaemin turned, snapping his fingers. "Remember when you used your Core Jump to kill those striders?"
"You remembered that?"
"Stormy memory."
She grinned. "Say less."
"Use that again. Hop to Minjae's tile first. Then counter-jump to Hana, align them into the curve. We'll follow."
Jisoo moved like a blur.
"Flux Core: Phase Shift!"
She blinked across the gap in two stuttering jumps, each perfectly calculated. Her hands glowed as she guided the tiles gently into place, her indigo aura leaving a trail.
CLACK!!
The two platforms merged.
One by one, the rest followed.
Naeun's Strings of Life formed a web. Jinhwan, grunting, used the Lion's Mane armour to anchor the tiles. Minjae reinforced the lines with his Guardian Dome.
And at the very centre, Jaemin was pulled up.
The spiral is completed.
BOOM!!!.
HISSSSSSSS!!
The mist surged outward. The tiles are locked.
And the moment they did, the entire room rose as one unit, now a single spiral platform.
Jaemin exhaled.
"It's done..."
Jisoo whistled.
"Stormy memory, huh? You're starting to scare me."
Jaemin didn't answer.
He was already staring ahead.
The spiral began rotating. And in front of them, another door appeared — this one made of obsidian.