The air pressure dropped violently as the Chain-Bound Abomination's fist cleaved the air above us. The sheer force of the downward swing generated a gale-force slipstream, tearing at my clothes and threatening to knock Minsoo off her feet.
"Now!" I roared, lunging forward into the maintenance alcove.
I didn't look back to see if Minsoo made it. In a system-driven apocalypse, hesitation meant death. My eyes were entirely locked onto the faint, pulsating ripple hidden beneath the shadow of the central stairwell. To a normal person, it looked like a mirage or heat rising from asphalt. To me, it was a golden ticket—the precise localization error where the system's physical coordinates misaligned with its item-spawning data.
I reached my hand directly into the center of the distortion.
The air felt ice-cold, prickling against my skin like static electricity. My fingers brushed against something hard, smooth, and metallic buried within the glitch.
[Warning: You have accessed an unrendered system anomaly.]
Item: 'Dragon's Eyes' (Rank S) requires a baseline Strength of 25 or an Agility of 30 to extract under current atmospheric pressure.]
[Current Stats: Strength 12, Agility 14]
Exactly as I remembered, I thought, a grim smile pulling at my lips. The system always tried to lock high-tier items behind steep stat walls during the early phases to prevent sequence breaking. But it didn't account for someone who kept a bank of unallocated points specifically for this moment.
Allocate 16 points to Agility, I commanded mentally. And the remaining 4 to Strength
A sudden, burning surge of adrenaline exploded through my pathways. My muscles tightened, density shifting in a fraction of a microsecond as my status updated.
[Stat allocation complete.]
[Strength: 16 | Agility: 30]
[Extraction requirements met. Retrieving item...]
With a sharp jerk, I ripped my hand backward out of the ripple. A heavy, ornate container forged from obsidian-dark metal and etched with glowing, draconic runes materialized into reality, pulling free from the glitch. The moment it broke containment, the pulsating distortion in the air vanished completely, swallowed by the solidifying regional barrier.
The box dissolved into light, shattering into two brilliant, crimson gems that shot directly into my irises.
Instantly, a white-hot agony struck my skull, followed by a violent wave of pain that erupted all over my body. It felt like molten lead was being pumped through my veins, forcing its way down into my chest, arms, and legs. My muscles seized up, and a strangled scream caught in my throat as I collapsed to my knees, panting heavily while the sheer, overwhelming power of an S-Rank trait forcefully rewrote my biology.
[You have successfully obtained the Unique Growth-Type Trait: 'Dragon's Eyes' (Rank S - Sealed).]
[Current Evolution Progress: 0.0%]
[Condition to Unlock Abilities: Absorb higher-tier Monster Cores to feed the draconic ego.]
[Warning: The trait's true potential will remain dormant until its first evolution requirement is satisfied.]
[Passive Effect Activated: Faint visualization of local mana paths is now available.]
I choked back a groan, clutching my trembling body as the agonizing heat slowly receded, leaving behind a cold, hyper-focused clarity. Even though the trait was heavily sealed, my vision suddenly warped. Bright, ethereal veins of pulsing light illuminated the air—the literal movement of mana path currents winding through the environment. It was a crude, baseline preview of what the skill could do, but being able to track how
mana surged and flowed in real-time was already a massive cheat.
Growth-type. It meant the skill would adapt and scale alongside me, eventually surpassing even its initial S-Rank limitations if I fed it enough high-grade cores.
Boom!
Behind us, the boss monster's fist smashed into the concrete where we had been standing just a second prior, sending massive chunks of debris flying into the air.
Oppa!" Minsoo gasped, sliding into the alcove right behind me, her enhanced reflexes the only reason she hadn't been crushed by the shrapnel. She was pale, her breath coming in ragged gasps, but her eyes went wide when she saw my eyes briefly flash a dangerous, draconic crimson. "Are you okay? Your eyes..."
"I'm fine," I whispered, pulling myself up and gripping my crowbar. The lingering ache from the transformation faded, replaced by the raw power of my 30 Agility settling beautifully into my limbs. "Stay behind me. The real trouble is just getting started."
A deafening roar rattled the metal staircase above our heads. The Chain-Bound Abomination turned its featureless mass of teeth toward our alcove, its hairless jaw splitting open in pure, unadulterated fury. It realized its prize was gone, its primordial instincts screaming that the system's hidden treasure had been stolen.
But before the creature could take a step toward us, a pathetic, high-pitched shriek echoed from the edge of the plaza intersection.
"Someone help me! Please!
A guy in pristine, wildly expensive athletic gear came scrambling blindly through the dirt on all fours, sobbing hysterically as he tried to escape the stampede. He stumbled over a piece of debris, face-planting hard onto the concrete right near the stairwell. He didn't even have a weapon; he was just a miserable, trembling mess, clawing at the ground in absolute terror as the massive shadow of the boss loomed over the plaza.
In my past life, this pathetic coward was destined to accidentally trip right into the glitch, stumble upon the Dragon's Eyes by pure luck, and ride that stolen power all the way to becoming Gwangbuku's 'fake Hero.'
But not this time. His destined future was already sitting behind my eyelids, and he was currently nothing more than a pathetic face in the dirt, weeping for his life.
I completely ignored his pathetic whimpering, stepping past him and out into the open plaza.
The Chain-Bound Abomination let out another ear-piercing screech. The rusted iron chains fused into its forearms whipped through the air like lethal pendulums, shattering a nearby transit pillar. Through my new vision, I watched the mana paths flare violently inside the creature's arms right before it swung, telegraphing its exact muscle contractions and energy distributions perfectly.
The beast's gaze locked directly onto the faint, lingering trail of draconic energy radiating from my eyes. It didn't care about the fleeing crowd or the crying wreck on the floor anymore. It wanted its core back.
I shifted my grip on the steel crowbar, feeling the raw power pulsing through my legs. The dragon's eyes inside me remained hungry, waiting to be fed its first meal.
"Minsoo, flank left," I commanded, my voice cutting through the chaos. "Let's go hunt a boss."