Shadow Born

The Gathering Shadows

The silence that followed their return from the specialized S-rank dungeon was more unsettling than the chaos they’d faced inside. Whispers lingered in the halls of the temporary guild branch, but none directly mentioned Juno’s name. The mission report was clear: most hunters had only faint recollections of the fight. They remembered the terror, the injuries, and the dungeon king—but Juno’s role? It was a blur, like smoke in their memories.

Everyone except Jaemin and Hanni.

The two stayed close to Juno in the days that followed, speaking little but never leaving his side. Juno, however, couldn’t stop thinking. Why could they remember when everyone else couldn’t?

Even stranger, the guild leadership was starting to notice discrepancies. Footage from security drones inside the dungeon showed black shadows flickering during key moments. None of it was conclusive, but it was enough.

“Juno,” a man with a thick beard and silver armor approached him in the corridor. He was part of the overseeing guild from the host country. “Guildmaster Yuri would like to speak with you.”

Jaemin, who’d been walking beside him, narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

The man shrugged. “You’ll see.”

Inside the guildmaster’s office, the air was tense. Juno stood before Yuri, a tall woman with piercing red eyes and an aura of someone who’d seen more dungeons than she could count.

“We’re reviewing the mission footage,” she said. “Several anomalies. You didn’t contribute much to the battle according to the recollections of others... yet the dungeon king is dead. And the destruction in the inner sanctum? It wasn’t something an E-rank could survive, let alone cause.”

“I... I did what I could,” Juno replied, cautiously.

“Right,” Yuri said, unconvinced. “You’re either lucky, or you’re hiding something. We’ll be watching.”

That night, Juno sat on the rooftop of their housing unit, gazing at the stars. The system chimed.

[New Mission Unlocked] A-Rank Dungeon Deployment – Solo Time Limit: 12 Hours

He swore under his breath.

“You again?” Juno muttered. “Why?”

[Power must be tested. Growth must be earned.]

Against his better judgment, he accepted.

---

Juno was transported to a desolate landscape. The A-rank dungeon was like nothing he’d seen before. The air was heavy, thick with the scent of decay. Trees stood twisted and blackened, and eerie howls echoed from the distant cliffs.

His shadow twitched.

[Warning: Hostile Creatures Approaching]

From the trees, a pack of shadow-coated wolves lunged. Their eyes glowed crimson, their fangs dripping with black mist. Juno gritted his teeth and activated his system panel.

[Weapon Materialized: Phantom Edge]

With a swing of his blade, he took down the first few wolves. But the rest were faster, smarter. They flanked him, forcing him to retreat into the trees. He barely had time to breathe when arrows whistled past his ear.

Elves.

Unlike the elegant kind from stories, these were twisted by corruption—eyes glazed over, their bows crackling with dark energy.

Juno fought desperately. Every move felt like a dance on the edge of death. When he finally reached the heart of the dungeon, he was soaked in blood—his and others.

There, standing on a stone throne, was the dungeon king: a towering beast cloaked in dark fur and vines, antlers branching like tree limbs, eyes glowing like twin suns.

The fight was brutal. Juno was tossed like a rag doll, slammed into rocks, nearly crushed. His system warned of damage. [Health Critical: 17%]

But when he saw the thing lunge for a killing blow, his instincts awakened. He leaped forward, blade slicing through the beast’s throat. It fell with a roar that shook the earth.

[Dungeon Cleared] [Extraction Initiated – Error] [Shadow Extraction: FAILED]

“What?” Juno gasped.

[Target possesses residual Divine Energy. Extraction blocked.]

He collapsed to his knees.

By the time he returned to the real world, he could barely stand. Jaemin and Hanni were waiting for him.

“You’re insane,” Jaemin muttered, eyes wide. “An A-rank? Alone?”

“I had to,” Juno whispered.

“You’re stronger than you let on,” Hanni said quietly.

Jaemin looked around and lowered his voice. “Look... I haven’t told you this before, but my father owns the Silver Fangs Guild. It’s one of the five international superguilds.”

Juno blinked. “What?”

“I never wanted to bring it up, but I think it’s time,” Jaemin said. “Join us. My father will see your value. We can protect you—and we can find out what’s going on with your powers.”

“I...”

“You’re not alone anymore, Juno,” Hanni added. “We’re a team.”

The next few days passed in a blur. Jaemin pulled strings to keep the guild’s suspicion off Juno. Hanni helped him recover with healing potions and physical therapy.

Then came the training.

As a trio, they began to hone their coordination. Jaemin focused on rapid-fire offensive support with elemental bursts. Hanni was versatile, moving between defense and utility skills. Juno, wielding both sword and shadow, became the spearhead.

They trained in isolated chambers deep beneath the guild base. The bond between them deepened with every clash, every tactic refined.

And though the mysteries surrounding Juno continued to grow—the memory loss of others, the failed extraction of the divine beast, and the strange behavior of the system—he finally felt something he hadn’t since before his death.

Purpose.

He stood, sweat dripping from his brow, blade in hand, as his shadow pulsed faintly.

[Your path begins here, Shadowborn.]

A heavy silence draped over the sky as dusk fell. The sun, dipped in scarlet, seemed to bleed across the horizon. Somewhere far beyond the reach of humans, in a forest sealed off from time and natural order, something ancient stirred.

Divine beasts—creatures of unimaginable power, their names whispered only in myths and the oldest of hunter tomes—stood gathered in a glade crowned with silver trees. Each beast shimmered with an aura of raw destruction. Their eyes gleamed not just with intelligence but with intent.

A ten-tailed wolf let out a guttural growl that shook the trees.

"They grow bolder," it rumbled, fangs flashing beneath moonlight. "The humans. They defile the balance."

A fire phoenix perched above flared its wings, embers falling like tears. "It’s not just the humans—it’s him. The one who rose from death. The one the shadows follow."

“The Golden Blood,” a serpent dragon hissed, coiled in divine authority. “We must find it before the kings are all... consumed.”

One by one, heads turned. Dungeon kings—beings who ruled the spaces between realms—had begun vanishing. Not falling in war. Not slain. Just... gone. Their essences extracted, their thrones empty.

Who had the power to do that?

---

Juno bolted upright in his bed, gasping.

The dream had felt too real. Like his very soul had eavesdropped on a meeting not meant for mortals.

System Notification: A-Rank Mission Detected. Location: Forest of Hollow Echoes. Accept? [Yes/No]

He blinked, confused.

It was the dungeon in which he failed to extract its king.

“This again? I already completed an A-rank mission. Why is the system pushing this one so hard?” he muttered, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

There was no answer. Just the blinking prompt.

He tapped ‘Yes,’ heart thudding. “What’s going on...?”

---

The Forest of Hollow Echoes looked different this time. The air was thicker. Every shadow longer. The trees whispered with voices that weren’t just wind.

He moved cautiously, his blade drawn. Every sense sharp.

Minutes turned to hours. Wolves with eyes of blood and silver fangs launched at him. He danced between them, slicing and shifting through shadows. Elven assassins emerged from the trees, magic crackling in their palms. One incantation nearly tore through his shoulder.

“System!” Juno shouted, rolling to dodge a rain of arrows. “Why the hell am I doing this again?!”

No reply. Only the sound of a looming presence ahead. An enormous obsidian throne emerged within a glade. And sitting on it...

The Dungeon King.

Its body was shaped like a human but with the skull of a stag and arms wrapped in vines of corrupted magic. A crown of bone hovered above its head.

“You return, Shadow Born. But do you understand what you’ve become?”

Juno gritted his teeth and lunged.

The battle was brutal. Juno’s shadow soldiers were torn apart. His strength wavered. Blood soaked the earth.

“[Shadow Reinforcement]!” he cried, pouring all his essence into the strike. The king deflected it—barely.

It took every ounce of his intelligence stat, every dodge, every last potion from the system shop. Finally, the king stumbled. He sliced its chest open, then its throat.

“[Extract Shadow].”

Nothing.

“What...?”

System Notification: Prerequisite requirement met. Extraction unlocked.

The king’s body twisted in a dark spiral and vanished into Juno’s shadow.

Juno fell to his knees, panting.

---

The next day, Jaemin burst into Juno’s room with a grin. “Dad officially wants you and Hanni to join the guild. Full badge. Full pay. Full perks.”

Juno blinked. “Wait—what? He saw my fight?”

“Of course,” Jaemin said. “He’s had eyes on you since our first mission together.” He paused. “But also... he thinks you’re special, Juno. Like, seriously special.”

“Why?”

Jaemin leaned against the wall. “Because people who touch S-rank power at E-rank level aren’t... normal. And because the guild’s seers have started seeing golden shadows in their visions.”

That evening, as school resumed, a new student arrived.

He was tall, pale, with eyes like mercury and a strange silence about him. When he walked past Juno in the hall, he paused.

“You’re not supposed to be alive,” he whispered with a smile.

Juno froze.

The boy walked away.

Something darker had just entered the game.