After catching up to Allen, we made our way through the administrative process. Paperwork, signatures, legal disclaimers—the usual bureaucratic nightmare. Most of the documents boiled down to the same message:

*We are not responsible if anything happens to you inside the dungeon. Please enter at your own risk.*

Just written in much fancier legal language.

Thirty minutes later, we stood on the ninetieth floor in front of something I’d only ever heard about.

Teleportation portals. Rows of them.

"You’re sure nothing’s going to happen to me, right?"

"Don’t worry, young master. Nothing will happen. Out of all the available options, this is the safest one."

Honestly, I was a little surprised.

I knew teleportation portals existed. Everyone did.

I’d just never seen one in person before.

According to Michael’s memories, neither had he.

That wasn’t unusual. A law prohibited anyone other than the government from owning or operating teleportation portals. No private organization was allowed to possess one. Not even the wealthiest families in Ambrosia were exempt.

Which was why standing in front of one now felt strangely surreal.

I shifted my attention back to the portal as I recalled what Allen had explained earlier.

Using one of these would let us reach the dungeon quickly and without any hassle.

At first, I’d been completely against the idea.

After all, I’d already had firsthand experience with teleportation thanks to Eden.

And that experience hadn’t exactly left me with fond memories.

Fortunately, Allen had been quick to reassure me.

According to him, government-operated teleportation portals were built to entirely different standards. They were heavily regulated, routinely maintained, and designed with safety as a top priority.

In short, unlike whatever nonsense Eden had thrown me through, these portals were actually reliable.

That explanation eased most of my concerns. Not all, but most.

Once I’d agreed, Allen led me to one of the teleportation portals near the corner of the room.

At first, I didn’t understand why he’d chosen that particular one. There were plenty of portals available, and the area was crowded with people constantly coming and going.

Later, Allen explained that this portal was considered the safest out of all of them.

That was enough to convince me.

I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright. Let’s go."

Allen and I stepped into the portal together.

As soon as I entered, an uncomfortable sensation twisted in my stomach.

Thankfully, it lasted only a second.

The next instant, the world around me shifted.

When my vision cleared, I immediately checked my surroundings.

The area was completely deserted.

A short distance away stood an abandoned hospital, its faded sign still hanging above the entrance.

HA Healthcare.

Beside it swirled a dungeon portal, its surface churning like a massive vortex.

A long sigh escaped me.

"Haa..."

So we were finally here.

I took a few seconds to steady myself and calm my nerves.

There was a good reason for that.

I was about to do something incredibly dangerous—something that could very easily get me killed.

I was about to enter that dungeon.

The situation was even worse than I’d originally expected.

Not only was it a solo-entry dungeon, but it also had a rank restriction that prevented anyone above Platinum rank from entering.

Yeah. When Allen first told me that, I wasn’t exactly happy.

I was devastated.

It completely destroyed my original plan of dragging Allen in with me and letting him handle all the difficult parts.

Even after telling Eden I wouldn’t rely on him, a part of me had still been hoping I could find some loophole around that promise.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t happening.

After collecting myself, I turned toward Allen.

He was standing quietly beside me, staring at the dungeon portal.

For a second, I thought I saw something strange.

His eyes seemed to glow faintly, almost like stars.

The effect disappeared so quickly that I couldn’t tell if I’d actually seen it or not.

A moment later, his eyes looked completely normal again.

Maybe I’d imagined it.

I dismissed the thought and looked at him.

"Allen, I guess this is where I go in."

***

"Yes, young master."

Allen replied with a faint smile.

The expression caught me off guard.

I wasn’t sure why he was smiling.

I was about to enter a dangerous dungeon, yet he looked oddly pleased. Considering his usual personality, that felt strange.

Still, maybe I was reading too much into it.

I pushed the thought aside and started walking toward the portal.

On the way, I glanced at my watch to check the time.

---

Name: Michael Frostburne

Total Rules Broken: 0

Time: 10:35 AM

Date: 17th February

Year: 2130

---

I continued forward.

A few seconds later, I reached the portal.

Without hesitating, I stepped through.

The familiar sensation hit me immediately.

Briefly, everything felt distorted.

Then my feet touched solid ground.

As soon as I landed, I quickly scanned my surroundings.

I was standing in the middle of a massive jungle.

Night had already fallen, and a pale moon hung high above the treetops.

"Whoa..."

I took in the scene. "It’s exactly like the dream."

Everything looked the same.

After a quick scan of the area, I started moving.

I walked forward, keeping a close eye on the surrounding trees and bushes.

After all, this was a special rank dungeon.

Even if the Dullahan was the main threat here, there was no way it was the only monster roaming around.

As I’d learned before, a D-rank dungeon could contain thousands of monsters.

And by monsters, I meant uncommon-rank monsters.

Creatures that were completely out of my league in a direct fight.

The only reason I had any confidence at all was because of the trick I’d been planning to use.

Though I couldn’t say for certain whether it would actually let me defeat them.

What I did know was that it could buy me time.

And right now, time was all I needed.

As long as I could stall long enough to find the cave, lure out the Dullahan, steal the Teleportation skill, and get out alive, everything should work out.

At least, that was the plan.

While I ran through it in my head, something changed.

A massive holographic screen appeared in the sky above the jungle.

Lines of text began flashing across it one after another.

[Individual Detected!]

[Examining the Individual Who Entered the Dungeon!]

[Examination Complete!]

[Individual Rank: Bronze]

[Modifying Dungeon According to Individual’s Rank!]

Fuck. No way.

When I read that last message, panic shot through me. I forced myself to breathe and think rationally. The panic slowly faded.

The reason for my reaction was simple.

That final line.

*Modifying Dungeon According to Individual’s Rank.*

That part was what worried me.

Because in this world, there exists an incredibly rare type of dungeon.

And when I say rare, I mean absurdly rare.

People say they appear only once in every ten thousand dungeons.

They’re called Mirror Dungeons.

As the name suggests, a Mirror Dungeon adjusts its difficulty based on the rank of the person who enters it.

In my case, that meant the monsters roaming around would most likely be reduced to Common rank.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been great news.

Common-rank monsters were actually within my ability to fight.

For once, I’d have a realistic chance of killing monsters without relying entirely on tricks or running for my life.

But I wasn’t happy.

Not even a little.

Because this wasn’t just a Mirror Dungeon.

It was also a Special Rank Dungeon.

And that raised a very important question.

If this really was a Mirror Dungeon, then why hadn’t it been cleared already?

There was no way I was the first Bronze-rank hunter to enter this place.

Others had to have come before me.

Maybe dozens.

Maybe even hundreds.

Yet the dungeon was still active.

That meant one thing: the dungeon boss was the real problem.

Mirror Dungeons came with both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was obvious.

They adjusted the strength of ordinary monsters to match the hunter’s rank.

The disadvantage was much worse.

They enhanced the dungeon boss.

Sometimes the increase was minor. Sometimes it was significant.

Looking at the fact that this dungeon had remained uncleared for who knew how long, I had a bad feeling this wasn’t one of the minor cases.

There was also another problem.

Mirror Dungeons only modified regular monsters.

The boss itself never changed rank.

For example, even if a Bronze-rank hunter entered a D-rank Mirror Dungeon, the dungeon boss would still remain a Rare-rank monster.

That rule never changed.

Which meant the Dullahan was still a Rare-rank monster.

The only question was how much stronger it had become on top of that.

I looked at the messages hanging in the sky and swallowed.

Fuck. Now I was starting to wonder whether I’d even be able to lure the Dullahan out of the cave.

More importantly... would my trick still work?

Before I could think any further, the messages on the holographic screen changed.

[Modification Completed!]

[Spawning 2500 Lesser-Rank Monsters!]

I knew it.

When I read the message, I cursed under my breath.

I’d already had a feeling this Mirror Dungeon wasn’t going to behave like a normal one.

A typical Mirror Dungeon would spawn around three hundred Lesser-rank monsters.

This one, however, was clearly different.

Maybe that was why a Teleportation Skill Book existed inside this dungeon in the first place.

Or maybe I was completely off the mark.

Either way, speculating about it wasn’t going to help me right now.

I needed to prepare.

Focusing inward, I activated my inventory.

A small portal immediately appeared beside me.

I reached inside and pulled out two swords.

I studied the weapons in my hands.

At first glance, they looked completely ordinary.

Both were simple white swords with nothing particularly eye-catching about them.

But looks could be deceiving.

I knew exactly what they were.

Two S-rank swords.

Each one possessed its own unique advantages.

Hah.

Moments like this really reminded me how much of an advantage it was to be born rich.

A series of loud, broken cries echoed through the jungle.

They’re here.

Tightening my grip on the swords, I looked ahead.

Alright. Let’s see what kind of monsters I’m dealing with.

A few seconds later, figures began emerging from the darkness.

As they drew closer, I finally got a clear look at them.

Skeletons?

I was genuinely surprised at first.

Then the surprise faded.

In its place came excitement.

I was sure now. My trick was going to work.

The method I’d prepared happened to be especially effective against undead creatures, particularly skeleton-type monsters.

If the dungeon had spawned almost anything else, I would’ve been worried.

But skeletons?

They were practically the perfect targets.

A grin spread across my face.

This was good. Very good.

Without wasting any time, I planted both swords into the ground and opened my inventory again.

Reaching inside, I pulled out two potion bottles.

One was red. The other was blue.

I glanced at them briefly.

In this world, potions came in all sorts of colors. Healing potions, recovery potions, stamina potions. There wasn’t any universal standard.

Red, blue, pink, green.

Almost anything was possible.

At the moment, though, the colors weren’t important.

What mattered was the army of skeletons charging toward me.

They were already closing the distance at an alarming speed.

Taking a deep breath, I tightened my grip on both bottles and prepared to throw them.

Hundreds of skeletons carrying rusted swords rushed toward me.

The jungle echoed with their voices.

No.

"Cries" was the better word.

They weren’t shouting. They were releasing broken, distorted wails that sounded unnatural and unsettling.

I kept my eyes fixed on them, waiting for them to get a little closer before making my move.

Then something unexpected happened.

Just as the skeletons were about to enter throwing range, every single one of them stopped.

"Huh?"

I blinked.

What?

The entire horde froze where it stood.

The sudden change caught me completely off guard.

Why did they stop?

Had they noticed something?

No, that didn’t make sense.

Monsters below Uncommon rank weren’t supposed to possess that level of intelligence. Most of them operated almost entirely on instinct.

So what was happening?

The skeletons stood motionless, their empty eye sockets fixed in my direction.

At least, that’s what it felt like.

Maybe they were observing me.

Maybe they were waiting for something.

I had no idea.

Not wanting to make any reckless moves, I stayed put and watched them.

A few seconds passed.

Then a few more.

Neither side moved.

The strange standoff continued far longer than it should have.

Eventually, I ran out of patience. I wasn’t going to stand here forever.

If they weren’t coming to me, then I’d go to them.

With that decision made, I started walking forward.

As soon as I moved, the skeletons began backing away.

One step.

Then another.

Then another.

As I advanced, they retreated.

Slowly. Cautiously.

But unmistakably.

My eyes widened.

Wait. Were they actually reacting to me?

Could they...

My gaze dropped to the potion bottles in my hands.

Were they afraid?

That sounded ridiculous.

It couldn’t be that simple, right?

I’d never heard of skeletons running away from healing potions before.

Sure, healing potions were devastating against undead creatures when used offensively.

That much was common knowledge.

But skeletons didn’t normally retreat just because someone was holding one.

Hell, monsters in general didn’t behave like that.

Even when they knew something could harm them, they usually charged forward anyway.

This was the first time I’d ever seen anything like it.

On the other hand... I looked down at the bottles once more.

Maybe there was another explanation.

Maybe it wasn’t the healing potions themselves that were scaring them.

Maybe it was the fact that the ones I was holding were SS-rank.

Whatever the reason, I wasn’t about to let the opportunity go to waste.

"Let’s do it!."