It was near the end of Caleb's speech.
The cold fear on people's faces began to crack.
Tiny sparks of courage flickered in the crowd —
faces that had been frozen with despair slowly began to shift.
They weren't just survivors anymore, they were Players now.
Dungeons weren't disasters to flee from — they were tasks to conquer.
Level up.
Strengthen your gear.
Sharpen your skills.
That was all.
Caleb lifted his blue spear high.
The Wavetamer's Spear.
A token of recognition from Exodia 1 —
a weapon awarded to seasoned veterans after the server shutdown.
"Prepare yourselves," he said.
"In ten minutes... we're going in."
As he watched everyone check their weapons, tighten their armor, brace themselves —
Caleb bit his lip.
Anxious.
Because he knew, better than anyone, just how reckless this was.
More than half of them might die.
No — would die.
But if they didn't act?
If they hesitated now?
Everything would fall anyway.
He turned his gaze slightly skyward, as if looking for someone.
Someone who crossed his mind more often than he liked to admit.
Someone everyone, deep down, probably wondered about.
Kyle.
The absolute peak.
The Rank 1 Player.
The one so overwhelming that no one even dared to dream of surpassing him.
Caleb remembered the trial nexus.
Remembered the one name that had stayed on the Hell difficulty board.
Just one.
Even while hundreds gave up.
Even after three months —
not once had the number changed.
Did he make it?
Did he survive?
No rumors.
No signs.
Not a whisper that K had returned.
Maybe he had fallen in the Maze.
Maybe he was already dead.
"Detective Caleb. Preparations are complete."
A voice pulled him back.
He nodded.
Good.
His eyes shifted to the side —
to the figure leaning against the crumbling school wall.
A woman, her hoodie pulled low, a mask hiding half her face.
But the way she stood —
the quiet aura around her —
was unmistakable.
He nodded slightly to her too.
They would manage.
Even without Kyle.
They had someone close enough.
An E-Rank dungeon?
No need to be afraid.
Caleb's voice rang out, steady and strong:
"We're going in."
"Today... we conquer an E-Rank dungeon."
—
Meanwhile.
Inside Apartment 105, Building 103 of Silverwood.
Jhin stood in front of a cracked, broken mirror.
Staring at the reflection looking back at him.
His hair was a tangled mess, and his beard scruffy and uneven.
Dust clung to his face and clothes like a second skin.
He looked like a homeless man.
Without a word, he grabbed a pair of dull kitchen scissors,hacked away at the worst of the knots, and shaved carefully with a cracked razor.
There was no running water — so he wiped himself down with half-dried wet wipes he scavenged from a dusty drawer.
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
"Finally starting to feel human again," he muttered.
Rummaging through the cupboards, he found a single, battered can of tuna.
He ripped it open barehanded, eating straight from the tin.
Greasy…Salty…Heavenly.
In the trial nexus, he hadn't known hunger.
Safe Zones wiped away conditions like fatigue, thirst, starvation.
But here, back in reality? Every bite mattered.
"Three months... huh."
Longer than he had expected.
Sure, he'd gained everything he needed from the Maze.
But still...
Had he stayed too long? How many had died while he was gone?
How many had survived? What did the world even look like now?
He exhaled heavily, setting the empty tuna can aside.
Somewhere out there, others might have survived.
Others who had prepared, others who had seen the signs.
Yeah.
It had to be better than Exodia 1. It had to be.
Pushing open the veranda door, he stepped outside.
The city sprawled before him, or what was left of it.
Ruins and ash.
The air tasted of dust and smoke.
The only sound was the hollow wail of the wind threading through broken buildings.
No honking cars … No murmuring crowds…No neon lights.
New Capital had become a ghost town.
Jhin stared at the ruined horizon.
Only three months, and already, it smelled like the end of the world.
He tightened the straps on his gear.
"Hope it's not too late."
He turned away, slipping into the crumbling streets without a sound, leaving Silverwood behind.
The place he headed next was a nearby school.
His footsteps were quiet, deliberate.
And then he saw it:
A door — heavy and cracked — glowing a sickly red.
The color of warning, the color of blood.
In Exodia, door colors told you everything.
Blue meant almost dormant, Green, normal activity, Yellow and orange meant swelling danger, Red? Red meant imminent collapse.
Dungeon Break, and if it turned black— It would already be too late.
He placed a hand lightly against the door.
Immediately, an information window flickered to life:
Collapsed School (E-Rank)
Time until Dungeon Break: 24 hours
"A collapsed school, huh." He glanced around.
Signs of life — or something close to it.
Ashes from a recent campfire, with footprints in the dirt.
Someone had been here recently, that was good.
He needed information more than anything else right now.
An E-Rank dungeon...
He frowned slightly and checked the window again, something felt off.
Time until Dungeon Break: 22 hours.
"...?" He blinked, re-checking it again.
Time until Dungeon Break: 21 hours.
The countdown wasn't just ticking down, It was accelerating, by an hour every hour.
Jhin's eyes narrowed sharply, his fingers flexed slightly, feeling the faint hum of magic stirring in the air.
"...Something's wrong." Very wrong.
And he needed to figure it out —fast.