As soon as the system message faded, the floor under me began to crack. Then it shattered completely, like broken glass falling into darkness.
A strange pull took over, like I was being dragged out of the dungeon by something I couldn't see.
Then—light.
And just like that, I was standing back on Earth.
I looked around. The sky was cloudy and dark, just like always. The streets were broken and quiet. This ruined city was all we had left. But at least I was alive.
The system spoke again.
-
[You have cleared Floor 1.]
[Returning to Earth…]
[Cooldown started.]
Once someone clears a floor, that floor is locked for 1 hour before anyone else can enter.
[Time until reentry: 59 minutes, 57 seconds]
-
I turned around and looked at the crimson rift. It was just a glowing crack on the ground now, sealed tight and pulsing faintly. No one could go in.
Which meant I was the only one who had a chance to rest and prepare.
That one hour… was mine alone.
I sat down on a cracked piece of concrete near the sealed rift, the red light from it glowing faintly under my boots. The streets were quiet, but I knew the world wasn't. Not anymore.
I pulled out the phone from my pocket. The screen was still cracked from earlier, but it worked.
The moment I opened my feed, chaos hit me like a wave.
Posts. Updates. Panic.
└ Why is the Crimson Rift sealed?!
└ My brother went inside 20 minutes ago. He hasn't come out.
└ Is this some kind of trap?! Are they stuck in there forever?
└ I was going to enter with my squad but it just closed. What the hell is going on?!
└ Someone said the first floor was cleared. Is that even possible? Already??
I scrolled through dozens of posts. Forums were exploding. People were freaking out. Some were crying for answers. Others were spreading rumors.
A few mentioned something closer to the truth.
└I heard once someone clears a floor, it shuts down for a while. Like a reset or something.
└Yeah. Makes sense. Maybe it's to stop everyone from rushing in at once.
└But what about the ones still inside? Are they trapped?
I paused there.
No. They weren't trapped.
Once someone clears a floor for the first time, that's when everything changes.
The Crimson Rift seals shut for exactly one hour. During that time, no one can enter — not even if they try to force it.
Anyone still inside when it happens doesn't die or disappear. The system kicks them out to wherever they last rested. A bedroll, a corner of a cave, even an old mattress, their house — it doesn't matter. That spot becomes their checkpoint. Their anchor.
After the hour is up, the Rift opens again and the 2nd floor will open as well.
But from then on, it stays open. No more cooldowns, no more resets. People can go in and out freely. Even if someone clears the floor again later, the system doesn't care.
-
I had the first-clear bonus. The hour-long break. The skill book. The knowledge.
The others would still be struggling with the sludges, still trying to figure out how the system even worked. Most of them wouldn't make it halfway before dying or burning out.
They were already behind.
'My pacing is good. I need to keep this up. I have to find that specific Astral Patron. I need him to kill that bastard Ignil.'
I locked my phone and let out a long breath, and I stood up, brushing dust off my clothes. My body still ached from the fight earlier, and the weight of everything I'd just gone through was finally catching up to me.
But I had time now. Not much, but enough.
I turned away from the Rift and started walking through the broken streets.
It was a quiet walk—just the sound of my boots crunching over gravel and broken glass. Buildings leaned like tired giants, windows shattered, walls crumbling. Cars were rusted over, abandoned where they'd last stopped. This city used to be full of life. Now it was just... waiting to die.
Ten minutes later, I reached the old apartment complex.
It was still standing, surprisingly. The outer walls were cracked, paint peeling, but the structure hadn't collapsed yet. I stepped through the half-open front door and made my way up the stairs.
Third floor. Room 307.
I pushed the door open. No lock anymore—hadn't been one for a while.
Inside, the air was stale. The ceiling leaked in one corner, dripping into the same metal bowl I'd left behind. My mattress was on the floor, thin and worn, but familiar. A single shelf still held some of my things—canned food, half a bottle of water, and an old burner.
I dropped down onto the mattress, exhaling slowly.
This place wasn't safe. Not really. Nowhere was. But it was mine. And after the chaos of the Rift, the quiet felt like a blessing.
I tried to open my inventory—just out of habit.
But the system blocked me.
[Access Denied: You are not bound to an Astral Patron.]
'Right. I wasn't a vassal yet.'
Which meant the rewards I got—the title, and the skill book—all of it was locked away. I couldn't touch any of it until I made a pact.
I opened my message tab instead.
New alerts.
[You have received 5 Vassal Pact offers.]
I checked them.
None of the names stood out. No one I was looking for. No one important.
One offered faster healing. Another talked about enhancing stamina. One even promised extra rations, which was just insulting. All of them were weak. Useless to me.
[Vassal Pact Offer Declined.]
[Vassal Pact Offer Declined.]
[Vassal Pact Offer Declined.]
[Vassal Pact Offer Declined.]
[Vassal Pact Offer Declined.]
I turned them all down without hesitation.
'What I needed was something... specific. Someone specific.'
'He hadn't reached out yet. The one who mattered. The Astral Patron that could change everything.'
Until then, I was locked out. Powerless, at least compared to what I should be.
But I still had one thing they didn't: time.
I glanced at the clock.
[Time until Rift reentry: 49 minutes, 12 seconds]