The growl echoed again.
Low.
Deep.
Unnatural.
It seemed to vibrate through the concrete beneath their feet.
The five stood frozen in the middle of the shopping plaza's underground parking entrance.
People continued walking around them completely unaware.
Cars entered and exited normally.
A family pushed a shopping cart nearby.
Nobody could hear it.
Nobody except them.
"This is bad."
For once, Kael wasn't joking.
The expression on his face had become serious.
Arin nodded.
"Very bad."
The dimensional distortion was only 7% complete.
A gate shouldn't be capable of producing living creatures yet.
It's progressing faster than expected.
Liora frowned.
"Can the system identify what's down there?"
Arin immediately focused on the anomaly marker.
The Trinity Link System flickered.
"...Great." Kael sighed. "Very helpful."
Elias crossed his arms. "You guys keep staring into space." "Because we're reading system windows." The words escaped before Arin could stop them.
Silence.
Elias blinked. "...Reading what?"
"..."
"..."
Kael and Arin looked at each other. Liora looked away.
"Nice one." Liora muttered.
Arin pinched the bridge of his nose.
Elias pointed dramatically. "I KNEW IT."
"You knew what?"
"I DON'T KNOW." He pointed harder. "BUT I KNEW SOMETHING."
Kael burst out laughing. "He's got us there."
Despite the situation, even Arin almost smiled. Almost.
Then the growl returned.
Closer.
Much closer.
The laughter immediately disappeared.
Arin looked toward a maintenance corridor beside the underground parking lot.
Darkness filled the passage, No lights, No people. The sound came from there.
"Let's move." Without waiting for a response, Arin began walking. The others followed. Even Elias. Though he clearly had no idea what was happening anymore.
The moment they start moving a silhouette appeared at the entrance, it was the security. Curious of what was happening down there.
Underground Maintenance Sector
The further they descended, the quieter everything became. The sounds of the city gradually vanished. Replacing them was silence. An oppressive silence.
The corridor eventually opened into an abandoned maintenance area.
Pipes lined the ceiling. Rust covered the walls. Water dripped somewhere in the darkness. Then everyone stopped.
A crack. Not in the wall. Not in the floor. In space itself. Floating in the center of the room was a small black fracture. No larger than a television screen. Purple energy leaked from its edges. The surrounding air distorted unnaturally.
Kael stared. "...That definitely wasn't here before."
No one argued.
Because in their previous lives this is a regular stuff.
[Anomaly Confirmed
Proto-Rift
Formation Stage: 25%
Stability: Extremely Low
Danger Level: Unknown]
Then—
Something crawled out.
A claw.
Long.
Black.
Covered in jagged spikes.
Everyone immediately stepped back.
The creature dragged itself through the fracture.
Slowly.
Painfully.
As though the opening wasn't large enough.
When it finally emerged—
The room became silent.
It looked like a rat.
And yet not a rat.
Its body was the size of a large dog.
Black veins covered exposed flesh.
Its mouth split open far beyond normal anatomy.
Rows of needle-like teeth filled the opening.
Its eyes glowed crimson.
Elias immediately took several steps backward. "What the hell is THAT?!"
[Target Identified
Name: Rift-Touched Rat
Rank: F
Level: 4
Strength: 9
Agility: 15
Endurance: 7
Vitality: 10
Mana: 3
Ability: {Rift Corruption}
Minor dimensional energy infects targets through bites and scratches.
Skill: {Predator Leap Lv.1}
Can launch itself at high speed toward prey.
Weakness: Fragile bones, Sensitive eyes, Vulnerable to fire and impact attacks.
Threat Assessment: Low individually. Dangerous in groups.
Note: Hmm… This is not right.]
Silence.
Kael slowly looked toward Arin. "...You seeing this?"
"Unfortunately."
Elias looked between them.
"You guys can seriously see information about it?"
"..."
"THAT'S NOT THE IMPORTANT PART!" Kael shouted.
The rat screeched. And attacked.
The creature launched forward like a missile.
Its speed shocked everyone.
But Arin was ready. He had fought monsters for years. His body moved instantly.
Purple shadows erupted around his hand. Not enough to form a weapon. But enough.
He sidestepped.
Grabbed the creature.
And slammed it into the floor.
BOOM!
The concrete cracked.
The rat shrieked violently.
Then Kael arrived.
Green energy exploded around his arm.
For a brief second—
Bone protruded from his fist like a gauntlet.
CRACK!
The rat's skull shattered.
Silence.
The battle ended almost immediately.
Everyone stared.
Especially Elias. "...What."
Kael blinked. "...What?"
"No."
Elias pointed. "WHAT WAS THAT?"
"Punching."
"THAT WAS NOT PUNCHING."
Liora laughed.
The tension broke slightly.
Then—
The fracture trembled.
Everyone froze again.
A second rat emerged.
Then a third.
Then a fourth.
Then dozens of glowing red eyes appeared inside the darkness beyond the crack.
Kael slowly turned. "...Now back to the old days."
Liora's crimson aura began to appear around her fingertips.
Arin's shadows thickened. Purple energy flickered around his eyes.
The system flashed red.
> [Emergency Alert
Rift Breach Escalating
Hostile Entities Approaching
Estimated Enemy Count: 27]
"...Twenty-seven?" Elias whispered has he counted them.
The growling intensified.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
More creatures forced themselves through the unstable rift.
Arin slowly stepped forward. The shadows beneath his feet spread outward.
For the first time since their reincarnation—
The trio prepared to fight together again.
And this time...
They weren't going to lose.
End of Chapter 5 — Beneath Northgate