Darkness swallowed Arin the moment he stepped through the Gate.
For a brief second, his entire body felt weightless—as if gravity itself had disappeared. A violent pressure squeezed around him, twisting space in every direction.
Then suddenly—
His feet touched solid ground.
Arin opened his eyes.
The world before him was completely alien.
The sky was dark purple, filled with swirling clouds that moved far too quickly. Strange lightning flickered across the horizon, illuminating jagged mountains in the distance.
The ground beneath his feet looked like cracked black stone. Small glowing veins of red energy ran through the surface like burning lava.
And the air…
The air was heavy.
Breathing felt slightly harder, as if the atmosphere itself rejected human existence.
Arin looked around carefully.
"So this is the inside of the Gate…"
He had heard descriptions from hunters in the previous timeline.
But seeing it with his own eyes was completely different.
The environment felt hostile.
Predatory.
Like the entire dimension was alive and watching him.
Arin took a slow breath.
"Stay calm."
Panic would get him killed here.
His advantage wasn't strength.
It was knowledge.
Every piece of information he had learned in the previous timeline could help him survive now.
Somewhere in this dimension existed the Core of the Gate.
Destroying that core would collapse the portal and seal the connection between worlds.
But finding it wouldn't be easy.
Arin scanned the landscape.
The terrain stretched endlessly in all directions.
Sharp rock formations rose from the ground like broken blades. Strange glowing plants covered parts of the surface, emitting faint red light.
And in the distance…
He heard movement.
Low growls echoed through the dark.
Arin's eyes narrowed.
"Hound Brutes."
More of them.
The same monsters that had nearly wiped out the soldiers earlier.
But here inside the Gate…
There would be many more.
Arin crouched behind a large rock formation.
Footsteps approached.
Heavy ones.
Three massive creatures slowly walked across the nearby terrain.
Their bodies looked exactly like the monster outside the warehouse.
Thick gray skin.
Spiked backs.
Glowing red eyes.
Arin remained perfectly still.
If those things spotted him, survival would be nearly impossible.
The monsters sniffed the air cautiously.
For a moment, one of them turned its head toward Arin's hiding spot.
Arin held his breath.
The creature's nose twitched.
Then after a few seconds…
It turned away.
The monsters continued walking toward another part of the dimension.
Arin exhaled slowly.
"Good."
That confirmed something important.
These creatures relied heavily on scent and movement to detect prey.
Which meant staying hidden and moving carefully could keep him alive.
But hiding forever wasn't an option.
He still needed to find the Gate Core.
Arin stepped out from behind the rock and began moving across the strange terrain.
Every step was careful.
Silent.
His mind analyzed the environment.
In the previous timeline, researchers had eventually discovered a pattern.
Gate cores were usually located in the center of the dimension or guarded by the strongest monsters.
So Arin needed to move deeper inside.
The further he walked, the stranger the world became.
Some areas contained floating pieces of land drifting slowly through the air.
Other sections had glowing crystals growing out of the ground.
At one point, Arin even saw a river flowing upward into the sky.
"This place doesn't follow normal physics," he muttered.
After several minutes of walking, he stopped.
Something ahead caught his attention.
A faint red glow.
It pulsed slowly like a heartbeat.
Arin moved closer carefully.
Then he saw it.
A massive crystal structure stood in the middle of a wide clearing.
It floated slightly above the ground.
Dark energy swirled around it.
The crystal was easily three meters tall.
Inside its center, a bright red core pulsed rhythmically.
Arin's eyes narrowed.
"That must be it."
The Gate Core.
Destroying that crystal would collapse the entire dimension.
But there was a problem.
A very big one.
Several monsters surrounded the crystal.
Not three.
Not five.
At least ten Hound Brutes patrolled the area.
And among them…
Was something larger.
Much larger.
Arin's stomach tightened.
A giant creature sat near the crystal.
It looked similar to the Hound Brutes but far more monstrous.
Its body was nearly five meters tall.
Thick armor-like plates covered its skin.
Two enormous horns curved from its skull.
And its claws were the size of swords.
The creature opened its glowing red eyes.
A low rumble vibrated through the ground.
Arin felt cold sweat run down his neck.
"…A Hound Lord."
In the future timeline, Hound Lords only appeared in C-Rank Gates.
They were powerful monsters capable of killing experienced hunters.
And Arin…
Was just a normal human.
No abilities.
No weapons.
Nothing but his brain.
Charging directly at the crystal would be suicide.
Arin studied the clearing carefully.
Ten Hound Brutes.
One Hound Lord.
And the crystal in the center.
Impossible odds.
But not unsolvable.
Arin slowly crouched behind a rock and began analyzing the patrol patterns.
The monsters moved in predictable routes.
Two circled the crystal.
Three guarded the eastern side.
Three guarded the western side.
The remaining two stayed near the Hound Lord.
Arin's mind began building a plan.
A dangerous one.
But the only option.
"If I can create a distraction…"
The monsters might leave the crystal unguarded for a few seconds.
That was all he needed.
Arin searched the surrounding area.
His eyes quickly spotted something useful.
A large cluster of glowing red plants.
In the previous timeline, hunters had discovered these plants were extremely volatile.
When disturbed, they exploded violently.
Arin carefully picked up a small rock.
He aimed toward the plants.
Then threw it.
The rock struck the cluster.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then—
BOOM.
A massive explosion erupted across the terrain.
Flames shot into the air.
The ground trembled violently.
Every monster in the clearing immediately turned toward the explosion.
The Hound Lord roared loudly.
Several Hound Brutes rushed toward the source of the blast.
Arin didn't hesitate.
He sprinted forward.
Fast.
Silent.
The clearing was partially empty now.
Only three monsters remained near the crystal.
Arin grabbed another rock.
He threw it toward the opposite side.
The rock clattered loudly against a distant stone.
Two more Hound Brutes turned and ran toward the noise.
Now only one remained.
Arin charged.
The last monster noticed him too late.
Before it could react, Arin grabbed a sharp piece of broken crystal from the ground and slammed it into the creature's injured knee joint.
The monster collapsed with a roar.
Arin ignored it.
He ran directly toward the Gate Core.
The massive crystal towered above him.
Dark energy swirled violently around it.
Arin raised the sharp crystal shard.
"Time to end this."
He stabbed the shard directly into the glowing red center.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then the entire crystal began cracking.
Energy exploded outward.
The ground shook violently.
Arin stepped back quickly.
The Gate Core shattered into hundreds of glowing fragments.
The entire dimension began collapsing.
Mountains crumbled.
The sky fractured like broken glass.
And somewhere in the distance…
The Hound Lord let out a furious roar.
Arin turned toward the collapsing world.
"Perfect timing."
The dimension was dying.
Which meant the Gate in the human world would close.
But first…
He needed to get out.
And judging by the furious footsteps approaching behind him…
The monsters weren't going to let him leave easily.