MMORPG: REBORN MARK ADVENTURE IN ONLINE GAME

The entrance to Poison Cave loomed before them, shrouded in an unnatural stillness.

Before, the cave had been dangerous, but predictable—a place filled with venomous beasts, lurking traps, and the lingering stench of rot. A occupation. A battleground where death was expected but controlled.

Now?

Now, the air itself felt different.

Heavy. Wrong.

Raven stood at the threshold, his sharp gaze scanning the shadows inside. He didn't step forward immediately. His instincts screamed at him—not caution, but awareness.

Something had changed.

Liz tapped a dagger against her palm, shifting her weight. "It's too quiet."

She wasn't wrong.

The usual sounds of dripping water, distant chittering, and slithering movement had vanished.

Ana rubbed her arms, frowning. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Daniel exhaled, adjusting his grip on his bow. "Yeah? I always have a bad feeling when we walk into death traps."

Mist Low was uncharacteristically quiet.

His golden eyes gleamed with an unreadable emotion, flickering between Raven and the darkness ahead. His usual smirk wasn't entirely gone, but it was thinner now—more focused.

"The air's different," he finally muttered. "It wasn't like this before."

And he was right.

The Poison Cave had been dangerous, but there had been a sense of order. Rules. Challenges meant to be overcome. A place that could be conquered.

But now?

Now it felt like something beneath the surface had shifted.

Like they weren't the ones invading the cave anymore.

Like something inside was waiting for them.

Raven tightened his grip on his dagger.

"We cleared every floor. We killed the Poison Guardian. That should have been the end of it." His voice was steady, but even he couldn't shake the feeling gnawing at his gut. "But after what the old man said..."

Liz finished for him. "The final stage."

The words felt heavier than they should have.

Daniel sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Right. So, let's not stand around waiting for the next nightmare to crawl out."

Mist Low finally grinned again, the edge of unease still flickering beneath it. "You say that, but I'd love to see what happens if we do."

Liz gave him a flat look. "We die. That's what happens."

Mist Low let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, fine. Let's walk into the abyss like sensible idiots, then."

Raven didn't hesitate any longer.

They had already started this.

There was no stopping now.

He stepped forward, crossing the threshold into the cave.

One by one, the others followed.

The shadows swallowed them whole.

The deeper they went, the stronger the wrongness became.

The Poison Cave had always been dark, but this was different. The walls seemed too narrow, the shadows too thick. Their torches should have illuminated the path ahead, but instead, the flames flickered strangely, bending toward something unseen.

Like the darkness itself was breathing.

Liz muttered a curse under her breath. "I hate this."

Ana held her staff tighter, her fingers twitching. "Magic feels off again."

Daniel's footsteps slowed. "Off how?"

Ana hesitated. Then, reluctantly, she cast a small flame in her palm.

Or at least, she tried.

The fire sputtered to life, but the glow was weak—sickly. Like something in the air was suffocating it.

Mist Low let out a low whistle. "Well, that's unsettling."

Raven didn't say anything, but he took note of everything. Reduced visibility. Magic interference. An unnatural atmosphere. This wasn't just another dungeon floor.

Something had shifted the very nature of the cave itself.

And that meant one thing—

Something was awake.

He turned a corner, leading them deeper, when the first real sign of change appeared.

The walls.

Before, the cave had been rough stone, covered in layers of moss and decay. Now, they were… different.

Smoother. Marked.

Liz ran a gloved hand over the surface. "Raven. This wasn't here before."

He stepped closer, examining the marks. Not scratches. Not erosion.

Carvings.

Thin, precise lines formed unfamiliar runes, circling along the walls in an eerie, spiraling pattern.

Ana's breath hitched. "These are… sealing runes."

Mist Low raised an eyebrow. "And yet, whatever they were holding back doesn't seem very sealed anymore."

As if on cue, the air shifted.

A sound—low, guttural, almost like a breath exhaling from deep within the cave.

Then—

The ground trembled.

Not an earthquake. Not stone shifting.

Something alive.

Daniel reacted first, taking a step back. "Tell me that was just my imagination."

Liz pulled out her daggers, her stance sharpening. "Nope."

Mist Low's grin turned sharper, but there was a flicker of genuine tension in his gaze. "I'd like to formally request that we don't die horribly."

Raven didn't respond. He was already moving.

They needed to move forward.

They needed to see what had changed.

And more importantly—

They needed to know if it could still be stopped.

The trembling grew stronger. Dust rained from the ceiling, the unnatural silence broken by a low, grinding rumble—not stone shifting, but something stirring.

And then—

They saw it.

At the end of the passage, embedded in the cavern wall, a massive figure loomed.

A golem.

But not just any golem.

Its massive form was twisted, unnatural, its body covered in dark green crystalline growths that pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.

Thick chains of glowing runes wrapped around its limbs, etched into its surface like shackles—seals, binding it in place.

Ana inhaled sharply. "That's… a sealing formation."

Liz didn't lower her blades. "Yeah? Then why does it look like it's about to break?"

And she was right.

The runes were flickering, dimming.

The air around the golem felt poisoned, suffocating. The moment Raven saw the system notification, he knew why.

---

[Poison Golem] - Special Elite Boss

Level: 6

Status: Sealed (Weakened, Resisting Restraints)

---

Special Elite.

Not a normal enemy. Not just a strong monster. A dungeon-level disaster.

Mist Low let out a low whistle. "Well, that's horrifying."

Daniel tightened his grip on his bow. "Tell me we don't have to fight that."

The golem twitched.

One of the runes flared brightly—then cracked.

A sound, deep and unnatural, rippled through the air.

It wasn't just breaking free.

It was waking up.

Raven exhaled. "We don't have a choice."

Ana paled. "The seal is failing."

Mist Low tilted his head. "So we either run and let it wake up… or break it before it fully wakes up?"

Liz smirked, cracking her knuckles. "Easy choice."

Daniel sighed. "Damn it."

Raven drew his dagger. "We end this fast."

Then—

The first seal shattered.

And the Poison Golem roared.