The main area of the [Ruined City] was massive, far larger than the outskirts.
Buildings loomed on every side, broken and jagged, streets stretched endlessly, some completely destroyed, others littered with the remains of old lives.
The deeper Sam went, the more he realized just how sprawling this corrupted second layer really was.
Still, the black sun's rays didn't touch him. Whatever force had tried to corrupt him before, it had failed. And now, even as the sun hovered higher in the crimson sky, pulsing with that same dark energy, Sam walked beneath it unbothered.
But while the sun couldn't corrupt him, it was clear that it still hated him for some reason. That much was obvious.
'What did we even do to these monsters,' Sam thought to himself, 'The Abyssal King...? Then now this thing?'
[...]
Seeing that, Sam understood that there was truly something going on.
It was the first time [Hell-Mode Analysis] replied with such a panel.
His confidence was high, but that didn't mean he got careless. He kept his focus sharp. It didn't take long before he noticed the shift in the monsters as well.
Even though they were still level 20 like the ones in the outskirts, the creatures here hit harder.
A few had even managed to strike his [Eternal Barrier], which hadn't happened once in the first zone.
He still killed them all. That much hadn't changed. But the way they came at him… in waves, from alleys, from beneath broken cars, from the tops of shattered rooftops, it was relentless.
It wasn't just the natural hostility of corrupted monsters. They were being sent after him.
[The Black Sun summons more entities in hopes of eliminating you.]
Sam narrowed his eyes, feeling the hatred radiating from above like a constant pressure on his back. The black sun loomed in the sky, as if watching his every step.
[We'll kill it eventually. Just proceed.]
Sam paused at that.
"Kill the sun?" he blinked.
That… sounded crazy. Still, he shrugged the thought away and moved forward.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
He kept carving through anything that got in his way.
From the [Weeping Shadows] that floated like spirits through alleyways, to the [Hollow Hounds] that hunted in packs, to the swarms of [Demonic Rats] that crawled out, none survived.
Anything that got too close was erased before it had a chance to fight back.
Ding!
[Congratulations to Sam Walker for leveling up to Level 3 of the Apprentice Rank!]
Ding!
[Congratulations to Sam Walker for leveling up to Level 4 of the Apprentice Rank!]
His power kept growing. Every kill made him stronger, and the feeling of progress came quickly.
He took a quick glance at the barrier still shielding him.
[Eternal Barrier: 41/50]
Even though nothing had gotten past it yet, the long-range attacks were annoying.
Sometimes, even debris or a weak projectile would count as a hit and chip away at the shield. And in this dense, sprawling city, with so many enemies hidden behind every corner, the hits came often.
Luckily, the [Eternal Barrier] refreshed every thirty minutes. But if he was surrounded on all sides by hundreds of monsters? That would be a different story.
For now, though, things were under control.
Sam moved with confidence, killing as he went, his crimson eyes always alert.
With each level up, his senses sharpened. The fact that he was reaching level 4 so fast, something that would take most awakeners weeks, was a clear sign.
The corruption might've made this layer harder. But for Sam? It was a blessing.
While he moved through the ruins, cutting down enemies, he kept his eye out for one thing: the second sub-layer.
He had no idea what it looked like. No idea where it might be hidden.
But eventually, he found the entrance to the zone's boss.
Sam's expression lit up with a grin. He glanced upward, toward the hateful black sun overhead, and raised a hand in mock gratitude.
"Thanks for the free experience!" he laughed. "And even better, you can't even touch me!"
He felt unstoppable. The power. The immunity to corruption. The ease with which he destroyed everything.
It all felt like the world was finally going his way.
But just as those words left his mouth, a new panel appeared before him, this one in crimson.
[You have the feeling you shouldn't have said that.]
"Huh—?"
He didn't even finish his thought.
Fwish! BOOM!
A powerful wave of dark energy exploded outward, spreading from the black sun above and washing across the entire layer in an instant.
The shockwave shook the very buildings around him. Dust flew up from the ground, and the sky seemed to shimmer as the sun pulsed violently.
"What the fuck?"
Sam looked up, and froze.
The black sun, which until now had been a pulsing, flaming orb of darkness… had changed.
It had an eye now. A massive, glowing eye, opened in the center of the sun, staring directly at him. A gaze that seemed to pierce through his soul.
He took a step back, slowly, eyes still locked on the sky.
"…Hell-Mode Analysis," he muttered. "Any clue what's happening now?"
[You angered the Black Sun… I guess? Though it's never reacted like this before.]
Sam drew his sword and lowered his stance. Whatever was coming, he had no idea what to expect.
But fear never came. He couldn't feel it. Not as a Primordial.
All he could do was prepare, and wait.
...
Meanwhile, not far from Sam's location…
"Be careful of the sun's rays!" a girl's voice rang out.
A mass of vines erupted from her outstretched arms, slamming into a corrupted beast and pinning it to a crumbling wall.
"We know already!" a young man shouted from behind cover. "But these monsters are relentless! Why are they this strong?!"
"Corruption," another replied, "But keep pushing! We've come too far to turn back now!"
Sam wasn't alone in the layer, obviously, a good amount of people had entered it, like this group of fifteen awakeners
Most hadn't dared. Many saw the twisted portals and turned back. But this group pressed on.
They were from the [Viper Guild], one of the stronger rising guilds in the north region.
And leading them was a girl with emerald-green hair tied into a long ponytail, Chloe Vinelord.
Her uniform was already torn in a few places from the earlier fights, but her stance never wavered.
She stood tall, wielding her SS-rank skill [Plant Master] with precision and grace, thorns and vines dancing around her like a living shield.
"Thank god the boss of the outskirts was already dead when we got there," one of her teammates said. "We would've lost half the squad!"
They'd arrived about ten minutes after Sam had cleared the first boss, meaning they could move into the next zone without the fight.
One of the apprentice-ranked members ran up to her. "Chloe! This is bad. We need to inform the Association. This place is off the charts."
"Yeah," someone else muttered. "What the hell is happening to the world lately?"
Chloe narrowed her eyes, not letting the doubt creep in.
"Don't back down!" she shouted, voice ringing across the street. "We clear this layer. No matter what!"
She didn't know about Sam. None of them did. But they shared this corrupted space with him.
But the moment they were about to advance...
Ding!
[The Primordial has angered the "Black Sun." Brace yourselves.]
"…Wait, what?"
"Did that say Primordial—?"
"What the hell is a Primord—?"
Fwish! BOOM!
The same shockwave as before erupted around the layer.
Buildings shivered. Light bent. The sun, no longer just a sun, glared down with its massive eye.
And that energy slammed into everything. Including the humans.
Chloe reacted fast. She closed her eyes instinctively but forced them back open. "Don't panic, keep it together!" she yelled.
But when she looked around, her breath caught in her throat.
All the teammates who had been standing beside her, fighting with her… Were gone. Replaced by something else.
Their armor, their clothes, even their weapons, they were all intact. But their bodies had changed.
Their skin was pale, grayish, and split with jagged black veins that pulsed with faint red light. Their eyes glowed with the same corrupted darkness as the black sun itself.
---
[Corrupted Corpses]
[Level: ???]
[Description: A human who has been consumed by the Black Sun's corruption.]
---
"No—" Chloe's voice cracked. "No, no, no…!"
But the corruption had already taken full hold. Their gazes locked onto her. And as one, their eyes flared brighter—and they lunged.
Chloe had no time to mourn. No time to hesitate. Just barely enough time to fight.