Doom Breaker – The Egoist

『In the 20th century, humanity faced a catastrophe due to a nuclear war and resource shortages. Salvation came in the form of an alien race. They called themselves gods and ruled over humans.』

『Dungeons. They are the final bane of humanity, which had ended wars and disputes. Suddenly appearing like tumors, they contaminate the land and spawn monsters. Handling the dungeons are the “Awakened,” who receive nanomachines from the gods. They are called Raiders. Even in the 21st century, dungeons continue to collapse and reappear.』

『Jagun the Violent Dragon. He is regarded as either the most ruthless human trash in raider history or the most outstanding raider. The general consensus is that it’s hard to say both are wrong. An excellent piece of human trash?』

Excerpt from the magazine “Today’s Raid,” Changwol issue.

—

The place he woke up in was the damp floor of a dungeon. Jagun was naked.

“Damn it.”

Jagun cursed as he touched the ground. The air was as unpleasant as if he were inside a giant worm’s entrails. It was the unique smell and humidity of a dungeon.

Scritch.

Jagun’s eyes moved around. He quickly grasped his surroundings.

‘An unknown dungeon. No monsters around. My body is naked. First, I need to get out of this dungeon.’

Instinctively, Jagun tried to retrieve his equipment from the magic circle on his left palm. He had countless pieces of equipment in his subspace.

“What? Damn it. Fuck?”

Jagun looked at his left palm. The magic circle was gone. Instead of the calloused lines that should be embedded in each crease, he saw a smooth palm.

—

[Jagun, my disciple. Congratulations on your new beginning.]

The voice of Isaac, the God of Chaos, resonated.

Suddenly, a dark space opened in midair. A mirror, some clothes, and a sword fell out of it with a clang.

Jagun picked up the mirror and looked at his reflection. He trembled with anger and shouted, “… What kind of prank is this, you alien bastard!”

[Blasphemy!]

Crackle!

Electricity surged from the mirror. Jagun trembled as he was electrocuted, foaming at the mouth. Accepting his current situation was harder than enduring the pain.

‘My body has changed.’

It was the body of a young man, still green. At best, he was in his early twenties. The body was untrained. Compared to Jagun’s original body, which could shake the heavens, this body was like a firefly under the moonlight.

‘My subspace magic circle…!’

All of Jagun’s lifelong wealth and treasures were in his subspace. Without them, his comeback seemed like a distant dream.

“Is he telling me to start from scratch?”

Jagun grudgingly put on the clothes. They were jeans and a T-shirt. On the front and back of the T-shirt was printed, ‘I Love Isaac’.

‘What an exasperating bastard.’

Jagun realized that this so-called God of Chaos lived up to his name. To escape from the abyss, Jagun had allied with one of the gods’ kin.

Isaac, the God of Chaos. A minor god, unheard of before.

Shiiing.

He unsheathed the sword he had received. Despite his lack of muscle, wielding the iron sword wasn’t difficult.

‘Fortunately, I still have an awakened body. At least he understood that much.’

‘Awakened’ referred to humans whose limits have been broken through the gods’ nanomachines.

They have infinite growth potential, depending on their training. They are beings who have surpassed physical limitations.

Even at Level 1, Awakened beings are strong enough to be called superhumans due to their broken limits. Jagun used his observation ability.

It’s one of the basic skills of the Awakened.

『Ordinary Iron Sword』

Jagun’s eyes displayed the stats of the iron sword. It was just an ordinary iron sword.

“For something presented by a so-called god, this is pretty lame.”

He grumbled as he strapped the sword to his waist. Then, he glanced at the mirror that had given him an electric shock.

『Isaac’s Mirror』

The probability of divine punishment is high if blasphemy is spoken. Jagun frowned and threw the mirror away. The flying mirror boomeranged back to him.

Thud!

Jagun’s face was struck by the flying mirror. The pain felt like it might break his nose. Groaning, Jagun clutched his face and stood up.

“Damn it, it’s a cursed item. A cursed item like this, really?”

Isaac’s Mirror is an item that can’t be discarded unless the curse was lifted. The more one tries to get rid of it, the more it retaliates and torments its owner.

Jagun sat down and took a deep breath.

‘Now is the time to think calmly. Most likely, what Isaac did to me is soul transfer. He placed my soul into a new body. This is the inside of a dungeon. Probably a resting room located in the middle of the dungeon. Isaac only gave me a set of clothes and a sword. I have to break through the dungeon with just these and reach the surface.’

After finishing his thoughts in a lotus position, Jagun stood up. Originally, he was a close-combat class warrior who handled Qi.

Jagun opened the door that had been protecting him.

Dungeons are divided into corridors and rooms. The structure allows one to move through the rooms via the corridors.

Navigating through several rooms helps to map out the dungeon in one’s mind, either ascending or descending.

That’s why guilds or raid parties usually have one or two guides skilled in exploration and pathfinding.

Creak.

The door opened. Jagun stared at a large shadow.

“Grrr.”

An ogre over three meters tall stood beyond the corridor. Jagun quickly slammed the door shut before the ogre could charge.

Bang! Bang!

The ogre repeatedly pounded on the closed door.

The room Jagun was in was a safe zone where monsters couldn’t enter. Dungeon entrances or resting rooms have a safe zone buff.

‘If it was my original body, this wouldn’t even be a challenge….’

Jagun assessed his condition. A brief status window projected onto his retina.

『Jagun (Raider) / Level 1』

‘Raider’ refers to an Awakened with broken limits.

Even at Level 1, their physical abilities are far superior to ordinary humans. But dungeon monsters can easily crush such superhumans.

‘An ogre from Level 1.’

Jagun is known as the Violent Dragon for a reason. However, he was never reckless. He knew how to objectively compare his limits and the enemy’s capabilities. Raiding isn’t a game but a matter of life and death.

Thud, thud.

The ogre stopped pounding on the door. Jagun checked the other doors in the room.

‘There are two doors leading out of this room. One has the ogre, and the other…’

Jagun opened the other door.

Creak.

“Cawww!”

The sound was ear-piercing. A giant black bat bared its fangs and flew at him.

Slam!

Jagun closed the door with a blank expression.

Jagun muttered to himself, “A giant bat. Quite the dilemma.”

Between the ogre and the giant bat, Jagun decided the ogre was the lesser evil given his current equipment.

‘The giant bat has lower health and attack power, but it’s a flying creature, making it hard to hit. With just this sword, it would be tough to take down. Not to mention, if I get scratched by its claws and contract some poison or disease, it’s game over.’

Jagun looked at the iron sword in his hand.

“Pathetic.”

He could only laugh. There was a time when he was decked out in gear that could sustain him for a lifetime if he sold even one piece.

He quietly stood in front of the door with the ogre behind it.

‘Level 1, equipped with only an iron sword. Facing an ogre that needs to be at least Level 15 to be considered a fair match.’

Creeeak.

The ogre, sitting in the darkness, stood up. Red eyes locked onto Jagun. For an ordinary raider, this would be a no-win situation.

Jagun muttered as he pushed the door open, “…But I am Shin Jagun.”

Clang.

Jagun shook his iron sword, hitting it against the ground. Hearing the sound, the ogre lunged as if in a frenzy.

‘It’s been ages since I last fought an ogre.’

Jagun had forgotten the patterns of ogre attacks. There came a time when he didn’t need to remember the attack patterns of monsters like ogres.

Ogres were just creatures he could kill with a single swing of his sword.

‘In my current state, this is tougher than an S-rank boss.’

Every minor attack from the ogre was potentially lethal to Jagun.

‘I have to avoid being hit and gradually accumulate damage to take it down.’

“Graaawr!”

The ogre swung its club. The spot Jagun had been standing in was struck hard.

Thud.

Jagun rolled to the ogre’s side. He rolled, jumped, and stumbled backwards awkwardly, barely avoiding the attacks.

But Jagun’s eyes never lost track of the ogre’s attack patterns.

“Huff, huff.”

His breath was already hitching in his throat. Sweat dripped onto the floor.

‘This body is quite frail. Lacks stamina. One unnecessary move, and it’s over.’

The ogre launched another attack. Jagun watched the direction of the ogre’s club. He narrowly avoided the ogre’s attacks by watching them all the way through.

He locked the ogre’s final attack pattern into his mind.

‘Now I see the trajectory and movements.’

The ogre’s actions played out in his head. Finally, Jagun moved to attack. He slashed at the ogre’s lower body with his iron sword.

The ogre’s skin and muscles were tough. Jagun’s attack barely made a scratch.

‘As expected. It’s now a battle of concentration and patience.’

Catching his breath, he rolled on the ground again. Jagun noticed that the ogre had many openings after each of its attacks.

In those fleeting moments, Jagun kept swinging his iron sword. Slowly and steadily, he accumulated damage on the ogre.

Not a single mistake could be afforded. The new life granted to him was as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind.

‘I won’t die until I take my revenge.’

Jagun’s eyes gleamed with hatred. It didn’t matter if he had to start from scratch or be in a different body.

‘I am me. I am Shin Jagun. It doesn’t change the fact that I am the strongest.’

Slash!

Jagun slashed at the ogre’s leg once more. Numerous scratches were etched on the ogre’s leg like scribbles.

“Grrr.”

The ogre drooled, writhing in pain. Jagun’s body was drenched in sweat. After hundreds of repeated actions, his stamina was almost entirely depleted.

If quantified, his stamina would barely be at 1.

‘Now is the time.’

Fwoosh—Thunk!

With a final, decisive thrust, Jagun drove the iron sword into a critical spot. The ogre let out a guttural cry and collapsed, its enormous form hitting the ground with a reverberating thud.

Jagun stood there, panting heavily. His body was at its limit, but he had survived.