L2L - Death Code

The red window burned into his vision.

[Deploy - Stealth?]

He barely had the breath to curse.

The walls of the cavern twisted before him, jagged stone and flickering shadows forming a deadly maze. Behind him—death slithered. The monstrous serpent that had found him was relentless, its massive body weaving through the tight corridors with terrifying speed.

And this damn window—it wouldn't leave his sight.

It hovered, shifting whenever he turned his head, blocking his view of the ground, the walls—the path he needed to see.

A jagged rock jutted from the floor just ahead. He saw it too late.

His foot caught. His balance snapped.

He crashed to the ground with a choked gasp.

Hissing filled the air. The serpent surged forward, closing in—

"Yes! Just—just remove it!"

The second the words left his mouth, the world changed.

Something cold rippled through his body—weightless yet suffocating. A terrible silence swallowed the cavern, as if the air itself had frozen. His breathing, his pulse, even the faint trembling of his limbs—it all felt… wrong.

The serpent halted.

Its massive head loomed just feet away, tongue flicking through the air. Its golden slit-eyes gleamed in the dim light as it searched, weaving from side to side—hunting.

But it wasn't looking at him.

It was looking through him.

His breath caught in his throat as the creature slowly recoiled. It tasted the air one last time—then, dissatisfied, it turned.

The snake slithered away.

The sound of its massive body dragging across the cavern floor faded into the depths.

His hands trembled against the stone. His breath came in shallow gasps, each one ragged and uneven.

What… just happened?

He forced himself to move—just enough to press his back against the wall, tucking himself deeper into the shadows. He needed time. A second, a moment—something to grasp what the hell was going on.

His chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven heaves. He had been about to die.

And then he hadn't.

His mind raced. The notification. Stealth. That unnatural feeling—it had masked him. Hidden him.

It was impossible.

It made no sense.

But—

It worked.

He exhaled slowly, pressing his forehead against the damp, uneven stone. His body still screamed from the chase. His pulse still thundered against his skull.

But he was alive.

And for now, that was enough.

The silence stretched.

Then—

A flicker of movement.

He felt it before he saw it. A presence.

Something was watching him.

His body locked up. His skin burned with the instinctive warning of prey caught in a predator's gaze.

Slowly, he turned his head.

A pair of golden reptilian eyes stared directly at him.

His breath stopped.

This was not the serpent from before.

It was larger.

Far larger.

Its massive body coiled in the darkness, barely visible against the blackened stone. Unlike the other, its scales gleamed like polished ore, glinting under the faint glow of the cavern. Embedded within its back were jagged formations of what looked like crystalline minerals, shimmering with an eerie light.

This wasn't just another snake.

This was something else.

Something far more dangerous.

Yet—it wasn't moving.

Just watching.

Its gaze didn't waver. It knew he was there.

The moment stretched into eternity. His limbs wouldn't move. His lungs refused to breathe.

This was it.

It would strike. He would die. This was it.

But then—

The serpent's eyes narrowed.

It tilted its head.

And then—without a sound—it turned away.

It slithered past him, deeper into the cavern, vanishing into the shadows without a trace.

His body gave out.

A sharp thud echoed as he collapsed against the stone floor. His muscles refused to hold him upright any longer.

His chest heaved. His vision swam. His body—shaken, exhausted—alive.

For several moments, all he could do was lay there.

Then, finally, his eyes flicked upward.

The notification window had returned.

[Stealth Active]

Duration: 00:03:07

His breath shuddered out of him.

It wasn't a hallucination.

It was real.

His breathing had steadied, but his body still trembled from the aftershock of what had just happened.

The golden-eyed serpent had stared straight at him. He had felt its breath, its presence pressing down on him like a force of nature. And yet—it had left.

Not because it was merciful. Not because it wasn't hungry.

Because it didn't see him.

His fingers curled into his palm as he forced himself to look at the glowing red window in front of him.

It was slightly transparent, the letters sharp and alien—yet somehow, he understood them.

[Skill Map]

Below it, a single entry:

• Stealth (Active)

Swallowing, he hesitantly lifted a shaking finger and tapped it.

A new window appeared, text unfolding before his eyes.

[Stealth

A basic skill that allows the user to become unnoticeable to others.

Lv - 1

Duration: 4 minutes

Cooldown: 1 min 4 sec]

His pulse quickened.

This… saved me.

He wasn't sure how, but this strange system had given him a way to disappear—to survive. The snake hadn't ignored him out of instinct or luck. It had literally not seen him.

His mind was still struggling to accept what was happening, but one thing was clear—this system was the only thing keeping him alive.

Taking another slow breath, he glanced at the window again. Beside [Skill Map], there was another option.

[Stats]

His lips parted slightly.

He hesitated, then tapped on it.

A new window popped up.

[Stats]

Level: 1

HP: 910/910

Stamina: 176/620

Strength: 79

Agility: 82

Endurance: 74

Perception: 44

Vitality: 41

Dexterity: 39

Intellect: 92

Soul Points (SP): 200

Mana: --

Luck: 17

His eyes flickered across the numbers, but he had no idea what they actually meant.

Strength? Agility? Endurance?

They were just numbers. They told him nothing. He had never played any of those fancy video games that other people talked about. He barely even had a working phone in his old life.

So what did these mean?

Were they good? Bad?

The only thing that made sense was Stamina. It wasn't full.

His brows furrowed.

Because I've been running.

So it could go down. That meant—could it also recover?

His gaze lowered to two things that confused him the most:

Soul Points (SP): ???

Mana: ???

Why were there question marks?

Did he not have them? Or was there some other reason the system wasn't showing them?

A creeping unease settled in his chest.

This isn't normal.

But then again—none of this is.

A sharp breath left his lips as he leaned against the rough dungeon wall, exhaustion finally catching up to him.

His entire body ached. His mind was still catching up.

And yet…

Despite everything, despite the overwhelming confusion and fear…

He realised he wasn't completely helpless.

He had this system.

And he was going to figure out how to use it.