CHAPTER 109: CHAPTER 109

His Fire Manipulation improved through sheer necessity, growing from weak to moderate strength as he fought. His Phase Step ability finally became useful, allowing him to briefly become intangible to avoid attacks, though it drained him terribly.

Twenty minutes into the fight, a spirit’s sword pierced his shoulder. The ethereal blade passed through his enhanced durability like it didn’t exist, the ghostly metal somehow more real than steel. Satou screamed, the pain unlike anything physical. It was cold fire burning through his soul itself.

[HP: 3847/4100]

His Regeneration kicked in immediately, the wound closing as new tissue formed over the ghostly damage. But even as the physical wound healed, he could still feel it, a ghostly ache that his regeneration couldn’t fully address.

I’m going to die here, the thought came unbidden. I’m actually going to die.

Thirty spirits left. His stamina was at half.

Then he remembered something. The Shadow Beasts from Floor Six had been partially incorporeal. Maybe...

Satou activated Shadow Step, but this time he tried to stay in the shadow state longer, pulling on that ability and his Phase Step simultaneously.

His body flickered, becoming translucent. The next spirit’s attack passed harmlessly through him.

Yes! That’s it!

He couldn’t maintain it long, maybe three seconds at most before his stamina plummeted, but three seconds was enough to dodge, reposition, counterattack with his fire-coated blade.

The fight turned from impossible to merely brutal.

When the last spirit finally fell, Satou collapsed, every muscle trembling with exhaustion. His stamina was nearly gone. His head felt like it had been split open, but his Regeneration was already working to ease the accumulated damage.

[Floor Eleven Complete]

[+3500 EXP]

[Level Up! Level 21 → Level 22]

The warm sensation of leveling up flooded through him, restoring his HP and stamina completely.

"Eleven down," Satou gasped, still lying on the cold stone. "Eighty-nine to go."

He wanted to rest, to sleep, to recover. But there was no rest chamber. Just stairs leading down to Floor Twelve.

Get up. Keep moving. Or die here.

Satou forced himself to his feet and descended.

Floor Twelve nearly drowned him. Literally.

The entire floor was flooded, with only small air pockets near the ceiling. Aquatic horrors called Abyssal Hunters stalked him through the murky water. His Water Breathing helped, but they were faster swimmers, their teeth like serrated daggers.

One got its jaws around his leg. Satou felt bones crack, the pain shooting up his spine. He screamed underwater, bubbles erupting from his mouth.

[HP: 3456/4100]

His Regeneration activated instantly, bone fragments shifting back into place, tissue knitting together even as the Abyssal Hunter’s teeth remained embedded in his leg. The healing was fighting against the ongoing damage, creating a painful equilibrium.

In desperation, Satou grabbed the creature’s head with both hands and channeled Fire Manipulation directly into its skull. The water around them boiled, and the Hunter’s grip finally loosened as it died.

He kicked away, pulling himself to an air pocket. His leg was a mangled mess, but his Regeneration was already working overtime, muscle fibers reconnecting, blood vessels regrowing, skin closing over the wounds.

[HP: 3678/4100... 3847/4100... 3956/4100...]

Within two minutes, his leg was functional again, though it ached terribly.

He killed seventeen more Abyssal Hunters before finally clearing the floor. Each fight pushed him to his limits in the water, but each time he was injured, his Regeneration brought him back. Each one made him faster, stronger, more adapted to aquatic combat.

Floor Fifteen was worse than all the previous floors combined.

The chamber was a perfectly mirrored arena. And standing across from him was... himself.

[Shadow Self — Level 22]

His exact equal. Same level. Same abilities. Same equipment. Same combat experience.

The fight lasted three hours.

Every move Satou made, the Shadow Self countered perfectly. Every technique, every skill, every strategy , the Shadow Self knew them all because it was him.

Satou’s Regeneration was working constantly throughout the fight. The Shadow Self’s blade would open a gash across his chest. The wound would close within seconds. A thrust through his shoulder. Healed before he could feel the full pain. His regeneration matched his own fighting style perfectly because his opponent had the same ability.

But that meant neither could truly hurt the other. Every wound healed. Every injury regenerated. They were locked in eternal stalemate.

Then the Shadow Self did something Satou had not expected. It drove its blade straight toward his heart and twisted. Satou felt the agony, felt his regeneration failing to push the weapon out, felt his life draining away. Darkness swallowed everything.

For a moment, he was certain he had died.

But then the darkness flickered—like a candle being relit.

Satou gasped and found himself standing at the entrance of Floor Fifteen, alive, uninjured, heart pounding wildly. The pain of being stabbed still echoed through him.

"What... just happened?"

A line of glowing text appeared before him.

[After-Image Triggered: Your body was not killed. Mental Projection Terminated.]

[Analysis Complete: Weakness Detected — Over-reliance on Regeneration.]

Satou froze. The realization hit him like a hammer.

That wasn’t my real body. The dungeon created an after-image copy... and killed that.

The dungeon hadn’t revived him. He never truly died. It was showing him what would have happened if that strike had landed on his real body.

A warning. A lesson.

The Shadow Self materialized again, identical to him in every way.

This time, Satou fought differently. He used the mirrored walls to break line of sight, raised earth barriers to force unpredictable angles, used Shadow Step not to attack but to disorient his double. Even Predator’s Gaze—useless in theory—gave just enough hesitation to exploit.

His blade sliced cleanly across the Shadow Self’s throat. The head separated before regeneration could save it. The reflection dissolved like smoke.

[Shadow Self Defeated]

[Floor Fifteen Complete]

[+5000 EXP]

[Self-Reflection Trial Passed]

Floor Twenty-Three was a poison garden.

The air itself was toxic. Plants with venomous thorns grew everywhere. Insects with lethal stings swarmed in clouds. And stalking through it all were Plague Bearers — rotting humanoids that spread disease with every touch.

Satou’s Venom Resistance helped, but not enough. Within minutes, his skin was covered in boils. He was coughing blood. His vision blurred.

[HP: 3847/4100]

[Status: Poisoned x6]

[HP: 3623/4100]

[HP: 3401/4100]

In desperation, he began devouring everything around him—the poisonous plants, the venomous insects, even the toxic air itself. His Devouring ability expanded, consuming not just living creatures but the very essence of poison saturating the floor.

[Toxic Vine Devoured x23]

[Venom Resistance (Moderate) → Venom Resistance (Superior)]

[Poison Immunity (Minor) Acquired]

[Poison Generation (Weak) Acquired]

His body adapted rapidly. The boils shrank and disappeared. His breathing cleared. Little by little, the poison that had been killing him became fuel instead.

He cleared Floor Twenty-Three with ease. As he walked forward, a new prompt appeared before him.

[Optional Path Detected. Skip to Floor Twenty-Nine—Boss Chamber. Accept?]

Satou glanced at his strengthened body, feeling the new power coursing through him. He accepted.

By the time he reached the Floor Boss, a massive Plague Titan. he was immune to almost all of its toxic attacks. But the creature’s physical strength was another matter entirely. Its fist came down like a meteor, and only his Enhanced Reflexes and Shadow Step kept him from being crushed.

He spent nearly an hour carving through its diseased flesh, finally locating the core hidden deep within its chest cavity. With one desperate lunge, he plunged his entire arm into the rotting mass, seized the pulsing core, and crushed it in his hand.

[Floor Twenty-Nine Complete]

[Level Up! Level 22 → Level 24]

Floor 30 was one massive chamber with 5 biome. Frozen wasteland. Burning desert. Toxic swamp. Crushing depths. Hurricane winds.

And in each biome, enemies specifically adapted to that environment.

Satou had to fight through all five, adapting constantly. His Regeneration was tested in ways it had never been before.

In the frozen wasteland, an Ice Giant’s club shattered his ribs. He felt the bones explode into fragments, puncturing his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. Blood filled his chest cavity.

[HP: 2847/4100]

[Suffocation imminent]

His Regeneration prioritized his lungs, reinflating them first, clearing the blood, then working on the ribs. He was functional again within a minute, though still in significant pain.

In the burning desert, he literally caught fire. His clothes burned away. His skin blistered and blackened. He could smell his own flesh cooking.

[HP: 2456/4100]

[HP: 2103/4100]

[Third-degree burns covering 60% of body]

He dove into sand, smothering the flames. His Regeneration began the slow process of growing new skin, but it was expensive. Each layer of new skin cost tremendous amounts of energy.

[Stamina: 67%... 52%... 38%...]

His regeneration was burning through his stamina reserves faster than combat ever had.

In the toxic swamp, a Corruption Beast’s claws opened his stomach. He felt his intestines trying to spill out. Satou pressed one hand against the wound, holding his organs in while fighting with the other.

[HP: 1847/4100]

[CRITICAL: Abdominal wound]

His Regeneration couldn’t close the wound while he was moving, while he was still fighting. Every movement tore it open wider. Every strike he made pulled at the damaged muscles.

But he kept fighting anyway. His regeneration did what it could, keeping his organs from falling out completely, preventing fatal blood loss, maintaining just enough function to keep him alive.