Ascension: Shadow Protocol

Chapter 3: Betrayed Beneath the Earth

The silence that followed Ryo's awakening was brief.

Beneath the dungeon's shifting walls, danger stirred like a waking beast.

But Ryo wasn't afraid anymore.

Not of the monsters.

Not of the shadows.

And definitely not of the people who left him behind.

Twelve Hours Earlier – Surface Level

"We have to leave him."

The words echoed like gunfire in the darkness.

Shinji's voice was sharp, clipped — spoken without remorse as the other hunters hesitated near the collapsed tunnel.

"He's still inside," Ayaka protested, her voice trembling. She glanced back toward the dungeon entrance, the barrier flickering violently behind them. "Ryo's just a kid—!"

"A kid who slowed us down," Shinji snapped. "He was weak. Dead weight."

"He saved us during the first wave—!"

"And he would've gotten us all killed if we stayed! Look around you!" Shinji pointed to the damage. "We barely made it out alive. The gate's closing. If you want to go back in there, be my guest — but I'm not dying for trash."

Ayaka's lips tightened. She looked at the others. No one moved.

Ryo Kazen had been left behind.

Sacrificed.

Disposable.

Present – Deeper in the Dungeon

The air was colder now. Not from temperature — but from intent.

Ryo could feel the shift.

The dungeon wasn't just alive.

It was watching him.

[Shadow Protocol Sync: 21%]Passive Skill Unlocked: Shadow Sense– Detect hidden lifeforms and energy fluctuations within a 20-meter radius.Status: Active

A soft hum brushed the edge of his awareness. Something was moving just ahead — slow, deliberate.

He crouched, pressed his hand to the stone, and let the shadows creep forward like fingers.

A tunnel opened up beneath the dungeon floor.

Not man-made. Not even system-generated.

Organic.

He slipped into the lower shaft, guided by instinct more than logic.

[Environmental Anomaly Detected]Dungeon Floor: UnregisteredStatus: Rogue Sub-LayerAccess: Restricted

The deeper he went, the less stable everything became. Walls flickered between solid and code. Floor tiles pulsed like heartbeats. Whispers echoed around him — not voices, but corrupted commands, looping endlessly:

"Access…denied…""Protocol breach…detected…""Unit terminated…error…"

Then he saw it.

A body.

Still warm.

Half of it melted into the wall, half of it clawed open from the inside.

A hunter's badge lay beside it — half-burned, but the name still legible.

Takeda Hiro. Rank B.

Ryo narrowed his eyes.

Takeda had entered this dungeon hours before his group did. An elite sent to scout ahead. He wasn't supposed to die here.

And yet—

[Assimilation Available: Do you wish to absorb Takeda Hiro's Data Remnants?]→ YES | NO

Ryo didn't hesitate.

YES.

Assimilation In Progress…Skill Fragment Acquired: Blade Amplification (Tier D)Memory Echo Detected…Integrating Memory…

Suddenly — vision flooded his mind.

A memory, fragmented but vivid.

Takeda, gasping, bleeding, running through these same tunnels.

And chasing him?

Not monsters.

Not shadows.

Hunters.

One of them — tall, armored in crimson — drove a spear through Takeda's back while laughing.

"I told you not to dig too deep," the attacker had said, voice cold. "The Protocol belongs to us now."

Ryo staggered back as the vision ended, heart thudding.

Takeda was murdered.

Not by the dungeon — but by his own kind.

"The Protocol belongs to us…"

So it wasn't just a myth.

The Shadow Protocol wasn't an accident. It was something people had killed to control — something powerful enough to spark betrayal within the highest guilds.

And now… it was inside him.

Suddenly, Shadow Sense pulsed hard.

Three signatures. Close. Approaching fast.

He pressed himself into the wall as shadows wrapped around him instinctively. From the far end of the corridor, figures emerged — armored, stealthy, and armed with gear far too advanced for a simple dungeon team.

Guild: Black HaloStatus: ClassifiedMission: Suppress Protocol Outbreak

"Scan's unstable," one of them said, waving a scanner in the air. "Whatever triggered the anomaly… it's still nearby."

Ryo watched from the veil of shadow, unblinking.

They were here to find him.

Not to save him. Not to help.

To eliminate him.

Just like Takeda.

He clenched his fists.

They knew. Somehow, someone on the surface had detected his activation. And now these assassins were here to erase him before he could fully awaken.

He could feel his body shaking — not from fear, but anger.

They left him to die.

Now they were sending killers to finish the job.

[Shadow Protocol Alert: Combat Instincts Overriding Inhibitors]Trigger: Emotional Spike – RagePassive Skill Unlocked: Shadow Doppelgänger – Rank ECreate a decoy of yourself from shadow essence. Duration: 10 seconds.

Ryo smiled darkly.

He had no intention of hiding anymore.

Ten Seconds Later

"Visual on the anomaly—!" one of the assassins shouted, pointing down the corridor.

They all turned — and saw Ryo, walking toward them through the darkness.

"What the hell—? Kid's still alive?!"

"Take him down!"

Blades extended. Spells charged.

They lunged—

And passed straight through him.

BOOM!

The doppelgänger exploded into a cloud of corrosive shadow.

By the time they realized the trick, Ryo had already closed the distance from behind.

Slice.

One went down instantly — throat shredded by a shadow-forged blade.

Flash.

A second turned just in time to eat a blast of compressed darkness directly to the chest.

Only one remained — the leader.

She turned, wide-eyed, trying to retreat. But it was too late.

Ryo stepped from the shadows, eyes burning like stars in a void.

"No more running," he whispered.

The last hunter screamed.

And then silence returned.

Ryo stood among the bodies, heart pounding.

He wasn't the same boy who entered this dungeon.

And the surface world?

They weren't ready for what he was becoming.

He looked down at his hands — dripping with black data, not blood.

[Protocol Sync: 26%]Emotional Stability: FluctuatingUser Integrity: Warning – Threshold Approaching

He ignored it.

"I'm coming back," he said softly.

"Not as prey…"

He turned toward the glowing stairwell at the end of the corridor.

"…but as the predator."