I looked left and right as I made my way toward the edge of the town.
I was going to escape.
There was no way I could continue living here. There was no reason for me to stay. My family was gone. Sab was gone. Only pain and suffering awaited me.
As I neared the town's edge, I crouched low and slipped into the bushes.
The only way out was past the guards.
Our town was surrounded by an enormous earth wall, impossible to climb. It had been raised years ago by Earth Rune users led by the Town Chief. The wall stretched all the way to Basalt Mountain, sealing the mining town inside. Guards patrolled every gate, making sure no one escaped.
It was lunchtime.
The guards would soon change shifts, and that was my only chance.
When the moment came, I carefully slipped from one stack of crates to another, keeping low.
Just as I caught sight of the open gate—
A burning slash ripped across my back.
"What's this rat doing here?" I crashed onto the ground.
Standing behind me was the Chief's son, a flaming whip coiled around his arm. Unlike his father, who possessed the Earth Rune, he had awakened the Flame Rune.
Pain exploded through my body.
I wanted to scream, but no sound came from my mouth.
"M-My apologies, Young Master..."
The guards grabbed me, forced me to my knees, and tied my hands behind my back.
None of them cared that my back had been burned. To them, it was just another ordinary day.
Everyone in the Mining Town knew how cruel the Chief's son was.
No one dared oppose him.
"The Crown has ordered us to double steel production. War is coming," he said with a grin.
"Send all these runts to the mines." One of the guards hesitated.
"My apologies, Young Master... but if I remember correctly, this runt never awakened. He was found barely alive among the corpses. As you can see, there's no rune mark on his forehead."
"What?"
The Chief's son looked down at me with disgust.
"So you're even trashier than trash."
He rubbed his chin.
"Hmm... There is another way to tell."
"There have been cases where a person's rune appeared somewhere other than the forehead."
"Bring me the Mana Crystal."
"At once, Young Master."
A few minutes later, a guard returned carrying a wooden box.
Inside rested a crystal-clear glass sphere.
The Chief's son placed his hand on it.
The crystal glowed a brilliant green.
At the same time, the Flame Rune carved into his forehead shone with the same emerald light.
He looked at me.
"Touch it."
I didn't move.
"What are you waiting for?"
A guard grabbed my wrist and forced my hand onto the crystal.
A faint light flickered inside the sphere...
Then vanished.
Nothing appeared on my body.
The guards searched every visible part of me, looking for any hidden rune.
There was nothing.
"What a waste."
The Chief's son sneered.
"You're trashier than trash."
"Send him to the wagon."
The guards exchanged uneasy glances but obeyed without question.
They dragged me through the gate and out of the town.
The pain in my back blurred my thoughts.
The next thing I knew, I was sitting inside a wooden wagon with seven other prisoners.
Some were elderly.
Some were badly wounded.
I knew exactly where we were going.
They were sending us to die inside a nearby dungeon.
Everyone knew what happened to those who died in one.
The dungeon consumed their bodies, feeding the monsters and strange life that dwelled within.
Our destination was the Mine Mole Dungeon.
It was where the monsters lived...
And where rune crystals were harvested.
For trained adventurers, it wasn't considered a dangerous dungeon.
For people like us—unarmed, starving, and powerless—it was a death sentence.
The wagon stopped.
"Get out!"
The soldiers kicked open the back.
"Get in there and die."
I had never entered a dungeon before.
I didn't know how people escaped one.
I didn't know what it took to clear it.
I only knew that most people never came back.
One by one, we were shoved through the massive stone entrance.
"Move!"
A soldier grabbed the back of my shirt and dragged me toward the darkness.
Agony shot through my burned back.
Something inside me snapped.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into his arm.
"Argh! Damn you!"
As he recoiled, my hand brushed against the weapon hanging from his belt.
Without thinking, I grabbed it.
The soldier kicked me hard in the chest.
The world spun.
Still clutching the stolen weapon, I was sent flying into the darkness of the dungeon.