[Dual Leveling!] Solo Leveling X Male Reader

Blood-Red Knight [3]

An anxious silence lingered between (Y/n), Julie, and Kim Sang-Shik, their senses tuned to eleven as they slowly skulked through the tight and regal hallway of the dungeon.

After the black door shut behind them, the stone corridor transformed before their very eyes, shifting into a grand hallway reminiscent of a castle. They carefully and quietly walked through the dungeon. They were expecting monsters to appear, but after ten minutes of absolutely no threat appearing, (Y/n) spoke up.

"I'm not saying I've experienced every dungeon in the world or something, but this is really... weird, isn't it?" (Y/n)'s voice pierced through the silence, halting to get a good look at the hallway's walls. His hand groped the wall, looking for anything that could stick out.

"I agree. This... just doesn't make sense as a dungeon. We've faced no enemies, no traps, and no problems.... I just can't understand this dungeon," Julie noted, holding her fingers up as she listed off the various oddities about the dungeon. "Atop of those issues, this only started occurring after we entered the black door. Is this dungeon like some odd Red Gate?"

(Y/n) felt a cold sweat run down his neck at the thought.

"Ignoring that worrying possibility, the only thing we know about this dungeon is that it's the 'path of darkness' and only the weakest person in the dungeon could go inside of it. They could also bring a single person with them. Why does darkness fit with weakness, and why does the weakest have the choice of bringing two allies?" (Y/n) hummed to himself, tapping his fingers against the wall.

"I don't see why you're thinking about it so much," Kim held his sword up, blue energy running across the blade. He held his sword up high, "I'd rather just break straight through it!"

Following through with his words, he slammed his sword into the wall, causing dust and dirt to fill the air, causing Julie and (Y/n) to wave their hands in hopes of seeing the success of Kim's attack.

The dust was quick to settle to show the curious duo the wall, looking as if Kim hadn't ever tried to strike the surface. However, the nearby candles had gone out and it took about ten seconds for the candles to relight themselves.

"Well, that was a waste of energy," (Y/n) spoke, the words falling from his mouth after the moment of silence.

"H-Hey! It's better than just sitting here and thinking about nothing! That weird tablet was clearly just nonsense, trying to rely on that to get us out of here isn't just a stretch, it's stupid!" Kim huffed, face slightly flushed.

"Well, we just saw what brute force proved, didn't we? I think brute force would fit the S-Rank's path more. We need to rely on our heads, not our bodies," (Y/n) nodded, smiling at Kim's annoyed grunt.

Julie glanced at the two Hunters, letting out a small sigh before she turned back to the walls in the hopes of finding anything different.

(Y/n) looked around more intently, noting the small details now.

The walls were a dark black, lit up by the candles lining the walls. No windows, enemies, or other paths were around. The path didn't have anything unique along the way either.

"It's as if... we're going in circles...?" (Y/n)'s eyes widened as he quickly patted down his pockets, letting out a groan upon only finding his few mana crystals. "Damn, I should've kept that box."

"What is it?" Julie asked, running a hand through her hair. Kim looked at (Y/n) intently, curiosity and suspicion filling his gaze.

"Nothing much, just didn't want to do... this!" (Y/n) took a mana crystal out of his pocket, throwing it deep into the hallway.