Ryu's footsteps echoed through the maze of the ruins, his breath shallow, his heart numb. Days had passed since the system activated within him, branding him with an S-Class Regeneration trait that rendered his body impervious to lasting harm—but cursed him with utter vulnerability. No strength. No defence.
After the cave-in, he had been pulled from the rubble by fellow miners, their expressions twisted in confusion and fear as they watched his body mend itself within moments. Whispers followed. Then came the Guild.
The Iron Fangs—a mid-tier dungeon guild notorious for reckless expeditions and expendable recruits—claimed him like a prize. Richard, ever the opportunist, had sold Ryu's contract for a sliver of gold and a vague promise that the debt would be "looked into."
And so, Ryu was dragged deeper into the labyrinth. Further from the surface. Farther from hope.
Each expedition was worse than the last.
He was shoved to the front of the battle lines, the first to trigger traps, the first to draw the enemy's ire. Swords pierced him. Flames licked his skin. Boulders crushed his bones. And always, the pain would recede. The wounds would vanish. His screams were often met with laughter.
"Ah, come on, Ryu! You're fine. Look, you're already healing. Don't be such a baby," jeered Cole, a brawler with fists like steel and a temper to match.
Even when his flesh had been torn open by a mana beast's claws, they had laughed.
"Wish I had that regeneration," one muttered. "He can take a thousand hits and just walk away. Makes him the perfect meat shield."
Ryu had tried, at first, to object. To reason.
The system had not granted him strength.
It only preserved him—so others could watch him break again and again.
And still, he obeyed. For his mother. For her surgery. For the hope that, maybe, one day, he would be free.
The lowest depths of the ruins were unlike anything above. The air was colder. The darkness thickens. And the monsters—no longer mere beasts—were echoes of ancient nightmares. Wraiths. Phantoms. Abominations of stone and shadow.
The Iron Fangs pressed on.
And Ryu bled.
Every. Single. Day.
One evening, after barely surviving a cursed trap that had melted through his chest, Ryu sat alone at the edge of the camp. His shirt was soaked in dried blood, but the skin beneath was unblemished. The pain had faded. His breath had steadied. But the ache inside—that never healed.
His thoughts drifted to school. To laughter that wasn't kind. Two faces twisted in ridicule.
"Crybaby Ryu. Weakling. Worthless."
Back then, it had been shoved in the hallway. Broken pencils. Cruel jokes were whispered where teachers wouldn't hear. He had kept his head down.
Just like now.
Even with a miracle in his veins, he was nothing but a shield. A joke. A target.
"You're just meat that heals," Cole had said earlier that day.
And everyone had nodded.
Everyone—except one.
Miyuki.
She wasn't like the others.
She didn't laugh when he screamed.
She watched from a distance, her eyes unreadable, her voice quiet.
She had spoken to him only once.
"Why do you let them use you like this?" she had asked.
He hadn't answered. Couldn't.
What could he say? That his mother needed him to survive? That he feared being cast aside even more than being used?
The silence between them had been heavy and cold.
Now, as he sat by the campfire, his hands trembling over a bowl of tasteless rations, Miyuki approached again.
"I saw you today," she said quietly.
Ryu didn't look up. "What of it?"
"You stood between us and that thing. Took the full hit so no one else had to."
He shrugged, his voice dull. "That's what I'm good for."
"That's not what I meant," she replied, her tone sharper. "You chose to protect us. That's different than being forced. You could have run. Let someone else take the hit. But you didn't."
His lips parted. No words came.
"I think you're stronger than you believe," she continued, her voice softening. "Even if they treat you like garbage... you matter."
He stared at her. Unsure whether to laugh or cry. His heart thudded painfully—not from injury, but from something new. Hope.
Miyuki rose to her feet. "Don't let them break you."
And then, she walked away.
That night, Ryu didn't sleep. He stared up at the crumbling ceiling of the ruined chamber, letting her words echo over and over.
"You matter."
He had lived for others. For his mother. For survival.
But maybe—just maybe—he could live for himself, too.
The next expedition came swiftly. The Iron Fangs pushed into an uncharted corridor, rumoured to house ancient relics. The traps were more vicious. The terrain is more unstable.
Ryu was shoved forward again.
"Go on, Immortal," Cole snorted. "Make sure it's safe for us."
Ryu looked at him. Then at the path ahead.
And he smiled.
Not because it was funny.
But because, for the first time, he had made a decision.
"Alright," he said, stepping forward. "Let's see what's waiting."
The floor gave way. Spears were shot from the walls.
Agony tore through him—and, like always, faded.
He emerged, covered in blood, but upright. He turned back, breathless.
"Clear," he said.
But something in his voice had changed. It wasn't submission.
It was control.
He chose to survive.
Over the next few days, Ryu began observing. Watching. Learning the patterns of traps. Studying enemy movement. His intelligence—the one stat he possessed—became his weapon.
Slowly, he stopped being a shield.
He became their eyes. Their mind. Their strategist.
Even Cole started to notice.
"You always know where to go," the brawler muttered one night.
Ryu didn't reply. He kept polishing his blade—a weapon he now carried not for show but for defence.
Miyuki fought beside him in silence. No praise. No pity.
Just trust.
And it was enough.
They descended deeper, day by day. And Ryu grew stronger—not in stats, but in will.
He still bled. Still fell.
But he always stood again.
And the guild—even the cruellest among them—began to follow his lead.
Ryu didn't know what lay ahead in the depths of the dungeon. But one truth had taken root in his soul.
He would no longer be broken.
Not by pain.
Not by scorn.
Not by the world.
He would endure.
Because he mattered.
And he would prove it.
But after all, his intelligence increased by 5+ points.
This system shows no progress; all statistics are the same.
HP (Hit Points): 0
MP (Mana Points): 0
STR (Strength): 0
AGI (Agility): 0
INT (Intelligence): 20
DEX (Dexterity): 0
DEF (Defence): 0
LUK (Luck): 20
What is Ryu doing now???!!!!