After that little episode of scolding and bonking Selene for corrupting our resident Archangel, we found a simple outlet, saying 'ABCD Tofu House' for lunch.

It was, apparently, Selene's "spiritual sanctuary of fermented righteousness."

I did not ask.

I made the mistake of thinking it would be quiet.

It was not.

"THIS PLACE SMELLS LIKE SOFT LIGHT AND ANCESTORS," Selene proclaimed, eyes sparkling as she bowed slightly to the tofu set meal like a monk greeting a relic. "Truly, the Koreans understand divine comfort food."

Zeraphira stared at the bubbling stew, expression unreadable as always. "It is… boiling alive."

"Yes! That's the passion!" Selene beamed, slapping the table. "One must suffer slightly to achieve flavour enlightenment."

Gabriel, seated opposite me, carefully held her spoon, looking at the chopsticks as if they were a pair of divine trial instruments fashioned to test the souls of the worthy.

"I believe," she said gently, "that these wooden prongs are not designed for cooperative ingestion."

"They are not prongs," Selene corrected with pride. "They are the sacred extensions of the hand, blessed by monks who once saw tofu in visions and cried."

Gabriel blinked. "…Is crying a necessary prerequisite?"

"Yes," Selene nodded solemnly. "For true flavour, you must weep at least once while holding chopsticks."

I glanced at Zeraphira. "Your witch is malfunctioning."

"She's always like this," Zeraphira sighed. "This is her stable form."

Selene gasped. "How dare you! I am a perfectly calibrated vessel of joy and cultivated degeneracy!"

"You just called this stew 'ancestor broth of enlightenment' and tried to high-five a microwave," I muttered.

"That microwave understood me."

Gabriel offered a tentative smile and then, after several seconds of scholarly concentration, attempted to grasp a piece of tofu. It slipped. She nodded once, as if confirming a hypothesis, and tried again. It slipped once more.

"…Remarkable," she murmured. "So this is what mortals call… resistance."

"Here," Selene leaned over, placing a hand over Gabriel's with frightening intimacy and enthusiasm. "You cradle it like this. Feel its soul. Whisper buoyancy affirmations."

Gabriel froze. "I am not authorised to whisper affirmations to sentient dairy."

"Technically soy," Selene corrected.

Zeraphira's chopsticks clicked with surgical precision as she lifted a piece of tofu effortlessly. "It appears frightened," she noted, observing the trembling cube.

"It knows it's about to fulfil its destiny," Selene said with reverence.

I stared into my soup and mentally apologised to every chef on Earth.

Still… oddly enough, I didn't mind this absurdity. Not entirely.

Zeraphira seemed calmer since the theatre. Her presence had shifted in that quiet way that only someone who'd spent countless years surviving hellfire could convey without words. Less rigid. Less blade-like. More… anchored.

Her eyes occasionally drifted to mine, then away, not possessive — just observant. As if learning the rhythm of an unfamiliar but treasured environment.

Gabriel finally managed to pick up a cube of tofu. Her eyes lit up — not with triumph, but soft wonder.

"I have conquered it," she whispered.

Selene burst into a soft applause. "YES! ASCENSION!"

Zeraphira nodded slightly. "You are formidable."

Gabriel blushed faintly. "I thank you. I intend to treat it with utmost respect."

She placed the tofu in her mouth with ceremonial care.

Her expression shifted.

"…It tastes like warm sincerity."

"That's tofu," Selene said proudly. "It absorbs the emotions of its surroundings. Like me, but edible."

"Debatable," I muttered.

As I looked outside at the Empire State Building standing like a stone sentinel against the endless sky, I'm gonna make an excuse to toilet and make the trip.

My gaze flickered to the system prompt showing the item in my inventory:

[Name: Key of the Vampire King's Castle]

— Rarity: S

— Category: Key

— A key that will let you enter the 'Dungeon: Vampire King's Castle'.

— Can be used at the Empire State Building, New York.

And I asked the system if the time ratio for the S-rank dungeon, I thought, after experiencing the almost timestop effect of "Job Change Dungeon". If S-rank have the same effect or not?

And it turned out to be that I could choose to let the time flow the same as the time spent in the dungeon, or I could choose the option [Estimated duration in reality: 0.00001 seconds.]

I pushed my chair back with careful casualness.

"Going to the restroom," I said, already rising before Selene could ask if I needed a spiritual accompaniment.

"I shall guard your plate from predatory side dishes," she saluted solemnly.

"I do not believe side dishes hunt," Gabriel offered, ever helpful.

"They do," Selene whispered. "When you're not looking."

Zeraphira's eyes followed me for a heartbeat longer than necessary, but she said nothing. Just a quiet nod, as if acknowledging something she couldn't name.

I turned away before that look could dig any deeper.

...

I exited from the back alley door of the restaurant, the cheerful noise of Selene and the gentle clinking of tableware fading behind me as the cool New York air kissed my face. The city breathed in its usual rhythm — honking cabs, distant sirens, murmured laughter, footsteps of strangers unaware that something ancient was about to open beneath their skyline.

Good.

Let them stay unaware.

"Empire State Building," I murmured under my breath.

I stepped forward, blending into the flow of pedestrians, turning corners, crossing streets, moving as naturally as any other human would. The illusion of normalcy was almost convincing — until the towering spire of the Empire State Building came into full view, slicing upward into the sky like a monument to hubris and ambition.

I stared at the key in my hand for a long while.

'This is what I really wanted?'

If there was one silver lining to be found here, then that would be the explanation saying I'd be able to 'enter' the dungeon with this key, unlike the previous one, which said I'd be 'transferred' instead.

The implication being that I could escape at any time if I felt like it.

Even if the key suddenly vanished from me, I still had the return stone from the last dungeon waiting to be used inside my Inventory as well. I was no longer worried about getting trapped behind an invisible wall like the last time.

'I've worked hard to earn this chance, so I can't throw it away like that now, can I?'

I simply had to confirm right away with my own two eyes whether this was what I really wanted or not.

In front of the Empire State Building.

A super-tall skyscraper over a hundred floors tall was standing straight as if to pierce the heavens above. Indeed, this was what the modern skyscraper should look like. Just looking up at it made me feel extremely dizzy.

There were only a few people walking around, as it was already lunchtime now. The streets with not one soul on it gave off an eerie vibe.

'Still, I can't be sure, so….'

I took a good look around me. If someone saw a person disappearing and appearing again in thin air without explanation, it would cause a scene I had no interest in cleaning up.

So I slipped into the narrow gap between a souvenir stall and the building's outer wall, where the shadows clung thickly enough to swallow most prying eyes. The world dulled at the edges as my focus tunnelled inward — on the smooth, cold metal of the ornate key resting in my palm.

It was heavier than it looked.

Not physically. Conceptually.

Like it carried the expectation of a thousand dead things.

"Activate," I murmured, voice barely a breath.

The air shifted.

No explosion. No dramatic vortex. Just a quiet, suffocating stillness — as if the city itself had inhaled and forgotten how to exhale.

A faint red sigil bloomed beneath my shoes, invisible to anyone not meant to see it. The key warmed, then burned cold, and the space in front of me… split.

Not open.

Split.

Like reality had decided to unzip itself.

Behind it was darkness so profound it didn't look empty — it looked occupied.

Waiting.

My instincts screamed. My heart raced. But my hand didn't tremble.

'So this is it.'

I stepped forward.

The world folded.

...

'It's connected to the outside world.'

Unlike the last time, there was no invisible wall blocking my exit. The key also didn't disappear and remained tucked inside my pocket. If I wanted to, I could get out of here at any time, in other words.

'Now that I'm finished with confirming the escape route…'

Since I didn't know whether the rarity of the key equated to the difficulty of the dungeon, I was far more cautious than usual.

"…"

The first thing I felt was cold.

It was a sight shocking enough to make me groan. Just now, when I was taking a few steps towards the Empire State Building, the world in front of my eyes transformed in an instant.

Could this place even be called a dungeon anymore?

A completely different world was waiting for me.

Instead of the vanished Empire State Building, a massive tower-like structure stood there.

'Wait, is that really a tower, or should I call it a castle, instead?'

A tower rising up high into the air without end, wrapped in darkness so dense it devoured what little light existed, its surface carved in archaic patterns that resembled veins more than architecture. Every line pulsed faintly, as though something ancient slumbered beneath the stone, breathing in slow, patient intervals.

This was no ordinary dungeon.

The sky above was not a sky at all, but a dome of bruised crimson haze, threaded with black clouds that drifted in unnatural spirals. There was no sun, no moon—only the dull glow of a distant, invisible source casting long, distorted shadows across the bleak landscape.

And before me...

A gate.

Monolithic wrought-iron doors stood at the base of the tower, taller than any cathedral I had ever seen, their surface decorated with reliefs of crowned figures impaled upon spears, chalices overflowing with dark liquid, and grotesque winged creatures kneeling in eternal devotion. Chains as thick as tree trunks crossed the doors in an X, bound by a massive lock shaped like a fanged skull.

The air reeked faintly of iron.

Blood.

No wind blew, yet the chains rattled softly, as if stirred by restless spirits.

Behind me, the path I had used to enter shimmered faintly, a thin distortion in space leading back to the mundane facade of the Empire State Building. A single step and I'd return to tofu, witch nonsense, and Gabriel's patient confusion.

Ahead was something else entirely.

"So… this is the Vampire King's Castle," I muttered quietly.

My voice echoed, swallowed, then returned thinner, as if the world itself was reluctant to acknowledge me.

'Can I even enter this thing in the first place?'

However, even if I did, there was yet another problem to consider.

Just like the last instant dungeon that was based off on the basement, there was a good chance that, since this dungeon was based off on the Empire State Building, I'd have to climb up 100 floors to clear it completely.

I couldn't even begin to imagine just how long that would take.

'Mm?'

My steps came to a halt. I sensed a strong aura near the entrance.

I slowly surveyed the surroundings and spotted a figure standing motionlessly right in front of the doorway.

I carefully summoned the [Muramasa—Venomfang Replica]

Tti-ring!

[Item: Muramasa – Venomfang Replica]

– Rank: ??? (Bound)

– Effect: Increases physical damage output by 45%.

– Lifesteal: Converts 10% of inflicted damage into HP.

– Malice: The longer combat continues, the sharper the blade becomes (+3% damage per minute of continuous battle).

– Venomfang: Attacks carry a stacking venom effect (applies poison that weakens enemy vitality and regeneration).

– Bound to User. Cannot be dropped, stolen, or sold.

– Limitation: Being a replica, its growth potential is capped unless ???.

I walked as quietly as possible while approaching that figure. However, it seemed impossible to fool them.

The figure moved before I'd even closed half the distance.

One moment, it stood perfectly still — a silhouette carved from the darkness near the gate — and the next, it was simply… closer. Not walking. Not stepping. Just occupying a new position in space, as though the world had quietly agreed to let it be there.

Cold flooded down my spine.

"That's far enough."

The voice was calm. Deep. Polished. Like something that had learned courtesy out of boredom rather than necessity.

I stopped.

Now that I could see it clearly, the figure resolved into a man.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in what looked like a butler's uniform.

But "butler" was a generous term.

He wore a long coat of dark, wine-coloured fabric, trimmed in silver filigree that glinted faintly in the red haze. The buttons were shaped like tiny bat wings, and the collar rose high enough to frame a pale, sharp-featured face that looked sculpted rather than born.

His hair was silver-white, slicked neatly back, revealing crimson eyes that held no heat at all. Not hostile. Not welcoming. Simply… assessing. Like a customs officer to the dead.

Black gloves encased his hands, and in one of them rested a slender spear, its tip curving like a fang. He did not raise it. He did not lower it either.

Just held it, perpendicular to the ground.

Blocking the path.

"Who're—LUCIFER'S BLOOD?!"

The butler's crimson gaze sharpened for the first time.

For a heartbeat, the oppressive silence of the dungeon deepened — as if even the air leaned closer to hear what would come next.

"…Interesting," he murmured.

His eyes traced my face slowly, clinically, as though peering past flesh and bone into something far older. Something that did not belong to this era. Or this world.

"Your scent is thin," he continued, tilting his head ever so slightly. "Diluted. Yet the resonance is unmistakable."

He straightened, the faintest curl touching his lips.

"Lucifer's blood. No… more accurately — the blood of Helel's descent."

A chill crept through my veins, and for once, it wasn't the ambient cold of this place.

"So it was true," he sighed faintly. "He's dead, huh?"

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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