The Man Whose Beloved Girlfriend Was Stolen Destroys Everything ~After Being Forced to Witness the NTR Scene, What Awaited Him Was a Dungeon. - Episode 4: The Power Gained.

Episode 4: The Power Gained.

“…A ceiling I recognize.”

The moment consciousness returned, those words slipped out as my eyes settled on the familiar, inorganic stone overhead. I had no idea how long I’d been out, but lying on the hard floor left my whole body stiff and aching.

“Ow, ow… huh…?”

First things first—I should be grateful I didn’t die from that massive blood loss. Still, something felt off the instant I woke up. An unease I couldn’t shake.

“My right eye… I can see out of it…? And the pain in my shoulder is completely gone…”

The right eye that had seemed beyond saving. The left shoulder mangled almost to the point of no return. Not just those—the countless smaller cuts and gashes all over my body should have left me in agony. Yet now, though the scars remained as faint white lines, every wound had healed perfectly. My body moved without the slightest hindrance.

I wasn’t completely clueless about what had happened. It had to be the phenomenon known as leveling up.

Ever since dungeons appeared in the world, people discovered that defeating monsters and accumulating a certain amount of experience caused one’s status to rise. Maybe I’d leveled up so many times in a row that my body’s natural recovery ability had skyrocketed… or something like that. Pure speculation. The truth remained unclear.

It was bizarre, otherworldly—but then again, so was the very existence of dungeons. I vaguely recalled some explainer video saying there was no point overthinking phenomena this unnatural; you’d only drive yourself crazy.

“Even so… I can’t believe injuries that severe would heal completely just from leveling up. And besides…”

Beyond my miraculously restored body, there was another, entirely different sensation prickling at the edge of my awareness.

I opened and closed my fist, testing the feeling. Then, without thinking too hard about it, I clenched hard and slammed my knuckles down against the stone floor.

My wrist didn’t snap on impact. Instead—

The stone itself cracked and sank several centimeters under the blow. I inspected my fist—no cuts, no bruising, not even reddened skin.

“No way… no way, this is way too much of a power-up…”

That other strange feeling—the one surging from deep inside—was pure, intoxicating omnipotence. The weak, pathetic me who used to be afraid of his own shadow… had somehow become this?

Just how many levels had I gained?

“…Well, whatever the case, gaining this much strength is a godsend if I want to escape the deepest layer.”

My ultimate goal remained unchanged: climb out of the deepest layer and return to the surface. Monsters would be the biggest obstacle along the way. With this kind of power, ordinary ones should be manageable… probably. I could at least put up a decent fight against something on the level of a Night Wolf. Anything stronger—A-rank and above—was still an unknown. I could only hope I’d at least be able to run.

“Speaking of which… my clothes are completely trashed…”

The cheap hoodie I’d thrown on in a hurry was now in shreds—torn by claws, battered against the ground over and over. In the perpetually chilly dungeon air, I could feel the cold seeping through the holes.

While I stood there frowning and scanning the area for anything useful, something caught my eye: a glossy, suspiciously gleaming object lying on the floor.

I picked it up and examined it closely.

“—‘Night Wolf Black Fur’…! It dropped!! Perfect timing!!”

Monsters, when defeated, sometimes dropped drop items—trophies of a sort—at a certain probability. Lower-ranked monsters had higher drop rates; the higher the rank, the rarer the drops became.

A B-rank monster like the Night Wolf naturally had abysmal odds. For one to drop here… maybe my luck was finally turning?

“…No, the scale of misfortune I’ve had so far is still way heavier. Whatever. I’ll take it.”

I draped the Night Wolf Black Fur over my shoulders like a cloak. It carried a faint beastly musk, but otherwise—

Holy crap, it was insanely warm.

The moment I put it on, the biting chill that had been gnawing at me vanished completely. B-rank monster pelt really was on another level…

“Right. Let’s move.”

With newfound strength coursing through me and an unexpected piece of gear in hand, a small spark of excitement flickered in my chest as I stepped out of the bleak stone chamber and back into the dark corridor ahead.

***

“…?”

I kept walking through the endless darkness, quietly marveling at how my breathing stayed perfectly steady—no shortness of breath at all—when suddenly, torches flared to life along the walls.

It started right beside me, then continued deeper into the passage in perfect, rhythmic succession, as though guiding me forward.

“…This feels exactly like one of those ‘boss appearance’ cutscenes you see in games.”

Muttering to myself, I advanced slowly, every sense on high alert.

The line of flames eventually stopped.

Curious, I stepped forward into the darkness ahead—and more torches ignited farther in, revealing the space beyond.

A vast, dome-shaped chamber materialized before me.

At its center stood a circular stone platform, slightly smaller than the room itself. Tiered seating encircled it like the stands of an ancient coliseum. Empty, of course. (Having an audience here would’ve been far stranger.)

“Why the hell would a dungeon have something like this…? No monsters, no obvious purpose…”

Pondering it wouldn’t get me anywhere—I wasn’t smart enough to figure out dungeon logic—so I pushed the question aside and began exploring the chamber.

Nothing. No items, no treasure chests, not even a hint of anything useful.

Worse still: no staircase leading deeper, no exit at all. The only path was the single corridor I’d just come from.

“…So it really is that, huh.”

My gaze settled on the stone platform in the center.

I’d half-suspected it the moment I entered, but I’d lied to myself and shoved the thought into a corner of my mind.

The theory: I have to fight some kind of monster on that stage.

Now that it was staring me in the face, the hypothesis felt painfully real. I let out a long, weary sigh.

Truthfully… I was still scared of fighting monsters. Even with power enough to tear dungeons apart. Back during the Night Wolf fight, my mind had been half-broken; adrenaline and desperation carried me through. Now that I’d regained a sliver of clarity—

“—No. A weak mentality like that will never let me change. If becoming a ‘glorious one’ means staking my life on it… then that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

I leaped down from the spectator seating onto the stone paving, then placed my foot on the short set of steps leading up to the platform.

“If I let fear stop me here, I’ll never make it back to the surface. Not in a million years.”

One step. Then another. Each one deliberate, heavy with resolve—

“So I’ll change. From a shadow no one sees… to a ‘glorious one.’ From a coward… to someone brave…!!”

—I stepped onto the stage.