MMORPG: REBORN MARK ADVENTURE IN ONLINE GAME

A low, guttural rumble echoed through the cavern. It wasn't just sound—it was a pressure wave, rolling outward from the Poison Golem's massive body, rattling the stone walls and kicking up dust and shards.

The green mist swirling around the battlefield thickened, pulsing in time with the runes on the golem's body. Something inside it was awakening, shifting, cracking.

Then—

Boom.

The first rune splintered.

Cracks raced across its surface like lightning, and then, without warning—

Shatter!

The rune exploded into pieces, dissolving into poisonous light.

Immediately, the golem twitched.

Its immense, stone-plated fingers flexed, the long-unused joints cracking as they bent for the first time in centuries. Its entire form shuddered, the layers of dust and debris clinging to its body falling away, revealing the massive, twisted crystalized veins glowing beneath its stone-like armor.

A second later, the cavern floor shook.

The golem's right arm slammed down, sending a shockwave through the ground. Rocks cracked. Stones flew outward like shrapnel.

Raven barely reacted in time, pushing off the unstable ground to dodge left. He landed smoothly, rolling into position, eyes locked onto the golem's shifting form.

"Shit," Daniel muttered from his vantage point. "It's actually waking up."

Liz clicked her tongue, shifting her grip on her daggers. "Guess that means we can hit it now."

Raven narrowed his eyes, analyzing the shifting power inside the golem. The second rune was flickering violently—it wouldn't last long. If they hesitated even a moment longer, they'd have twice the problem on their hands.

"We hit it first," Raven ordered. "Fast and hard."

Liz didn't need to be told twice.

Liz moved like a shadow, her agility stat pushing her ahead of the others. The shifting battlefield didn't slow her—she used the cracks in the ground as footholds, darting through the toxic mist like it was nothing.

In a single motion, she flicked her wrist, sending two black daggers soaring through the air, both aimed for the golem's knee joint.

She wasn't expecting to kill it, of course. This was a test.

Her eyes flicked between its armor plating, watching for any reaction.

The first dagger struck.

Clang!

It bounced off immediately, repelled by an invisible force. Liz barely tracked its movement before the second dagger followed—this time, hitting the exposed joint between two stone plates.

It landed. But something was wrong.

A hissing sound filled the air as the poison-coated dagger burned away, the toxin reacting violently to the golem's corrupted aura.

Liz's stomach twisted.

"Blades can't get through," she muttered, flipping backward onto a raised platform of stone. "Armor's too thick, and it's resisting poison."

The golem's glowing eyes snapped toward her.

For the first time, it reacted.

The air vibrated. A low, guttural hum rumbled from deep within its core. And then—

Boom!

A concentrated pulse of poison energy shot toward Liz like a wave.

Her eyes widened. Damn.

She jumped—just in time. The spot she had been standing on exploded into toxic mist, the rock underneath dissolving into sludge.

Had she reacted even a fraction of a second later, she would've been instantly crippled.

"Well," she breathed, flipping midair before landing, "I definitely pissed it off."

Raven's mind worked fast. That reaction—it could track them, but only once attacked.

It wasn't fully awake yet.

But it was getting there.

Daniel had already moved into position the moment Liz made her move.

His bow was already drawn, an arrow nocked and ready, his eyes locked onto the battlefield. Unlike Liz, he wasn't going for a probe attack.

No, he was looking for an angle.

If direct hits weren't working, then there had to be another way to break through.

His sharp gaze analyzed the golem's movements—the way its armor shifted when it adjusted its stance, the briefest moments where it exposed weak points.

Then he saw it.

A tiny crack in the crystal plating on its shoulder—left behind by Liz's attack.

It wasn't much. But it was something.

Daniel inhaled, adjusting his aim. Not directly. Use momentum.

He shifted his shot slightly above the weak point.

Then, he fired.

The arrow cut through the poison mist, curving slightly mid-air.

And right before impact—

Wind Shot—Activate.

A burst of compressed air detonated around the projectile, accelerating it at an unexpected downward angle.

Instead of hitting head-on, the arrow slammed into the weak point from above.

Crack!

A faint fracture spread across the armor's surface.

Daniel smirked.

Proof.

"It can break," he called out. "You just have to hit it from the right angle."

Raven took in the information immediately, adjusting his plan.

That was their opening.

It wasn't just about hitting hard. It was about hitting smart.

The golem's glowing green eyes turned toward Daniel.

For the first time, it moved.

A massive arm swung toward him, fast despite its size, its toxic energy pulsing outward in waves.

Daniel's smirk dropped. "Oh, hell."

He jumped—just barely escaping the devastating impact. The sheer force of the attack sent shockwaves through the cavern, collapsing part of the ceiling behind him.

Mist Low whistled. "Well, that was close."

Daniel rolled into a crouch, exhaling sharply. "Yeah, no kidding."

But he was grinning.

Because now they had confirmation.

It could be damaged.

Now, they just had to exploit that weakness.

Mist Low remained completely still, eyes locked onto the flickering runes embedded in the Poison Golem's stone-like form.

Unlike the others, he didn't attack. He didn't even move.

Instead, he watched.

Observed.

Studied.

And the more he examined the battlefield, the more his smirk faded.

Something wasn't right.

From the moment the first rune shattered, the golem's reaction had been slow. Almost deliberate.

When Liz struck first, it didn't retaliate until she hit it.

When Daniel landed his arrow, it only moved after taking damage.

Even when the poison mist spread, the effect was gradual.

This isn't how an uncontrollable monster behaves.

Mist Low's gaze drifted to the glowing runes carved into the golem's stone plating.

The second rune was on the verge of breaking.

But something beneath it—something older—was still intact.

That was when Mist Low realized the truth.

This golem wasn't just sealed.

It was trapped inside its own body.

"…Ah," he exhaled softly, tilting his head. "That explains a lot."

Ana, who had been struggling to reinforce the remaining runes, shot him a sharp glare.

"If you figured something out, say it," she snapped.

Mist Low chuckled. "Patience, patience."

He took a slow step forward, running a gloved hand across the air, tracing the residual energy trails left behind by the broken rune.

"See this?" He gestured at the fractured remnants of the first seal. "This magic is old. Very old. Not just the usual 'keep this thing asleep' kind of spell."

His golden eyes gleamed.

"This was meant to keep something from leaving."

Ana narrowed her eyes. "Isn't that the same thing?"

Mist Low grinned. "Not quite."

His fingers flicked out, tapping against the barely visible markings beneath the second rune.

Unlike the glowing, active runes, these ones were faint, almost completely erased by time.

"Look closer." His voice dropped to a whisper. "These are binding runes, not sealing runes."

Ana's breath caught.

"Binding?"

Mist Low turned, his usual playful smirk replaced by something sharper.

"This thing? It wasn't put here to be locked away. It was put here to be controlled."

Silence fell.

The implication settled over the group like a cold weight.

Raven's grip on his dagger tightened. "Then whoever sealed it…"

Mist Low smirked. "Had a leash on it."

Ana's hands clenched. "Then why is it still sealed? If it was meant to be controlled, shouldn't it be responding to the one who created it?"

Mist Low exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting toward the second rune.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I do know one thing."

His expression darkened.

"The moment that second rune breaks, we won't be fighting a mindless monster."

His eyes flicked toward Raven.

"We'll be fighting something that was once a weapon."

And worse?

They had no idea who it had been meant to serve.

Note: this is poison elite golem it breaks seal very quickly as he saw someone trespassing it area it guards something.