MMORPG: REBORN MARK ADVENTURE IN ONLINE GAME

The air crackled with malevolent energy, thick with the scent of burning stone and something far worse—corruption. The Poison Field, once a suffocating mist, had now transformed into a raging storm of toxic energy, swirling violently like a living entity. The cavern walls trembled, veins of eerie green light spreading like cracks in reality itself.

At the center of it all, the Poison Golem stood renewed.

The moment the third rune shattered, its transformation accelerated. The deep cracks in its crystal-plated armor didn't signify damage anymore—they pulsed, expanding, warping. The stone and metal that once bound it had begun to twist and shift, almost as if molten corruption was seeping through, reshaping its very form.

Raven narrowed his eyes. This wasn't just a monster growing stronger—this was a shift in its very nature.

The Poison Golem was evolving.

---

The Golem's True Form

With a low, earth-shaking groan, the golem lifted its massive arms, the remnants of its shattered shoulder armor crumbling away.

What lay beneath was not stone.

It was something alive.

The exposed core they had damaged earlier had begun to fuse with its body, expanding outward. Veins of corrupt energy pulsed like arteries, spreading through its limbs, the sickly green glow intensifying. No longer just a construct of rock and rune-forged bindings, the Poison Golem had begun to morph into something organic.

It raised its right arm—once a solid slab of enchanted stone. Now, it was something else entirely.

The fingers, once rigid and immobile, had separated into elongated, claw-like appendages, dripping with liquid venom. The corrosion spread wherever it touched, the very air hissing in protest as droplets burned through solid rock.

Then, it moved.

Faster than before.

With a deafening boom, the golem's newly-formed claw lashed out—not at a single target, but in a sweeping arc, sending a blade of pure corruption spiraling toward the group.

---

The Split-Second Reaction

"MOVE!" Raven shouted, his instincts kicking in.

He barely had time to react before the venom slash tore through the battlefield.

The ground it touched melted instantly, blackened and dissolving into a sickly green sludge. Even the air burned.

Liz somersaulted backward, flipping mid-air to land on a precarious ledge just as the attack sliced through the stone she had stood on.

Daniel leaped sideways, rolling into a crouch, already notching an arrow mid-motion.

Ana, mid-casting, had to throw up a mana barrier, reinforcing it just in time as the energy exploded against it, sending her skidding backward. The shield held—but barely.

Mist Low?

He simply vanished.

The golem's attack carved through the cavern, leaving behind a deep, steaming trench.

Raven, having dodged to the side, clenched his fists.

That attack had been aimed at all of them.

The golem wasn't reacting like before—it was thinking.

Its movements were no longer pre-programmed constructs of an ancient machine. It had evolved into something that could anticipate and attack strategically.

---

The Battlefield Shift

The Poison Field, now surging with unstable power, had transformed into a true hazard.

The mist had thickened, no longer just an obstacle but a direct threat. Standing in it for even a few seconds now caused corruption buildup.

The cavern's structure was becoming unstable. Large chunks of the ceiling had already collapsed, creating both new obstacles and new vantage points.

The golem was now absorbing poison from the field, regenerating slowly over time.

"It's healing," Daniel cursed, noticing the fractures on its body mending at an alarming rate.

"We need to finish this fast," Raven growled.

But how?

Their original strategy of targeting weak points was no longer viable. The golem had shed its old armor, and its new form didn't have the same vulnerabilities.

And with its intelligence growing, it wasn't falling for the same tricks anymore.

Mist Low reappeared above, standing casually on a narrow rock formation. His usual smirk was gone.

Instead, his golden eyes gleamed with intrigue.

"Well," he mused, adjusting his coat. "This just got interesting."

Raven exhaled sharply, his mind racing through every possible strategy.

This was no longer just about breaking armor.

They needed to outthink the monster.

Before it fully outgrew them.

The Poison Golem stood in its newly evolved form, radiating pure corruption. The air around it shimmered with toxic energy, and the once-heavy movements of stone and rune had given way to something far more dangerous—precision.

Raven clenched his jaw. It wasn't just stronger—it was smarter.

The golem's glowing eyes locked onto them, tracking their every movement. No more slow, telegraphed attacks. No more exploitable weak points.

It was adapting.

---

Mist Low's Gambit

Mist Low, still perched on his precarious vantage point, casually twirled a golden coin between his fingers.

"I have a theory," he mused, seemingly unbothered by the hulking mass of poison and destruction before them.

Raven shot him a glare. "Unless that theory involves killing this thing, I don't want to hear it."

Mist Low grinned. "Oh, but it does. See, this big guy? He's still bound by certain rules."

The Trickster vanished into the mist, reappearing behind the golem's leg before it could react.

Then—he struck.

Not with a weapon. Not with magic.

With sound.

Mist Low snapped his fingers, and the cavern echoed with an unnatural chime, a distortion of reality itself.

The effect was instantaneous.

The golem froze.

Just for a fraction of a second—but in battle, that was an eternity.

Mist Low grinned. "Thought so."

His Trickster abilities weren't just illusions and deception.

They were disruptions.

And right now? He was exploiting a flaw in the golem's new intelligence.

It was evolving too quickly.

It wasn't just gaining strength—it was rewriting its entire existence on the fly. And that meant it had momentary gaps in its responses, moments where its mind was too busy processing new information.

---

Exploiting the Flaw

Raven's eyes flashed with understanding.

If they attacked normally, the golem would react, counter, and learn.

But if they hit it during the split-second lag where it was still adjusting?

That was their window.

"Liz, Daniel, Ana—synchronize."

No hesitation.

Liz vanished into the mist, reappearing above the golem as she unleashed three throwing knives in quick succession.

Daniel fired a Wind Shot, perfectly timed so the arrow's trajectory shifted mid-air, striking just as the golem flinched.

Ana channeled raw magic, pouring her mana into a single condensed bolt—a piercing spell designed to burn through even the toughest defenses.

The attacks all landed at once.

The golem shuddered.

It was the first time it had reacted with true pain.

A deep, resonating crack spread through its torso.

Mist Low laughed. "See? Even the smartest monsters have weaknesses."

But the fight wasn't over.

Because now?

The golem was enraged.

And Raven was already moving for the next strike.