Jaemin couldn't feel his body.
For a brief moment, it was like he didn't exist. No weight, no sound, no sense of direction. Just endless darkness swallowing everything around him.
Then suddenly
Impact.
Jaemin slammed into solid ground, his body rolling across a cold, uneven surface before finally coming to a stop. A sharp pain shot through his back as he groaned, forcing himself to sit up.
"...What the hell just happened?"
His voice echoed strangely, as if the space itself was hollow.
Jaemin slowly lifted his head and froze.
The sky above him was shattered.
Not metaphorically. It literally looked like broken glass suspended in the air. Fractured pieces of reality floated overhead, each reflecting distorted images of something else entirely. Some showed empty voids, others flickered with glimpses of landscapes that didn't belong there.
"...Yeah, no. This is definitely not Earth."
He pushed himself to his feet, his legs slightly unsteady. The ground beneath him felt wrong, like it wasn't fully solid. Each step gave a faint ripple, almost like walking on a thin layer stretched over something deeper.
Jaemin frowned.
"System."
For a second, nothing happened.
Then
"Ding... Error..."
The familiar panel appeared, but it flickered violently.
[Name: Jaemin Park
Level: 17
Experience: ???
Hunter Rank: E
Status: Unstable]
"...Great."
Jaemin clicked his tongue.
"Now you decide to break?"
The system glitched again before stabilizing slightly, though parts of it remained distorted.
Jaemin took a slow breath, trying to calm himself.
"Alright. Think."
He looked around carefully.
The entire area was silent. No monsters, no wind, nothing. Just that broken sky and an endless gray landscape stretching in all directions.
"This isn't a dungeon either…"
Something about this place felt completely disconnected from everything he knew.
Even the air felt… artificial.
Then it hit him.
The black crystal.
Jaemin's eyes narrowed as he immediately opened his inventory. The moment the panel appeared, the black crystal began pulsing violently.
"...So you're reacting now?"
The aura coming from it was far stronger than before.
Almost like it was… home.
Jaemin quickly closed the inventory.
"Yeah, that's not good."
A sudden chill ran down his spine.
Instinct.
Jaemin turned around sharply.
Someone was there.
Or rather
Something.
At first, he couldn't even process what he was looking at. The figure stood a short distance away, its form flickering in and out of existence. It didn't have a fixed shape. One moment it looked humanoid, the next it stretched unnaturally, like a glitch in reality itself.
Jaemin's body tensed instantly.
"...So you're the one."
The figure didn't move.
But then
It laughed.
A quiet, layered sound that didn't feel like it came from a single source.
"Interesting."
The voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed everywhere at once.
Jaemin's expression hardened.
"Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head slightly.
"A question already?"
Its form shifted again, stabilizing just enough to resemble a human silhouette.
"You can call me…"
A brief pause.
"...Axiom."
Jaemin didn't react outwardly, but internally, his mind was racing.
That name meant nothing to him.
Which was the problem.
"...I didn't write you."
Axiom let out a soft chuckle.
"Of course you didn't."
The air around them distorted slightly.
"You're not as important as you think."
Jaemin's eyes narrowed.
"Then why am I here?"
Axiom took a step forward.
The ground beneath its feet didn't react at all.
"Because you're entertaining."
Jaemin felt a slight irritation rise.
"...You dragged me into another dimension for entertainment?"
Axiom's form flickered again, as if amused.
"Dragged you?"
A pause.
"You walked into it yourself."
Jaemin clicked his tongue.
"Don't play games."
Axiom didn't respond immediately.
Instead, it raised its hand slightly.
The shattered sky above shifted.
Fragments moved.
Reality bent.
Jaemin froze.
"That…"
His voice lowered.
"You've been messing with the story."
Axiom didn't deny it.
"Messing?"
A soft laugh echoed again.
"I prefer the word editing."
Jaemin's expression darkened.
"So all those changes…"
"The abomination moving during the day…"
"The system glitch…"
"That thing that attacked me…"
Axiom's voice overlapped his thoughts.
"All intentional."
Silence fell between them.
Jaemin clenched his fists.
"...Why?"
Axiom tilted its head again.
"Because your story was boring."
The words hit harder than any attack.
Jaemin's jaw tightened.
"I was going to finish it."
Axiom's form flickered violently for a moment, as if laughing.
"999 chapters and no ending."
A pause.
"Impressive."
Jaemin didn't respond.
He couldn't.
Because Axiom wasn't wrong.
"...So what? You're just going to change everything however you want?"
Axiom stepped closer.
The pressure in the air increased instantly.
"Not everything."
Its voice dropped slightly.
"That would ruin the fun."
Jaemin felt it then.
The difference between them.
It wasn't just strength.
It was existence itself.
Axiom wasn't something he could fight.
At least not now.
"...You said entertaining."
Jaemin spoke slowly.
"So what am I to you?"
Axiom stopped moving.
For a moment, its form became clearer.
Almost human.
Almost.
"A variable."
The answer came without hesitation.
"A writer placed inside his own unfinished work."
A pause.
"Trying to reach an ending he doesn't even understand."
Jaemin's fists tightened further.
"You talk too much."
He stepped forward.
Even knowing the difference, he couldn't just stand there.
Axiom didn't move.
Didn't react.
Jaemin threw a punch.
His fist passed straight through.
Like hitting empty space.
"...Tch."
He pulled back immediately.
Axiom's voice echoed again.
"You're not ready."
Jaemin glared at it.
"Then why show yourself?"
Axiom's form began to distort again.
"To see you."
A pause.
"And to remind you."
The space around them started cracking.
Jaemin's eyes widened slightly.
"...What now?"
Axiom looked up at the fractured sky.
"This place isn't stable."
Its voice remained calm.
"You weren't meant to stay."
The cracks spread rapidly.
Reality itself began collapsing inward.
Jaemin felt the pull immediately.
Not as strong as before, but enough.
"Wait."
He stepped forward.
"You said I'm not the only one watching."
Axiom's form flickered one last time.
"That's right."
The space behind Jaemin began tearing open again.
Another portal forming.
Violent.
Unstable.
Jaemin clenched his teeth.
"...Then what are you?"
For the first time, Axiom paused.
Then it spoke.
"Someone who got bored."
The portal behind Jaemin expanded.
The pull increased.
His body started sliding back.
"Tch!"
He tried to resist, but it was useless.
"Next time…"
Axiom's voice echoed one final time.
"Try to make it more interesting."
Jaemin's eyes locked onto it.
"...I'll beat you."
Axiom didn't respond.
But for a brief moment
Its form stabilized completely.
And it smiled.
Then everything disappeared.
The pull consumed Jaemin entirely.
Darkness swallowed him again.
And just like that
He was gone.