The corrupted avatars blocked the path like reflections from different nightmares.
Jiwoon stared at them, each twisted version of himself embodying a fate he narrowly escaped.
The Tyrant wore a crown of broken halos. Blood coated his hands like gloves.
The Coward trembled, wearing a mask to hide tearless eyes.
The Empty One stood emotionless, with no pupils — just a hollow gaze.
Each spoke with his voice, but different intent.
Tyrant Jiwoon: "You had power. You should've ruled."
Coward Jiwoon: "You should've run. No one can survive the System."
Empty Jiwoon: "You should've felt nothing. You'd be free."
Jiwoon stepped forward.
"You're what I could've become."
⸻
[System Combat Mode Engaged]
Opponents: Avatar Fractures (3)
Warning: These versions share your memories and adapt in real-time.
⸻
The battle began.
The Tyrant summoned flaming swords forged from consumed sin.
The Coward distorted reality — teleporting with fear-based logic.
The Empty One attacked with silence — compressing emotion into blasts of nothingness.
But Jiwoon wasn't fighting them to destroy them.
He was fighting to reclaim himself.
Jiwoon channeled the demon energy inside him, mixing it with his original Sin System abilities. His armor shifted again — sharper, darker, but still… his.
"I'm not a tyrant. I fight for others."
"I'm not a coward. I chose this path."
"I'm not empty. I just stopped showing pain."
[Judgment Rewrite – Personal Domain Unlocked]
Suddenly, the battlefield shifted.
They were no longer in the forbidden zone — they were inside Jiwoon's own mindscape, a city made of broken memories and flickering screens.
And there, Jiwoon summoned three chains — one for each version.
Each chain represented one truth:
Mercy
Strength
Will
The chains wrapped around the avatars — not to destroy them, but to absorb them.
"I don't reject you. I learn from you."
With a final breath, the avatars collapsed into light, and Jiwoon stood alone — stronger.
⸻
[System Update]
Mental Integrity Restored
Emotion-Stability: 87%
New Trait Unlocked: Echo of Self
Description: Can resist corruption from alternate timelines and entities.
⸻
Kaelya and Vera caught up to him at the top of the light stairway.
Kaelya: "You okay?"
Jiwoon: "More than okay. I remember why I started this."
Vera: "Then let's finish it."
And above them, the obsidian heart began to crack…