The morning in the house was calm — the kind of calm that only exists before the world begins to spin again.
Jiwoon stood shirtless in the courtyard, practicing slow sword movements.
His breath was steady, but his thoughts weren't.
That dream… that voice…
Kaelya walked out holding two mugs of tea. "You're training this early?"
Jiwoon nodded. "I need to be ready. The Arena's changing."
System Message – Arena Reshaping in Progress
A new zone has opened: Remnant Coliseum
Memory-based opponents may appear. Caution advised.
Back to the Fight
News spread that a mysterious new battlefield had appeared — unlike any of the previous combat zones.
It didn't pit fighters against each other…
It pitted them against themselves.
Literally.
First Glimpse of the Remnant Coliseum
Jiwoon, Kaelya, and Vera stepped into the zone through a glowing rift.
The world around them twisted into shape — a coliseum of shattered glass and cracked stone, floating over a sea of memory.
A voice echoed from the very air:
"Welcome, Ashborn Sovereign.
Let us see… if the past you buried still remembers how to bleed."
The First Echo Appears
From the mist stepped a figure draped in white flame — younger, colder, crueler.
Jiwoon's eyes widened.
"That's… me."
"The you that didn't love. The you that didn't break.
The you who only knew how to destroy," the copy growled.
And then it attacked.
Battle Begins – Jiwoon vs. Past Jiwoon
Flame met flame.
Blade against blade.
Each strike shook the memory-wrought ground, each clash echoing with sins of the past.
Kaelya and Vera tried to step in — but the system held them back.
This is his trial alone.
Jiwoon gritted his teeth. "If I have to kill my past to protect my future… then so be it."