March 11th, 2027 — Realm of Exodus, Crypt of Serith
He couldn't breathe.
Not because his lungs had failed, but because something inside him had shattered.
His heart.
Min-Jae lay on the stone floor, blood pooling beneath him, staining the glowing runes that circled the divine orb. His arms trembled. His vision blurred. The sounds around him began to fade, like they were being swallowed by the walls of the crypt.
But one thing remained clear.
Yu-Ri's voice.
> "I'm sorry… I just didn't want to die."
It echoed endlessly, bouncing between memory and present. A thousand fragments of trust collapsed in that instant.
She had been the only one he protected. The only one he sacrificed everything for. The only reason he woke up before dawn and collapsed long after midnight back on Earth.
And she stabbed him.
For a chance to live.
---
Do-Hyun's blade struck again.
Pain exploded through Min-Jae's side as steel sliced through flesh and scraped bone. He screamed—not just from pain, but from rage, from betrayal, from something ancient and primal clawing awake inside him.
"YOU—!"
Another strike. Blood gushed.
Then silence.
---
> [SYSTEM CRITICAL ERROR: SOUL CORE DESTABILIZED]
Warning: Life Force falling below safe threshold.
Alert: Binding Rejected. Host Soul Integrity… TERMINATED.
> You have died.
---
For most souls, that would have been the end.
A slow dissolving into darkness. A soft, merciful erasure. A death that no one would remember. The world would move on.
But not him.
Because something inside Min-Jae refused to die.
His soul, broken and bleeding, did not disintegrate like it should have.
Instead… it was dragged somewhere else.
---
Beyond the World, Beneath All Dreams
A black void.
No sound. No time. No shape. Only one floating presence.
Min-Jae's consciousness drifted inside it, barely intact, like paper in a storm.
And then… he heard a voice.
Not the system. Not a god. Not any being he could recognize.
> "You were chosen the moment you refused to surrender."
> "You were betrayed. But you did not hate. You bled… and still tried to protect."
> "You are worthy."
Min-Jae tried to speak, but he had no mouth. Tried to move, but had no limbs.
> "So I will give you one more chance."
> "One life. One rule."
> "You will remember everything."
> "And you will become… invincible."
A soft pulse radiated outward.
Then a second.
Then—light.
---
March 1st, 2027 — Seoul, South Korea
The sound of a digital chime.
Beep-beep. Beep-beep.
Kang Min-Jae's eyes flew open.
He sat upright, gasping for air, soaked in sweat.
He was in his bed. The rooftop apartment. The faded gray blanket. The cracked phone flashing 5:31 A.M.
The world outside was calm. No news reports. No talk of sleepers. No translucent bodies or monsters or divine fragments.
It was before everything.
Before the Soul Exodus.
He threw the blanket off and stumbled to the window. The street below bustled with early commuters. A delivery van honked. A man walked his dog. A schoolgirl ran toward the bus stop.
Everything was normal.
Too normal.
His fingers trembled as he touched his own chest. No wound. No blood. No spear.
And yet—he remembered everything.
> The jungle.
The crypt.
The monsters.
Yu-Ri's betrayal.
Do-Hyun's smirk as the blade struck.
His death.
It all happened.
And now, somehow, he had returned to before the world changed.
---
> [Rebirth Protocol Activated]
System: "Soulbound Genesis — Absolute Authority Interface"
Welcome back, Kang Min-Jae.
You have been granted exclusive privileges:
– Memory Retention (100%)
– Soul Integrity: Unbreakable
– Core Level: Infinite Growth
– Class Locked: [Invincible One]
Warning: The world will still fall. The Soul Exodus will begin.
You have 6 days before the first global descent.
Prepare.
---
He collapsed into the chair beside the bed.
Tears ran down his cheeks, but his expression wasn't broken.
It was cold.
Focused.
Transformed.
He wasn't the same Kang Min-Jae who once worked part-time and begged the world for mercy.
He had no more illusions about kindness.
No more naivety about trust.
Not even for Yu-Ri.
He looked toward the curtain across the room. She still slept peacefully, hugging the same stuffed penguin as before.
She had no memory of what she did.
Not yet.
He stood slowly.
"I won't hurt you," he whispered. "But I won't trust you again."
He clenched his fists.
"This time, I won't be the one who dies."
---
End of Chapter 5