Yuuya didn't go back to camp that night.
He climbed up the old train yard scaffolding two blocks down from the registry and slept on a rusted container roof, blanket pulled tight against the wind. Safer that way. The camp was too noisy. Too many people asking questions. Too many eyes.
And after the Bone-King? Yuuya didn't want eyes.
> [Level: 18] [EXP to Next Level: 309] [System Sync: Suppressed]
His heartbeat thudded steady in his ears. The moonlight washed the city in colorless light. Even asleep, he dreamed of movement. Chains. Patterns. The grinding crunch of boss bones cracking under a poker reinforced with the rage of ten near-death experiences.
---
By sunrise, he was gone.
Back at the diver board, the gates were fresh.
> [Gate: Echo Loop - Tier: C Start / Dynamic Scaling] [Warning: Unregulated Zone - No Bureau Support - Permanent Death Possible] [Notes: Identified Anomaly - Gate Energy Does Not Collapse Normally]
Perfect.
He didn't wait. Nobody else was looking at the listing. Most skipped it. C-rank starter gates meant real death unless you had gear, backup, and gear again.
Yuuya had a broken poker, scrap armor, and a passive skill that wanted to eat the world one dodge at a time.
He stepped through.
---
> [Entering Dungeon: Echo Loop] [Location: Dimensional Splice - Bound to Trial Layers] [Difficulty Scaling: Reactive]
The world blinked.
Then again.
And again.
The space was... wrong. Like walking through reflections of reflections. Everything twisted. The floor rippled. The walls looped into themselves. The air carried a pressure that wasn't weight, but awareness.
> [Enemy Detected: Echo-Walker] [Level: Variable] [Status: Hostile, Reactive]
Yuuya swung first.
The creature dodged. Mirrored. Swung back.
Same movement. Same arc.
He ducked. Punched. The thing mirrored him again. One-to-one.
> [True Learning Active - Combat Analysis Accelerated]
He changed angles. Jumped off the wall. Hit it with a shoulder tackle that wasn't in its library.
> [EXP +112] [Level Up: 19]
---
The Loop lived up to its name.
Each room reset with slightly different parameters. The same enemy, upgraded. Same movement, new twist.
Yuuya started changing.
Every fight was a test of adaptability.
> [New Skill Acquired: Reversal Pulse Lv. 1 - Redirect damage when successfully parrying a mirrored strike.] [New Trait Unlocked: Memory Killer - Reduced enemy memory accuracy against you by 5% per consecutive evasion.]
He stopped getting hit.
Even when he did, he used it. Let them touch him, then learned. Used their habits against them.
Room 5. Room 6. Room 7.
> [Level 20 Achieved] [True Learning Milestone Reached - Next Threshold: 100%]
He could feel something waiting at the end.
Not a boss. Not really.
---
Room 8 was a mirror.
Yuuya stood across from himself.
Only... stronger.
> [Boss Entity: Echo of You] [Level: 22] [Skill Set: Identical. Prediction Rate: 68%]
It moved before he did.
Parried.
Countered.
Dodged.
He grinned. "So this is what I look like to them, huh?"
He feinted low. Jumped. Dropped behind the copy and hooked it in the leg. It fell.
> [Reflex Copy Applied - Shadow Counter Lv. 1 Gained]
He moved faster.
> [Echo Counter Upgraded to Lv. 3]
> [True Learning 91%]
They traded blows. Minutes blurred. The room flickered with impact.
Yuuya took a punch to the ribs, then delivered a spinning strike to the jaw.
> [Final Hit Landed - Echo Core Shattered]
> [Dungeon Cleared: Echo Loop] [Reward: Echo Core Fragment x2, Skill Scroll - Self-Mirroring Technique, EXP +382]
> [Level 21 Reached]
> [New Passive: Flow State - Enhanced movement speed when chaining 3 or more skills in under 6 seconds]
---
He left the gate and stepped into early dusk.
The streets were quiet. As usual.
Toma wasn't at the registry.
No one noticed Yuuya walk past.
> [Skill List: True Learning (92%), Echo Counter Lv. 3, Reflex Copy, Adaptive Grit, Flow State, Tempo Step, Chain Grapple, Twin Improvisation, Shadow Counter]
He looked at his hands.
They didn't shake anymore.
He didn't feel F-rank.
Didn't feel like a diver.
Didn't feel like one of them at all.
He felt like a mirror that broke itself to become something sharper.
Tomorrow?
He wouldn't grind.
He'd hunt.
Because the Echo Loop had shown him what was coming next.
And it looked just like him.