The system window hovered silently in front of him, glowing faintly in the rooftop darkness like a star that had come too close.
Junseo didn't touch it.
Didn't move.
He stood still, breathing slowly, eyes fixed on the floating screen like it might vanish if he blinked. The wind brushed past him again, tugging at his sleeves, but it felt…off. Colder than before. Too still.
[To unlock access, complete Gate Trial Simulation. Duration: 24 Hours.]
[Warning: Failure will result in Termination of Binding.]
His stomach twisted.
"This isn't right," he muttered.
He stepped back again, his heel hitting the metal guardrail. The screen followed, gliding forward effortlessly.
"No one awakens like this," he said under his breath. "No ceremony. No guide. No instructor. Just… this?"
The rooftop remained silent except for the low hum of the system. No alarms. No voices. Not even the usual far-off sound of cars from the mountain road below.
Was he hallucinating?
He brought a hand to his chest. His heartbeat was real — fast, but steady. His fingers felt the railing. Cold steel. Real.
So what wasn't?
His hand clenched tighter.
Maybe something was wrong with him. Maybe all those years of failure had finally broken something inside. Maybe this was what madness looked like — slow, quiet, glowing in the dark.
"…I don't want this," he said, voice quiet. "I didn't ask for this."
The system didn't respond. It didn't argue. It simply waited — like it already knew he'd break.
Junseo looked up at the sky. The stars above were still there. But the clouds were lower now. Or maybe… the light was wrong. There were too many shadows around the rooftop now, stretching from angles they shouldn't.
And then he noticed it.
The edge of the rooftop—the railing—wasn't metal anymore.
It looked like… bark.
He blinked.
The change was so subtle he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But when he reached out, his fingers brushed not steel, but rough, coarse wood. Old. Dry.
The air smelled different now. Not city air. But something musky. Damp.
His breath caught in his throat.
The rooftop wasn't vanishing all at once — it was decaying. Changing around him inch by inch. The tiles under his feet were cracking, darkening, moss crawling in from the edges like silent fingers. His shadow didn't fall straight anymore. It warped, like the moonlight above was bending.
[Trial Commencing…]
"Wait—" he choked out, backing away.
But there was nowhere to go.
The last fragment of the city skyline flickered like a glitch and blinked out, replaced by towering silhouettes — trees, twisted and ancient, stretching high into a moonless void.
The rooftop was gone.
And Junseo stood in the middle of a forest that did not belong in his world.
His breathing turned shallow.
This wasn't VR. This wasn't illusion magic. He could feel the moisture in the air. The damp earth beneath his shoes. The roots curled under the moss. The cold sank into his clothes.
He reached for his phone — nothing. No signal. The screen didn't even turn on.
"…This can't be real," he whispered.
But his gut knew otherwise.
Branches shifted in the trees overhead. The rustling wasn't wind. It was movement. Something was nearby.
Junseo turned in slow circles, scanning for a path. But the forest felt alive — not in a natural way. In an observing way.
He noticed the system again.
[OBJECTIVE: Survive 24 Hours]
[Time Remaining: 23:59:16]
"No map? No direction?" he said bitterly. "No weapon?"
The system said nothing.
He moved cautiously, trying not to make sound. Every step sank slightly into the soft, muddy ground. His uniform was already damp from the mist. Every instinct screamed at him to hide, but there was nowhere that felt safe.
Then he heard it.
A snap.
His body froze.
Branches, maybe five meters ahead, shifted. Slowly.
Then a shape moved between them. Massive. Too tall. Hunched. Its back scraped against one of the thicker tree trunks as it stepped forward.
Junseo couldn't breathe.
The creature stood nearly ten feet tall — skeletal in places, but wrapped in sinew and dark bark-like armor. Its arms were long and twisted, claws dragging through the soil as it moved. Its head tilted at an unnatural angle and you could see that it had no eyes, but something in its face watched.
Then it stopped.
Sniffed the air.
And turned directly toward him.
Junseo's legs moved before his brain did.
He ran as fast as he could.
Not gracefully. Not smartly. He tripped over roots, slipped on mud, smacked into a low branch. But he didn't stop. His lungs burned, and still he ran. Behind him, the sound of branches snapping and soil being ripped apart thundered through the woods.
[Warning: Hostile Presence Detected.]
"No shit!" he gasped.
He dove behind a fallen log, chest heaving. The system's window blinked, but he ignored it. His eyes locked onto the claw marks gouged into the nearby trees.
This thing wasn't new here.
Others have tried.
He peeked over the log.
The monster was sniffing the ground now, moving with disturbing patience, almost as if it enjoyed this. Junseo tried to still his breathing.
He needed a plan.
But he had nothing. No aura. No mana. No skill. Just his body. And even that was running on fear.
The monster moved closer.
He picked up a rock.
Maybe if I throw it, I can distract it. Run again. Try to find a tree to climb.
He hurled the rock.
It hit the base of a distant tree with a crack.
The creature's head snapped sideways and then back to him instantly.
Didn't work.
It shrieked — a high, grating sound like metal on bone — and lunged.
Junseo barely rolled aside in time. The claws tore through the log like it was paper. Splinters flew. He scrambled up, slipped, and felt pain shoot through his arm as his shoulder slammed into a tree.
The creature turned with eerie grace, like it had all the time in the world.
Junseo grabbed another rock. Bigger this time. Held it with both hands.
"Come on, then," he said through gritted teeth. His hands trembled.
The monster lunged again.
He dodged sideways and slammed the rock down—wildly, without aim. It hit the side of the creature's leg with a thud. Not enough to injure. But enough to get its attention.
It reeled back and shrieked again — louder this time.
Junseo stumbled away, his shoulder screaming.
And just as the monster surged forward again—
[Emergency Skill Unlocked: "Reflex Step (Lv. 1)"]
[Effect: Instantly reposition within a 1-meter radius. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]
Junseo felt it before he understood it — a sudden snap of energy under his feet. His body moved, not of his own will, but through him.
In one blink, he was behind the monster.
He didn't question it.
He grabbed a broken branch from the ground and jammed it toward the back of the monster's knee.
It wasn't deep — but it hit something soft.
The creature howled in rage, swatting wildly. Junseo ducked and rolled, his heart pounding so hard he could barely think.
He had no strategy. No training.
Just instinct.
Just fear.
And now — a chance.
[Time Remaining: 23:45:03]
He collapsed behind another tree, chest rising and falling in panicked rhythm. The monster staggered in the distance, dragging one leg.
For now — just for now — he was alive.
And the system still glowed.
Watching.
Waiting.