The wasteland stretched in all directions, a labyrinth of red dust and black stone. Every step echoed like iron striking bone, the sound swallowed almost instantly by the oppressive heat.
The chains above rattled with each shift of the earth, a constant reminder that the Trial was already awake.
[ Trial of Chains: 2 hours, 41 minutes remaining. ]
The system's countdown pulsed faintly in the air, visible no matter where they turned.
"Stronghold should be ahead." Do-hyun pointed to a jagged outline in the distance—a tower of fused rock and metal, jutting upward like a broken rib. "Looks like one of the anchor points."
Arin shaded her eyes, squinting against the haze. The closer they drew, the more the shape resolved into something wrong. It wasn't just a tower. It was a cage. Bars of black iron wrapped tight, pulsing faintly with runes that glowed like smoldering embers.
Seo Ha-young whistled low. "Home sweet home. Can't wait to see what freaks already claimed it."
Her words weren't wrong. Movement stirred around the base of the cage—figures crawling, waiting, their silhouettes sharp and jagged against the dust.
Competitors.
[ Warning: Rival parties detected. ]
[ Dominance will determine ownership. ]
Seong-wu exhaled sharply through his nose. Even stripped of the protagonist's title, he radiated a cold steadiness that made the others instinctively watch him.
"We'll need a strategy. Charging in blind will get us torn apart."
Do-hyun muttered, "Finally, something we agree on."
Hae-won didn't answer immediately. His eyes stayed fixed on the cage, the runes glowing faintly against the shifting red haze. Something about them clawed at his memory—like fragments from a half-burnt draft.
He pressed a hand against his chest, steadying his breath.
"…It's not just a stronghold. It's a key."
The others glanced at him.
"A key to what?" Arin asked quietly.
He swallowed, sanity prickling against the edges of his thoughts. "To the next lock. And if we don't claim it…" His gaze swept the crawling silhouettes at the base of the cage. "They will."
The ground beneath them trembled again, dust rippling outward as though the earth itself were breathing.
The system's timer bled another minute away.
[ 2 hours, 40 minutes remaining. ]
The silence pressed tighter. Every one of them felt it—the weight of inevitability.
Chains were meant to break.
But only after they dragged someone down first.
They weren't the only ones heading for the cage.
As Hae-won's group closed the distance, the silhouettes solidified—eight figures arrayed in a loose circle at the base of the stronghold.
Their armor wasn't uniform. Scrap metal twisted into breastplates. Chains coiled like belts. Some bore weapons scavenged from bone and stone, others carried nothing but their hands, their fingers sharpened to claws that gleamed like obsidian.
But they all shared one thing.
The mark.
A jagged rune carved into their chests, glowing faintly with the same light that pulsed through the cage.
[ Warning: Rival Narrator Path detected. ]
[ Affiliation: The Broken Ledger. ]
Do-hyun's breath hitched. "Ledger…? As in—"
"Yes." Hae-won's voice was flat. "They're debt-born."
At the center of the enemy party stood a tall man draped in chains that dragged along the ground like a cape. His hair was shaved close on one side, the other side falling into his eyes. A jagged scar carved across his jaw.
When he smiled, it was all teeth.
"So," he said, his voice carrying too easily across the wasteland. "We aren't the only rats fighting for scraps."
Seo Ha-young shifted her stance, weight on her good leg, smirk curling despite the tension. "Rats, huh? Says the one dressed like a scrapyard."
The scarred man didn't flinch. His gaze slid over each of them, but when it landed on Hae-won, the smile deepened.
"…You smell wrong."
The words struck like a blade. The rival party stirred, tightening their circle. Chains rattled faintly in the air as if echoing their leader's suspicion.
"Focus," Seong-wu snapped under his breath. His golden aura flickered faintly, controlled but sharp. "They outnumber us. If we fight without a plan, we're finished before the trial even begins."
"Then what?" Do-hyun hissed. His hands tightened on his weapon, knuckles white. "We just wait for them to strike first?"
"No." Hae-won's voice cut through. Everyone turned to him. His eyes locked on the scarred leader, words scraping out like broken glass.
"We make them bleed before the chains choose sides."
The silence cracked.
Arin grabbed his arm. "Hae-won—wait—"
But already, the scarred man lifted his hand. His chains rattled once, then slithered like living serpents toward the dust, burrowing deep.
The ground shuddered.
[ Warning: Trial engagement initiated prematurely. ]
[ Dominance Contest: Active. ]
The system's announcement slammed into their skulls like a hammer. The cage pulsed, runes burning brighter, as if hungering for violence.
Two groups. One stronghold.
Only one would walk away.
The chains struck first.
They erupted from the dust in a storm of steel, snapping toward ankles and wrists, coiling like vipers hungry for flesh. The sound was deafening—iron grinding against stone, echoing through the wasteland until it felt like the entire world was being shackled.
Do-hyun's scream ripped the air as one chain caught his leg and yanked. His body skidded across the ground, sparks flying.
"Not today!" he roared, slamming his spear into the soil. Sparks of violet flame erupted where the weapon struck, burning the chain until it hissed and recoiled. His chest heaved, sweat dripping down his brow, but there was fire in his eyes.
For the first time, Hae-won saw no hesitation in him. Only fury. Only the will of someone who had always followed, now refusing to be dragged.
Do-hyun wasn't just a shield anymore. He was choosing to fight.
"Keep moving!" Seong-wu barked, his golden aura flaring like a beacon. Blades of light spun from his hands, cutting through incoming chains with surgical precision. But his movements were colder than steel, his eyes sharp—calculating, not desperate. He wasn't only cutting chains; he was measuring his allies.
Even now, he was weighing. Who slowed them down. Who deserved to stand. Who was worth saving.
Arin staggered behind Hae-won, her palm glowing with blue light. Her voice shook as she muttered arcane syllables, and each word carved glowing circles into the ground. When the chains whipped near, they shattered against shimmering wards that bent like glass but did not break.
But she wasn't just casting to defend. Her gaze darted between her friends, her lips trembling, as though she was memorizing them.
And then, her whisper slipped through the chaos.
"…If it comes to it, I'll use it."
Hae-won's heart lurched. He knew what she meant. The time-fracture spell. The one-use ability she had sworn to keep sealed.
"Arin, no!" His voice cracked raw.
But her hands didn't falter.
Across the battlefield, Seo Ha-young's blade whistled, her strikes ruthless. She laughed, sharp and bitter, even as blood streamed from her thigh. "What's wrong? Afraid, little rats?" she taunted, cutting through two chains at once. But Hae-won could see it—the way her grin didn't reach her eyes, the way her strikes grew sloppier as her leg failed her.
She wasn't mocking the enemy. She was mocking herself. Fighting as if this was her last scene, her last chance to burn bright before the dark swallowed her.
And the scarred leader laughed, chains coiling around his arms like living armor. "Yes… yes! Struggle for me! Struggle, so I can crush your hope with my own hands!"
The ground split. Black stone erupted upward, forming jagged spires that locked the battlefield into a cage.
No retreat. No escape.
[ Dominance Contest: Blood has been spilled. No side may withdraw. ]
Chains slithered tighter, glowing runes feeding on their defiance.
Hae-won staggered, his chest screaming with the memory of five hundred deaths. His vision blurred at the edges as whispers clawed inside his skull. Fail again. Die again. Lose them all again.
And yet—
Arin's trembling wards. Do-hyun's newfound defiance. Seo Ha-young's reckless blade. Even Seong-wu's cold calculation.
They weren't nameless actors this time.
They were his.
And if this script demanded one party fall—then he would tear the script until only shreds remained.
He lifted his hand. Power bled from him in jagged cracks of crimson light, the Most Ancient Dream stirring awake.
The chains stuttered in midair, twitching like they'd been caught in a nightmare.
Hae-won bared his teeth. "Then let's rewrite this bloodbath together."
The wasteland shook