Hyun-Jae's eyes fluttered open to the sound of rushing water.
For a moment, he just lay there, staring up at a pale sky streaked with gold. The air was cool and carried the scent of wet stone and something faintly sweet, like blooming flowers after rain. His body didn't ache, his chest didn't burn, no pain, no blood, no wound. Just calm.
He sat up slowly, his hands pressing against soft grass. Before him stretched a crystal-clear pool fed by a towering waterfall that shimmered in the light like liquid glass. Mist rose from where the water met stone, catching the sun in fractured colors. Behind him, a forest of white-leaved trees swayed gently, each movement producing a faint chime.
It was… beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Hyun-Jae blinked, staring at his reflection in the pool, untouched, whole, not even a scar where the chain had run through him.
"What… what happened?"
He looked around again, half expecting to see Soo-Min, Rylan, anyone, but there was no one. Just silence and the endless sound of falling water.
His last memory struck him like lightning, the flash of silver chains, the pain, the screen in his mind, those words… Returning to the Ethereal Abyss.
He exhaled shakily and looked up at the endless, cloud-streaked sky.
"Did I… die?"
The question came out barely above a whisper. It felt ridiculous to say it aloud, but everything around him, the peace, the clarity, the way his body felt impossibly light, it all pointed to one conclusion.
He hugged his knees, staring at the rippling water.
"Maybe this is heaven," he muttered. "Or whatever's left for people like me."
A single leaf drifted down from one of the white trees, landing on the surface of the water and floating away.
And yet, despite the serenity, something about the place didn't sit right. The stillness felt too deliberate, as if the entire scene was waiting for him to realize something.
His reflection suddenly flickered, just for an instant, distorted by a faint ripple that hadn't come from the water.
Hyun-Jae's breath hitched.
"...Where am I really?"
He stood there for a long time, staring at the waterfall and trying to convince himself to stay where it was peaceful, safe.
But then it came.
A faint hum, deep and low, like the vibration of distant thunder. It didn't come from the water or the sky but from somewhere beyond, echoing softly inside his chest. The feeling wasn't painful, it was a pull. A beckoning. Something was calling him.
He turned his head toward the forest. The trees swayed gently in one direction, their pale leaves glinting like silver in the light. A faint mist seemed to gather between them, forming a faint, twisting path that led deeper into the woods.
Hyun-Jae hesitated. Every instinct in him said to stay away. But his feet moved anyway, step by step, crunching against the soft earth as he followed the pull.
The deeper he went, the quieter everything became. The sound of the waterfall faded behind him, replaced by the soft, rhythmic hum that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The trees grew sparse, and soon, the ground turned from grass to cold stone.
And then he saw it.
A hole.
No, more than a hole.
It was a massive, spiraling abyss carved into the earth itself, its edges rimmed with faint, glowing symbols he couldn't recognize. It stretched endlessly downward, so dark that even the light from above couldn't touch the bottom. The air around it pulsed faintly, distorting, humming with an immense, suffocating pressure.
Hyun-Jae's breath hitched.
He could feel it. The energy that poured out from within, the Etherea. Not the faint traces he'd felt in the trials or the beasts they'd fought. This was something deeper, purer, and far more dangerous.
He took a hesitant step closer, peering into the void.
Then, without warning, the world shimmered.
A familiar translucent screen appeared before him again, its glow faintly blue this time, flickering as if unsure whether it was supposed to exist here.
[System Alert]
Origin Source Detected.
Would you like to begin Level 1?
Hyun-Jae's eyes widened.
"Level… one?" he whispered.
The interface pulsed once, waiting for input.
He didn't understand where he was, what this place even was, or how he was still alive, but something deep within him knew this wasn't heaven. This was something else.
Something ancient.
And somehow… it was waiting for him.
Hyun-Jae stared at the glowing text hovering before him, his heart pounding in his chest.
If this thing, whatever it was, could bring him here, maybe it could send him out, too. Maybe this was the only way forward.
He clenched his fists. "...Yes."
The moment the word left his mouth, the world folded.
The forest, the waterfall, the gentle air, all of it shattered into blinding white light, and before he could even breathe, his feet hit cold, uneven stone. The ground trembled faintly beneath him, and when the light faded, he realized
He was inside the abyss.
It wasn't empty.
He stood on a flat, circular platform suspended over a bottomless pit. The walls around him pulsed faintly like they were alive, veins of silver light running through the stone and vanishing into the dark below. The air was thick, heavy, almost metallic.
Then, the screen reappeared in front of him, no longer flickering, now steady and bright.
[Level 1]
Objective: Eliminate all enemies within 60 seconds.
Enemies Remaining: 5
Hyun-Jae felt the ground tremble again. The noise echoed across the platform a shrill screeching sound that made his stomach twist.
He turned toward it and his blood ran cold.
Five avian creatures emerged from the surrounding darkness, their wings jagged and their feathers shimmering like shards of obsidian. Their eyes burned red, their talons scraping against the stone.
He recognized them instantly.
"The same birds…" he muttered. These were the same creatures they'd fought during the survival trial. The ones that had nearly torn him apart while the others easily cut them down.
Above each one, faint text flickered into existence.
[Ravager Talon — Rank E]
They shrieked in unison, the sound echoing through the abyss like a thousand knives scraping across glass.
Hyun-Jae's heart hammered in his chest. He barely had an attack in the last fight, and even then, he'd only managed to survive thanks to Soo-Min's healing.
He glanced at his hands, no weapon. Nothing but the faint, flickering outline of Etherea flowing beneath his skin.
[Time Remaining: 60 seconds]
The countdown had begun.
Hyun-Jae swallowed hard. He didn't know what this place was, or why he was here, but one thing was certain, he had to get through this.
"Alright," he whispered, taking a shaky breath, "guess it's just me now."
Hyun-Jae took a single step back as the timer bled from 60… 59… 58.The birds circled, wings slicing the air with a metallic hiss. He could feel every beat of their movement press against his chest like a drum.
He clenched his fists. Come on. Move.
The first bird dove before he could even think. Its claws raked across his shoulder, hot pain flashing through his body. He hit the ground hard, gasping, blood already soaking through his torn shirt.
He scrambled to his feet, barely in time for another strike. He swung his arm out instinctively, but he had no weapon, just his bare hands. The second bird's wing slammed into his face and sent him rolling across the cracked stone.
[Time Remaining: 47 seconds.]
He forced himself up, chest heaving, his vision blurry from the impact. His shoulder burned. His legs ached.The birds circled again, screeching in unison.
"Come on… think…"
He stumbled back, eyes darting around for anything, anything, that could help him. Then, near the edge of the platform, he saw it: a faint shimmer of light like a small dagger lying on the stone.
He lunged for it, grabbed it just as another bird came down, claws grazing his back. He screamed as the blade's hilt seared into his hand.
He swung clumsily. The blade nicked one of the creatures' wings, barely cutting through. It shrieked and veered away, but the others didn't stop. They dove again and again, relentless.
[Time Remaining: 28 seconds.]
One talon ripped across his chest. Another clipped his thigh.He was bleeding everywhere now, barely standing, the world spinning around him.
"I can't" he gasped. "I can't even hit one..."
The birds screamed again, all five diving at once.
Hyun-Jae raised the small blade in a desperate motion, swinging wildly, not even seeing where he struck. He caught one across the face, its body bursting into black mist before vanishing, but the other four slammed into him.
The impact knocked him down hard, the blade skittering away into the dark. His body screamed in pain, and his blood soaked the cold stone beneath him.
[Time Remaining: 4 seconds.]
He couldn't move. His body refused to respond.The birds circled overhead again, their glowing eyes staring down at him like they knew this was over.
"...So this is it?" he whispered, his voice trembling. "Even after dying once… I can't do anything right."
Then the timer hit zero.
The last bird dove straight for him, its beak piercing his chest. The sound of his bones cracking drowned out his scream. Blood filled his throat as the world turned cold and silent.
[Objective Failed.]
The message burned into his mind as everything faded.
When Hyun-Jae opened his eyes again, he was lying beside the waterfall. The same calm mist. The same tranquil glow. His chest heaved, his body trembling as if the pain hadn't fully left.
He looked down at himself, no wounds, no blood. Yet every nerve still remembered. His heart still raced like it hadn't stopped beating between deaths.
"…What… was that?" he muttered, clutching his chest.
The screen appeared again, faint and cold.
[Restart Available: Level 1 — Begin?]
Hyun-Jae's breathing steadied, but his hands still shook. This wasn't heaven. It wasn't even death. The abyss wouldn't let him go.
He stared into the forest, where the ominous pull was waiting again. His jaw tightened.
"If this thing wants me to fight," he said under his breath, "then I'll make sure I'm ready for it."
He turned away from the abyss for now. Before going back in, he needed to get stronger, physically stronger for now and maybe he actually might survive this. If this realm forced him to repeat his suffering, then he would use it to build himself up, no matter how many times it killed him.