The city was louder than usual that morning.
Markets bustled with restless energy, radios spat endless speculation, and every television screen he passed replayed grainy footage of glowing rifts torn into the sky. Hunters gave statements with their practiced confidence, while officials promised "safety measures" that no one truly believed in.
Dev walked among them quietly, hood pulled low, the crowd's noise swirling around him like a storm. Nobody recognized him—just another face in the restless sea. And yet he carried a secret heavier than all of them combined: a fragment of a Core, pulsing faintly inside his pocket.
The world would never forgive him if it knew.
He reached the edge of the city, where construction lots turned to abandoned warehouses. Places forgotten, overlooked—perfect for someone who wanted to disappear. He slipped into a crumbling building, its windows cracked, walls covered with old graffiti, dust floating in the stale air.
Only then did he pull out the Core Fragment.
It glowed faintly, crimson light flickering across the shadows. The Reader's Window appeared immediately, as if waiting for this moment.
[Training Module Activated]Skill Enhancement Available: Pattern Analysis, Core Resonance.Warning: Excessive strain may cause permanent damage.]
Dev grimaced. "Figures. Nothing comes free."
He tightened his grip around the shard, bracing himself. If he wanted to live, to stay ahead of the Association, he needed more than luck and scraps of courage. He needed control.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's start."
The first test was Pattern Analysis.
The Window projected a series of faint lines across the floor, weaving into complex shapes that shifted and reformed like living puzzles. His task was simple: follow the patterns, anticipate their next change.
At first, it was easy. A line curved left, and he predicted left. Another looped upward, and he caught it. But the longer he stared, the faster they moved. Shapes collapsed, stretched, twisted in impossible angles until his vision blurred.
His head throbbed. Blood dripped from his nose.
[Warning: Cognitive Overload Imminent]
Dev collapsed onto his knees, clutching his skull. The patterns still burned in his mind, echoing even when he closed his eyes.
"Damn it…" He pressed his forehead against the cold concrete, forcing steady breaths. If I can't even follow lines, how the hell am I supposed to fight monsters?
But when the dizziness faded, he realized something: fragments of the patterns remained in his memory. Like afterimages. Not clear, not complete—but something.
The Reader's Window pulsed softly.
[Progress: 3% → 7%]
Dev let out a shaky laugh. "So even failure counts, huh?"
The second test was Core Resonance.
He placed the shard on the ground before him. It pulsed faintly, filling the warehouse with an eerie crimson glow.
The instructions appeared:
[Focus intent. Align heartbeat with Core rhythm.]
He hesitated. Align… with something not human? He pressed his hand against his chest, feeling the rapid thrum of his heart. Then he closed his eyes and tried to match it to the shard's steady pulse.
One beat. Two beats.
His chest tightened. His pulse faltered. For a moment, he thought his heart had stopped—then it thundered violently, slamming against his ribs.
His breath caught. The shard flared, heat searing his palm. His veins burned like fire.
[Resonance Unstable.]
"Ghh—!" Dev grit his teeth, forcing himself not to scream. He held on, desperate, fighting to match the impossible rhythm.
And then—clarity.
For a split second, the world expanded. He felt the faint hum of mana in the walls, the distant vibrations of footsteps outside, the soft rhythm of the rain against broken glass.
It was overwhelming, terrifying… beautiful.
The shard dimmed, and he collapsed onto his back, gasping.
[Core Resonance Progress: 1% → 4%]
Dev laughed bitterly, staring at the cracked ceiling. "One step forward… and I almost kill myself doing it."
But he had seen it. Felt it. The world wasn't silent anymore. It was alive, beating in rhythms he had never known.
If he could master this… maybe he really could fight.
Hours bled into evening. Dev repeated the exercises, over and over, until his body ached and his mind screamed for rest. He stumbled, failed, bled. But with every attempt, the numbers climbed, little by little.
Pattern Analysis: Lv.2 (Progress 18%)Core Resonance: Lv.1 (Progress 9%)
Small. Insignificant compared to Hunters with years of training. But to him, it was proof. Proof that he wasn't just a pawn surviving by accident. Proof that he could grow.
As the last rays of sun bled through the cracked windows, he sat cross-legged on the dusty floor, staring at the Core Fragment glowing faintly in the dark.
The Author's whisper came again, softer this time.
"You've taken the first steps. But the story only grows heavier from here."
Dev's hand trembled. "I don't even know if I can carry it."
There was no answer. Only silence, and the faint hum of the shard.
On the other side of the city, however, silence was rare.
The Guild Association's headquarters buzzed with activity. Reports spread across screens, maps dotted with blinking lights where rifts were most likely to appear. Hunters debated strategies, politicians whispered about casualties, and somewhere in the chaos, Dev's name appeared on a file.
"Keep watching him," the woman with the tablet said coldly. "If he survived once, he'll be at the next incident. And if he does anything beyond human ability… we'll know."
Her assistant hesitated. "Ma'am, what if he's really just lucky?"
She didn't look up from her screen. "There's no such thing as luck in this world. Only hidden variables."
Her eyes glinted. "And he's one of them."
Back in the warehouse, Dev finally stood, exhausted, his body shaking. He pocketed the shard and stepped outside into the cool night air.
The city lights flickered in the distance.
And then he saw it.
High above the skyline, beyond the clouds, a faint crack shimmered in the air—like glass splitting under invisible pressure.
A rift.
Not open yet, but close.
Dev's breath caught.
The world wasn't going to wait for him to be ready.
The faint crack in the clouds was impossible to miss. Like a splinter of broken glass etched across the night sky, it pulsed faintly with otherworldly light.
Dev's breath misted in the cool air. His instincts screamed at him to turn away, to pretend he hadn't seen it. But the Reader's Window appeared before he could even think:
[Alert: Rift Instability Detected]Location: Sector 9 – Riverside District]Time to Manifestation: 02:41:17
Two hours. Barely enough to prepare.
He clenched his fists. He wasn't ready. His training was incomplete, his resonance unstable, his patterns barely readable. Facing another dungeon so soon was suicide.
But if he ignored it, if he walked away…
His mind flashed back to the girl's trembling hands, her voice in the café: Don't forget the rest of us who can't fight.
Dev gritted his teeth. "Damn it…"
The Reader's Window pulsed again, almost like a challenge:
[Sub-Quest Triggered: Survivor's Choice]– Enter Rift and survive.– Reward: Core Fragment Compatibility +2%.– Failure: Unknown.
Unknown. That word was worse than death.
He spent the next two hours in motion.
He scavenged everything he could from his tiny apartment—duct tape, rope, an old kitchen knife sharpened to a shine, a battered backpack. He added the cracked steel pipe from the first dungeon, wrapping its grip with torn cloth.
His supplies were laughable compared to professional Hunters. But he didn't need to be like them. He just needed to live.
At exactly two hours later, he stood at the edge of the Riverside District.
The streets were abandoned, cordoned off by Association barriers and armored trucks. Civilians had already been evacuated, and Hunters patrolled the perimeter, scanning the forming rift with grim eyes.
Dev kept his hood low, slipping into an alley. He knew the Association was watching for him—if they caught him here, there would be no hiding. But the Reader's Window guided his steps, marking blind spots in their patrol with faint glowing arrows only he could see.
[Pattern Analysis Engaged]Success Rate: 63%]
Sweat ran down his back as he ducked behind a truck, then slipped through a gap in the barricades. His breath caught, but no alarms sounded. He was inside.
The rift loomed above the district, its crack widening with every pulse of energy. Hunters shouted orders, preparing for impact.
Dev, hidden in the shadows, felt his chest tighten. He wasn't supposed to be here. But this wasn't about permission anymore. This was about the Author's whisper, the unfinished story he had been forced to inherit.
And when the rift finally split open, he knew he had chosen right.
The sky shattered.
Light bled across the district as the rift tore open, screaming with a sound that wasn't sound at all—it was pressure, vibration, madness. Hunters raised their weapons. Civilians far away screamed.
And from the rift, they came.
Not beasts this time. Shadows.
They poured into the world like liquid night, their forms shifting and writhing, claws stretching and contracting as though reality itself struggled to contain them.
The Hunters charged, blades and spells flashing. Steel met shadow, fire seared the night—but for every creature that fell, two more slipped through.
Dev's heart pounded. He gripped his pipe tightly, hidden behind the ruins of an old shop. He wasn't part of their fight. He wasn't even close to their level.
But then he saw it.
A single shadow creature breaking past the Hunters, slithering down a side street—toward the evacuation shelters. Toward civilians who had no idea one had slipped through.
His body moved before his mind could stop it.
The alley was narrow, filled with trash bins and broken glass. Dev sprinted, his lungs burning, his pipe gripped tightly. The shadow twisted at the end of the alley, its eyes glowing faintly red as it sensed him.
His legs nearly froze. It was larger than him, its body shifting unnaturally, claws scraping against the walls with a sickening hiss.
The Reader's Window flared:
[Engagement Detected: Shadowspawn]Danger Rating: D]
D. That meant low level… for Hunters. For him, it was still death.
But he forced himself forward, raising his pipe.
The creature lunged.
Dev rolled to the side, the claws raking sparks off the concrete where he had just been. He swung wildly, the pipe crashing into the shadow's form. It screeched—not from pain, but annoyance.
The Reader's Window flickered again:
[Pattern Analysis Active]Prediction: Right swipe, 1.3s]
He ducked. The claw swiped just above his head, close enough to cut a strand of his hair. His heart hammered.
Another flicker:
[Prediction: Lunge, 0.7s]
This time, he braced. As the shadow lunged, he jammed the pipe upward, catching its jaw and shoving it back.
The resonance surged in his chest. He felt his heartbeat aligning, his veins burning again—but this time he forced it steady.
[Core Resonance Activated: Temporary Boost]
Energy coursed through his limbs, his muscles tightening. He swung the pipe with a roar, shattering the shadow's head.
The creature dissolved into smoke, fading into nothing.
Dev collapsed to his knees, gasping. His arms shook violently, and the pipe slipped from his hand.
But he was alive.
And so were the people in that shelter.
The Reader's Window appeared:
[Enemy Defeated: Shadowspawn]Reward: Shadow Essence ×1]Progress: Sub-Quest "Survivor's Choice" 50%]
Dev laughed breathlessly, leaning against the wall. It was insane. Impossible. He should be dead. But he had done it.
He had fought. And he had won.
Above, the rift still pulsed, endless shadows pouring through. The Hunters fought desperately, their ranks wavering, their blades drenched in light and blood.
But Dev knew one truth now.
He wasn't just a bystander.
He wasn't just lucky.
He was part of this story, whether the world wanted him or not.
And somewhere, in the depths of the void, the Author's whisper echoed faintly, proud and sorrowful at once:
"Yes… keep writing it forward."
Dev stood, picking up his pipe once more. His body ached, his blood burned, but his eyes were clear.
He was no Hunter. Not yet.
But he was no longer just a survivor, either.