The screen flickered.
Then
everything disappeared.
Not like a shutdown.
Not like power being cut.
It felt like the light itself was… erased.
For a brief second, my reflection remained on the dark screen.
Staring back at me.
Still.
Silent.
Then
a crack appeared.
Right across my face.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"…What"
Before I could finish
the crack spread.
Thin lines branching out.
Crawling across the screen.
Across the desk.
Across the walls.
Across the entire room.
Like reality itself was fracturing.
My breath hitched.
The cracks deepened
and then
everything collapsed inward.
There was no falling.
No impact.
No sense of direction.
Only
absence.
My body didn't move.
It… dissolved.
Like it stopped existing piece by piece.
My hands faded first.
Then my arms.
Then everything else.
There was no pain.
Just a strange disconnect.
Like I was no longer attached to anything physical.
For a moment
there was nothing.
No sound.
No ground.
No air.
Just awareness.
Floating in an endless void.
"…Where am I…"
Even my voice felt distant.
Like it wasn't real.
Like it didn't belong to me.
Silence answered.
Then
a faint light appeared.
Far away.
Small.
Unstable.
Another appeared beside it.
Then another.
Like stars blinking into existence.
The darkness around me began to shift.
Not naturally.
Not smoothly.
It was being built.
Lines formed first.
Thin.
Precise.
A grid.
Spreading outward.
Then surfaces began attaching to it.
Fragments snapping into place.
Glitching as they did.
Walls.
Floor.
Depth.
Everything forming piece by piece.
Like reality was being constructed from nothing.
I felt it when it reached me.
Weight returned.
My feet touched something.
Solid
but not completely.
It felt unstable for a second.
Like the ground wasn't fully real yet.
I shifted slightly.
The surface flickered
then stabilized.
My breathing slowed.
"…So this is the simulation…"
The air came next.
Cold.
Still.
Artificial.
It didn't feel like outside.
Too controlled.
Too… perfect.
And yet
too real.
Then something appeared.
Not in front of me.
Not projected.
It simply existed within my vision.
[Simulation: Survival Trial]
[Objective: Survive]
[Authority Use: Permitted]
I stared at it for a moment.
"…That's all?"
No explanation.
No instructions.
No guide.
Just three lines.
I exhaled quietly.
"…Of course."
If this thing wanted to make me stronger—
it wasn't going to make it easy.
A sound broke the silence.
Footsteps.
Light.
Measured.
Each step evenly spaced.
Controlled.
My body reacted instantly.
I turned.
A figure stood a few meters away.
Tall.
Lean.
Dressed in dark clothing.
Nothing flashy.
Nothing unnecessary.
Everything about him felt… efficient.
A blade rested in his hand.
Loose grip.
But his stance
perfect.
Balanced.
Centered.
No openings.
No wasted motion.
"…A hunter."
He didn't respond.
Didn't react.
Didn't speak.
He just
moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
My body reacted before I could think.
I stepped back.
Clumsy.
Unrefined.
But just enough.
The blade cut through the space where I had been standing.
My eyes widened slightly.
"…That was close."
No.
That wasn't close.
That was almost death.
He didn't pause.
Didn't even acknowledge it.
The second attack came instantly.
Different angle.
Lower.
Targeting my side.
Like he already knew where I would move.
I raised my arm to block
Wrong.
The impact landed.
Sharp pain shot through my forearm.
My stance broke.
I staggered back.
"…Tch"
No hesitation.
He stepped forward again.
Closing distance.
Every step precise.
Every movement calculated.
He wasn't reacting.
He was predicting.
Reading me.
"…So this is what they meant…"
Hunters didn't just fight.
They calculated outcomes.
And I
I was completely predictable.
He attacked again.
A straight thrust.
Clean.
Direct.
Meant to kill.
I tried to move
Too slow.
My body didn't respond in time.
"…Move!"
Something inside me snapped.
That same sensation.
Deep inside my chest.
Like something cracked open.
The air distorted.
Faint fractures spread across my vision.
Reality… bent.
[Probability Distortion Initiated]
[Casus Distorsio: ———]
The values flickered.
Unstable.
Unreadable.
My heartbeat spiked.
"…Now!"
The blade came
and—
it shifted.
It should have pierced straight through my chest.
That was the outcome.
That was what should have happened.
But
it changed.
Just slightly.
The blade grazed my side instead.
Tearing through flesh.
Pain exploded through my body.
But I was still standing.
My breath came out shaky.
"…It worked…"
Barely.
But it worked.
I moved immediately.
Forward.
Inside his range.
My body reacted on instinct.
I threw a strike.
Clumsy.
Slow.
Untrained.
He deflected it effortlessly.
Like it was nothing.
Then
his counter came.
A kick slammed into my ribs.
My balance broke instantly.
I hit the ground hard.
Air left my lungs.
"…Ghk!"
Too slow.
Too obvious.
Too weak.
He stepped forward.
No pause.
No hesitation.
Blade ready.
Ending it.
My body screamed to move.
I forced myself up.
Barely.
The pressure in my head surged again.
More intense this time.
More unstable.
[Probability Distortion Initiated]
[Casus Distorsio: ———]
The numbers spun violently.
Chaotic.
Uncontrolled.
Like they were rejecting me.
Like reality itself was pushing back.
"…Come on"
I didn't know what I wanted.
A miss.
A delay.
Anything
The numbers stopped.
Too late.
The blade pierced through my chest.
Clean.
Precise.
Final.
My body froze.
My breath caught
"…Ah…"
Pain exploded through me.
Sharp.
Real.
Overwhelming.
My fingers trembled.
My vision blurred.
The hunter pulled the blade out.
Stepped back.
No emotion.
No hesitation.
Just execution.
I collapsed.
The ground rushed up
then
darkness.
But the pain stayed.
Burning.
Lingering.
Real.
"…This isn't…"
training.
My eyes snapped open.
I jerked forward violently.
"Hah!"
Air rushed into my lungs.
My chest heaved.
My entire body was soaked in sweat.
My hands trembled uncontrollably.
Instinctively
my hand moved to my chest.
Nothing.
No wound.
No blood.
But the pain
it was still there.
Faint.
Like an echo.
My breathing didn't slow.
Not immediately.
"…That…"
My voice came out low.
Shaken.
"…That wasn't training."
That was survival.
Real.
Brutal.
Unforgiving.
I leaned back slowly.
Trying to calm down.
"…I died."
The words felt heavy.
Final.
Not failure.
Not defeat.
Death.
Complete.
Effortless.
"…And that was just one."
Not Seo Ara.
Not Kang Dae Hoon.
Just—
a low-level hunter.
And I couldn't do anything.
My fingers clenched slightly.
"…So this is the difference."
This is the gap.
Between them
and me.
My thoughts shifted.
To the power.
"…Probability distortion…"
It saved me once.
Then
it failed.
Unpredictable.
Unstable.
Dangerous.
"…It's not reliable."
Not something I can depend on.
It's a gamble.
Every time.
My breathing finally slowed.
A little.
I looked at the screen again.
Still glowing.
Still waiting.
Like nothing had happened.
"…Again."
The word slipped out quietly.
But there was no hesitation in it.
My body still remembered.
The movements.
The mistakes.
Even in that short fight
something had changed.
Slightly.
My reactions.
My awareness.
Not enough.
Not even close.
But it was there.
I leaned forward.
Eyes fixed on the screen.
"…If this is the only way…"
Then there was no other choice.
My finger hovered over the option.
[Simulation Domain]
A brief pause.
Then
I pressed it.
"…This time…"
My voice steadied.
"…I'll last longer."
The screen flickered again.
Darkness spread.
Swallowing the room.
And this time
I didn't look away.