After the test.
The room was quiet. Too quiet.
Ji Han sat on a bench in the waiting area, his hands still shaking a little. He kept his eyes on the floor, trying to calm down. The fight with the real C-rank Rift Beast had pushed his system to the edge.
Across from him, Ha Neul leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He looked calm, but his eyes were sharp. Watching.
Ji Won was pacing. "I mean, what was that? A real Rift creature? In a test?"
"They said it was a mistake," Ha Neul replied. "Some kind of leak from a nearby Rift."
"A mistake could've killed us," Ji Won muttered. "And Ji Han, you—you stepped right in."
Ji Han didn't answer. He was still trying to process it all.
His system had gone into overdrive. The bloodlust from the creature had been strong, almost too strong. If he hadn't stopped absorbing in time, it might've taken over.
Ha Neul walked closer. "What did you feel?"
Ji Han looked up. "It was angry. Hungry. Like it didn't belong here."
"That wasn't a normal Rift Beast," Ha Neul said. "Its energy felt... heavier."
Ji Won sat down beside Ji Han and gave him a light punch on the arm. "You were awesome, though. I saw the way you moved. Like you weren't even thinking—just reacting."
"I wasn't," Ji Han said softly. "My system... it took over."
Ha Neul narrowed his eyes. "You absorbed it?"
Ji Han hesitated, then nodded. "Some of it. Enough to boost my reflexes."
"You shouldn't have," Ha Neul said. "That kind of emotion—it can change you."
"I know."
Silence filled the room again.
After a while, a staff member entered. "The top scorers from Phase 1 and 2 have been posted. You three are in the top five."
Ji Won let out a whistle. "Nice."
The staff added, "Because of the Rift breach, the test is being paused. You'll be taken to a recovery zone for now."
They followed the staff down the hall. As they walked, Ji Han felt tired—not just in body, but in his mind. His system was still active, still pulsing. He focused hard to push it down.
In the recovery room, each of them was given a small area to rest. Ha Neul stayed standing, while Ji Won laid back and closed his eyes.
Ji Han sat quietly, trying to meditate.
"Hey," Ha Neul said, sitting beside him now. "What's your system really called?"
Ji Han looked at him.
"I saw the way you absorbed the beast's emotion," Ha Neul continued. "It's not a normal system. You hide it, but you can't hide it from me."
Ji Han hesitated, then said quietly, "It's called the Emotion Absorption System."
Ha Neul tilted his head. "That's dangerous."
"I know."
"Why are you here, Ji Han?"
"To survive."
Ha Neul didn't ask more. He just nodded.
"You're not the only one with secrets," he said.
Ji Han looked at him. "Your system... you copied my staff movements. Just like the other day. That wasn't just skill. What's it called?"
Ha Neul smiled faintly. "It's called the System Mirror. I can copy the ability of someone I'm emotionally connected to. But only one at a time."
"Emotionally connected?"
"Yeah," Ha Neul said. "So don't get too close."
Ji Han looked away, unsure how to respond.
Later that evening, the room was dim and quiet. Ji Won was snoring softly. Ha Neul had fallen asleep sitting up.
Ji Han stayed awake.
He looked at his hands. They had stopped shaking, but his heart hadn't.
His system was growing. Reacting more. There seems to be something wrong with his system after the test.
He didn't know if that was good or bad.
All he knew was that the real test hadn't even started yet.