The world beyond the arch was wrong.
The ground heaved slightly under Seo-jin's boots, as if breathing.
Shattered structures jutted from the earth at unnatural angles.
A thin mist drifted through the plaza, swirling with faint whispers.
Seo-jin tightened the strap of his satchel and limped forward.
Every step sent pain jolting through his injured ankle.
His breath came in short, ragged gasps.
The Trial Zone's heart was no place for the weak.
And right now, he was dangerously close to the edge.
•
He moved carefully, scanning the surroundings.
No obvious threats.
No immediate motion.
But his fragment pulsed erratically, warning him.
Something here was watching.
Waiting.
Seo-jin gritted his teeth.
"Come on, then."
He wasn't going to die hiding.
He wasn't going to die running.
Not here.
Not ever.
**
He ducked into the shadow of a twisted building, taking a moment to plan.
Straight ahead, the plaza opened into a wide killing ground.
Too exposed.
To the left, a cluster of wrecked structures offered cover — but also potential traps.
To the right, a series of collapsed pillars might create bottlenecks he could use.
Seo-jin chose the right.
He moved silently, using debris for concealment.
The mist thickened around him, muffling sounds.
Visibility dropped to barely a few meters.
He slowed his breathing, attuning himself to every vibration, every ripple in the air.
His fragment hummed like a taut wire.
Ready.
Waiting.
•
A wet, dragging sound cut through the mist.
Followed by another.
And another.
Multiple creatures.
Seo-jin tensed, crouching low.
Shapes loomed ahead — grotesque and misshapen.
Half-melted bodies.
Fragments fused to flesh like tumors.
Limbs too long, jaws distended with blackened teeth.
Aberrations.
The first true monsters of the Trial Zone.
They moved clumsily, twitching and spasming randomly.
But Seo-jin wasn't fooled.
They were fast when they wanted to be.
And deadly.
**
He watched them shuffle past.
Two.
No — three.
Maybe more.
Too many to fight head-on.
His mind raced.
"How do I split them?"
Then he spotted it: a fallen column, cracked but standing precariously.
If he could lure one of the creatures underneath…
A plan formed.
Dangerous.
Risky.
But his only chance.
Seo-jin drew on his fragment carefully.
The pain flared immediately, a white-hot spike through his skull.
But he forced it into a thin, precise fissure — slicing along the base of the column.
The structure groaned.
Cracks spiderwebbed through its surface.
Not enough to collapse yet.
But one good hit would do it.
Seo-jin grabbed a chunk of debris and hurled it into the mist behind the creatures.
Clatter!
The sound echoed.
The nearest aberration jerked violently, spinning toward the noise.
It let out a guttural shriek and lumbered in that direction.
Perfect.
Seo-jin positioned himself behind the weakened column.
Breath steady.
Body trembling.
Waiting.
The creature shambled into the kill zone.
Right under the cracked pillar.
Seo-jin slammed his fragment into the fissure again.
The column cracked with a deafening roar — and collapsed.
**
CRASH!
Dust exploded outward.
Fragments of stone rained down.
When the cloud cleared, Seo-jin saw the creature pinned beneath the rubble, twitching feebly.
Still alive.
But trapped.
Seo-jin didn't hesitate.
He limped forward, activating a second micro-fissure across the monster's exposed skull.
The aberration spasmed once — then went still.
Dead.
**
He staggered back, chest heaving.
His vision swam with exhaustion and pain.
But he smiled grimly.
One down.
Hundreds to go.
Maybe thousands.
Still — a victory.
His first real one.
•
Then he heard it.
A low, rumbling roar.
Followed by answering screeches.
Seo-jin's blood turned to ice.
The noise had drawn others.
Dozens, maybe more.
Coming fast.
He had maybe seconds.
Not minutes.
Seconds.
**
Roars split the mist.
The ground vibrated under the pounding of dozens of clawed feet.
Seo-jin gritted his teeth.
"I can't fight that many."
"I can barely stand."
He glanced around, brain racing.
A collapsed overpass nearby — jagged, cracked, unstable.
If he could lead them there—
"Risky. But better than dying standing still."
**
He limped forward, forcing his broken body to obey.
Behind him, the mist churned with movement.
He could feel the aberrations now — like hot needles pricking his skin.
Closer.
Faster.
He reached the overpass and slid behind a pile of rubble.
Breath ragged.
Heart hammering.
He braced himself.
Listened.
The first creature burst from the mist, screeching.
It was bigger than the last one — its back hunched with a mass of fragment tumors.
Its jaws snapped wildly, drooling black ichor.
"Don't panic."
"Find the pattern."
He watched.
Three steps — lurch — recover — charge.
A rhythm.
Predictable.
Seo-jin prepared his fragment.
This time, he didn't aim for the monster directly.
He aimed for the ground at its feet.
A thin fissure snapped into existence.
Just enough.
The ground crumbled.
The creature stumbled.
Screamed.
Before it could recover, Seo-jin lunged.
**
Every nerve screamed in protest.
His ankle throbbed with blinding pain.
His arms trembled from exhaustion.
But he pushed through.
He grabbed a shard of rebar from the rubble and drove it into the creature's exposed throat.
Squelch.
The monster spasmed violently.
Seo-jin yanked the metal free, dodging sideways.
The creature collapsed, twitching.
Dead.
Or close enough.
**
He staggered back, chest heaving.
"Two down."
"Too many left."
More shapes loomed in the mist.
At least five.
Maybe more.
He couldn't tell.
"No time to run."
"No strength to fight head-on."
"Think, damn it, think—!"
**
His eyes darted to the overpass ruins.
An idea sparked.
Desperate.
Insane.
But maybe—
He limped toward the fractured supports.
Drew on his fragment.
A new fissure cracked through the stone.
The structure groaned ominously.
Seo-jin smiled grimly.
"Come get me, bastards."
**
The first aberration charged, shrieking.
Seo-jin dodged clumsily, leading it closer to the crumbling pillars.
Another followed.
And another.
Soon three creatures clustered near the weakened supports.
Seo-jin waited until they were perfectly positioned.
Then he slammed his fragment into the base again.
CRACK.
The supports gave way with a deafening roar.
Tons of concrete and steel collapsed.
The creatures screamed — then were silenced under the avalanche of rubble.
**
Dust filled the air.
Seo-jin coughed violently, staggering away.
His fragment pulsed weakly, dangerously close to overload.
His vision blurred.
"Stay awake."
"Stay on your feet."
He stumbled behind another pile of debris and collapsed to one knee.
Sweat poured down his face.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His fingers trembled uncontrollably.
But he was alive.
Again.
Barely.
**
"Not bad," he thought grimly. "For a walking corpse."
He forced himself up.
He couldn't rest.
Not yet.
The Trial Zone wasn't finished with him.
And he wasn't finished with it.
Not by a long shot.
**
Somewhere deeper in the mist, something howled.
A new sound.
Lower.
Deeper.
Older.
Seo-jin shivered.
Whatever made that noise—
It wasn't like the others.
It was worse.
Much worse. The mist thickened.
Each step Seo-jin took felt heavier, as if the very air resisted him.
Pain gnawed at every nerve.
His injured ankle burned with every shift of weight.
His vision pulsed in and out of focus.
"You're almost spent."
"You should turn back."
The thought whispered in his mind.
Tempting.
Logical.
He ignored it.
Turning back meant admitting defeat.
And that wasn't an option.
Not anymore.
Not after coming this far.
Not after surviving what he had.
**
He moved carefully, hugging the broken walls, scanning for movement.
The howling had stopped.
Replaced by a deep, oppressive silence.
The kind of silence that suffocated hope.
The mist seemed to pull at him, slowing him down.
"Stay sharp."
"Stay alive."
Every muscle screamed to stop.
But Seo-jin's mind sharpened under pressure.
He thought in patterns.
Escape routes.
Cover points.
Fissure placements.
If something attacked — he needed three moves planned ahead.
Not one.
Three.
Always three.
**
A shadow flickered ahead.
Huge.
Lumbering.
Seo-jin ducked instinctively behind a rusted beam.
Peeking around cautiously.
What he saw made his stomach twist.
The creature was massive.
At least twice his height.
Its body was a patchwork of mutated flesh and embedded fragment shards.
Pulsing veins of corrupted energy ran along its skin.
It didn't shuffle like the others.
It moved with purpose.
It was hunting.
**
"That's no aberration," Seo-jin thought grimly.
"That's a predator."
His fragment flickered weakly in his chest, reacting instinctively.
Danger.
Pure, lethal danger.
He couldn't fight that thing head-on.
Not in his current state.
Maybe not even at full strength.
So he did the only thing he could.
He planned.
Fast.
Precise.
No panic.
"Get it stuck. Blind it. Cripple it. Run."
No heroics.
No stupid pride.
Survive.
**
Seo-jin scanned the surroundings rapidly.
Collapsed structures.
Loose fragment stones.
An unstable ridge above the creature.
Possibility.
High risk.
But the only shot he had.
He crept along the edge of the ruins, keeping low, suppressing his fragment's energy to avoid detection.
Every movement was agony.
Every heartbeat thundered in his ears.
But he kept moving.
Slow.
Patient.
Deadly.
Just like he needed to be.
**
Closer.
Closer.
He positioned himself near the unstable ridge.
Gathered the last reserves of his strength.
And unleashed a thin, sharp fissure along the base of the rocky overhang.
The stone cracked ominously.
Dust rained down.
The creature twitched — sensing something.
But too late.
Seo-jin braced himself and struck again.
The ridge gave way with a thunderous roar.
**
CRASH.
Tons of debris cascaded down.
The monster shrieked — a horrifying, guttural sound that made Seo-jin's blood freeze.
But when the dust cleared—
It wasn't dead.
Pinned, yes.
Wounded, definitely.
But alive.
And furious.
**
"Move, move, MOVE—!"
Seo-jin didn't hesitate.
He bolted.
Ignoring the screaming pain in his ankle.
Ignoring the black spots dancing in his vision.
He ran.
Because fighting was suicide.
Only survival mattered.
Only making it to the next step.
**
He ducked through the ruins, weaving through broken pillars and crumbling walls.
Behind him, the monster bellowed in rage, but it couldn't follow easily.
Not now.
Seo-jin pushed himself beyond reason.
Beyond pain.
Beyond fear.
•
After what felt like eternity, he stumbled into a clearing.
Collapsed to his knees, gasping.
His body refused to move further.
His fragment sputtered, barely responsive.
But he was alive.
Barely.
**
Ahead, partially buried in the ground, something glowed faintly.
A shard.
No — not just any shard.
A Noyau Déformé.
A core formed from the death and corruption of countless fragments.
A prize beyond imagining.
Seo-jin stared at it.
Every instinct screamed danger.
His fragment pulsed erratically.
The core pulsed back, as if sensing him.
Calling him.
Offering him something.
Something powerful.
Something terrible.
**
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
He forced himself upright, swaying.
And he stepped forward.
Toward the core.
Toward his future.
Toward whatever came next.