CRACK—!
The dome shattered like glass under a hammer.
The twisted dojo domain was gone. The timer had ticked its last second.
Jaemin stood in place, panting hard, the echo of his breath bouncing against the stone.
Fatigue: 46/100.
He wasn't fully worn out, but he was halfway to collapse.
And the moment the domain broke?
It hit him. A wall of pressure.
Because the chamber—
was packed.
Hundreds—no, thousands-of—abyssal cores glowed like embers in the dark. Vanguards. Bisons. A new species he hadn't even seen before. Crawlers—long-limbed, blade-armed bastards skittering across walls like spiders made of rebar and rage.
And far in the back, in their signature silence, the Arcanists were already raising their arms.
"…They're still casting?"
He gritted his teeth.
"No."
He exhaled sharply, orange light sparking in his eyes.
Active Skill: Dash.
Active Skill: Dual Daggers.
His body surged forward, faster than the first time he ever used Dash. Dust whipped around him like a personal storm as he vanished from sight.
The moment his feet touched ground again—SLASH! The daggers carved a clean line across two vanguards' armoured chests—
CLINK!
[Piercing Radiance of Stars] kicked in—slicing through steel like silk.
The Dual Daggers skill was subtle.
Just a +5% boost in raw damage. But stacked with his speed, and the Binary Stars' piercing, it cut like 50%. He moved like a blade dancer—each motion fluid, vicious, precise.
He dipped between a crawler's legs
—STAB-STAB-STAB!
Then flipped backward, dodging an arrow from an abyssal knight. Arcanists' eyes glowed deep crimson—they were nearly finished with their next spell.
"Shit."
Jaemin muttered, noticing the air start to warp.
He was moving too fast for normal eyes—but not too fast for whatever the Arcanists were summoning.
A purple dome began forming above them—static crackling in the core.
"Another domain?!"
No time.
Active Skill: Thunderbolt.
A bolt of pure voltage ignited in his hand. He hurled it at the dome mid-cast—
BOOOOOOM!
The dome flickered violently—arcs of lightning short-circuiting the formation.
The Arcanists staggered. Two fell over.
"Gotcha."
But the others were undeterred. Their fragments pulsed brighter. He counted them. Twelve. All are still ready to keep going.
"Fine."
Jaemin launched himself again.
Dash. Slash. Parry. Spin.
Status: Fatigue – 58/100.
Too fast. Too many kills. His body was keeping up, but only just.
One misstep and he'd get swarmed.
A crawler leapt from above—Jaemin ducked, grabbed its arm mid-air and ripped it straight off.
[Active Skill: Binary Orbital Overload]
His daggers spun together like twin vortexes, slashing every enemy in a short radius. Even bison were falling.
But still, there were too many.
He landed, breathing heavily.
Another red glow. More Arcanists. The spell wasn't over.
The space behind them folded like glass bending.
"Are they summoning a beast… or a gate?"
PING!
Quest Update:
New Objective: Eliminate the Abyssal Arcanists (0/12)
Tip: Targeting them will collapse the ritual.
"Oh, now you tell me?!"
Jaemin dashed toward the back.
But the Vanguards weren't done. They'd formed a wall.
Jaemin stopped short, eyes narrowing.
"Alright."
He lifted both palms.
Active Skill: WRAITH.
His body faded. Light warped around him, vanishing into shadow. He stepped through the vanguard ranks. They didn't even twitch.
Each movement felt like ghostwalking.
He emerged from the back.
Twelve arcanists. All glowing.
He didn't wait.
STAB. STAB. SLASH.
He tore through the first four in one breath.
Terrormark applied.
The rest turned—but too slowly.
Another thunderbolt.Another burst of divine wind.
The Arcanists fell one by one.
SLASH!
Blood splattered. Core fragments cracked. Jaemin's blades moved like a storm—unrelenting, merciless, wired for death.
He wasn't counting anymore. He wasn't breathing steadily. He was butchering. Every swing was muscle memory. Every dodge was instinct. His boots splashed through pools of blood and ichor as he carved through the horde.
This was still Wave Four. And he still had one left after this.
"MOVE."
He snapped an abyssal bison's neck with a twist of his arm and hurled it into a crawler mid-leap.
He didn't stop.
Jaemin dashed again, closing the gap to the backline—
One of the Arcanists raised its hand, a swirl of blue flame forming mid-air—Too slow.
SHHINK!
The Arcanist's body split clean down the middle. Ash trailed behind him before it even hit the floor.
"Enough of these games."
He didn't blink.
Active Skill: Thunderbolt.
A searing crack of lightning erupted in his palm. With zero hesitation, Jaemin hurled it through the air like a javelin.
BOOOOOOM!
Two Arcanists were vaporised on contact. The remaining ones stumbled, stunned by the shockwave.
Dust, sparks, and fragment debris rained through the air.
Jaemin didn't wait. He lunged again, daggers already raised—No time to breathe. No time to hesitate.
This wasn't about survival anymore.
This was war.
And Han Jaemin was done playing defence.
Jaemin's eyes gleamed.
He needed to see what Synergy Burst was. With a sharp breath, he took distance from the Arcanists. More Abyssals were pouring in, but for now, he had a few seconds.
FWIUP–PING!
He opened the Synergy Burst panel.
[Synergy Burst: Specialised High-Energy Skills. Must be charged to use. Consumes 200 Valour Surge.]
Stellar Implosion: throws a condensed orb of gravitational energy that pulls enemies inward before detonating in a concentrated blast. [Throwable] (Charged)
That was the only burst he had unlocked.
"Alright… let's see what you can do."
Mystical energy surged and wrapped around his arms, condensing into a glowing ball of shimmering violet-white light.
Jaemin hurled it.
FOOM!
The orb arced through the air, dragging a mass of Abyssals inward with a fierce pull—
BOOM!
A blinding blast erupted. Dust and violet light burst outwards. Even the Arcanists were slammed to the ground, their incantations broken mid-chant. It looked like the heart of a dying star. A miniature supernova.
Jaemin's eyes widened.
"…HOW IS THAT A SMALL EXPLOSION?!"
He muttered, mouth agape.
His Valour Surge dropped by 200 instantly, but the payoff was clear. Dozens of bodies hit the ground. It wasn't flashy for flash's sake—it worked.
Without waiting, he surged forward.
His daggers gleamed—Binary Stars, radiant with that familiar blue flicker.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
One by one, he carved through the stunned Arcanists.
No hesitation. No mercy.
Just momentum.
And then—
PING!
[Main Quest Completed.]
PING!
[Side Quest Completed.]
FIWIUP–PING!
Ting!
[You have levelled up.]
[Current Level: 50]
Jaemin froze mid-step.
"…WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?! I WAS JUST LEVEL 38—NOW FIFTY?!"
"And the main quest's done?! I thought there was another wave left…"
He looked around.
Ashes. Carnage. Fallen Arcanists. Broken fragments.
The room was wrecked.
"…Looks like the Arcanists were Wave Five."
TING!
[Notice: Your Quest Has Been Completed. Please Collect Your Rewards:]
• Skill Level Increased:
Telekinesis → Phantom Grasp Lv 1
Binary Orbital Overload → Lv 2
Heal → Lv 2
Dash → Lv 5
Super Jump → Lv.7
• New Synergy Burst Unlocked:
Indra's Bolt Throw
• New Title Unlocked:
Incandescent Warrior
• New Status Unlocked:
Verse
• New Verse Unlocked:
Overseer
TING! TING!
[Heuristics matrix has been fully calibrated.]
Override Option Available:
Core of Tempest
Core of Shadows
Do you wish to override? Y / N
So much was happening. Too fast. Too many changes. It was dizzying.
Jaemin stood there in the middle of the chamber—alive, exhausted, glowing with raw power—his daggers humming softly in his hands, his Focus flickering with options.
And he hadn't even answered the override prompt yet.
Jaemin took a breath, his chest rising slowly as the chamber's silence wrapped around him. His hand moved instinctively, swiping over the hovering panel in front of him.
[VERSE: Overseer]
Information: The Entity has been granted the Verse: Overseer. The Entity has shown perseverance and determination. The Entity has fought alone all along, even if comrades were present. The Entity shall now be given rights to FOCUS and utilise its full functionality.
He stared at the lines. It was true—every word. But somehow reading it out loud felt like self-praise. Cringey. Still, a part of him clenched his fist in quiet satisfaction.
PING!
[Locked Panel Unlocked: STORE]
Without hesitation, Jaemin opened the new tab.
TING!
A clean, streamlined interface expanded in front of him. Holographic shelves lined with panels floated mid-air, each glowing with subtle hues of violet, cyan, and white.
Available Items:
Small Healing Potion – 500 FS
Medium Healing Potion – 1,200 FS
Large Healing Potion – 2,500 FS
Fatigue Reducer – 2,000 FS
Valour Surge Booster – 3,000 FS
[Weapon] Stormbow – 35,000 FS
[Gear] Phantom Cloak – 40,000 FS
[Consumable] Rift Lens (Rare Drop Enhancer) – 18,000 FS
[Special] Inventory Expansion +50 – 10,000 FS
[Special] Skill Modifier (One Use) – 15,000 FS
Currency: Focus Shards Balance: 90,340 FS
"Focus shards, huh…"
A side panel flickered open automatically:
Information: Focus Shards can be earned by:
Completing Daily Quests
Completing Errands
Completing Side Quests
Completing Main Quests
Selling Items
Leveling Up
Enemy Drops
"Nice…"
Jaemin muttered, scanning the items.
"Not rich, but I can stock up."
He purchased two medium healing potions and one fatigue reducer.
TING!
Items acquired. Auto-stored in Inventory.
His eyes then wandered to the bottom of the shop tab—a blurred section marked:
[LOCKED – Requires Verse: Harbinger]
"…So that's how it is."
The Focus wasn't just an interface. It was evolving with him.
He clenched his fists again. Still tired. Still sore. But no longer helpless.
Status:
Fatigue: 46/100
Valour Surge: 820/1000
HP: 12,000/12,000
FS: 83,140
"Alright."
He said with a tired smirk.
"Let's wrap this up. Chapter's not over yet."
Jaemin scrolled through the endless tabs of the Focus, his fingers hovering in the air, each gesture snapping open a new interface panel.
[FOCUS FUNCTIONALITY]
Identify enemy weak points
Real-time scanning (biometric, aura, core signature)
Pathfinding / Navigation Overlay
Rift Pulse Detection
Aura Mapping
Entity Tracking (marked targets only)
Energy Source Detection
Override External Tech (manual sync required)
Core Override — [LOCKED: ???]
His finger paused on the last one. Core Override.
"…Override Cores?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell does that even mean?"
The tooltip flickered erratically, as if the system itself didn't fully grasp it yet. There was no full explanation. Just:
[Allows interfacing with active Core energy at a systemic level. Access requires Title compatibility and Sync Rate ≥ 88%.]
That was it. No examples. No tutorial. Just a vague sense of something game-breaking.
"The hell kinda RPG system did I fall into…"
He muttered, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm.
He leaned back on a broken pillar, chest rising and falling. The glow from the floating interface painted a faint violet light over his face.
"Let's recap."
He mumbled to himself.
"It can scan enemies, show me their cores, track incoming rifts, overlay maps, and now it wants to hijack satellites and override actual Coreborn tech?"
He chuckled, dry and breathless.
"Holy shit… I opened a whole arsenal, huh?"
He exhaled long and slow. And for a moment—just a second—he smiled.
Not because he felt powerful. But because—for the first time in forever—he wasn't fighting blind anymore.