The silence after the Abyss's fall was heavier than the fight itself.
Smoke cleared. The fissures dimmed. The air lost its poison tang.
But silence didn't mean safety.
It meant the world was waiting.
And the gods were watching.
✦
I dropped to one knee, chest heaving, blood dripping steadily onto the cracked stone. My ribs ground together, my arm screamed from every swing, and my vision tilted at the edges.
But Arjun's ember still pulsed faintly against me.
Alive.
That was enough.
I exhaled slowly, trying to steady the tremor in my hand. The Inkblade twitched in my grip, sulking, its shadows curling like smoke against my skin.
"…pathetic… you bled for scraps when you could have swallowed glory whole…"
"Shut up," I rasped.
It hissed but didn't press. Not yet.
✦
The system's last message burned across my sight.
[ Trait unlocked – Fracture Sense. ]
I closed my eyes.
And the world shifted.
✦
Threads.
Everywhere.
Lines of light stretched across the cracked ground, weaving through the ruins, up into the spiral forests, even dipping into the Abyss's dim fissures. Some glowed faintly white. Some were crimson. Others shimmered in colors I didn't have names for.
They twisted, crossed, knotted, pulling tight like cords stretched too far.
I blinked, the vision vanishing, then tried again.
And the threads returned.
Fractures.
That's what this was.
The bones of the world.
The cracks in the script.
✦
A low laugh slipped from my throat, half bitter, half amazed.
Of course the reward wasn't power.
It was sight.
Because if you wanted to break something…
You had to know where it was weak.
✦
[ Fracture Sense: You can now perceive unstable threads within realms. Warning: prolonged use strains the mind. ]
I clenched my jaw. Strain or not, this was mine now.
And if the gods thought giving me this was a leash, they'd learn otherwise.
✦
The Inkblade stirred, almost grudgingly impressed.
"…hm… so the script finally admits you're a fracture… it shows you the threads it hides… careful, boy… pull too hard, and even you will unravel…"
"Good thing I'm bad at listening."
The blade chuckled darkly.
"…that, at least, is true…"
✦
The ground shuddered faintly. The fissures were dim, but not gone. The Murim forest pulsed with qi. The fantasy ruins still whispered with dead echoes.
This wasn't over.
Not even close.
Arjun's ember stirred faintly against me, his weak voice brushing my ear.
"…you… changed something…"
I looked down at him. "Yeah. Maybe enough."
The ember flickered in agreement—or exhaustion.
Either way, it was still alive.
And so was I.
✦
The system's voice rang again, sudden and sharp.
[ Warning: Hunt escalation pending. ][ Surviving entities marked. ][ Selection process underway. ]
I stiffened.
What now?
The air shifted. The threads around me pulled tighter, vibrating like strings on the verge of snapping.
And one of them—thicker, darker, glowing faint crimson—led straight into the distance.
A path.
No, a call.
The Hunt wasn't random.
It was leading me.
✦
The Inkblade pulsed, amused.
"…ah… so they pull you like a puppet now… will you follow, fracture? Or will you cut your own way?"
I tightened my grip, staring at the crimson thread glowing ahead.
A trap.
A test.
Or maybe both.
But if I wanted answers…
I'd have to follow it.
The crimson thread pulsed faintly in the distance, tugging at my vision no matter how many times I tried to look away.
A path.A lure.Or both.
I adjusted Arjun's ember in my arms and began walking.
✦
Every step was heavy, my wounds screaming, my blood soaking the stone. The air here still stank of iron and ash, but now the threads overlay everything.
Dozens of them—faint white fractures running across broken walls, glowing lines snaking through the ground. Some were taut, ready to snap. Others hung loose, shimmering faintly.
But the crimson thread was different.
It was alive.
It pulsed like a heartbeat.
And every time it did, the ground quaked softly under my feet.
✦
The Inkblade hummed in my grip, shadows twitching like restless snakes.
"…it calls to you… but not for you… do you not see? The Hunt isn't for survival… it's for spectacle. You bleed so they can watch…"
"I know."
The blade chuckled, low and sharp.
"…and yet you still follow…"
"Because someone has to cut the leash."
✦
The ruins shifted as I moved. Stone walls rose like jagged teeth, forcing me down narrow corridors. Armored corpses twitched, but didn't rise—not yet.
The forest loomed to the left, qi shimmering faintly in the branches. I caught glimpses of warriors pacing between trunks, eyes glowing, watching.
But none moved forward.
They didn't need to.
The Hunt wanted me here.
On this path.
Following this thread.
✦
The system's voice struck like a knife.
[ Scenario escalation: Chosen Prey identified. ][ Designation: Ishaan Sen. ][ Predators selected. ]
My stomach dropped.
Predators?
The ground trembled violently, cracks splitting open on both sides of the path. The crimson thread pulsed brighter, like a drumbeat.
And then they came.
✦
From the fantasy ruins, a knight rose—taller than the rest, clad in black steel uncorroded by time. His sword burned green fire, brighter than the others.
From the Murim forest, a warrior stepped—robes pristine, qi radiating in waves, his eyes sharp and unbroken. Not fractured. Whole.
And from the Abyss's fissures, a shadow crawled—its form shifting, smoke and teeth and eyes, but smaller, more condensed, like it had learned from the last one I fought.
Three predators.
Three realms.
All staring at me.
✦
The Inkblade quivered in my hand, shadows writhing eagerly.
"…ah… so this is their game… knights, duelists, shadows… the best of each realm sent to break you… how delicious…"
I forced a breath, steadying my grip. My ribs screamed, my arms trembled, but I lifted the blade anyway.
Because backing down wasn't an option.
Not here.
Not ever.
✦
The system's voice echoed.
[ Hunt escalation confirmed. ][ Survive the predators until convergence stabilizes. ][ Warning: Death of designated prey will result in scenario collapse. ]
Collapse?
I blinked, cold settling in my stomach.
This wasn't just about me.
If I died… the scenario itself would break.
Which meant every survivor left would go with it.
✦
The knight moved first, raising his burning sword. The forest warrior unsheathed his blade in silence. The Abyss-shadow slithered closer, mouths whispering in voices I knew and didn't know.
Three predators.
One prey.
Me.
I smiled through blood.
"Fine. Then let's hunt."
✦
The knight charged, his sword cleaving downward with a roar of fire. I twisted, shadows lashing upward, sparks exploding as steel met ink.
The Murim warrior struck from the side, qi slicing the air like lightning. I barely blocked, my arm jarring from the impact.
The Abyss-shadow surged low, claws raking for my legs.
I kicked it back, shadows flaring, blood spraying from fresh cuts.
Three at once.
Each stronger than anything I'd faced alone.
And I was already breaking.
✦
The Inkblade whispered in my skull, sweet as poison.
"…let me have them… all three… and I will show you what it means to end the Hunt itself…"
I laughed, bitter and sharp.
"Not yet."
And cut forward.
✦
The world blurred into steel, qi, and shadow. Every strike rattled my bones, every parry tore fresh blood from my skin. My vision swam, my breath came ragged.
But the crimson thread still pulsed ahead.
Guiding.
Mocking.
Waiting.
And I swore I would follow it.
Even if it killed me.