The neon lights of Seoul's Gangnam district blurred into streaks of electric blue and violet as Han Seo-Jun walked toward the outskirts. He wasn't heading home. His cramped semi-basement apartment, filled with the scent of damp concrete and instant ramen, no longer felt like it belonged to him.
Instead, he was following a pull—a literal tug in his chest that felt like a compass needle spinning toward a magnet.
[System Insight: Nearby 'Anomaly Gate' Detected.]
[Rank: Unknown (Fluctuating between C and S).]
[Warning: This gate is unrecorded by the Association. Proceed with caution.]
Seo-Jun pulled his hood lower. An unrecorded gate was a death sentence for most, but for him, it was a gold mine. The Association's eyes were everywhere in the official dungeons, but here, in the abandoned construction site of a failed skyscraper project, he could test the limits of the Akashic Record without being monitored.
He slipped through a gap in the chain-link fence. The air inside the construction site was heavy, shimmering with the oily distortion of a "Hidden Dungeon." In the center of what would have been a lobby, a jagged rift of obsidian light pulsed like a dying heart.
"No guards. No scouts," Seo-Jun whispered. "Perfect."
He stepped into the rift.
The Interior: The Hall of Whispers
The transition was violent. Instead of the usual cavern or ruined city, Seo-Jun found himself standing on a bridge of white glass suspended over a sea of churning silver clouds. Above him, three moons of different colors—crimson, azure, and pale gold—hung in a sky that looked like a bruised painting.
[Location: The Mirror Realm of Aethelgard.]
[Dungeon Type: Trial of the Sovereign.]
This wasn't a normal dungeon. This was a "Legacy Gate," a remnant of the world the System had destroyed before moving on to Earth.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The sound of metal on glass echoed from the far end of the bridge. Out of the silver mist, a line of knights emerged. They weren't flesh and blood; they were suits of hollow, translucent armor animated by a flickering blue flame.
[Target: Aethelgard Sentinels (B-Rank).]
[Quantity: 50.]
In his F-rank days, Seo-Jun would have turned and run until his lungs burst. Now, he felt a strange, cold analytical thrill.
"Let's see what I can do without holding back," he said.
He activated [Void Step].
The world turned monochrome. As the first knight swung a massive claymore, Seo-Jun stepped through the blade. To the knight, it appeared as if Seo-Jun had simply vanished, but in the realm of the Void, Seo-Jun was moving through the knight's physical space as if it were water.
He reappeared behind the lead sentinel, his fingers grazing its backplate.
[Skill Detected: 'Indomitable Will' (Passive).]
[Analysis: Primitive fortification of the spirit. Correcting...]
[Acquired: 'Sovereign's Aura' (A-Rank).]
[Skill Detected: 'Heavy Cleave' (Active).]
[Analysis: Excessive wind-up time. Correcting...]
[Acquired: 'Flash Strike' (S-Rank).]
"Your techniques are centuries old," Seo-Jun muttered. "They're full of holes."
He didn't use a weapon. He used [Flash Strike]. In the blink of an eye, he struck the joints of the first five knights. He didn't just hit them; he applied the corrected version of their own force back into them. The blue flames inside the armor flickered and died. The suits clattered to the glass floor, lifeless.
[Experience Gained.]
[Level Up: 14 → 18.]
But the knights didn't stop. They moved with a hive mind, forming a phalanx. Their shields locked together, creating a barrier of solidified mana.
"A barrier? Good," Seo-Jun said, a predatory smile touching his lips. "I needed a defensive skill."
He walked toward the wall of shields. The knights lunged with spears. Seo-Jun didn't dodge. He held out his hand, his palm glowing with the golden light of the Akashic Record.
[Analyzing: 'Guardian's Phalanx' (B-Rank).]
[Flaw: The energy is distributed horizontally, leaving the vertical axis weak.]
[Correcting... Rewriting...]
[New Skill Acquired: 'Aegis of the Void' (S-Rank).]
A translucent dome erupted around Seo-Jun. When the spears struck it, they didn't just bounce off—they shattered into dust. The force of their own momentum was absorbed by the dome and converted into raw mana, which flowed directly into Seo-Jun's core.
[Mana Restored: 15%.]
"This is almost too easy," he whispered.
He was starting to realize the true horror of his ability. He wasn't just a warrior; he was a virus. Every time an enemy attacked him, he became stronger, more efficient, and more lethal, while they remained stagnant. He was the only one in the world whose "ceiling" didn't exist.
He cleared the bridge in ten minutes, leaving a trail of empty armor behind him. At the end of the glass path sat a throne carved from a single diamond. On it sat a figure that looked human, wearing tattered regal robes and a crown of thorns.
[Boss: The Echo of King Valerius.]
[Rank: S (Weakened).]
The Echo looked up. It didn't have eyes—only two pits of swirling starlight.
"A Plagiarist," the Echo spoke, its voice sounding like grinding stones. "The Forbidden Class has returned to the System. Tell me, Thief... do you know the price of the knowledge you steal?"
Seo-Jun stopped ten paces away. "I'm not a thief. I'm an editor. Your world failed because it was full of errors. I'm just fixing them."
The King stood, drawing a rapier that seemed to be made of woven light. "Arrogance. The hallmark of those who haven't yet felt the weight of the Record."
The King moved.
He was faster than the sentinels. He was faster than the Shadow Stalker. He was a blur of S-Rank speed. The rapier thrust toward Seo-Jun's heart, moving with a precision that left no room for error.
Seo-Jun used [Void Step], but the King shifted his momentum mid-air—an impossible feat of physics. The blade grazed Seo-Jun's shoulder, drawing blood.
[Warning: Health at 92%.]
[S-Rank Skill Detected: 'Dimensional Rip'.]
[Analysis... Analysis... ERROR.]
[User Insight insufficient to fully plagiarize S-Rank Sovereign Skills.]
Seo-Jun's eyes widened. An error?
"The Record only allows you to steal what you can understand," the King hissed, his blade dancing in a lethal pattern. "You are a child playing with a library you cannot read!"
Seo-Jun tumbled back, his breathing ragged. This was the wall. His "SSS-Tier" ability was powerful, but his base stats were still those of a low-level hunter. He was like a supercomputer trying to run on a potato battery.
If I can't understand the skill... I have to understand the man, Seo-Jun thought.
He stopped trying to analyze the magic. He looked at the King's feet. He looked at the way the King gripped the sword—with a slight tremor in his pinky finger. He looked at the sorrow in the starlight of his eyes.
He's not fighting to win, Seo-Jun realized. He's fighting to rest.
[Insight Triggered: 'The Heart of the Fallen'.]
[Analysis Complete: The 'Dimensional Rip' is powered by Grief.]
[Processing... Correction Applied.]
Seo-Jun didn't dodge the next strike. He stepped into it, letting the rapier pierce his side. The pain was white-hot, but it gave him the contact he needed. He grabbed the King's glowing arm.
"I see it now," Seo-Jun whispered, blood leaking from his lips. "You're holding onto this world so it won't be forgotten. But you're tired of carrying it."
[Skill Acquired: 'Requiem of the Void' (SSS-Rank).]
[Effect: Converts the target's deepest desire into a physical law.]
The King froze. The starlight in his eyes flared, then softened. The rapier shattered into sparkles.
"You... you corrected my soul," the King whispered.
The Echo began to dissolve, turning into golden particles that drifted toward the crimson moons. As he vanished, the diamond throne cracked, revealing a chest hidden within.
[Dungeon Cleared!]
[Rewards: 5,000 Gold, Elixir of the Ancient King, Heart of Aethelgard (Artifact).]
[Level Up: 18 → 35.]
Seo-Jun collapsed onto the glass floor, clutching his side. The wound was already closing, stitched together by the surge of mana from his level-up.
He opened his status window.
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Han Seo-Jun
Level: 35
Class: The Plagiarist (SSS)
Titles: The One Who Saw Death, Kingslayer (New!)
HP: 3,100 / 3,100
MP: 5,500 / 5,500
Strength: 82 | Agility: 95 | Intelligence: 140 | Sense: 110
Acquired Skills (Selected): * [Void Step - SSS]
* [Aegis of the Void - S]
* [Flash Strike - S]
* [Requiem of the Void - SSS] (Cooldown: 7 Days)
"Thirty-five levels in one dungeon," he breathed. "At this rate, I'll be S-Rank by the end of the month."
But as he stood up to leave, the System interface flickered. The usual golden light was replaced by a deep, bleeding red.
[Warning: The 'Administrators' have noted the deletion of King Valerius's Echo.]
[The System Balance has been disrupted by 0.04%.]
[First 'Executive Hunter' Dispatched to investigate.]
Seo-Jun's blood ran cold. He had intended to stay under the radar, but he had just "edited" a king out of existence. The gods of this world weren't going to let that slide.
He exited the rift just as it collapsed behind him. The construction site was quiet, but as he stepped out onto the street, he saw a black sedan parked at the curb.
The window rolled down. It wasn't Kang Ji-Won. It was a man with white hair and eyes that looked like clockwork gears. He was wearing a suit that cost more than Seo-Jun's entire neighborhood.
"Han Seo-Jun," the man said. "I'm from the Global Bureau of System Integrity. We need to talk about your... formatting errors."
Seo-Jun clenched his fists. The game had truly begun.