Consciousness returned to Rain like a cold slap. He found himself sprawled on the metal floor of the ventilation shaft, Overseer Gru's voice crackling through the radio like a distant, irritating hum. His body was trembling—not from fear, but from a new kind of energy that seemed to be tearing through his muscle fibers.
He raised his right hand before his eyes in the dim glow of his flashlight. There was no blood, but the gray tattoo was etched beneath his skin with surgical precision; its lines appeared to be "breathing" slowly. He tried to stand, but felt a crushing weight on his chest, as if the very air of Cephalos had grown heavier.
[Warning: Physical Calibration incomplete.] [Nervous System Overload: 88%.] [Please maintain a low heart rate to avoid Soul Erosion.]
"Erosion?" Rain whispered, his voice coming out ragged. He wiped his brow only to find a strange, light-gray sweat covering his face. The blade was altering his body's chemistry, and this transformation came with a price.
Rain crawled out of the shaft with difficulty, but the moment he stepped onto the maintenance platform, three "Correctors" were waiting for him. They weren't wearing standard work suits, but heavy combat armor, their artificial eyes glowing with the red light that signaled an "Emergency."
"Technician 99-G," the leader said in a cold, metallic voice. "The vibration scanners detected an 'Ancient Echo' in your vicinity. Submit your right hand for immediate inspection."
Rain froze. He had no time to think. "It was just a transformer malfunction..."
"Lie again and we'll strip your arm off right here," the Corrector interrupted, raising his electromagnetic stun baton. "We see the glow emanating from under your shirt. You possess an unregistered fragment."
In 그at moment, Rain felt a violent pulse from the tattoo. The blade wasn't asking for his opinion; it was preparing to defend its "host." Heat exploded in his arm, and his vision began to bleed into shades of gray. He saw "Fate Strands" connecting the Correctors to their weapons—he saw structural weaknesses in their armor that no ordinary human could perceive.
"No... stop..." Rain muttered, but his body no longer obeyed him.
The first Corrector lunged to seize him, but Rain's right hand moved with a speed he had never witnessed. The sword didn't emerge fully; instead, a small shard of gray energy protruded from between his knuckles. With a fleeting touch, he sliced through the Corrector's armor as if it were paper. The armor's battery exploded, sending the man crashing into the wall, unconscious.
"He's Awakened! Open fire!" the second Corrector screamed.
Sonic pulses surged toward Rain, but the world in his eyes slowed to a crawl. He saw every sound wave as a vibration in the air. He ducked, rolled, and slammed his palm into the metallic floor.
[Skill Activated: Echo Pulse – Minimum Level]
A gray shockwave erupted from beneath his hand, shattering the metal platform under the Correctors' feet. They plummeted into the abyss that separated the levels, while Rain stood gasping, his right hand bleeding a viscous gray substance instead of blood.
"What have I done..." He looked around in panic. Killing or injuring "Correctors" in Cephalos meant one thing: Total Liquidation. There was nowhere to hide in a city monitored by cameras at every corner.
He heard the wail of sirens echoing through Level 402. He had no choice left. He ran toward the edge of the level, where the city ended and the "Black Fog" began. Falling from here was 100% certain death for any human, but the voice in his head returned, clearer this time:
"Jump... The Fog does not kill its own; it only swallows strangers."
Rain looked back to see surveillance drones closing in, then looked into the abyss. He closed his eyes and leaped into the heart of the infinite blackness.
As he fell, he didn't feel the wind lashing at his face. Instead, he felt the fog wrapping around him like a warm cocoon. In the moment he slipped into unconsciousness, he saw an image of a mysterious woman standing amidst the ruins of a grand palace. She reached out to him and said:
"Welcome home... my Severed Heir."