The command left Jinsu's lips in a bloody whisper.
But the system heard it as an absolute law.
[Consumption Confirmed.]
[Warning: Host body is fragile. Initiating forced adaptation.]
The obsidian claw buried inside Jinsu's chest began to tremble.
The S-Rank Arbiter, a creature born from nightmares, let out a sound like grinding metal.
It wasn't a roar of anger.
It was a scream of pure, unadulterated terror.
The monster tried to rip its arm free from Jinsu's torso.
But Jinsu's hands were clamped around the creature's wrist like iron vises.
'You don't get to leave.'
'Not after what you did.'
Jinsu's grip tightened, his fingers sinking into the solid shadow of the beast's arm.
He didn't have mana to enhance his strength.
He had something infinitely more hungry.
[The Nihil Engine is revving.]
[Target: Abyssal Arbiter (S-Rank) is being processed.]
Violet static erupted from Jinsu's chest, spreading rapidly up the Arbiter's arm.
Wherever the static touched, the monster's physical form simply vanished.
It didn't burn, bleed, or melt.
It was deleted.
The Arbiter thrashed helplessly, using its free hand to strike Jinsu's head.
CRACK.
The blow shattered the solid stone floor beneath Jinsu's skull.
Warm blood poured into his eyes, blurring his vision.
'It hurts.'
'But starvation hurts more.'
Jinsu didn't let go; he pulled the massive monster closer.
"More," Jinsu rasped, spitting blood onto the monster's featureless mask.
The violet static surged, violently engulfing the Arbiter's entire body.
The S-Rank anomaly shrieked as its pixels unraveled into nothingness.
For three agonizing seconds, the cavern was blinded by a flash of absolute darkness.
Then, there was only silence.
The heavy scent of rust and blood returned to the Labyrinth of Iron.
Jinsu collapsed onto his back, gasping for air that burned his lungs.
He waited for the cold, familiar embrace of death.
Instead, a cascade of violet screens illuminated the pitch-black cavern.
[S-Rank Anomaly 'Abyssal Arbiter' has been successfully erased.]
[Calculating Void Saturation...]
[Void Saturation increased to 1.5%.]
Jinsu looked down at his chest, expecting to see a fatal, gaping hole.
The flesh had knit back together perfectly.
It left only a jagged, violet scar that pulsed like a second heartbeat.
[Host has survived the First Deletion.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 15.]
Jinsu stared at the numbers floating in the dead air.
He had been level zero for his entire twenty-two years of life.
[Skill Acquired: Void Grip (Active - Lv.1)]
[Description: Allows the user to erase the physical density of non-living matter.]
He slowly pushed himself off the cracked, blood-stained floor.
His body didn't feel heavy anymore.
The crushing fatigue, the aching spine, the human frailty—it was all gone.
He felt completely hollow, but it was a powerful, terrifying kind of empty.
Jinsu turned his cold gaze toward the massive steel blast doors at the end of the tunnel.
The same doors Hu-seung and the elites had sealed to trap him inside.
'They think I died in the dirt.'
'They think they got away with it.'
Jinsu walked toward the reinforced steel doors, raising his right hand.
Violet static crackled violently between his fingertips.
"Let's test this new skill."