Tower Realm – Floor 7
The path from Floor 6 ended at a crumbling platform. Cracks ran through the stone steps like veins. The tower wall, once seamless and smooth, was now distorted—bent unnaturally, as if the space itself had grown unstable.
A single stone door stood crooked in its frame, half-open, leaking black mist.
Ha-Joon stared at it for a long moment.
Something was different here.
The air was heavier. The silence felt artificial, like something was being forced into stillness.
The usual system message flickered… then glitched.
> [Trial of— ▓▓▓▓▓ — Activated]
Objective: ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ Error.
▓▓▓▓ Warning: Trial Sequence Broken. Irregular Detected.
Ha-Joon narrowed his eyes.
"Irregular…?"
He pushed open the crooked door and stepped inside.
---
The world on the other side was wrong.
The trial chamber was fractured. Floating platforms hovered over an endless abyss. Pieces of shattered stone, broken weapons, and suspended time fragments drifted like debris caught in slow motion.
In the center of it all hovered a fractured crystal core—its glow pulsing weakly.
A corrupted voice echoed through the air.
> "You shouldn't be here."
"No one was supposed to last this long."
"You've broken the cycle."
Ha-Joon gripped the spear in his hand.
"I didn't come this far to ask permission."
---
From the darkness, shapes formed—dozens of incomplete trial monsters.
Half-formed beasts with melting faces. Broken iron knights dragging swords with warped limbs. Trial constructs that were never meant to activate.
They all turned toward him.
They screamed in static.
And attacked.
---
Ha-Joon moved without hesitation.
He leapt to the first platform, dodging a rusted arrow mid-air and driving his spear into a malformed knight's chest.
The moment it crumbled, another leapt from a different angle.
Then two more.
Then five.
---
He fought across floating fragments of shattered trial space, his spear spinning in arcs of pure instinct.
Stone cracked beneath his feet.
The wind screamed.
Flames rose from broken codes.
And Ha-Joon fought them all.
---
> [System Fragment Detected]
Temporary Trial Rebuilding Activated… Failed.
Error: Subject has exceeded predicted growth.
Estimated Power Index: [█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █]
He didn't even notice the messages anymore.
He was too focused.
Too sharp.
Too alive.
He no longer fought with fear.
He commanded the space with every strike.
---
The corrupted monsters kept coming.
But they weren't real threats anymore.
They were leftovers—errors.
And he was cutting through the system itself.
---
Finally, only the crystal remained.
It pulsed slowly, as if begging to be left alone.
He walked toward it and raised his hand.
But then—it spoke again.
> "Do you even remember how long you've been here?"
"How much time has passed since you last saw a human face?"
He paused.
But his face did not waver.
"Enough to know I'm not the same person anymore."
> "You could stay here. Become the god of this broken world. No pain. No loss."
Ha-Joon raised his spear.
"I didn't come here to become a god."
"I came here to go home."
He thrust the weapon forward.
The core cracked.
Then shattered—sending a shockwave through the entire trial layer.
The floating platforms collapsed.
Time folded inward.
And the error-ridden space exploded into white.
---
> [Trial Cleared – Unregistered Error World Purged]
Rewards:
• Trait Gained: Breaker of Rules
• Passive Acquired: Code Instability Immunity
• Bonus Skill: Spatial Sense Lv.1
• Stat Boost: +2 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity
• Title: "The One Outside Fate"
Ha-Joon landed on the floor of the next staircase platform, surrounded by flickering remnants of a world that couldn't contain him.
He stood up slowly.
His body was healing faster now. His movements sharper. His eyes—a glowing crimson.
The system had tried to test him.
But he had gone beyond its rules.
---
Earth – Jung Family Home
Ha-Rin sat on the edge of the bed, holding an old diary.
Her brother's.
She had never opened it before.
Not because she feared secrets—but because she feared there'd be nothing inside.
But tonight… she did.
The first page was simple.
> "My name is Jung Ha-Joon. I'm not special. But I want to become someone who can protect my family one day."
"Even if I have to fight the whole world to do it."
Her fingers trembled.
She pressed the book to her chest and closed her eyes.
> "Come home…"
---
Back in the Tower
Ha-Joon stood at the edge of the next stair.
The system did not welcome him this time.
There were no bright greetings or congratulatory tones.
Only one simple message:
> [Next Trial: Awaiting Your Step]
[Warning: Tower Structure Stability Declining in Your Presence]
He looked down at his hands.
Then forward.
He no longer asked how long the journey would take.
He already knew.
He would walk this path for as long as it took.
Even if it meant shattering the very world beneath his feet—
he would return home.
---