Hyun-Jae stepped forward cautiously, blades ready, eyes scanning the empty arena. The blue runes along the black pillars pulsed faintly like a heartbeat, casting flickering light across the smooth stone floor. Nothing moved. No sound. No breathing. No monsters.
Then the air shifted.
The shadows began to stretch across the ground, crawling toward the center where Hyun-Jae stood. He turned sharply as faint figures began to rise from them, one, then another, then several more. His grip tightened on his blades as the shapes solidified.
His breath caught.
They were him.
Each one carried his face, his posture, his voice, but different. The first looked like him when he'd first arrived: trembling, uncertain, eyes wide with fear. The second looked angrier, the version that had watched Rylan sneer and Daesung mock him. Another one looked exhausted, beaten down, hopeless. And the last one, its eyes were empty, void of life, like someone who had already given up.
The screen appeared above him:
[Level 50: Trial of the Self] Defeat all enemies.
Hyun-Jae's stomach turned. "You've got to be kidding me."
The weakest version of him spoke first, voice trembling: "You can't even save yourself what can you change now."
Another, angrier one spat back, "You think strength matters? You were nothing then, and you'll still be nothing now. Just pretending you're someone worth something."
Their words hit harder than their steps as they circled him, echoing around the silent arena. Every taunt wasn't just noise; it was truth clawing out from within his chest.
He lunged first, trying to silence them. His blades clashed against his own. The weak version fell easily, but the instant his sword pierced its chest, another appeared behind him, striking across his back.
Pain exploded through him. He stumbled forward, blood running down his side.Then a screen flickered briefly before vanishing.
[HP: 68%]
"Even here… it's mocking me," he mumbled through his gritted teeth.
The angry one laughed. "You act tough, but deep down you're still scared, still the kid who couldn't fight back when it mattered!"
They came at him together. One tackled him low while another swung down from behind. Hyun-Jae blocked the second but took the first hit to the ribs, feeling something crack. He gasped, staggering to his feet, swinging wildly. His blades found purchase, cutting through one illusion, but three more emerged from the dark edges of the arena.
Each one bore new wounds, each one stronger than the last.It was like the Abyss was recreating his weakness just to break him again.
Minutes, or hours, maybe, passed. The fight had become a blur of motion, of sweat and blood and echoes of himself screaming, attacking, taunting. His body was battered, his stamina draining fast. Every cut burned like fire, every breath was ragged.
He slammed one version of himself into the ground and roared in exhaustion, driving his blade through its chest. For a brief moment, he thought it was over.
Then the last one stepped forward.The one with the dead eyes.
No words. No emotion.It raised its blade, his own, and Hyun-Jae froze as he recognized it. That was him from the moment he died. The same wounds. The same bloodstained uniform. The same expression of disbelief frozen on his face as the creature's chains pierced his chest.
"…You're not real," Hyun-Jae muttered.
The silent version didn't answer. It simply attacked.
The first strike nearly broke his guard. Hyun-Jae barely managed to parry, the force sending him sliding back. His arms trembled. The next blow came fasterclean, precise, merciless. Every strike this version made was perfect, mechanical, efficient. There was no hesitation.
It wasn't a monster. It was a memory, his perfect death, recreated endlessly.
Hyun-Jae's blades clashed again, sparks flying as both versions locked eyes. The silent one leaned close and whispered,"You'll die here too. Just like before."
Something in Hyun-Jae snapped.
He let go of his guard, twisting his body to avoid the killing strike by inches. He caught the wrist of his shadow-self and drove his knee into its chest, sending it stumbling backward.
"You're right," he smiled. "I did die. I failed. I was weak. But I'm still here."
The words came out low, raw, honest.
"I'm still here because the Abyss doesn't want me dead, it wants me to change."
He gripped both blades tightly, blood dripping from his knuckles, and charged. His movements blurred driven not by desperation but by will. The strikes that had once overwhelmed him now met his fury head-on. The clone slashed down; Hyun-Jae sidestepped, twisted, and brought both blades across in a single cross-cut.
The echo froze mid-motion, then split apart, dissolving into motes of black light.
Silence fell again.
[Trial of the Self — Completed.][Level Up +5.][New Trait Unlocked: Iron Will][Effect: Pain resistance increased by 40%. Emotional interference negated during combat.]
Hyun-Jae fell to his knees, breathing heavily. His reflection, the many versions of himself, were gone. Only the empty arena remained.
He stared at his trembling hands and exhaled slowly. The exhaustion faded as the familiar warm energy washed through him.
The Abyss didn't just want him to grow stronger.It wanted him to confront the part of himself that never believed he could.
"Fine," he said. "If that's what it takes… I'll keep going."
Hyun-Jae stood in the middle of the now-silent arena, breathing in the faint scent of dust and blood that lingered after the battle. His hands no longer shook, his wounds were gone, but something inside him felt… hollow.
To him the victory didn't feel like it was the one he needed.
He looked down at his reflection in one of the blackened tiles. His face stared back, same eyes, same scars, but something was off. There was a stillness in his chest, a quiet absence where fear, guilt, and doubt had once lived. Pieces of him that had screamed and struggled moments ago were simply… gone.
He couldn't tell if that was peace or loss.
"Guess it doesn't matter," he muttered, forcing a small exhale. "I'm still here."
Before he could take another step, the familiar chime echoed in his head.
[Choose Your Reward]
- Armor Roll- Weapon Roll- New Skill Unlock
Hyun-Jae didn't hesitate this time. He'd been sharpening his body, his instincts, his will, but he hadn't gained a single ability beyond what his muscles could manage.
"About time I got something new," he said under his breath and selected New Skill.
A low hum resonated in the air, and the screen shimmered before new text appeared:
[Skill Acquired: Absorb] Description: Convert Etherea from defeated enemies into personal energy. Absorption efficiency depends on target rank and user control.
Hyun-Jae blinked, reading it twice."Absorb, huh?" he whispered. "Sounds… useful."
But before he could test it, another notification appeared.
[Notice: The Ethereal Abyss is entering Dormant Phase.][Progress will be saved.][Transferring User to a Different Location...]
His stomach dropped. The ground under his feet began to distort, colors bleeding together. He reached out instinctively, but there was nothing to grab, no surface, no air, just a blinding pull.
"Wait, what's happening now-"
The words cut off as the world folded in on itself. The pillars, the faint lights, even his own shadow vanished in a burst of white.
When the brightness faded, Hyun-Jae was standing on solid ground again, but it wasn't the Abyss. The air was different. Lighter. He could hear wind.
He looked around slowly.
His vision steadied as the dizziness faded. The air was thick, humid, real. The smell of salt and moss hit his nose, and when he looked around, he realized he wasn't in the Abyss anymore.
A soft breeze brushed through his hair. The faint sound of waves echoed nearby.
He stood at the mouth of the same cave he'd died in.
His heart froze for a moment. He glanced down at his hands, his chest, the place where the chain had run him through. Perfectly intact. His clothes were clean, his body fully restored. Even the faint tension of battle fatigue was gone.
"…I'm back?" he whispered.
Then his first instinct hit, he called out the system in his mind.
A breath of relief left his lungs. "Good… it's still with me."
But before he could process the thought further, a faint glint near the ground caught his eye.
An arm bone, white and jagged, still wrapped with faint traces of fabric he recognized. He crouched, picking it up."…Rylan."
He dropped it, letting it clatter against the stone. The skeleton had been cleanly split apart, exactly where that chain had taken his arm.
That's when Hyun-Jae felt it.
A familiar pressure filled the cave, Etherea, dark and sharp like frost scraping against his skin. He turned slowly toward the source.
It was there.
The chained creature.
But something was different this time. Its aura wasn't suffocating, not like before. Its presence flickered, unstable. The same pale body, the same empty eyes, but they weren't glowing anymore. The creature tilted its head at him, almost puzzled, like it was trying to understand why he was still alive and how.
Hyun-Jae didn't wait for it to move.
He took one step forward, drew his blade, and with a flick of his wrist, hurled it straight at the creature's chest.
A faint whistle of air.Then a sharp impact.
The blade sank deep into the creature's torso, and the moment it hit, the thing's body began to unravel, threads of dark Etherea bursting out and evaporating into thin air.
Its expression never changed. It just… looked at him.Then it collapsed.
Chains shattered into dust, the body turning pale and lifeless, crumbling away like sand until nothing remained.
Hyun-Jae stood there, staring at the spot where it had been.
"…That's it?" he said softly, half in disbelief.
For a moment, he thought his strength had skyrocketed to some unimaginable level, but then he shook his head. No. The creature's Etherea had been unstable from the start.
"It wasn't fully awake," he muttered. "That's why."
Still, seeing it gone, the same thing that had ended his life so brutally, left him with a quiet, heavy satisfaction.
He walked closer, stopping just in front of where the creature's remains had vanished. Only faint wisps of dark mist lingered, fading slowly into the air.
Hyun-Jae stood there silently, the wind brushing past him from the cave entrance.
"…Guess we're even now," he said quietly, tightening his grip on the hilt of his remaining blade.
He activates Absorb on the chained creature's corpse, and a dark, mist-like energy rises from its body, Etherea. It swirls around Hyun-Jae's arm before being drawn into him. The sensation is strange, both cold and invigorating, but the results are undeniable. His body feels lighter, sharper, and stronger than before.
Seeing how effective it is, he decides to keep going. He moves through the island methodically, using Absorb on every leftover beast corpse and fragment of corrupted energy that remains. Each time, that faint dark light streams into him, and he can feel his Etherea reserves rising steadily.
Hours pass as he finds any remaining monsters in the forest and takes their Etherea as well. When he finally stops, the island feels… quiet. Cleansed. The sky above has cleared, and only the sound of the waves remains. Hyun-Jae looks around at the now-desolate place and realizes something.
He's completely alone, no signs of life, no working portals, no ships, and nothing but endless ocean surrounding him. The silence presses in.
He exhales, brushing the dust off his hands."Great," he mutters to himself. "Now I'm stranded."
Hyun-Jae frowns, staring at the message before glancing out at the horizon. He's stronger now, but stuck, adrift between realms with no clear way forward.
He stares at the spot where the portal had appeared before, the one which Soo-Min and the others used to exit, the faint shimmer in space barely visible, like a mirage. Something about it calls to him, faint but familiar. He gets up and slowly walks toward it. The closer he gets, the stronger the feeling becomes, like a pulse of energy synced to his heartbeat.
"...Maybe I can force it open," he mutters.
He extends his hand, channeling his Etherea toward the distortion. The air ripples faintly, but nothing happens. Then, out of nowhere, the system interface appears before him.
[NOTICE: Portal detected.][Access requires a reactivation fee.][Cost: 1500 Astral Points.]
Hyun-Jae stares at the number, his jaw tightening. "Fifteen hundred? Are you serious?"
The system remains silent except for the faint hum of the notification, as if mocking his frustration. He lets out another long sigh, rubbing his temples.
He looks back toward the barren island behind him, nothing but empty land and ocean. There really isn't another option.
"Tch... fine," he mutters, selecting Confirm.
[1500 Astral Points deducted.][Reactivating portal...]
The ground beneath him trembles as blue and violet light bursts from the distortion, expanding outward until it forms a stable swirling gate. The air feels electric, thick with power.
Hyun-Jae squints against the glow, taking a step closer. "Guess I'm really going back..."
The system chimes again
[Portal open]
He puts away his weapon, straightens his posture, and without hesitating, steps through the portal.