The observation deck was empty now except for Rin. Everyone had bolted the moment Leo died, trampling each other to get out. Even Joy had disappeared somewhere in the chaos.
Rin stood alone at the glass, staring at the screens that still showed the massacre below. His hands were shaking so bad he had to grip the railing to stay upright.
"This is your fault."
[Rin, I understand you are grieving but—]
"Shut up." His voice came out raw. "Just shut the fuck up. If you never chose me, if you never infected me with whatever this is, none of this would've happened."
The system stayed quiet.
"Leo wanted this." He laughed but there was no humor in it. "He wanted to live in a fantasy world. Dungeons and monsters and all that weeb shit we used to joke about. And now look at him. Look what your fantasy world did to him."
His fist hit the glass, pain shooting up his arm but he didn't care.
"He's dead. My best friend is dead and that thing down there knew about me, knew I was watching. It killed them because of me."
[I am sorry, Rin]
"Sorry? You're sorry?" He spun away from the window. "What good does that do? Can sorry bring Leo back? Can it undo the last ten minutes?"
[No]
"Then what fucking good are you?"
Silence stretched between them. Below, Kazriketh stood in the middle of the carnage, surrounded by orc bodies and the remains of Jin's team.
[If you wish to discard the system, you may do so now]
[No strings attached]
[The extraction will be painless]
Rin stopped. "What?"
[You can remove me. Walk away from all of this. Live whatever life remains possible in this new world]
"And then what? That thing down there just goes away? The dungeon closes itself?"
[No. The portal will continue expanding until it consumes this facility and releases approximately 600 hostile entities into the city]
"So my choices are keep you or let thousands of people die."
[That is not your responsibility]
"Bullshit." He turned back to the screens. The portal was definitely bigger now, edges crackling with purple energy. "But how am I supposed to do anything? I have zero powers. My stats are garbage. I can't even throw a proper punch right now."
[Before you make your decision, there is something you should know]
"What now?"
[Your unique trait is no longer dormant]
[Fracture Synchronization activated the moment you witnessed the anomaly]
[Check your status]
He pulled up his status window, not really caring but needing something to focus on besides Leo's body on the screen.
[Name: Rin Matsuda]
[Level: 1]
[Class: undefined]
[Health: 100/100]
[Mana: ERROR/ERROR]
[Unique Trait: Fracture Synchronization (ACTIVE)]
"It's active? When did that happen?"
[The moment Kazriketh manifested]
[First activation threshold met: encountered an anomaly]
"Great, so I have some mystery power that you won't explain. How does that help anyone?"
[Fracture Synchronization allows direct manipulation of fracture energy]
[In simple terms: you can interact with anomalies as physical objects]
"English please."
[You can grab the portal and close it]
He stared at the text. "You're joking."
[I do not joke]
"You want me to walk down there and somehow close a dungeon portal with my bare hands?"
[Yes]
"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard."
After a few seconds, he pressed his forehead against the glass. Inside the dungeon, Kazriketh had started organizing the orcs, pointing at different positions around the camp. They moved with purpose now, not the usual monster chaos but actual military precision.
"I can't do this."
[You are the only one who can]
"Stop with the chosen one bullshit. I'm not special, I'm just some guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
[That is exactly what makes you capable]
"That doesn't even make sense."
[Most awakened follow rules. Their powers work within established parameters. You exist outside those parameters]
"what does that really mean?"
[It means you are undefined]
He watched Kazriketh walk over to Leo's body and nudge it with its boot, like checking if a bug was really dead. The casual disrespect made something tight rise in Rin's chest.
He walked closer to the window and stared at the portal right in the face.
It was bigger up close, a violent tear in the world and that had this strange vibration to it, like he could feel it in his bones.
[The portal's energy output is increasing]
[Estimated time until breach: 9 minutes]
'So I either die here, or I die when the city gets overrun.'
It wasn't much of a choice.
He took the emergency stairs down, thirty floors. His atrophied legs hurt with every step, protesting the sudden use. By the time he reached the lobby, he was drenched in sweat and his thighs were shaking.
The lobby was empty and the giant fountain was off. The mounted orc head on the wall seemed to stare at him, a silent monument to a time when dungeons were manageable. A problem for other people.
The doors to the staging area were sealed, red lights flashing above them.
"Can you open it?"
[No. I do not have access to this facility's security systems]
"Of course not."
He looked around and spotted a fire axe in a glass case on the wall. 'In case of emergency, break glass.' This definitely qualified. He shattered the case with his elbow, ignoring the sting, and pulled the axe free.
It was heavier than he expected.
It took him six clumsy swings to break the lock on the door. The metal screamed in protest before finally giving way. He shoved the door open and stepped onto the staging floor.
The portal dominated the space. It was a hundred feet away, but he could feel the pressure from it in his chest. On the massive screens above, the feed was still live. Kazriketh stood over the body of Jin, its foot resting on her severed head.
Rin's grip tightened on the axe handle. He didn't even know these people, but he watched them die. Watched them get taken apart like they were nothing.
He dropped the axe, clattering on the floor. An axe wasn't going to do anything.
He started walking toward the portal. Each step felt like wading through thick syrup. The energy it gave off made his hair stand on end and his teeth ache.
[Warning: Direct exposure to raw fracture energy is not recommended for non-awakened entities]
"You're the one who told me to grab it," he muttered, his voice hoarse.
[The statement remains accurate. It is inadvisable, but possible for you]
He was fifty feet away.
The sound was a roar now, filling his ears, drowning out everything else.
Twenty feet.
The air was so charged he could see little sparks dancing across his skin. His body was screaming at him to turn back. Every instinct for self-preservation was on red alert.
He thought of Leo's last words. 'I always knew you were special... my best friend...'
He stopped right at the edge. The portal was swirling of purple and black, colors that seemed to move with a life of their own. It didn't feel hot or cold, just... immense and powerful.
He reached out a hand, his fingers trembling.
[Contact is not recommended, but if you must, grasp the edge where the energy is most stable]
He ignored the system's advice. His eyes were locked on the churning center. He took a deep breath, the air burning his lungs.
'For Leo.'
He reached out and grabbed it.
His hand sank into the energy as if it were liquid light. For a split second, there was nothing, then the pain hit.
It wasn't a burn nor a shock. It was worse. It felt like every atom in his arm was being ripped apart, dissolved into nothing, then slammed back together in the wrong order. His nerves fired with a signal that had no name, a pure, distilled agony that bypassed every pain receptor and went straight to his soul.
He screamed and yanked his hand back. "That was fucking painful, the hell."