The dungeon was filled with a deep silence.
A deep silence settled over the battlefield.
The distant flickering torchlight barely illuminated the figure standing before Noah—the Event Enforcer.
His black coat shimmered faintly in the dim light, inscribed with glowing runes. His gaze was cold, detached, and completely unreadable.
Noah gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tighter.
This guy wasn't a normal player.
He wasn't even an enemy.
He was something else.
System Alert:
You are under review for breaking an unregistered rule.
Awaiting Event Enforcer's verdict.
The Enforcer studied him for a long moment. Then, he sighed.
"I hate dealing with irregularities."
Noah exhaled slowly. "So, I'm an irregular now?"
"Let me guess," Noah said, voice dry. "You're here to delete me from the system?"
The Enforcer gave him a look, almost amused. "No. Not yet, at least."
His glowing eyes flicked toward the battlefield, where the shattered remains of the Wraith-hounds had completely vanished.
"Phantom Step," he murmured. "A skill that shouldn't exist anymore. And yet… here you are, using it."
Noah's fingers twitched. "What do you mean 'shouldn't exist'?"
The Enforcer's expression didn't change. "You've triggered a flag in the system. Skills from before the reset are locked away—erased, even. No player should be able to access them."
Noah's breath hitched. Before the reset.
That confirmed it. Some part of his past life—before everything got wiped—was leaking through.
The Enforcer stepped closer, hands in his pockets. "So tell me, Noah Vance. How did you unlock a forbidden skill?"
Noah forced himself to stay calm. "Would you believe me if I said I just got lucky?"
The Enforcer let out a short laugh. "No. I wouldn't."
The air around them grew heavier. A quiet, crushing pressure that made Noah's instincts scream.
"You have two choices."
The casual tone in his voice did nothing to hide the underlying threat.
"One: You let me seal that skill away, and we pretend this never happened."
"Two: You refuse—and I test if you're strong enough to keep it."
Noah narrowed his eyes. "Sounds a lot like give up or die."
The Enforcer shrugged. "I prefer to call it a fair trial."
Noah took a slow breath. His body was still recovering, but he wasn't about to back down. If the system wanted to erase his advantage, then—
Then I'll prove I deserve to keep it.
He tightened his grip on Bloodhymn. "I'll take option two."
The Enforcer smiled. "Good choice."
The moment he made his choice, the world around him shattered like fragile glass. A blinding light enveloped him.
System Trial: Phantom Step
Noah's surroundings blinked out of existence.
The dungeon. The bodies. The battlefield. All gone.
He was standing in a white void, nothing but endless space stretching in every direction.
A notification window appeared.
You have entered a System Trial.
Objective: Survive.
Noah took in a deep breath as he got ready to face the challenge.
Noah frowned. "Why hasn't it started yet?"
Multiple shadowy figures began to rise from the void.
The shadowy figures took on a shape that was eerily familiar.
They looked exactly like him.
Each one had random numbers floating above their head, shifting like an image on a old television.
They all gripped a similar version of Bloodhymn, while exuding the same fierce battle aura that Noah unleashed moments ago.
The System Trial hadn't summoned monsters.
It had summoned him.
Dozens of Noahs. Each one ready to kill.
Noah narrowed his eyes as they advanced.
"Great," he muttered, watching the clones close in. "Looks like I'm not just fighting myself... I'm going to have to trust myself to get through this."
Noah's muscles tensed as a clone with the number 1 lunged forward with its blade ready to pierce through Noah.
He barely deflected the strike in time—Bloodhymn clashing against its mirrored twin with a metallic screech.
Another rushed in from the side. Then another.
They were coordinated. Efficient. Merciless.
Just like _him_.
"Shit—" Noah spun low, sweeping one off its feet, only for a second clone to attack him.
Noah parried the attack and quickly slashed the clone and the clone started fading away unlike the usual death animation.
Multiple clones charged at Noah at the same time, He had no time to block the attack.
Just as he was about to get slashed y the multiple clones, He blinked out of existence— Phantom Step triggering just in time.
He reappeared several meters away, breathing hard.
His heart pounded, not just from exertion, but from realization.
They weren't just copies of his current self.
They fought like fragments of his past.
One moved with reckless abandon—aggressive, wild, undisciplined. That was how he fought in his early days.
Another was defensive, calculating. A style he remembered using during the old survival events.
One clone used a move he hadn't remembered in weeks.
Wait… that one… that's from the dungeon in Araxa. I didn't even know I still remembered that pattern
They weren't just clones.
They were the echoes of his past.
He muttered, "Of course this is a memory test too, isn't it?"
One of the clones suddenly blurred toward him—faster than the others. Its blade moved with fluid elegance, cutting down two other clones in a blink.
Noah stared.
That one… didn't feel like an enemy.
The clone paused, looking back at him with an unreadable expression. Then it spoke.
"Catch up, idiot."
Noah froze.
He knew that voice.
His own voice—but older. Worn down. Sharper.
The clone vanished, slashing through another before fading into dust.
System Message:
Lost Data Fragment integrated. Phantom Step stability increased.
Stability: 87%.
He clenched his fists.
This wasn't just a battle to survive. It was a battle to reclaim parts of himself the reset tried to erase.
Every move I make… every memory I unlock… stabilizes the skill.
This trial isn't just testing me—it's helping me evolve.
He surged forward.
This time, he didn't just dodge and block.
He adapted.
He baited the reckless version into overextending, disarmed him, then struck true.
The moment the clone shattered, a burst of clarity surged through his mind.
Memory Restored:
Skill: Shadow Dance Combo unlocked.
Stability: 100%.
Noah smirked, "Let's see what else you've got, me."
Soon Noah and the mysterious clone completed wiping out all the other clones.
Noah took a good look at the clone as he noticed the flickering number 999 above its head.
The clone reached into its coat and pulled something out.
A thin, leather-bound book with the text "DIARY" written on the leather cover.
"Take it," the clone said.
Its voice was hoarse. Older. His voice—but frayed by time.
"You'll need it. I wrote down everything and added some additional functionality with the help of him"
Noah took a cautious step forward.
"What… are you? and who are you talking about?"
The clone smiled. Bitterly.
Then the clone started to speak.
"I'm..." The clone's voice crackled, fractured like a corrupted audio file. "...wha—what's le—"
His image twitched violently, glitch lines tearing through his body.
For a moment, he seemed to stabilize—then his eyes pulsed red and blue, like overlapping code fighting for control.
He raised the diary with trembling hands.
"Thi—this... is your..." His voice stuttered, warped. "On...ly ch—"
He twitched violently as if something yanked his strings.
"Res—"
A sharp distortion burst out—like a muted scream crushed by static.
"Break... the cy—"
His mouth moved, but the words never came. His body fizzled, half-transparent, like a fading signal.
Then—
Silence.
He dropped the diary.
And vanished.
Noah stood frozen, staring at the empty space where the clone had been.
The echo of static still clung to the air, like the ghost of a scream that never finished.
He couldn't make sense of the glitching words. They repeated, distorted, rattling in his mind like broken echoes: "Not... yet..."
Noah stepped forward and picked up the diary. It was warm.
As his fingers wrapped around its worn leather cover, a low hum pulsed through it—as if the thing itself were... alive.
A sharp ding cut through the silence. A system message flickered into existence before him, casting a pale glow across his face.
[System Notification]
You have acquired a [Diary]
Author: A dead player
"What the hell is going on?"
Just then another screen pops up before him.
System Alert:
You have successfully completed the system trial.
Reward: Usage of [Phantom Step] has been granted.
Noah exhaled, long and slow.
"…Guess I passed."
But his fingers tightened around the diary.
Whatever this thing was—it didn't feel like a reward.
It felt like a door.
One that had just cracked open.
Just then A portal of dark blue energy flickered to life behind him.
The portal flickered, casting ripples across the white void.
Noah stepped toward it, the diary warm in his grip.
But then—another notification slid across his vision.
[Alert: Azure Fang Leader — Damian Kross — has marked you as a target.]
Tracking Protocol Initiated.
Noah's breath caught.
"He's not done yet…"
His eyes hardened as he stepped into the light.
"Good. Neither am I."