The air crackled. The sky above the Gate shimmered with violent light, as if the system itself was hesitating.
Ji-Hoon stood frozen as unfamiliar golden code pulsed through his vision—strings of fragmented glyphs, symbols from the game's backend that no player should have ever seen. It was like the system was rewriting itself around him. No one else noticed. Only he could see it.
✦ Hidden Class Acquired: Recode✦ Path Access Level: 1 [LOCKED]✦ Active Skill Unlocked: System Trace✦ Description: Grants temporary access to target's behavior patterns and system-level data.✦ Cooldown: 30 minutes.
"What the hell is this…" Ji-Hoon whispered, taking a step back.
The Dreadwolf snarled, spinning toward him. The others were too stunned to react. Then—
[System Trace – Activated]
Time slowed again. But this time, Ji-Hoon didn't dodge.
Instead, his vision exploded with overlays: glowing red arcs mapped the monster's movement patterns. Predictive paths. Weakness points. Data streams tagged its muscle tension, breath rhythm, claw rotation velocity. A three-second window opened up—highlighted in green.
Vulnerability Frame: Detected
Weak Point: Cervical Vertebra C2
Probability of Kill (if struck): 87.4%
Ji-Hoon wasn't a swordsman. He wasn't fast. He didn't even have a weapon.
But information? That, he had.
He yanked the spear from the stunned B-rank next to him and threw it without thinking.
The weapon whistled through the air—and pierced straight through the Dreadwolf's neck, exactly where the system had shown him. The monster let out a distorted, glitching howl… then collapsed into static, and disintegrated.
Silence.
The other players stared at him. Mouths open. The lightning mage stepped forward, blinking.
"What… just happened?"
Ji-Hoon didn't know what to say. He looked down at his hands, still shaking. Then the system chimed again.
✦ Kill Confirmed: Dreadwolf [C-Class]
✦ Reward: 15,000 EXP
✦ Bonus: First Strike / Solo Kill / Underleveled Kill
✦ Achievement Unlocked: "Outranked"
✦ Level Up!✦ Level 2 → 6
His body buzzed with the leveling energy. His rank didn't change, but his awareness did. Something fundamental inside him had shifted.
Back at the Seoul Shelter District 17, Ji-Hoon sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria. The place was loud—players shouting, support staff yelling over broken food dispensers, and wounded Wielders getting patched up by AI medics.
He ignored it all.
His interface now showed a new window:
CLASS: RECODE [???]
Origin: UndefinedType: System Manipulation
SKILLS UNLOCKED:– False Echo (Modified)– System Trace
NEXT TIER UNLOCK: Access Level 2 – REQUIREMENTS: ???
The class had no level cap. No base stats. No class tree.
He couldn't find a single record of it in any database, player wiki, or guild archive. It was as if the game itself didn't know what he was.
["You shouldn't exist."]
Ji-Hoon blinked. The voice wasn't his interface.
["This class… it's forbidden. You're not a Wielder. You're something else. Something… the system tried to delete."]
He stood up fast, nearly knocking over his tray. "Who said that?"
["You can hear me? Fascinating. The Architect protocol isn't supposed to awaken until level 10."]
Ji-Hoon's throat went dry. "Who—what are you?"
["I am the error you just inherited. The voice in the cracks. The glitch in Godfall. You shouldn't be here, Ji-Hoon Kwon. But now that you are... I suggest you run."]
Before he could respond, an emergency siren rang out through the entire shelter.
⚠️ WARNING: CLASS B GATE BREACH – ZONE 9 – TIME TO COLLAPSE: 00:09:00
[All E and D Ranks Restricted from Entry]
And yet… Ji-Hoon's screen lit up with a personal notification.
✦ Special Directive: Manual Override
✦ Zone 9 is open to you.
✦ Reason: "Let's see what you break next."
He stared at the screen, heart pounding.
Whatever Recode was… it wasn't just a hidden class.
It was a threat.
And now, it was watching him.