The Breaking point

Darkness swallowed Jin-Won whole.

He couldn't see. He couldn't breathe.

For a moment, he thought he was falling. Then, just as suddenly, he was standing—but not in the void.

He was in a memory.

The streets of his old neighborhood stretched before him, bathed in the dim glow of a setting sun. The air smelled of rain, and the distant chatter of people echoed faintly.

Then, he saw her.

Si-Yeon.

But not as she was now—this was before. Before the war, before the power struggles, before the pain.

She stood by the bridge, staring at the water below, her expression unreadable.

Jin-Won's breath caught in his throat. He remembered this day.

It was the day she left.

But why was he seeing this now?

A voice whispered in his ear, cold and familiar.

"Your greatest weakness isn't your fear… it's your past."

The world around him cracked. The memory shattered like glass.

And then, he was back—back in the void, back in the battle.

Si-Yeon screamed as the chains around her tightened.

Hori was on his knees, struggling to move.

And the entity… it stood before him, its crimson eyes gleaming.

"You see now, don't you?" it murmured. "No matter how hard you fight, you can't change what's already been written."

Jin-Won clenched his fists. His body ached. His mind reeled.

But as he looked at Si-Yeon—at the pain in her eyes—something inside him snapped.

No.

I refuse.

He roared, his sword igniting with a brilliant light, brighter than before. The very air trembled as his power surged, shattering the darkness that surrounded them.

The entity flinched.

For the first time… it took a step back.

"You're wrong," Jin-Won growled. "I don't need to change the past. I just need to change this moment."

And with that, he attacked.

—To be continued…