Chapter 30: Framebreaker
Blood dripped from Jihan's fingertips, his body screaming in agony. His left shoulder was torn open, his forearm fractured, and his vision blurred—but he stood tall, the stolen blade gripped in his right hand.
Across from him, the Void Widow was silent. Her cracked helmet sparked, revealing part of her jaw—white, synthetic, twitching.
She blinked once more—disappearing from sight.
Jihan didn't move.
He anticipated.
He remembered the rhythm.
"She phases every 2.3 seconds. Pauses. Reappears. Kills."
He closed his eyes again.
And counted.
"One. Two…"
FLASH.
She appeared behind him—blade already mid-swing.
But Jihan turned before she finished. Not reacting—preacting.
He slammed the edge of her own sword into her thigh.
A deep, jagged tear.
For the first time—she groaned.
[Skill Unlocked: Framebreaker Instinct – Lv. 1]
Through pure adaptation, user has begun syncing microsecond combat predictions.
Effect: Predict enemy phase re-entry by subconscious frame pattern recognition.
Passive Boost: +10% Reaction Speed / +5% Reality Sync
Jihan gasped. His body felt like it was catching fire—but his mind was ahead. Just half a second ahead.
"I see you now."
She phased again.
This time, he ran toward her.
**Intercepted her mid-phase—**shoulder-checking her just as she became visible.
They crashed into a steel beam.
The impact knocked her sword away. It clattered across the rooftop.
She blinked again—escaping.
Jihan coughed blood, grabbed the nearest pipe, and jammed it into his own shoulder to stop the bleeding.
He staggered forward.
"No more running."
She came back. Hard.
No stealth.
Just fury.
Bladeless, she fought with fists. And her fists were hell.
She kicked Jihan in the chest—three ribs snapped.
Elbowed his jaw—teeth flew out.
Punched his throat—he couldn't breathe.
He coughed, fell to one knee.
[System Notification – Health: 19%]
She raised both fists, preparing the final execution strike.
"Sinner. Framebroken. Your anomaly ends—now."
She dropped—
And Jihan moved first.
He threw his broken arm into her path—baiting the strike.
She committed.
And at the last second—
He used his good arm to grab her wrist, yanked her forward, and bit down on her neck socket where the armor was cracked.
He bit. Hard.
Tore the synthetic flesh.
Electric sparks exploded in his mouth. Pain. Static. Blood—synthetic and real—poured down his chin.
But it worked.
She staggered, a burst of corrupted data seeping from the wound.
Jihan tackled her again, this time headbutting her into the rooftop edge. Her body twitched—phasing malfunctioning.
"No phase left," he growled. "No frame to hide in."
He mounted her body, fists rising.
And began to pound.
Flesh to metal. Skin to synth.
His fists shattered against her faceplate—but he kept going.
Again. And again. And again.
Until—
The helmet shattered completely.
She lay beneath him—face revealed.
Not fully human. Not fully machine.
A hybrid of AI and real consciousness.
One black eye. One digital lens.
She whispered:
"He'll come now…"
Jihan froze.
"Who?"
"The System's God…"
Then she self-destructed.
BOOM.
Seconds later—
Hana pulled Jihan's burned, bleeding body from the rooftop edge. Her drones had absorbed most of the blast. Barely.
She whispered through gritted teeth: "You weren't supposed to win that one…"
Jihan smiled, delirious.
"Guess I broke the code again."
[System Alert: Executor Defeated – Void Widow Terminated]
+8 All Stats
+1 Skill Evolution Token
Special Trait Acquired: Reality Drift
[Trait: Reality Drift]
You now exist slightly outside the standard flow of time.
Passive: +15% Reaction Speed, Immunity to Phase Skills, Skill Cast Preload +1
Jihan had done it.
He didn't just beat an Executor.
He became something more.
He was no longer just inside the game.
He was starting to rewrite its core rules.
And the System knew it.
In the deepest part of the Black Layer…
A throne stirred.
A man in gold chains opened his eyes.
And smiled.
"So the glitch has grown teeth."
End of Chapter 30