Chapter 3 — The Price of Refusal

---

📍 4:16 PM | District 13 | Sector Junkyard

POV: Jax

The voice still echoed in his head.

> SYSTEM:

"Welcome, Jax Lee.

Cruel Origin Protocol – Phase 1 Unlocked."

Jax blinked. "Huh?"

He looked down at the busted headset. No lights. No screen. Just silence now.

> Jax (thinking):

"Nope. Nope. I'm not doing this. This is nuts."

He tossed the gear onto the ground. Sparks flew, then faded.

> Jax:

"I didn't ask for any freakin' system."

He turned to walk away—

—but the air behind him cracked like lightning.

Suddenly—

WHAM!

Something slammed him into the dirt. Hard.

His ears rang. His body felt like lead.

> SYSTEM:

"First task ignored."

"Penalty Trial: Initiated."

> Jax (coughing):

"Wait—WHAT?"

The junkyard disappeared.

Just like that.

Gone.

---

🎮 Scene 2 — ??? | "Penalty Simulation: Unknown Zone"

The air turned salty.

The ground beneath him was… metal?

Jax stumbled to his feet, blinking at the blood-red waves stretching to the horizon.

Then he saw it.

Something massive moved in the water.

Rising. Coiling. Watching him.

A single golden eye locked on.

A serpent. No—worse.

A nightmare with scales like steel, and a mouth big enough to swallow buildings.

> SYSTEM:

"Penalty Trial: SURVIVAL"

"Abyss Serpent – Phantom Class"

"Time Limit: 7 minutes"

"Objective: Stay alive."

> Jax (yelling):

"STAY ALIVE?! I DON'T EVEN HAVE A WEAPON!"

The serpent roared.

The sound felt like it cracked his bones.

Jax ran.

Fast.

Slipping across the metal sand, diving behind rusted debris, anything to break line of sight.

> Jax (panting):

"This can't be real. This isn't real. This isn't—"

A shadow fell over him.

He rolled as a massive tail slammed down where he'd just stood.

A second later, the water exploded behind him—

The serpent lunged again.

---

🎮 Scene 3 — Still in the Trial (4:23 PM)

His lungs burned. His body felt like jelly.

He had no weapon. No interface. No skill screen. Nothing.

Then—

A sharp ping inside his head.

> SYSTEM (glitching voice):

"Temporary Buff: Granted."

"Trial Mode: Adaptive Learning Engaged."

"Object Identified: Broken Pipe."

His eyes snapped to a half-buried pipe nearby—about a meter long. Sharp on one side.

He didn't even think.

Jax grabbed it. Spun around.

The serpent lunged again—this time, jaws open wide.

> Jax (yelling):

"Screw this!"

He jammed the pipe upward into its jaw as he dove to the side.

It shrieked—jerking back, blood spraying across the sand.

> SYSTEM:

"Damage Registered.

Weak Point Located: Lower Jaw (Open State)"

"Survival Time Remaining: 3:41"

> Jax (gasping):

"…Three minutes? I'm not making it three more seconds."

---

🎮 Scene 4 — End of Trial (4:30 PM)

He was down to one knee. Bruised. Cut. Soaked in saltwater and blood.

The serpent circled, slower now… cautious.

Jax raised the pipe again with shaking hands.

Then—

A deep hum echoed across the shoreline.

Time froze.

Literally.

The wind. The serpent. Even the water.

All frozen in place like someone hit pause.

> SYSTEM:

"Penalty Trial Complete."

"Status: Survived."

"Sync: Stabilizing."

"Class: Undefined."

"User: Accepted."

The serpent shattered like glass.

The sea dissolved into code.

And Jax dropped to his knees, panting.

> Jax (whispers):

"...What the hell was that?"

> SYSTEM:

"You refused my first command."

"That was your first lesson."

"Next time—listen."

---

🎮 Scene 5 – 4:35 PM | Back at the Junkyard

Jax gasped awake.

Same busted ground. Same broken headset.

Same world pretending nothing happened.

But something had changed.

A faint red glow hovered above his wrist—like a pulse that didn't belong to this reality.

> SYSTEM: "Cruel Origin Protocol: Phase One – Complete."

"Skill Interface: Unlocked."

"Next Task: Awaiting."

Jax didn't speak.

Didn't move.

Just stared at the glow… like it might explode.

Then—he laughed.

Quiet. Bitter. Almost mad.

> Jax (under his breath):

"You call that a welcome gift?"

He looked up, eyes shadowed.

> Jax (smirking):

"Fine. You want a monster? I'll give you one."

The wind howled over the junkyard—

And for the first time, the system didn't answer.

It listened.

---

📌 TO BE CONTINUED…

---

> 💀 He refused the system. It punished him with death.

🔥 But now he's still standing—alive, synced, and just a little more dangerous.

🧠 Who created the Cruel Origin Protocol?

🩸 What happens when a glitch learns to fight back?

⚔️ Add Chapter 3 to Library.

💬 Drop a comment if you'd fight a Phantom-Class with just a pipe.

Because Jax Lee didn't choose power.

Power chose him.