Chapter 21: The Forgotten System

---

> "I was like you. Once."

The message lingered in the corner of Jin-Soo's vision long after his system closed it.

But it didn't fade.

It pulsed.

As if alive.

---

[System Alert – Unverified Signal]

> [Warning: Signal received from Class Type: Dead System]

[Status: Expired]

[Protocol Conflict Detected – You are not supposed to see this.]

> [Override in Progress…]

[Temporary Trace Allowed]

> [Would you like to follow it?]

Jin-Soo stared at the notification under the moonlight.

He barely whispered:

> "…Yes."

---

[Location: Abandoned Observatory – Mt. Deokyu Range]

The signal led him to a shattered observatory tower—forgotten, half-buried in snow.

Once a hub for mana weather tracking, it had long been erased from any registry.

Jin-Soo approached cautiously, every sense alert.

No sound. No birds. No wind.

Only silence.

But not his own.

This silence was… waiting.

---

[Inside – The Chamber of Echoes]

A rusted elevator shaft led him to a sub-basement level.

There, in a circular chamber lined with inactive mana tech, sat a man in a chair.

Still.

Eyes closed.

Hair long, silvered with time.

A cracked screen behind him displayed looping data strings:

> [System Protocol: DELTA-7]

[Status: Expired. No Host Connection.]

[Attempting Core Reconnection: FAILED]

The man opened one eye as Jin-Soo entered.

He smiled weakly.

> "I wondered how long it would take for the system to choose again."

---

[Name: Ryu Hyun-Seok]

Age: Unknown.

Class: Monarch of Dust (Failed Evolution).

System Status: Collapsed.

---

Jin-Soo said nothing.

He simply watched.

Hyun-Seok gestured to the dusty chair across from him.

> "Sit. If your system allowed you here, it means it trusts me—if only barely."

Jin-Soo sat.

Finally, he spoke.

> "You said you were like me.

Another Monarch?"

Hyun-Seok nodded.

> "Monarchs aren't classes.

They're… failsafes."

> "When systems don't work—when Hosts reject their intended function—a rare few are rewritten. Given access to forgotten code."

He coughed. Blood stained his lips.

> "You call yours 'Monarch of Silence'.

Mine was 'Monarch of Dust'.

They said I could erase everything.

Every memory, every pain, every name."

> "But it came at a price."

---

[The Price of a Dead System]

> "Each use of my system… consumed part of my soul.

Not my mana.

Not my body.

My memories.

My identity."

> "One day, I woke up and didn't know who I was saving.

Just that someone needed saving."

> "The system stopped responding after that.

I'd emptied myself to save others.

But never saved myself."

---

Jin-Soo's hand clenched.

His silence had always been a shield—for himself and others.

But was it also a slow death?

He asked:

> "Why show yourself now?"

Hyun-Seok looked up, the faintest shimmer in his fading eye.

> "Because you're different.

You're not burning out.

You're evolving."

> "Your system is watching something in you that it didn't see in me.

Hope, maybe. Or hatred tempered by purpose."

> "Or perhaps…"

"…because I don't want to die forgotten."

---

[System Message – Shared Data Permission Granted]

Suddenly, a wave of information surged through Jin-Soo's vision.

> [History of Dead Systems]

[Number of Hosts: 83]

[Surviving Hosts: 1]

[Warning: You are now the last functional Monarch-type system bearer.]

Among the data was something new—

A locked archive marked:

> "Project Silence – Origin Protocol."

Hyun-Seok leaned back.

> "That file… will show you who made the systems.

And why they're starting to fail."

Jin-Soo looked at him.

> "Are you sure I should open it?"

Hyun-Seok nodded.

> "You must.

Because someone's hunting system-bearers now."

> "Not just predators.

Not just Guilds.

Something worse."

"The original designers.

 The ones who made the systems…"

> "They want them back."

---

[Final Scene – Outside Observatory]

As Jin-Soo stepped out of the old observatory, snow falling around him like ash, the system chimed quietly:

> [Archive File Available for Review.]

[Opening 'Project Silence' will begin permanent class evolution.]

[Warning: Proceeding will mark you as a 'Prime Threat' to all remaining system architects.]

> [Do you wish to begin evolution?]

Jin-Soo stared out over the mountains.

His hands shook—not from fear.

But from the weight of choice.

Behind him, the man who failed sat still… forever silent.

Before him, the path to burn the world and build anew.

He whispered:

> "…Not yet."

"Let me see the enemy first."

---