The night sky was darker than usual. Clouds loomed overhead without a drop of rain, and the air felt heavy—as if something was about to break. On the rooftop of an old boarding house on the outskirts of Bekasi, Raden stood in silence, gazing at the endless black above. In his hand, the Voidblade—his trusted weapon—was sealed. The system had locked it.
Tonight's daily mission was different.
Not to kill monsters.
Not to collect items.
But to survive.
Survive an attack… from an unknown enemy.
> [Daily Mission: Survive 24 Hours Without Using the Voidblade]
[Reward: EXP +200,000 | Random Rare-Tier Item]
[Failure Penalty: Death]
"System… why does this feel like a trial?"
The system said nothing. Not even the usual mechanical voice. Even the sounds of the city had vanished, swallowed by the stillness of night. And Raden realized one thing:
He was alone.
Then came the sound.
Footsteps.
Soft. Almost weightless.
But each step echoed in his chest like a war drum.
He turned sharply. From a narrow alley beside the building, a shadowy figure emerged. Its body was dark and faceless, like condensed darkness standing upright. Its eyes glowed faint red, devoid of emotion.
"You're… not an ordinary monster, are you?" Raden muttered, startled by the creature's form.
It didn't respond.
Instead, it lunged.
Raden jumped back, dodging by reflex. The Ebon Dagger was still usable—though it couldn't compare to the Voidblade.
The creature's first strike nearly took his arm. Its claws were fast and razor-sharp. Raden barely deflected the blow with the dagger, but the impact sent him crashing into a wall.
> [HP -24]
"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "I won't last like this…"
Then, two more figures emerged.
They crawled from the shadows like living smoke, forming into solid forms beside the first. Now he was outnumbered.
Three against one—and no Voidblade.
He clenched his teeth, lowered his stance, and waited. When the attack came, he moved.
The Ebon Dagger slashed across one of the creature's necks. It sank in—slightly—but there was no blood. No scream. The shadow simply turned its faceless head and backhanded him across the rooftop.
> [HP -41]
"Shit!"
Raden rolled away, panting hard.
He tried to summon the Voidblade again, but the system coldly denied him.
> [Voidblade: Locked for Current Mission]
"I need another way…"
They surrounded him.
Using the tight spaces between buildings, Raden leapt from rooftop to rooftop, buying time. Every second was a victory—but it drained his stamina fast.
---
Four Hours Later
Raden hid beneath an old emergency stairwell beside a crumbling shop. His breath was ragged. Sweat soaked through his clothes. The Ebon Dagger's tip was chipped, but still usable.
> [Mission Duration Remaining: 20 Hours]
Too long.
He couldn't just run and hide. He had to understand what these things were.
They weren't normal monsters. They weren't even visible to ordinary humans. And when they died, they dissolved into smoke and vanished—leaving nothing behind.
He opened his system, reviewing combat logs. One frame caught his eye.
A pause.
Zoom.
There—under a flickering streetlamp, when one shadow took a hit—something glowed faintly on its chest.
"…What's that?"
A symbol. Circular lines converging at the center. It looked like the Voidblade's emblem, the same one that had appeared the first time he opened the system—but this was more intricate, and… older.
> [Analyzing Symbol…]
[Result: System Trial Symbol – "Echo of the Trial"]
[Description: Trial Constructs – Non-biological entities created by the system to test the eligibility of Voidblade users. Invisible to ordinary humans.]
"So this is part of the system too?" Raden groaned. "Great. Another damn test…"
---
Dawn
The sun broke slowly over the horizon, but the nightmare continued. Now, five creatures stalked him—faster, more aggressive, moving like shadows rebelling against light.
Raden had one last plan: lure them into the open.
He sprinted toward an abandoned parking lot. Wide. Empty. Easier to fight without walls at his back.
The creatures followed.
As they approached, he activated a backup skill.
> [Active Skill: Precision Blink]
His body vanished—
—reappearing behind one of the shadows.
The dagger struck. Right in the center of the symbol.
No sound. Just vapor.
"One down…"
He smiled grimly. That was the weakness.
The others charged. Raden spun, ducked, rolled, and slashed. His body was covered in cuts. His strength was fading. But he targeted each mark with precision.
Another fell.
Then another.
Until only one remained.
This one was different.
Taller. Heavier. Its symbol wasn't on its chest—it was on its forehead.
> [Locked Entity: Echo of the Trial – Leader Variant]
Raden narrowed his eyes.
This was the final test.
He gathered every last ounce of energy he had—and charged.
---
Final 20 Minutes
Raden's body was a mess. Blood. Bruises. Every breath was a struggle. But finally—
He won.
The last Echo dissolved into mist. The air trembled. The world held its breath.
> [Congratulations! Daily Mission Complete]
[Reward: EXP +200,000 | Rare Item: Black Dimensional Fragment]
[Status: Voidblade Reactivated]
Raden collapsed to his knees.
The sky had cleared. Morning had arrived.
But peace… was far from reach.
He opened his inventory. The Black Dimensional Fragment shimmered like a crystal forged from another universe.
"…What the hell is this?"
But one thing was certain.
This wasn't the end.
It was only the beginning of something deeper.
Darker.
And as long as he had the system—
Raden would never sleep soundly again.
---