Chapter 20 — Evaluation
The Korean Player Union was louder than usual, not chaotic, not controlled either, but tense. Conversations overlapped in low tones. Screens displayed fragments of footage from the Rupture. Medical teams moved quickly through corridors. Players stood in clusters, whispering, watching, waiting. News had already spread about something abnormal that happened. And at the center of it—Aken. He walked beside Soo-ah Ming without speaking, Jin Wong followed slightly behind, silent as ever.
Union personnel moved out of their way instinctively. Not because of Aken—but because of who walked beside him. Still… eyes lingered on him, too long, too curious and way too cautious. By now repairs where already ongoing through out the building. Then, Miokuo's voice echoed softly in his mind. "Your presence is drawing attention master."
"…That's good" Aken replied inwardly. "Let them look, It'll be fun."
Because hiding now…was pointless. They reached a large set of reinforced doors, two guards stood outside. Both straightened immediately. "Ma'am."
Soo-ah didn't stop walking. "Open it."
The doors slid apart, inside—a controlled environment, minimalistic and cold. A single table was centered, three chairs and an observation glass on one side. Aken stepped in. The air felt different here, low, measured and watched. Of course they were already observing. Soo-ah took the seat across from him. Jin Wong leaned against the wall, arms folded, standing right next to the door.
Aken sat, relaxed or atleast appearing to be. A brief silence followed, then—Soo-ah spoke. "State your name?."
"Aken Ezomo."
Her eyes didn't leave his. "Level?"
Aken didn't hesitate. "One."
There was silence for a while, a slight shift behind the observation glass. Jin Wong's gaze sharpened. Soo-ah's expression didn't change, but the temperature in the room dropped slightly. "…Repeat that."
"Level 1." Aken responded.
This time—the silence lasted longer, not out of disbelief, but of calculation, because she knew what that meant or rather—what it shouldn't mean.
"You were present at the Rupture."
"Yes."
"You engaged the entity."
"Yes."
"You survived it."
"Yes."
Each answer landed cleanly, no hesitation, no fear. Soo-ah leaned back slightly. "…Explain how."
Aken looked at her, straight and unflinching. "Sorry but no."
The air froze, literally. Frost began creeping across the edge of the table. Jin Wong shifted slightly, not intervening, but ready. Soo-ah's voice dropped. "…You're refusing a direct inquiry from the Union."
Aken didn't blink. "I'm answering what matters."
Her eyes narrowed. "And what decides that?"
Aken leaned forward slightly. "I do."
That was the moment the tension snapped, cold surged through the room, frost spread rapidly along the floor. The temperature dropped hard enough that the air felt sharp in the lungs. Jin Wong's hand moved to his sword, while Soo-ah's gaze turned lethal.
"You think this is a game?"
Aken's voice stayed calm.
"No."
Their eyes locked, power pressed against power, hers—overwhelming and heavy. Like a glacier ready to crush everything in its path. His was different, smaller but dense, condensed, unyielding. Miokuo pulsed faintly. "Master…"
"…I'm fine."
Soo-ah spoke again, slower this time. "You are either lying…" A pause. "Or you are something that shouldn't be existing."
Aken exhaled softly. "…Then I guess we both have a problem."
Jin Wong smirked faintly at that, Soo-ah didn't. She raised her hand slightly, the frost stopped spreading but it didn't disappear.
"…We reviewed the footage."
Aken didn't react.
"You were at the center of the entity's attention." A pause. "It had spoken."
Aken's eyes shifted slightly, just slightly. Soo-ah caught it. "…'Where is the Chosen One.'"
There was silence in the room after she said those words, heavy and deliberate. Then—her voice sharpened. "…Was it talking about you?"
Aken didn't answer immediately, not because he didn't know or was afraid, but because—the moment he said a word…
Everything would change. Miokuo spoke quietly. "This is a critical decision master."
"…Yeah, and it's quite annoying."
Soo-ah leaned forward slightly. "…Answer the question."
Aken met her gaze, and for the first time—He didn't deflect. "…I don't know."
It wasn't a lie, and yet wasn't the truth either. It was somewhat in between. Soo-ah studied him, long and carefully. Then, she leaned back. "…You're very impressive, I'll give you that…" A pause. "Or very dangerous."
Jin Wong chuckled softly. "…Could be both."
No one laughed, another silence followed. Then—the system flickered, only visible to Aken.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Possibility Points Threshold Reached]
[New Function Available]
>[Initialize?]<
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Aken's eyes didn't move, didn't react, but inside—everything sharpened.
"…Not now."
He ignored it. Soo-ah stood up, the frost receded slightly. "This isn't over."
Aken nodded once. "Yeah, got it."
She turned toward the door, Jin Wong pushed it open. "…Try not to disappear."
Aken stood as well. "…And try not to chase me."
Jin Wong smirked again. "…No promises."
The doors opened, cold air faded. The room returned to normal, but the pressure remained. Because nothing had been resolved, not really that is. As Aken stepped out into the hallway again, he could feel it, eyes, systems and attention. Everything was watching him now.
Miokuo spoke softly. "Master…"
"…Hmm."
"The path ahead has changed for you."
Aken walked forward, calm and steady.
"…It was always going to. Just a matter of time."
Because at this stage, he wasn't just surviving anymore, he had been seen. And in a world like this…that was far more dangerous than any monster.
END OF CHAPTER 20