Chapter 22 — First Application
Morning came quietly. Sunlight slipped through the curtains, cutting across the floor in thin lines. The city had returned to its usual rhythm—cars, distant voices, movement—but Aken's apartment remained still. He sat on the edge of his bed, awake and already dressed. Miokuo rested across his lap in its katana form, silent but present.
"…Let's test it out."
No hesitation, no delay. The system responded instantly.
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┃ STATUS WINDOW ┃
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Name: Aken Ezomo
Level: 1
Trait: Level 1 Curse
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HP: 320 / 320
Cursed Energy: 100
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STR: 23
INT: 14
STA: 18
PER: 15
AGL: 13
LCK: 12
SKL: 12
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Stat Points Available: 0
Possibility Points: 101
Inventory Slots: 15
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Stable and clean, no fluctuations. Exactly how it should be. Aken stood up.
"…Appraisal."
The skill activated immediately.
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[Cursed Energy: 95]
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The world shifted, not physically—but perceptually. Edges sharpened, distances clarified, noise filtered. Even the air itself seemed layered with faint lines—information waiting to be read.
He turned his gaze toward Miokuo, the blade responded.
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┃ APPRAISAL — MIOKUO ┃
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Name: Miokuo [Salvation]
Type: Cursed Weapon
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Evolution Stage: 1 / 10
Status: Bound
Affinity: Perfect
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Note: Growth-linked to wielder
Condition: Stable
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"…Perfect."
Miokuo gave a soft hum.
"You are synchronizing faster than expected master."
Aken didn't reply, he was already thinking ahead. Then—
"…Sprint."
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[Cursed Energy: 85]
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There was no build-up, no light, no motion. The world simply—folded and snapped back. Wind hit him, hard and immediate. Aken stood on the rooftop. The city stretched endlessly below—cars crawling like ants, people moving in unaware patterns, life continuing as if nothing had changed. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Instant, that's kinda cool."
No delay, no transition. From one point—straight to another.
Miokuo spoke.
"Spatial displacement confirmed master."
Aken stepped closer to the edge, looked down, measured distance and calculated.
"…Five kilometers is insane."
Mobility alone changed everything. From positioning, escaping, engaging and even control. Aken exhaled slowly.
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[Cursed Energy: 85]
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That was more than enough, then—his phone vibrated. He didn't check it immediately. Something felt off, not danger, not yet at list. But still—he picked it up.
[Jae-Min]
"… Good to hear you're alive Jae-min." Aken had answered.
"You sound almost disappointed."
"…Well I did think you'd be in a hospital bed or something."
"…But are you disappointed?" Jae-Min asked childishly.
"…Slightly."
Aken almost smiled.
"…What is it?."
Jae-Min's tone shifted, more serious.
"Turn on the news."
Aken's eyes sharpened.
"…Why?"
There was a slight pause.
"…Well lets just say, it's about you."
The call ended after a few minutes, but Aken didn't move for a moment. Then—He opened his phones news app.
A live feed broadcast of the Rupture. The footage was clearer than expected, too clear. Players where running, civilians screaming and some people even taking there last breath. The Hunter was shown and then—him. Moving, fighting, surviving, breaking every expectation. The video paused, zoomed in, then highlighted Aken's face. His movements analyzed frame by frame. Text appeared below it.
[UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER SURVIVES HIGH-LEVEL RUPTURE]
[LEVEL UNKNOWN — POTENTIAL HIDDEN RANK]
[UNION INVESTIGATION ONGOING]
Aken stared, silent. "…So it has started."
Miokuo responded. "The world now recognizes you master."
"…That's the problem."
Attention meant pressure, pressure meant exposure and exposure—meant danger. He closed the broadcast. Immediately—the rooftop felt wrong, subtle but undeniable. The wind shifted direction, while the temperature dropped slightly. His perception activated on instinct.
[PER: 15]
Everything sharpened, every sound, every movement, every detail.
"…There."
Behind him, soft, almost nonexistent. Aken turned slowly and saw it. A humanoid figure standing at the edge of the rooftop, still but watching with an indescribable gaze. Human in shape—but wrong, distorted. Edges flickering like unstable coding. Its posture was too rigid, too controlled, not natural. Almost as if it weren't alive but not dead either. Miokuo's voice dropped. "Cursed presence detected master."
"…Yeah, I can feel it."
The system flickered open.
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[NEW QUEST GENERATED]
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Objective: Eliminate Threat
Target: Unknown Entity
Reward:
+40 Possibility Points
+2 Stat Points
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Aken's gaze didn't leave the entity.
"…Already?"
The entity moved just slightly. Its head tilted, too slow yet too deliberate.
"…Found…You."
The voice cracked like broken radio script, distorted and incomplete. Aken's grip tightened on Miokuo.
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[Cursed Energy: 85]
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He stepped forward by a step, calm and measured. The entity didn't respond but the distortion around it intensified. The air thickened, pressure building. Then—It moved, not fast but not slow either. Just absolute, its body skipped space flickering forward. Aken reacted almost instantly.
"…Sprint."
[Cursed Energy: 75]
The world snapped, he reappeared ten meters to the side, clean but precise. The entity's strike hit empty air. The rooftop cracked, concrete spliting into two. Aken's eyes sharpened.
"…Now I get it."
He understood. This wasn't like the Hunter, not raw power. It was different, controlled and calculated. He moved first, Miokuo flashed into the wind. A clean strike aimed at its lower limb—the blade passed through with no resistance. Aken's eyes narrowed.
"…It's intangible?"
Miokuo responded instantly.
"Its more of a partial phase-state master."
The entity turned, faster now. Its arm stretched unnaturally, space warped around it. Aken stepped back, dodged by inches. The attack scraped his shoulder, a cold sensation spread briefly—Then vanished, HP unchanged but not harmless.
"… This is pretty annoying."
He adjusted his stance, mind racing, adaptation, observation and pattern all locked in. The entity flickered again, this time it was much faster. Aken didn't wait.
"…Appraisal."
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[Cursed Energy: 70]
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The world sharpened again, and this time he saw it. Not the body but the core, a faint malfunction within the distortion and at the same time a weakness.
"…There it is."
The entity lunged. Aken didn't move, not immediately. Timing, precision and control where hanging on this moment. At the last second—
"…Sprint."
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[Cursed Energy: 60]
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He vanished, reappeared behind it and already mid-swing. Miokuo cut cleanly—
straight through the core. For a moment— there was an unnatural silence, especially after the adrenaline Aken felt. Then—
The entity froze. Its body collapsed. Distortion breaking apart, fragments dissolving into nothing. Gone, just like that. Aken exhaled, letting the tension wash away.
"…That was easier than I expected."
Miokuo corrected him.
"It looks easy because you adapted quickly."
"…Same thing."
The system chimed.
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[QUEST COMPLETE]
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+40 Possibility Points
+2 Stat Points
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Aken didn't celebrate, didn't react. He just stood there looking at the empty rooftop. Thinking, because something was clear now. Very clear.
"They're evolving."
Miokuo didn't respond. It didn't need to, because Aken already understood. The Hunter wasn't the end. This was the beginning. Smaller units, faster, more precise. Sent to test him, to learn from him, to find him. Aken looked out over the city again., he was calm, focused and cold.
"…Good to know."
Because now he had something they didn't expect. Control, knowledge and a system…
That was starting to open up to him. He turned, walking toward the rooftop door. No hesitation, no fear, because this time—
He wasn't reacting, he was preparing. And the next one—
Wouldn't even get this far, not even close.
END OF CHAPTER 22