Jade suddenly sat upright on his bed.
His heart was beating rapidly.
The whisper he had heard moments ago had frightened him more than he expected. The quiet atmosphere of the room suddenly felt strange and unfamiliar.
For a few seconds, Jade looked around carefully.
Nothing seemed different.
The room was calm. The window was slightly open, allowing cool air to flow inside. The curtains swayed gently in the breeze.
Everything appeared normal.
Yet Jade knew something had changed.
Then the voice spoke again.
"Wow, Jade," the voice said in a playful tone.
"Your home is really cool… and very protective."
Jade froze.
His eyes widened slightly as he looked around the room again.
No one was there.
He was completely alone.
A strange feeling crawled down his spine.
"Wait a minute," Jade said slowly.
"I don't understand."
He rubbed his forehead as he tried to organize his thoughts.
"You… I don't understand you at all."
Then he asked the question that had been bothering him.
"Are you living inside me?"
For a brief moment, the room remained silent.
Then the voice replied.
"I'm not living in you."
Jade frowned slightly.
The voice continued.
"I am you."
Jade blinked.
"What?"
The voice calmly corrected itself.
"Or more accurately… I am the AI version of you."
Jade stared blankly ahead.
An AI version of himself?
That sounded strange.
But after experiencing the mysterious starless void and hearing the system earlier, Jade could no longer say something like this was impossible.
Still, he decided to test it.
If this really was some kind of intelligent system connected to him, it should know something personal.
"What is my favorite hobby?" Jade asked.
He crossed his arms while waiting for the answer.
The reply came immediately.
"Cooking."
Jade's eyes narrowed slightly.
That answer was correct.
Cooking had always been his favorite hobby. Even when he was younger, he enjoyed experimenting with different foods in the kitchen.
Very few people knew that.
Jade sighed quietly.
"So you really do know things about me."
Then he asked another question.
"What is my power?"
He paused briefly before adding,
"Or I should say… what will my future power be after I pass the trial?"
The AI responded instantly.
"Power: Undetected."
There was a brief pause.
Then the system continued.
"However, you possess a high affinity toward blood."
Jade leaned back against the headboard.
"Blood affinity…" he muttered quietly.
It sounded mysterious.
And a little disturbing.
Still, it didn't fully answer his question.
So Jade asked another.
"What about my fitness?"
The system responded without hesitation.
"Fitness: 16.666."
Jade blinked.
The number itself didn't mean much to him.
But he guessed it was some type of measurement used by the system.
He then asked another important question.
"Why can't I talk to the system directly?"
"And what exactly is your purpose?"
The AI responded calmly.
"My role is to communicate with you in order to maintain your mental balance."
Jade frowned slightly.
The AI continued speaking.
"Your psychological state must remain stable before the trial begins."
"My purpose is limited."
"I only provide information."
"Nothing else."
Jade sighed.
"So basically… you're just an information assistant."
The AI didn't respond to that.
Then Jade asked the question that worried him the most.
"What is my survival percentage in the system trial?"
There was a short moment of silence.
Then the system answered.
"Estimated survival probability: 20 percent."
Jade's face darkened immediately.
The AI continued speaking.
"However, this calculation is not fully accurate in real-world conditions."
But Jade barely heard that part.
Twenty percent.
That number echoed inside his mind.
If the system predicted only twenty percent…
Then his chances of surviving were extremely low.
Jade slowly lay back on his bed.
He stared silently at the ceiling.
Sleep never came that night.
The next morning, Jade woke up earlier than usual.
He didn't want to waste any time.
Without hesitation, he went straight to the underground dojo.
This time, he pushed himself harder than before.
Jade began running around the training track.
Lap after lap.
His speed was much faster now.
His father's brutal training had forced his body to grow stronger.
Although that training had almost killed him yesterday, Jade could already feel the improvement.
His stamina had increased.
His body felt lighter.
His breathing remained steady even after many laps.
Still, Jade didn't slow down.
He continued running.
Then he began doing push-ups.
Hundreds of them.
His arms trembled from the effort, but he forced himself to continue.
Sweat poured down his face and soaked his clothes.
Finally, after hours of intense training, Jade stopped.
His chest rose slowly as he breathed.
Then he spoke inside his mind.
"System."
"What is my fitness now?"
The AI responded instantly.
"Fitness: 16.667."
Jade blinked.
Then he did the calculation.
"So… I only increased my fitness by 0.001?"
He scratched his head.
"That's unbelievably slow."
But he couldn't complain.
At least he was improving.
The next day, Jade returned to the underground dojo again.
While walking around the room, something caught his attention.
There was a machine in the corner he had never used before.
It looked like a mini robotic house.
Curious, Jade walked closer to it.
He noticed the words written on the surface.
Holographic Game.
Jade had heard about this machine before.
It was a combat simulation device used for training.
Without hesitation, Jade stepped inside.
Immediately, a mechanical voice echoed around him.
"New participant detected."
"Please select a name."
In front of Jade, a massive list of names appeared.
Hundreds of names floated in the air like glowing letters.
Jade scanned through them.
Finally, he chose one.
"Devil."
The system responded.
"Name confirmed: Devil."
"Please select your rank."
Another list appeared.
Jade immediately recognized the ranks.
They were similar to the system ranks.
Then he saw one option.
Infected.
Since he hadn't passed the system trial yet, Jade selected it.
"Infected rank selected."
The voice continued.
"Please select your trial."
Two options appeared.
Human
Monster
Jade thought briefly.
Then he made his choice.
"Monster."
The system spoke again.
"Welcome to your trial."
Suddenly, the environment changed.
The dojo disappeared instantly.
Instead, Jade found himself standing in a vast forest.
Tall trees surrounded him in every direction.
The forest stretched endlessly.
But Jade barely had time to observe his surroundings.
Because suddenly—
Monsters appeared.
Several terrifying creatures rushed toward him.
Jade's eyes widened.
Without hesitation, he ran.
He ran through the forest as fast as he could.
The monsters chased him relentlessly.
Jade hadn't yet figured out how to kill them.
So his only option was to run.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
Eventually, Jade spoke to the system.
"How much distance have I covered?"
The AI replied.
"Distance covered: 50 kilometers."
Jade nearly stopped running from shock.
"Fifty kilometers?!"
He couldn't believe it.
Before his father started training him, even running ten kilometers had been extremely difficult.
But now he had run fifty kilometers and still wasn't completely exhausted.
Jade immediately understood something.
His father's harsh training had improved him far more than he realized.
But the situation was still dangerous.
The monsters were catching up.
Then Jade realized something important.
The distance didn't matter.
What mattered was speed.
If the monsters were faster than him, they would eventually catch him.
So Jade stopped running.
He turned to face them.
Then he kicked one of the creatures.
The monster stumbled backward.
But suddenly, a life bar appeared before Jade.
It had been 100.
Now it dropped to 50.
Jade frowned.
But the creature he kicked only lost 5 percent.
Another monster attacked.
Jade quickly dodged.
Then he punched another creature in the arm.
The monster instantly disappeared.
But Jade's life dropped again.
From 50 to 49.
He continued fighting.
Punching.
Dodging.
Kicking.
Several monsters vanished.
But more monsters kept appearing.
Eventually, Jade couldn't keep up anymore.
His life points dropped lower and lower.
Until finally—
They reached zero.
"Participant eliminated."
The forest vanished instantly.
Jade found himself back inside the holographic game machine.
His body was drenched in sweat.
His hair was messy, sticking to his forehead.
Anyone looking at him would think he had just fought for hours.
Yet strangely—
Jade didn't feel completely exhausted.
He stepped out of the machine slowly.
Then he returned to his room.
After freshening up and cleaning himself, Jade left again.
This time, he went to find his parents.
He needed answers.
He needed to know one thing.
What exactly would the system trial be like?
And more importantly—
How could he survive it?