NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Embracing hallucinations.
Tae's opponent lunged at him, knife flashing as he sliced through the air with wild fury and reckless confidence.
Tae sidestepped, a split-second dodge wiith sharp precision. Each time his opponent swung, Tae slipped out of the way with ease, throwing quick jabs that landed hard enough to jar the boy back, but not enough to slow him down for long.
The knife-wielding boy scowled, recovering quickly after every counter. Tae could tell the kid was getting annoyed—every miss and every glancing blow seemed to fuel his anger. And still, Tae moved with that same dark calm, slipping just out of reach, his fists shooting out in sharp counters that connected but barely bruised.
In the observation room, the white-haired woman watched with a raised eyebrow. "Impressive," she murmured, almost to herself, as her eyes followed Tae's movements.
But the man beside her clicked his tongue in disappointment, his voice sounded a cold finality. "No," he said, not bothering to hide his irritation. "At this rate, he's going to wear himself out. And facing someone with a knife while exhausted is—"
Just as he spoke, Tae felt the blade nick him on the shoulder, tearing through his hoodie and scraping his skin. The sting was sharp, real, and he flinched back instinctively, feeling a flicker of surprise.
Damn.
He'd miscalculated by a second.
The pain grounded him, pulling him sharply into focus. But then, out of nowhere, a cold, blue light flickered at the edges of his vision, just barely visible against the brightness of the room.
Tae blinked, thinking it was a trick of the light, maybe another effect of whatever he'd been hit with earlier. He focused back on his opponent, dismissing the strange glow. But the glow intensified, flashing for a moment, almost blinding him.
Then he heard it—a voice, faint and distorted, echoing in the back of his mind like some old radio crackling to life.
[System Activated.]
Tae froze, his gaze flickering around in confusion. His opponent sneered, mistaking Tae's distraction for fear, and swung again. But before the blade could make contact, something new appeared in Tae's vision—a strange, translucent overlay, a series of glowing bars and numbers hovering in the corner of his sight.
His heartbeat slowed, everything sharpening as he took it in: a bar labeled HP, segmented in color from green to yellow, a shifting line next to it labeled Stamina, and something else below it that read Focus.
} HP: 80 / 100
} Stamina: 65%
} Focus: 25%
} System Points: 5
"What…?" Tae whispered, almost forgetting his opponent as he tried to make sense of the surreal overlay floating in his sight. I'm losing it, he thought, bitterly amused. But even in the back of his mind, he felt no urge to shake the hallucination off; part of him didn't care, almost welcoming the distraction.
As his opponent rushed at him, a new line of text blinked into view, swift and mechanical, like something whispering right into his brain.
[Low Guard – Exploit.]
Tae's eyes narrowed. He barely knew what it meant, but something instinctual kicked in, guiding his movements. He dodged left, dropping low and sending his fist into the kid's side. The blow landed harder than before, his opponent stumbling back with a gasp.
Tae felt a strange surge inside him, his muscles coiling as he recognized the advantage. The kid tried to recover, the knife slicing through the air in a wide swing, but another line of text flashed across Tae's vision, lighting up in sharp electric blue.
[Watch Left Side.]
The next move came easily, like muscle memory. Tae stepped to the right, ducking as the knife sailed past his shoulder. His opponent's exposed side lit up with a faint red outline, guiding Tae's fist to land a brutal hit, this time sending the boy staggering. A stunned silence settled in the room as Tae stood there, breathing steadily, feeling a strange clarity that defied explanation.
In the observation room, the woman leaned forward, eyes widening as she watched the monitor. The shadowed man smirked, his interest piqued as he observed the sudden shift in Tae's approach.
"Is this…?" she muttered, her voice tinged with both excitement and a hint of disbelief.
"Seems he's figuring it out," the man replied, his voice low, satisfied. "Or at least, his body is."
Tae's opponent groaned, shaking his head as he tried to regain his footing. His gaze snapped back to Tae, anger flaring in his eyes as he charged forward again, his knife swinging in a clumsy, desperate slash.
But Tae was faster.
He ducked, each movement feeling sharper, more precise. Another line flashed before him:
[Weak Point – Neck.]
Tae followed it, his fist shooting out, connecting with his opponent's throat in a calculated jab. The kid choked, stumbling back, his grip on the knife faltering as his body reacted to the blow.
Tae didn't even flinch. He stepped forward, seized the boy's wrist, and twisted hard, feeling the weapon fall from his opponent's hand with a clatter. He caught it mid-air, then kicked his opponent's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor.
The boy lay there, panting, beaten, his eyes wide as he stared up at Tae in horror. The knife hovered in Tae's hand, the cold steel catching the room's stark light as he held it just above his opponent's face.
He looked down at the trembling boy, his face expressionless, his eyes dark, empty.
"I didn't walk out of that room without a knife in the hope you wouldn't pick one up either," Tae said quietly, his voice a chilling calm. "Quite the opposite, actually. I wanted you to have this advantage. I wanted you beat me with it."
He watched the boy's face pale, the defiance draining out of his eyes as he struggled to breathe under Tae's hold. Tae felt nothing but a dull indifference as he stared down, as if everything in him had already been drained, leaving only a hollow shadow behind.
"And yet… even then, you failed."
With one final, contemptuous look, Tae brought his foot up, kicking the boy sharply across the face. His opponent's head snapped back, his body going limp as he slumped against the cold floor, unconscious.
The knife clattered from Tae's hand, the sound echoing in the silence that followed. He looked down at his opponent's still form, the strange HUD still flickering in his sight, but he felt no sense of victory, no rush of relief or pride.
Maybe the next one will be the one, he thought, his mind drifting, dark and detached. The one to finally put me out of my misery.
In the observation room, the white-haired woman shook her head, her lips pressed into a line. "You were right," she muttered, glancing at the shadowed man beside her. "Looks like he's more than we expected."
The man only chuckled softly, his gaze fixed on the screen with a predatory gleam. "No Nine, I know those who recommended him so I already expected this much, infact I think we are in for more surprises."