The Chronicle of the Beginning and Climax

Chapter 10 – The Rulebreaker

Silence.

The moment Jihwan uttered those words—"We don't play the game at all"—the golden door stopped glowing.

The pulsating letters flickered once. Then twice.

Then—

The system lagged.

The change was almost imperceptible. The air around them grew thicker, as if reality itself was hesitating. The rules had never been questioned before.

The other players hadn't noticed. Their eyes were still locked on the golden door, waiting for the next pair to step forward and repeat the cycle of trust and betrayal.

But Jihwan and Sohyun weren't looking at the door.

They were looking at the system itself.

Jihwan inhaled deeply. Now or never.

He turned away from the entrance and took a step backward.

The moment he did—

---

[Warning: Player Yoo Jihwan has rejected participation.]

[Analyzing response…]

---

Sohyun followed his lead, stepping back as well.

---

[Warning: Player Sohyun has rejected participation.]

[Analyzing response…]

---

The golden door trembled.

The letters above it distorted, twisting into an unrecognizable shape.

And then—

The world screamed.

A mechanical noise erupted from all directions, like thousands of grinding gears crushing reality itself.

The system was failing.

The game wasn't designed for this.

---

[ERROR: SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED]

[An unregistered path has been discovered.]

---

Sohyun clenched her fists. "What now?"

Jihwan didn't answer immediately. Because something was changing.

The floor beneath them cracked. Not physically—but in a way that made it feel like the entire room wasn't real.

It was a thin, artificial space—a stage meant for a test that had only two choices. But now, they had forced the system to acknowledge a third path.

A hidden path.

Jihwan smirked. "Now… we see how far we can push the system."

And then—

The golden door shattered.

Not opened. Not unlocked.

It simply… ceased to exist.

Behind it was not a hallway. Not another room.

But something else.

Something the system didn't want them to see.

A void. Endless, suffocating darkness, stretching beyond human comprehension.

But for the first time—there was no set path.

No rails. No pre-written answers.

Jihwan turned to Sohyun. "Ready?"

She exhaled. "Not really."

He grinned. "Good. That's how you know we're doing something right."

And without hesitation—they stepped into the unknown.