The Chronicle of the Beginning and Climax

Chapter 14 – The Unwritten Path

Jihwan's world shattered.

The system's presence, the laws governing his existence, the very fabric of the story—everything crumbled into dust.

For a brief moment, there was nothing. No ground beneath his feet, no air to breathe, no direction to face. Just an abyss so vast that even time itself seemed to have collapsed.

Then—a heartbeat.

Jihwan's body reassembled. Piece by piece, sensation returned. His feet touched solid ground, but it was different. Not a dungeon, not a battlefield, not a written world.

Something new.

He opened his eyes.

The space before him was vast, stretching endlessly in every direction. And yet, it was incomplete—fragments of words, floating letters, unfinished sentences suspended in midair.

Jihwan exhaled.

> "This place…"

He took a step forward, and the ground formed beneath him. As if the very act of walking was shaping reality itself.

That's when he saw it.

A figure stood ahead, cloaked in shadows, its presence flickering like a glitch in existence.

And then, the voice came.

> "You finally broke free."

Jihwan's pulse quickened.

> "Who are you?"

The figure didn't move. It merely watched.

> "I am the one who never made it to the end."

A chilling silence followed.

Jihwan's mind raced. This wasn't a system message. This wasn't an NPC, nor was it a remnant of some forgotten book world.

This was something else.

The figure extended a hand. A book lay in its palm.

The title was missing. The pages were blank.

> "Write, Jihwan."

Jihwan stared at the book, the weight of those words sinking into him.

This was not a quest. Not a challenge.

It was a declaration.

> "The world has never had a Reader like you."

The realization hit him.

This wasn't just about escaping the system. This wasn't just about becoming stronger or reaching the end.

Jihwan was standing at the edge of something that had never been written before.

A story without an author.

His story.

A slow smirk formed on his lips.

> "Then let's begin."

And with that, the first word appeared on the empty pages.

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End of Chapter 14