The Chronicle of the Beginning and Climax

Chapter 29 – The Reader's Resolve

The battlefield pulsed with conflicting forces—golden light clashing against the abyss of erasure.

Jihwan stood, his grip tightening around his book. His golden pages, once flickering with uncertainty, now burned with undeniable presence.

The Unwritten tilted his head, studying him with something bordering on curiosity.

"You're stubborn," the entity mused, his ink-like tendrils shifting with an unnatural flow. "Even when faced with erasure, you refuse to accept it."

Jihwan exhaled, his chest rising and falling with steady control.

"Because I'm not just a Reader." He flipped his book open, the words forming in real-time, rewriting his fate.

"I'm the one who decides how this story ends."

[Rewrite: Reinforce – The Reader Cannot Be Overwritten.]

Golden runes carved themselves into his skin, his presence stabilizing against the Unwritten's influence. The weight of erasure that had tried to consume him moments ago shattered into nothing.

The Unwritten's smirk faltered.

"Hoh?" A glimmer of intrigue flashed in his ever-shifting form. "You're learning."

Jihwan didn't wait. He moved.

With a flick of his wrist, the golden book flared, its pages twisting into a new command.

[Rewrite: Acceleration – The Reader Moves First.]

Reality bent.

In an instant, Jihwan was behind the Unwritten, his hand already tracing a command into the air.

[Rewrite: Seal – The Unwritten's Movements are Restricted.]

Golden chains erupted from the ground, wrapping around the Unwritten in an instant.

A heartbeat. A frozen second.

Jihwan drove his fist forward.

Boom.

The impact sent shockwaves through the battlefield, golden light surging against ink-like distortion.

The Unwritten's body buckled, his form twisting unnaturally as the force sent him crashing through the air.

Jihwan didn't stop. He turned the page.

[Rewrite: Chain Reaction – Damage Accumulates Over Time.]

A second wave of impact rippled through the Unwritten's body, forcing him to stumble midair.

For the first time—Jihwan saw something different in the Unwritten's gaze.

It wasn't just amusement.

It was recognition.

A slow chuckle escaped the Unwritten's lips. And then he laughed.

"Good," he murmured, straightening. The golden chains binding him began to unravel, their very existence rewritten by his mere presence.

His ink-like body shifted, fluctuating.

"Very good." His eyes burned with something unnatural. "I was right about you."

Jihwan's pulse steadied, his stance unwavering.

This wasn't over. Not yet.

But something about the Unwritten's voice made him pause.

"You're beginning to see it, aren't you?" the entity mused. "The nature of our existence."

Jihwan narrowed his eyes.

The Unwritten's smirk deepened.

"You are a Reader," he said. "But do you even know… who's writing your story?"

The words sent a shiver down Jihwan's spine.

A whisper of doubt.

A question he had never asked himself before.

His grip on his book tightened.

No.

He wouldn't let the Unwritten shake him. Not now.

Jihwan turned the page.

"I'll find my own answers."

His golden aura flared.

"And I won't let you dictate them."

The battlefield crackled with energy as the battle resumed.

To Be Continued…