The Chronicle of the Beginning and Climax

Chapter 7 – A Game of Trust

The rest area was quieter than before. The initial shock of survival had settled into a thick unease. Twenty-seven players remained. Some huddled together, whispering, while others sat alone, staring at the Book of Change in their hands, waiting for it to reveal something—anything—that could help them.

Jihwan flipped through his own book, though he wasn't expecting much. Blank. Just like before.

No, not completely. A single line of text had appeared.

[The Variable is watching.]

Jihwan's fingers stilled against the page.

Variable?

His gaze flickered across the room, scanning each face. A hint of a smirk. A nervous glance. A twitch of the fingers. Subtle signs. Someone here wasn't supposed to exist.

He didn't react, didn't let his thoughts show. Instead, he observed.

Across the room, a group was already forming.

"We need to stick together," Kang Seojin declared, his deep voice cutting through the silence. He stood at the center, broad-shouldered and commanding, the kind of person people naturally looked to for leadership. Or control. A few others gravitated toward him—those who wanted security, those too scared to be alone.

"If you're not with us," Seojin continued, his voice casual but firm, "then you're against us."

Jihwan barely resisted the urge to scoff. It was predictable. Fear bred desperation. Desperation bred control.

A young woman raised her hand hesitantly. "But… what if the game forces us to fight each other?"

Seojin grinned. "Then we make sure we win."

Jihwan turned back to his book, uninterested. Alliances like that never lasted.

"You're awfully quiet," a voice said.

He glanced up. Sohyun.

She stood with arms crossed, watching him with that sharp gaze of hers—not suspicious, but curious.

"I prefer watching," Jihwan replied simply.

Sohyun tilted her head slightly. "And what do you see?"

Jihwan didn't answer right away. Instead, he glanced at Seojin's group. They were already dividing themselves into the strong and the weak. The strong made the decisions. The weak followed, hoping it would keep them alive. But in the end…

"Only the strong survive," he murmured.

Sohyun studied him carefully. "And which one are you?"

Jihwan closed his book. "Neither."

Her gaze didn't waver. "You're hiding something."

"Everyone is," he said without hesitation.

A sudden choking sound snapped their attention away.

One of the players—a young man, Taehwan—stumbled forward, his hands clawing at his throat. His face turned pale, his eyes bulging as if something unseen was strangling him.

Someone screamed.

"What's happening?!"

"Someone help him!"

Jihwan didn't move. He already knew what was happening.

Moments later, a system message flickered into the air.

[Player Taehwan has been eliminated for violating game rules.]

[Cause of Death: Attempting to alter his book's contents.]

Silence fell over the room.

Jihwan glanced at Taehwan's hand. His Book of Change lay open beside him, the pages smudged, as if something had been erased and rewritten.

An idiot.

The system didn't tolerate cheaters.

Sohyun inhaled sharply. "This game… it's not just about survival."

Jihwan shut his book. "No. It's about obedience."

He didn't like obedience.

As the room settled into uneasy quiet, a new sentence appeared in his book.

[The Variable has taken an interest in you.]

His grip on the book tightened.

Jihwan's eyes scanned the room once more, moving from face to face.

Sohyun. Seojin. The scared players huddled in the corner.

One of them wasn't real.

And whoever it was… was watching him, too.

End of Chapter 7