NOVEL WEB Chapter 12: The One Who Gave Up
[09:21 PM | Gangbyeon Station – Dead Zone Arena]
A blow sliced through the dark.
Jae-hwan vanished and reappeared a meter behind his Echo, pipe shard in hand, breath steady.
[Skill: Ghost Step – Active]
[Cooldown: 08.2s]
The Echo turned slowly, blood trailing from its lip. But it smiled.
"You're faster than I remember."
Jae-hwan didn't speak.
He knew the voice. It was his. His from the sleepless nights, the hateful days, the mirror he punched until it cracked like his future.
[Opponent: Echo of Kang Jae-hwan]
[Trait: Broken Path – Reflects damage proportionally.]
[HP: ??? | Threat Level: Unstable Cataclysm]
He couldn't waste moves.
[Edge of the Author cooldown: 00:40:07 remaining]
So no narrative hacks. No speech-based miracles. Just hands. Just grit.
The Echo cocked its head. "What's your reason now?"
Jae-hwan frowned. "What?"
"Your reason. You have to have one. Is it the girl?"
His gaze flicked to So-yeon crouched in the dark behind a column.
The Echo chuckled. "Predictable."
Jae-hwan rushed forward again.
This time he fainted left, ducked under the Echo's arm, and slammed his fist into its ribs.
The Echo staggered—
Then kneed Jae-hwan in the gut.
[Damage Taken: 12]
[HP: 93/120]
Jin-hee's voice drifted from the side. "Careful. He remembers every move you've ever made."
No.
He remembers every failed move.
Which means—
Jae-hwan backed up slowly. "You're not me."
The Echo raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"You're just the version that never learned."
The Echo's smile vanished.
"Let's test that theory."
They clashed again.
Pipe on pipe. Fists. Knees. Steps flickering with Ghost speed, their shadows dancing across the broken tiles of Gangbyeon Station.
Jae-hwan's mind raced.
What could beat a mirror?
[System Tip: Echo Entities mimic combat history. Use divergence.]
He narrowed his eyes.
"I've never done this before."
The Echo frowned. "Done what?"
Jae-hwan threw the pipe aside.
Fists only.
A decision the other Jae-hwan had never made.
He lunged.
A clean right hook.
It landed.
The Echo's head snapped to the side, blood flying. The grin it returned was feral.
"Finally!"
[Echo Sync disrupted.]
[Mirror Lock broken for 5 seconds.]
Jin-hee snapped his fingers. "That's your window!"
Jae-hwan went low, sweeping the Echo's leg.
Then he dropped on top of it and drove his elbow into its chest.
[Critical Hit! Echo HP reduced. Remaining: Unknown]
But the Echo grabbed his throat.
"Tell me—why do you still fight?"
Jae-hwan gasped.
Blood filled his mouth.
[Warning: Oxygen Level Dropping]
His fingers twitched.
And then he whispered.
"Because I know how the story ends."
[Title Activation: Storybreaker – Resonance Triggered.]
The Echo froze.
[Resonance Clash Detected.]
[One Storybreaker must collapse.]
Jae-hwan's vision blurred.
He saw it—
All the lives he'd lived in the pages. All the endings he had read. The Jae-hwan that begged. The Jae-hwan that bled. The one that made it to the end. The one that didn't.
And this one—this Echo—was the one who gave up before the ending.
"Not today," Jae-hwan muttered.
He clenched his fists.
And then—
[Skill Activated: Ghost Step – Variation Mode: Split Echo]
Two copies of Jae-hwan flickered from his body.
The Echo's eyes widened.
"You never had that skill—"
"I do now."
Three fists struck simultaneously.
The Echo screamed—
And shattered.
[Dead Zone Guardian Defeated.]
[Sub Scenario Clear: Descent into Silence]
[You have acquired 1x Fragment of Refusal]
[You have gained the Unique Title: One Who Refused Himself]
[Level Up! Lv. 7 → Lv. 9]
[Stat Points +10 | Trait Development Unlocked]
Jae-hwan fell to his knees, panting.
The world trembled.
And began to light up again.
[09:38 PM | Seoul Metro – Emergency Platform Lighting Restored]
So-yeon ran to him, arms shaking.
"You did it," she whispered. "You won."
Jin-hee stood nearby, writing into the air again. "Barely. That wasn't even Act One's final boss."
Jae-hwan looked up at the flickering ceiling.
[Scenario #1 Complete: Awakening]
[Main Quest Initiated: Enter the Author's Labyrinth]
[Countdown: 48 Hours]
To be continue...