Only One Knew

[10:04 PM | Emergency Shelter Access | Gangbyeon Dead Zone – Sector Exit Gate]

Jae-hwan sat on the cold steps, drenched in blood and silence.

[Scenario #1: Complete]

[Reward Window Available. Open? Y/N]

He didn't open it yet.

It was the same after every scenario in the book.

The aftermath never hit when the monster fell.

It hit when the system told you it was over.

Han So-yeon leaned against a cracked pillar nearby, fingers curled tight around her knees. She hadn't spoken since they left the platform.

Jin-hee broke the silence.

"You should check your reward. Might be useful where we're going."

Jae-hwan didn't move.

He didn't even blink.

"Where are we going?"

Jin-hee smiled faintly.

[New Scenario Pending: The Author's Labyrinth]

[Scenario Type: Semi-Personal | Participants: 2]

[Entry Condition: Possession of Origin Fragment – Confirmed]

"You triggered it," he said. "Which means you're the lead."

Jae-hwan finally opened the window.

[Main Reward: Stat Increase (+10)]

[Bonus Reward: ???]

[Received: Item – Sealed Letter (Unreadable)]

He squinted.

"Sealed Letter?"

[Item: Sealed Letter – Description Unavailable]

[Effect: Cannot be opened until Author's Labyrinth is cleared. Sender unknown.]

Jin-hee glanced over. "You got one too?"

"You have this?"

"Something similar. Only yours is older."

Jae-hwan looked at the envelope again. There was no name. No seal. Only a bloodstain in the corner.

And handwriting that didn't belong to this world.

"To the one who refused the script."

He swallowed.

"You said two participants."

"Right," Jin-hee replied. "I'm your plus-one. Contractually allowed. As Editor."

"You're not my editor."

"No," he said. "But your system hasn't kicked me yet, has it?"

[Participant Status: Jin-hee Kwon – Authorized via Observer Contract Lv.1]

"So we're really doing this."

Jin-hee gestured ahead.

The wall at the end of the tunnel was shimmering now. Not glowing—shimmering—like someone had pasted pixels onto broken drywall.

[Scenario: Author's Labyrinth is now available.]

[Enter? Y/N]

So-yeon stepped forward.

"What about the others?"

Jae-hwan turned.

She was staring at the remaining survivors, all huddled near the shattered barricade. The child. The mother. The old man. A student who hadn't spoken since the first station.

"They can't come," Jin-hee said. "The Labyrinth is for those who've read the story."

So-yeon's voice dropped. "Then how do I remember it?"

Jin-hee blinked.

"What?"

"I remember scenes that haven't happened. Things no one told me. Words I never said—"

[Warning: Observer Fragment Detected – Subject: Han So-yeon]

Jae-hwan's system chimed.

[New Title Suggested: Inherited Reader]

She shouldn't be remembering.

Jae-hwan stared at her. "Did you read it?"

She looked up.

Her eyes shimmered.

"I think... I dreamed it."

Jin-hee swore under his breath. "This isn't good. That means the divergence is spreading."

Jae-hwan turned back to the wall.

It was a gate now. A white rectangle rippling in the void.

He touched it.

[Entering Scenario: Author's Labyrinth]

The world inverted.

[10:06 PM | Scenario Space: The Author's Labyrinth – Prologue Floor]

Jae-hwan landed hard on a library floor.

Wooden.

Dusty.

Endless shelves lined the infinite walls. Books that whispered. Scrolls that bled ink. Volumes bound in reader tears.

[Author's Labyrinth – Prologue Floor: Room of Abandoned Drafts] [Goal: Locate the Original Manuscript Fragment. Time Limit: 15 minutes.]

Jin-hee landed beside him, less gracefully.

"Ah, back again."

"You've been here?"

"Yeah. But not this floor."

Jae-hwan looked around.

Books fell open without being touched.

Pages fluttered.

One book snapped shut and whispered, "Don't pick me. I was a mistake."

[The Library has emotions. Caution advised.]

Jae-hwan's HUD flickered.

[Letter Resonance: Weak signal detected.]

He walked toward the center aisle.

Dozens of paths diverged. Each direction had a different font painted into the air: Times New Roman, Courier, Comic Sans.

"Really?" he muttered.

"Deadly serious," Jin-hee said. "Pick wrong and you're trapped in a genre loop."

They turned left, toward Courier.

Footsteps echoed louder than they should.

So-yeon wasn't there.

She hadn't made it in.

Just the two of them.

Jae-hwan stepped into a small study chamber.

On the desk, a single scroll pulsed with light.

He reached out.

[Manuscript Fragment Located. Reading Initiated.]

The scroll unrolled itself.

And began to speak.

"This is the story of a man who wasn't chosen. He read to the end. He memorized every scene. But when the world collapsed—he refused to be a spectator."

Jae-hwan clenched his fists.

"He was never supposed to exist in this world. But he stepped in anyway. And now... we must correct the error."

Jin-hee's eyes went wide.

"Stop reading."

[System Lock Initiated. Escape Disabled.]

The shelves screamed.

Books poured off the walls.

And the scroll burned with black fire.

[BOSS BATTLE: THE AUTHOR'S HAND – PROLOGUE GUARDIAN]

[Time Limit: 15:00]

To be continue...