Tower of The Fated Star

[12:28 PM | Mirae Industries | Lower Floor]

[Scenario #1: SURVIVE]

Time Limit: 20 minutes

Objective: Earn at least 100 Coins to survive.

(Coins are earned by killing living beings. The stronger the being, the more coins you receive.)

Penalty for Failure: Death

[Time Remaining: 11:36]

The boy moved in a blur.

Before Sung Jun Young could even react, a sharp impact cracked across his ribs. He hit the ground hard, his body sprawled across blood-slicked tiles.

"Ho.. Ho... Pretty boy.. You're really so weak. And I told you that there is no place for the weaklings in this world, didn't I?"

Jun groaned, coughing up blood. But before he could push himself back up, the system window in front of him shimmered—and vanished.

[A mysterious system is interfering]

[Current system is unbinding]

[System has been unbound from the host]

Gone.

It wasn't just disabled. It was stripped from him.

"(What the hell is going on? Why is this happening? If you didn't want to give me anything than you shouldn't give it. But why are you taking back after giving?)"

The frustration in his mind echoed louder than his ragged breaths. The only thing left to him now was his own body—bruised, broken, and alone.

Across the room, the boy's footsteps echoed.

He turned toward Kang Haejin.

"Khe.. Khe.. Miss Haejin.. Should we sattle our score now?" His grin curled into madness. "You always behave bad with me after all. But I can forgive you, if you be my woman now. What do you say?"

She was paralyzed in terror. Her lips trembled, but no sound came.

"Huh.. Are you scarred Miss Haejin? You see.. If you become my woman, you don't need to fear me. So become my woman and I'll protect you."

"Hey..."

The voice came from behind.

It was Jun.

He was standing again.

His face dark. His voice steady.

"Stay away from her."

"Owww... I'm so scared...!" the boy mocked, then laughed. "Ha.. Ha.. Ha... Pretty boy.. What are you going to do if I don't stay away from her?"

"I'll kill you."

A pause.

The boy raised a hand to his ear, pretending to listen. "What..? What did you just say? I didn't hear you?"

"I said... I'll f*king kill you, you bastard."

Something had changed.

There was weight in Jun's words now. A heat. An edge.

"Really! Can you even do that? Let's play a game than. You were trying to save everyone earlier. What if I told them to kill? What do you think? What will they do?"

He turned and raised his voice.

"Hey.. Everyone.. Whoever kill him before the scenario's end I'll spare their lives."

The people—those same people Jun had tried to protect—froze.

Then they moved.

Without a second thought.

They charged.

"Ha...ha...ha... You see.. I told you already. These basterds are really ungrateful. You tried to save them earlier and now they got a chance to live and they forgot what you did for them." He clutched his chest with mock sympathy. "Really! This world is so cruel."

---

[12:32 PM | Mirae Industries | Lower Floor]

[Time Remaining: 7:28]

They swarmed him.

A mob of desperate, panicked people.

Jun was alone, back pressed to the wall, body bruised and bleeding. He didn't fear them—but something deeper churned inside him.

Disappointment.

Sadness.

He thought: How could they do this?

They didn't even hesitate.

A moment ago I tried to save them… and now, just for a chance at survival—they're ready to kill me.

Why is this world so cruel?

It's not like I haven't seen its cruelty before. But every time I try to believe in people… they betray me.

Why?

Why can't I find people who can be kind to me?

A pipe struck his head.

Metal. Hard.

His vision swam in darkness.

"This world is really so cruel. I shouldn't trust people in the first place."

His body crumpled.

And then—

"Jun Young!"

Haejin's scream cut through the silence.

He lay in a pool of his own blood.

The crowd began to murmur, nervously laughing.

"Ha..ha..ha..ha.. Really! You guys are amazing. You didn't even hesitate and kill him."

The man holding the bloody pipe stepped forward eagerly.

"Sir.. You see.. I was the one who killed him. You'll spare me, won't you?"

Crack.

The boy's kick tore his head clean from his shoulders.

The body fell, lifeless.

The head rolled away.

"How pathetic! If you want to leave just leave the floor. Don't disturb us."

The remaining survivors scrambled away. Fear-stricken. Bloody. Guilty.

They fled to the upper floors without looking back.

The boy turned to Kang Haejin.

"So Miss Haejin... Now we can talk peacefully."

She was crying now.

Tears trailed down her face.

---

[DING]

The sound echoed in the void.

Jun's body lay lifeless.

But deep in that darkness, something stirred.

A new system flared to life.

[MONARCH SYSTEM ACTIVATING]

Jun's soul flickered weakly.

[ACTIVATION FAILED]

[ERROR DETECTED WITH THE HOST]

[THE ERROR WILL BE FIXED]

[ACTIVATING SYSTEM AGAIN]

[ACTIVATION FAILED]

[ACTIVATING SYSTEM AGAIN]

[FAILED]

[ACTIVATING SYSTEM AGAIN]

[ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL]

[MONARCH SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

His eyes opened.

But it wasn't Sung Jun Young who rose.

It was something else.

Something ancient.

A presence—feral, regal, and suffocating.

The Lion Family's best warrior.

The mighty Lion King, Jun Lion.

The man who once slaughtered thousands of monsters with a single strike but in the end, died.

He stood, body crackling with awakening might.

"What's going on here? Why the world in front of me changed? Which place is this?"

Haejin staggered back in shock.

The boy's grin finally faltered.

"How are you still alive?"

Note: Jun Lion from the first chapter has come.

To be continue...