Test Space — Closed Dimension
The portal sealed behind him.
The landscape was empty.
A smooth floor stretched endlessly.
A sky without color.
No visible limits.
[System Notification]
Mandatory Test.
Exit locked until completion.
Then—
Someone appeared in front of him.
Same height.
Same stance.
Same aura.
Diopha.
But different.
Zenkai (distant, omnipresent voice)
"This is your Alter Ego."
"Synchronization: +1%."
A laughably small percentage.
Yet—
Diopha felt the difference immediately.
First Combat
He struck without hesitation.
The Alter Ego dodged before his intent was even complete.
Counterattack.
Brutal.
Precise.
Diopha was thrown to the ground.
"Too slow."
A blade of conceptual energy cut through the space around him.
Death.
Again.
Diopha rose.
Then again.
Death.
Again.
Crushed by his own inverted gravity.
Again.
Erased by an event manipulation he hadn't anticipated.
Zenkai
"He doesn't surpass you in raw power."
"He surpasses you in understanding."
The deaths kept coming.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Each time, the Alter Ego wielded his own abilities better than he could.
Invisible Progression
Through repeated deaths, Diopha realized:
Abilities weren't buttons to press.
They were concepts to embody.
Event manipulation wasn't about canceling.
It was about preexisting the event.
Artemis wasn't a boost.
It was a state of being.
Little by little—
[Mastery: 1% → 12% → 37%]
The deaths continued.
But their nature changed.
He survived longer.
He anticipated.
The Thousandth Death
By the 1,117th defeat, Diopha was still standing.
The Alter Ego struck.
Diopha countered.
They exchanged blows.
The ground split.
The sky bent.
Zenkai infused more energy.
Zenkai
"This dungeon is now infinite."
"Destroy it if you can."
To be continued…