Joon's prophecy is being fulfilled faster than Kim-Do could have imagined. The pressure, subtle at first, became a tangible, overwhelming force. The system was no longer just giving him quests; it was changing the environment, creating impossible situations.
It started with contradictory quests.
"'
[URGENCY QUEST: REPIRING THE REBELLION]
Background: Whispers of dissent arise within your faction. They doubt your "new" path.
Objective: To reassert your domination by a public and indisputable act of force before the end of the day.
Reward: Increased Loyalty, +200 Reputation Points.
• Failure: Loss of status, possible split.
"'
"'
[URGENDERAL QUEST: PRESERVE THE IMAGE]
Background: The Student Council observes your progress towards more civilized methods.
Objective: To resolve a conflict through diplomacy and dialogue, without resorting to violence.
• Reward: Lee Min-Ji's increased confidence, "Successful Their" permanent.
• Failure: Return of the Council's suspicions, increased isolation.
"'
Kim-Do read them, his heart pounding. The two quests canceled each other out. Satisfying one automatically meant failing the other. It was a perfect trap. The system forced him to choose, to reveal his priority: fear of his group or the need to appear legitimate in the eyes of order.
The day was a nightmare. Every interaction was a minefield. Choi Yu-Ra reported to him that some members, led by Dae-Ho who were still resentful, were talking about finding him "too soft." At the same time, Lee Min-Ji approached him to discuss "meditation initiatives between factions," his eyes full of heavy expectations.
He felt torn, stretched on a rack. His "Tactical Intuition" was screaming warnings in all directions. He could no longer concentrate, as migraines caused by the influx of synchronicity became unbearable.
The crisis erupted in the late afternoon. Dae-Ho and two other boys got the member of the neutral faction involved in the previous day's altercation into the toilet. They wanted to "settle the old-fashioned accounts," to "restore pride to the faction."
When Kim-Do arrived, prompted by an urgent alert from Yu-Ra, he found the boy neutral, terrified, his face already swollen, stuck against a urinal. Dae-Ho stood in front of him with clenched fists.
"We'll teach him respect, boss!" said Dae-Ho, when he saw Kim-Do, with a burst of raw pride in his eyes.
Kim-Do felt all eyes on him. Those of his men, thirsty for violence and reaffirmation. And, as if by a curse, he saw in the doorway the reflection of Lee Min-Ji approaching, attracted by the noise.
The time had come. The system had cornered him.
Choose.
If he stopped them gently, he would lose his faction. If he let them, or worse, if he joined them, he would lose Min-Ji and any chance of redemption would feign. And losing Min-Ji meant attracting much more dangerous attention.
A dazzling pain pierced his skull, more intense than ever. It wasn't a memory, it was an injunction. The system demanded a response.
In shock, a third way, desperate and risky, crossed his mind. A path that belonged neither to the real Kim-Do nor to the calculating imposter, but to him alone.
He moved quickly, not towards the neutral boy, but towards Dae-Ho. Before he could react, Kim-Do grabbed his arm and held it up and, using his own momentum, threw it violently against the adjacent wall.
The shock was muted. Dae-Ho collapsed, groggy, from foam to mouth.
A dead silence fell on the toilet. The other two attackers retreated, horrified. Even the neutral boy stopped crying, stunned.
Kim-Do, panting, turned to his two men. His face was distorted by a cold anger, a fury he had never felt before.
"The next person who touches someone without my explicit order," he scolded, his voice so low and so menacing that it was barely audible," he would end up in the hospital. Not here. Is that understood?"
They nodded, petrified. This was not the disciplined strength of the real Kim-Do. It was something wilder, more unpredictable. It was the rage of the cornered animal.
Then he turned to the neutral boy. Now."
The boy snuck in without asking for his rest.
Only then did Kim-Do allow himself to look towards the door. Lee Min-Ji was there, pale, with his hand on his mouth. His gaze was no longer that of the idealist, but of someone who had just seen a chilling truth. She had seen the violence. But it also saw that it was channeled, used to impose an order, to protect the weakest, in a way.
He had not used diplomacy. Nor had he succumbed to gratuitous brutality. He had used calculated, directed violence to restore his authority and stop the attack. It was a confusing mix, impossible to classify.
He held out his gaze, his heart beating. He had failed both quests. He was sure of it.
VZZT.
The message of the system was different.
"'
[Analysis]... Atypical response detected.
[QUESTS "REMEP THE REBELLION" AND "PRESERVE THE IMAGE": FAIL.]
[Synchronicity: -5%]
[NEW GIVEN REGISTERED: "Improvisation under Pressure."]
[Evaluation: The host response does not match any predefined profile.] Ongoing experience...
"'
There was no reward. Only a penalty and a clinical interest note. The system was intrigued.
Min-Ji says nothing. She turned her heels and left, her stiff back betraying her confusion.
Kim-Do remained alone in the stinking toilet, Dae-Ho's body moaning at his feet. He had failed. He had lost synchronicity. But he had survived. And he had, for the first time, reacted not as an imitator, but as himself - a desperate and dangerous being.
As he left the toilet, he felt Joon's gaze somewhere in the shadows. This time, there was a new glow in the regulator's eyes. Not approval, but interest.
The system wanted to push him to become a version of Kim-Do. But by pushing him to the limit, he risked creating something totally unexpected. Something that neither the system nor Kim-Do itself understood yet.