Silence wasn't supposed to be loud.
But this one was.
The battlefield stood frozen beneath a fractured sky, as if the heavens themselves had been shattered and glued back together wrong. Vast cracks split the clouds, revealing streaks of distorted light beyond, while shards of reality—like broken glass suspended in air—floated slowly, rotating without wind or gravity. The ground below was scorched black and crimson, uneven with craters, melted stone, and half-buried demon corpses twisted into unnatural poses.
The chained entity hadn't moved.
Satoshi hadn't either.
Heavy iron chains wrapped around the entity's body, each link embedded into the air itself, stretching outward into nothingness. They hummed faintly, vibrating like they were resisting something unseen.
No system voice.
No warning window.
No comforting blue text.
"…Hello?" Satoshi muttered.
His voice echoed too far, stretching unnaturally before fading, like the world didn't know how to respond.
Nothing.
For the first time since waking up, he felt it.
Loneliness.
The system hadn't abandoned him.
It was… afraid.
The chained entity tilted its head slowly, metal scraping softly as the chains shifted. Its eyes—if they could be called that—glimmered with something between curiosity and disbelief as it studied Satoshi like he was a flaw in existence.
"You killed the connection," it said.
"Not severed. Not blocked."
"Killed."
Satoshi frowned, brushing dust and dried blood from his sleeve. "You make it sound impressive."
The entity laughed softly, a hollow sound that echoed through the broken sky, though its chains tightened, digging deeper into the air.
"You rejected causality itself. The system exists to explain death."
"It can't be explained to you."
Something moved behind Satoshi.
A wet sound.
Flesh scraping stone.
He turned—
A demon corpse twitched.
Its broken arm jerked violently, claws scraping against the ground. Then another corpse stirred. And another.
Cracks spread across their bodies like shattered porcelain, black mist pouring out from within as their eyes snapped open—empty, glowing pits leaking corrupted mana.
> [SYSTEM — OFFLINE]
The text flickered once, then vanished.
No warning.
No enemy markers.
Just reality.
"Great," Satoshi sighed. "Zombies too."
The corpses rose unnaturally, limbs bending at impossible angles, spines snapping back into place with sickening sounds. Their mouths stretched far wider than biology allowed, jaws tearing as if something inside them was forcing its way out. Mana leaked from them like poison gas, corroding the ground beneath their feet.
The chained entity stepped back, chains rattling, genuinely annoyed.
"Tch. Even dead, they won't stay dead."
"It seems the world wants you gone."
The nearest corpse lunged, claws tearing through the air.
Satoshi reacted on instinct.
He grabbed a broken sword from the ground—its blade chipped, rusted, barely holding together—and swung—
The blade sliced clean through the demon's neck.
The head hit the ground with a dull thud.
The body collapsed.
Satoshi froze, waiting.
> [NO EXP GAINED]
…
Nothing.
"No level up?" he whispered.
The corpse melted into ash, collapsing inward like burned paper.
The others stopped.
Their movements halted mid-step.
Then—
They screamed.
Not in pain.
In fear.
High-pitched, distorted shrieks tore from their throats as they stumbled backward. One tripped over another, claws digging desperately into the dirt. Without another sound, they turned and ran, fleeing into the smoke and shattered ruins beyond the battlefield.
Satoshi stood there, breathing hard, chest rising and falling as his face filled with nervous.
"…What?"
The chained entity stared at him.
Its voice dropped, slow and careful.
"…You didn't kill it," it said slowly.
"You ended it."
Satoshi looked down at the sword in his hands.
It was dull.
Cracked.
Normal.
Yet the ash at his feet refused to reform, refusing to respond to the mana saturating the battlefield.
> [PASSIVE EFFECT — UNKNOWN]
Targets slain by users do not return.]
Satoshi's stomach twisted.
"So… no farming?"
The entity barked out a laugh, sharp and humorless. "You truly are cursed."
The ground shook.
A deep, rhythmic tremor rolled through the battlefield, each vibration stronger than the last. Craters widened. Floating shards of reality rattled in place.
From beyond the battlefield, something massive approached. Each step crushed the land, pulverizing stone into dust.
A horned giant emerged from the smoke, easily fifty meters tall. Its skin was layered with glowing runes carved directly into its flesh, each symbol pulsing with siege-grade mana. Its eyes burned like furnaces.
A Siege Demon.
Satoshi felt it immediately.
The pressure alone made his knees ache.
This thing could erase him.
The chained entity turned to Satoshi
"Run," it said plainly. "This one won't hesitate."
Satoshi tightened his grip on the sword, knuckles whitening.
"…Yeah," he said.
"But if I run…"
He glanced back at the ash on the ground.
"…this world keeps respawning its problems."
The giant roared, sound ripping through the sky, and raised its massive fist, runes blazing brighter.
Satoshi stepped forward.
The moment the fist fell—
The system flickered back to life.
---
"SYSTEM — EMERGENCY REBOOT"
> User status: UNDEFINED]
Threat: OVERWHELMING]
Recommended action: IMPOSSIBLE]
A new window forced itself open, glitching violently.
---
"HIDDEN CONDITION MET"
You killed without reward.
You advanced without guidance.
You stood without fate.
---
The fist stopped midair.
Reality paused.
Dust hung frozen. Cracks in the ground halted mid-spread. Even the smoke stopped moving.
Satoshi felt something snap inside him—not power, not rage—
Acceptance.
> [UNIQUE SKILL UNLOCKED]
❖ FINALITY ❖
Things you kill stay dead
Things you break stay broken
Things you deny lose meaning
Cost:
Your existence will never stabilize.
Satoshi exhaled slowly.
"…Figures."
He raised the broken sword.
And slashed upward.
The sky split.
A clean, silent fracture ripped through the heavens.
The giant didn't explode.
Didn't scream.
It's simply… ceased.
Gone.
Nobody.
No ash.
Like it had never existed.
The battlefield trembled as the pause released, reality shuddering to fill the void left behind.
The chained entity took another step back, chains rattling violently.
"…You're not a hero," it whispered.
Satoshi lowered the sword.
"Yeah," he replied quietly.
"I know."
And the system
It updated one final line.
> User Classification Updated: IRREGULAR → ANOMALY