CLANGGG!!!
Sparks exploded into the air as steel met claw. Jaemin's katana clashed against the Overseer's razor-like talons, the sound sharp enough to echo off the twisted metal walls of the inverted building. Each blow was heavy, deliberate—this wasn't speed, but power and precision, like two veteran swordsmen locked in deadly rhythm.
Without warning, the Overseer's massive tail whipped through the air.
Jaemin ducked.
WHOOSH!!!
The tail narrowly missed his face, tearing through a crumbling beam instead. Jaemin twisted under and retaliated, slashing across the tail. His blade hit with a clean shunk—but the creature didn't even flinch. There was armor. Thick, glinting, crystalline plating wrapped around the Overseer's body like a serpent's scale, pulsing faintly with starlight.
"Tch."
Jaemin reset his grip, circling slowly. Another round. Claws met blade again. Sparks, groans, footwork. Each impact reverberated up his arms.
Then—the Overseer expanded.
Its body grew, doubling, tripling in size. The pipes above groaned under its weight. Its claws ripped through stone, tearing up the battlefield like paper. Jaemin dodged right—left—jumped—but a glancing blow caught his leg.
SLASH!!!
Blood sprayed. A deep gash ripped into his thigh.
"Ghkk—!"
He gritted his teeth, pain flooding his nerves. His leg trembled. He would've crumpled if not for brutal exercise he is doing. No time to falter. He sprinted—limping—toward the broken support columns scattered nearby, kicking off rubble and hauling himself upward.
One ledge. Then another. Then higher. Jaemin climbed, leapt from pillar to pillar, until he was above the serpent-like Overseer, its body coiled below, searching, hissing.
He launched himself down.
CRACK!!!
The katana drove into the Overseer's nape with a shimmer of golden energy—but it shattered on impact, fragments flying like fireflies.
"...Doesn't matter."
Jaemin whispered, bleeding from his leg, knuckles white.
"I can still kill you."
He dropped the useless hilt. Both hands slammed against the Overseer's armored spine. With a grunt, he dug in, fingers pressing into cracks, climbing higher.
The crown.
It shimmered at the head of the beast—jagged, starlit, and set with a single glowing jewel.
The source.
The Overseer thrashed, whipping its body in desperation. It slammed Jaemin sideways.
BAM!!!
Into a brick wall. His skull cracked the surface, leaving a splatter. He slumped—but didn't fall.
Blood poured down his face, past his chin, and into his eyes.
Then—his pupils flared.
A soft glow.
Sunrise orange.
His Core stirred.
"…No."
With a guttural scream, Jaemin lunged forward and ripped the crown off with both hands, the jewel sparking as the armor shattered into crystal dust across the room. The Overseer screamed—a piercing wail of exposed flesh and ancient pain—but it wasn't done.
Neither was he.
Jaemin fell, flipped midair, and kicked straight into the Overseer's maw.
Its teeth clamped down, biting into his foot.
Pain flared.
"DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!!!!!!!!"
He screamed.
Veins bulged in his arms. His muscles flexed unnaturally, fueled by will and rage alone.
"I WILL KILL YOU—NO MATTER WHAAAAAAAT!!!!"
With a roar that tore his throat raw, Jaemin planted his feet on the writhing monster's lower jaw, gripped the upper with both blood-slicked hands—and pulled.
Hard.
CRACK!!!
The jaw opened too far.
SNAP!!!!!!
The mouth split further, flesh tearing, bones groaning.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
His scream split the room like thunder.
With one final, inhuman rip, Jaemin tore the Overseer's skull in half, ripping its mouth wide open—past its limits, past reason—until its body spasmed, convulsed, and finally slumped, twitching.
Silence.
His breath heaved.
Blood dripped.
And the glow in his eyes slowly faded.
THUD.
Jaemin collapsed onto the stone floor, his limbs trembling from the sheer brutality of the fight. Blood pooled under his foot, still pierced with bite marks. The Overseer's corpse twitched one final time... then began to steam.
Wisps of vapor rose from its torn body like smoke off dying embers, curling into the air, disappearing.
Within seconds, the creature was gone—dissolved completely into shimmering particles. Only silence remained.
Except...
A faint glimmer caught his eye.
Nestled where the body had been, scattered across the ground, were crystals. Dozens of them. Not the usual grey-black rift dust that needed to be smelted, but pure, prismatic Rift Crystals—concentrated essence, valuable beyond measure.
"...Sweet."
Jaemin muttered, limping toward them.
He crouched with a wince and began scooping them up, carefully dropping them into the cloth satchel strapped to his side. Each crystal pulsed faintly, like a living thing. His reward. No one to split it with. No one to take the credit. Just him.
Jaemin's hand trembled slightly.
"Recover?"
He said it aloud, more out of habit than hope. A part of him didn't expect it to work, not after what he just went through.
But his body responded. Slowly, subtly—his wounds began to mend.
The gash in his leg tingled, closing millimeter by millimeter. His breathing eased. The bite marks, though still fresh, weren't bleeding as violently.
There was still a cooldown, he could feel it—but his Core... it was different now. More responsive. More alive.
He looked up.
The air shimmered again.
A swirling vortex twisted open at the far edge of the broken space—the rift's exit. A pulse of warm wind brushed past him. The way out.
He stared for a second longer, blinking. A small, dry laugh escaped his cracked lips.
He did it.
He cleared an entire rift, alone.
Alone.
No Covenant. No team. No backup.
He limped toward the vortex, a half-smile curling despite the pain. He exhaled a long breath and—
FLASH.
Jaemin opened his eyes.
Fluorescent lights.
Bleached ceilings.
Crisp bedsheets.
A hospital bed?
"What...?"
He looked around, disoriented. The sterile smell hit him next. Heart monitor. An IV drip. Everything looked... normal. Like he never left. But something was off.
He glanced out the window.
Night.
Wasn't the rift in the alley? Wasn't it still daylight?
His eyes darted to the watch on his wrist.
4 hours.
He'd been gone for four hours. Four hours. That long? It felt like… less. Time in the Rift flowed differently—this confirmed it. He wasn't imagining things.
Jaemin quickly went near his bed up, wincing slightly. The wounds were healing—but not enough to ignore. He grabbed the bag of Rift Crystals and shoved them deep into a locker-drawer beside the bed, wrapping them in his hoodie.
Hospital gown next. He tugged it on, biting back a grunt as the fabric pressed against bruises.
He glanced at the clock. Almost dinnertime.
His stomach growled.
The hospital food sucked—but after that kind of fight? It was better than starving.
And it was free.
For now.
Jaemin sat cross-legged on the hospital bed, chewing on the last bite of the dry, overcooked rice. The hospital dinner was bland, but after everything he'd been through, it tasted like peace.
A few minutes later, he was at the Coreborns Association kiosk down the hall, a quiet, automated terminal rarely used this late. He slid the crystals into the exchange slot. The machine hummed for a moment, scanning, evaluating.
₩8,000,000 KRW.
The number blinked onscreen in soft blue light.Jaemin exhaled slowly. He tapped Accept.
****
Later, in the same hospital room, he sat by the window, watching traffic blur into trails of red and white below. His phone sat beside him, receipts open. Rent? Paid. Nari's next semester? Covered. His mother's hospital charges? Cleared until the next evaluation.
There was still some left — not a fortune, but enough for socks that didn't have holes. Maybe a proper meal for once. Even for new clothes or weapons, eventually.
He leaned back against the window frame, his hospital's shirt sleeves rolled up, the night air brushing against his skin.
For the first time in what felt like years, Jaemin wasn't just surviving.He was living.And it felt... good.
His eyes closed, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"…Not bad," he murmured.
"Not bad at all."
****
The hospital courtyard was nearly empty except for the faint thudding of sneakers on pavement. Sweat dripped down Jaemin's jaw, soaking the collar of his shirt.
"One hundred…"
He pushed up from the ground, arms trembling, and rolled onto his back.
"Sit-ups now"
His breathing was sharp, but controlled — precise. Each rep felt like an anchor, like he was tethering his power to his body with discipline.
The same nurses who once scoffed at him as a frail trainee now peeked out from the windows, whispering behind clipboards, giggling when they thought he couldn't hear.
He didn't care. Not anymore.
The Jaemin from before was gone.
During lunch, he found a cheap barbershop near the hospital. Nothing fancy — just a clean cut. The stylist took one look at his tired but determined face, and went to work without a word.
When he stepped out, his hair was shorter — trimmed clean, dark bangs framing his sharp eyes. He looked… sharper. More like the Coreborn he was destined to become.
Back at the hospital, sweat clung to his skin again within minutes.Push-ups. Squats. 10 km run. Sit-ups.
Again. Again. Again. EACH DAY.
He didn't stop until the motions became second nature — until he could feel the power in every muscle, earned not from luck or a Core, but from himself.
He didn't want to need Recover anymore.He would be strong with or without it.
And with each drop of sweat that hit the ground, Han Jaemin got closer.
To being unstoppable.
****
A knock echoed off the quiet hospital room walls. Jaemin, mid-stretch, turned toward the door, towel still hanging around his neck.
It opened slowly.
A familiar face stood there — the nurse who once scoffed at him when he was a weak, Core-less trainee. He barely remembered her name, but the memory of how she looked at him back then… like he was a burden, not a patient… lingered somewhere deep.
"It's time for your discharge, Mr. Han."
she said, voice softer than he expected.
Jaemin just nodded.His outfit was plain — a simple black T-shirt under a worn jacket, dark pants. Nothing flashy. But her eyes followed him like he was walking in sunlight. Like he was the sun.
She handed him the discharge papers, a touch more slowly than necessary.
"And, um… I slipped my number in there, in case you… need any more help. Ahem."
Her cheeks flushed as she straightened the hem of her uniform.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me. Really."
Jaemin blinked once.
"…Okay."
No emotion. Just confusion, subtle but present.
As she left, her posture was different — nervous, eager, hopeful.
Jaemin glanced down at the file, spotting the folded slip of paper tucked inside.He sighed quietly, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
He didn't quite understand it.
By the time he reached home, it was already night, Nari was asleep from the fatigue constant studying.
Jaemin lay in his bed, the morning light softly coming through the window. For the first time in years, he felt rested.
Jaemin lay in his bed, the soft glow of a streetlamp filtering through the window. For the first time in years, he felt rested.
He slept through the night without waking up early or tossing and turning like usual. His body was healing, and for now, his mind was quiet.
The worries hadn't disappeared — he knew they would come back — but right now, there was a calm he hadn't felt in a long time.
He didn't have to rush or force himself to keep going. Just this moment, he could breathe.