The sensation of stepping through the portal was like falling into a cold current. Reality bent—then snapped back. Soji stumbled as he arrived, catching himself against the smooth stone floor. The moment he looked up, his breath caught.
This place was nothing like the cracked ruin of the trial platform. It was... pristine. This room was different. Massive. Vaulted.
He stood in a circular chamber bathed in soft golden light, pillars rising like sentinels around him. Arcane patterns flowed across the floor, walls, and ceiling like living veins. Floating displays hovered mid-air, and rows upon rows of weapons were suspended in glowing stasis.
The room was massive and round, lined with obsidian pillars and glowing sigils that pulsed like a heartbeat. Weapon racks floated in midair, spinning slowly, each one encasing a different weapon: swords, spears, daggers, axes—even oddities like chakrams and gauntlets. No ruins. No mist. Just cold light, polished stone, and silence.
As Soji walked and looked around at the weapons, fascinated, a message flashed before his eyes. Then the system's voice returned, calm and inescapable.
[ INTERMISSION ROOM: ARMAMENT SELECTION ]
[ PURPOSE: EQUIP CHALLENGERS FOR UPCOMING TRIALS ]
[ OPTIONS AVAILABLE: ]
[ – Choose one (1) weapon with active or passive abilities. ]
[ – OR skip selection and roll for a random skill reward. ]
[ NOTE: Only one option may be chosen. Make your selection. ]
Soji exhaled, chest still tight from the pain. He dragged his eyes across the floating racks.
"Look at all this…" he muttered, his voice fascinated. "Like handing swords to a drowning man. I don't even know which end to hold and how..." He showed a weary sigh. "These weapons would be useless to me..."
Each weapon shimmered with a unique aura. Some pulsed with embedded skills, while others hummed with passive enchantments.
A pair of daggers buzzed faintly with an electric current.
[ Skill: Blink Step – Short-range teleportation ]
A crescent blade that emitted a ghostly trail.
[ Passive: Moonlit Grace – Increases DEX and movement speed in darkness ]
A massive war hammer throbbing with heat.
[ Skill: Magma Slam – Explosive ground impact ]
Even a heavy tower shield gleaming with a radiant light.
[ Passive: Solar Bastion – Gradual HP recovery when stationary ]
He moved slowly, limping toward a rack that hovered at eye level. A short spear whispered with crackling wind.
[ Skill: Tempest Pierce – Armor-penetrating thrust ]
[ Passive: Gale Flow – Slight increase to agility ]
His eyes shifted to a greatsword imbued with crimson runes the air around it tingled with malice.
[ Skill: Blood Echo – Reflects a portion of received damage ]
Soji frowned, stepping back with a hiss of pain. "They look incredible," he muttered. "Like each one's its own level-up..."
He wandered to another section marked with passive effects. An armband pulsed gently.
[ Passive: Iron Focus – Reduced stamina consumption ]
Another, a sleek black ring with an eerie aura.
[ Passive: Phantom Step – Chance to evade attacks instinctively ]
He stopped in front of a staff embedded in ice, shimmering with cold and restrained power.
[ Skill: Cryo Lance – Summon a freezing spear ]
[ Passive: Mana Reservoir – Slight increase to total mana pool ]
Soji's hand hovered over it—then pulled back.
"And yet," he murmured, "I don't even know how to use half of these. What's the point of holding power if you don't understand it?"
He looked down at his trembling hands. "I need something I don't have to think about... something that just works."
For a brief moment, Soji looked utterly defeated. The sheer weight of choices of each weapon holding power he didn't yet understand pressed down on him like gravity.
Then a thought sparked. His eyes widened. "Wait... System! Show me the options again!" he exclaimed with hope.
The system flashed again accompanied by a chime, brimming with new energy.
[ INTERMISSION ROOM: ARMAMENT SELECTION ]
[ PURPOSE: EQUIP CHALLENGERS FOR UPCOMING TRIALS ]
[ OPTIONS AVAILABLE: ]
[ – Choose one (1) weapon with active or passive abilities. ]
[ – OR skip selection and roll for a random skill reward. ]
[ NOTE: Only one option may be chosen. Make your selection. ]
Soji brimmed with a new hope as his face lightened, "Alright! Lets skip the selection and get straight to gambling!"
The system then warned him if his decision was final.
[ Will you skip the Armament Selection? ]
[ YES ] | [ NO ]
Soji stared at it, jaw tight. One more look around the room. So many weapons—sharp, glowing, humming with potential. But none of them felt his. He drew a breath, slow and shaky.
"No weapon's going to make me ready. If I'm gonna survive this place... I need something deeper."
His finger hovered over the glowing option. Then, with resolve hardening in his chest, he pressed [YES]
The system paused—then blinked again.
[ CONFIRM DECISION: SKIP ARMAMENT SELECTION? ]
[ THIS CHOICE CANNOT BE UNDONE ]
[ Only a skill reward roll will be given ]
[ You will receive no weapon advantage for the upcoming trial ]
[ CONFIRM? ]
[ YES ] | [ NO ]
Soji let out a short breath. "Yeah. Let's do it."
He hit [YES] again.
The room went still. Lights dimmed. And then—energy surged. A pillar of swirling light burst upward from the center of the room, pulsing like a heartbeat.
[ DECISION LOCKED. INITIATING SKILL ROLL... ]
The pillar of light split into three radiant beams, each condensing into a glowing card that floated before him: green, blue, and then… red.
The red card hovered forward, pulsing with raw power. Soji instinctively stepped back. It thrummed in the air like it was alive.
[ SKILL ROLL COMPLETE ]
[ UNIQUE SKILL ACQUIRED: Ether Step – Unique (Active) ]
Phase-shift through space in a blink, bypassing physical obstacles. No mana cost. Short cooldown.
Soji's eyes widened. "Wait… is that Ether Steps?" He reached for it, heart pounding.
But just before his fingers touched the card, a jagged screech tore through the room like a system glitch but its black instead of red.
[ ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ]
The red card quivered, glitching violently and then shattered into sparks of crimson light, fragments disintegrating in midair.
Soji staggered back, shocked in disbelief. "What?! Noo!! Why?!" He fell down to his knees, hands outstretched toward where the red card had hovered just seconds ago.
"I needed that... I needed that!" His voice cracked, trembling with anger and despair.
The lights in the room flickered. A deep, humming silence replaced the usual system chime. Then a new card materialized in front of him. Not red. Not any color he'd seen.
It was pure black. Matte. Void-like. The edges shimmered faintly with silver. It made no sound. No glow. But it's glitching...
Soji stared at the screen, a chill threading through his veins.
[ SKILL -ERROR- REPLACEMENT IN PROG -ERROR- RESS... ]
[ CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN ]
[ UNKNOWN SKILL OBTAINED: Null - ??? ]
His breath hitched. Mouth dry. Palms clammy.
The card was pitch black—bordering on void—hovering before him with a weight that didn't belong in a digital space. It didn't glow. It absorbed light, like a wound in the world itself.
[ NO DESCRIPTION AVAILABLE. ]
[ SYSTEM UNABLE TO ANALYZE SKILL DATA. ]
[ REPORTI -ERROR- SKI - ERROR- ]
"...What kind of skill doesn't explain itself?" he muttered, the words brittle.
He felt a twist in his gut. Ether Step was a good skill and something he could understand and easily use in such dire situations, something that made sense—a clean escape, a sliver of hope to his wretched life.
The black card didn't wait, and the moment it disappeared, a hollow pressure settled in its place.
[ SKILL SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATED. ]
[ Proceed to the next trial. ]
Soji fell silent, the chamber eerily still. No triumphant chime. No sense of reward.
He clenched his fists and his jaw tight. "Ether Step… replaced. By what? Why?"
No answers. No guidance. Just silence... and the distant hum of the next portal awakening. A weightless dread settled on him, deeper than the pain in his ribs. He wasn't sure if the Tower had given him power or maybe something far worse.
Soji staggered to his feet, his breath shaky. He took one last glance at the now-vanished red card's lingering influence before turning toward the shimmering portal ahead. His body was screaming in protest, but he forced his legs to move.
As he walked nearer the portal, the hum deepened, vibrating through his bones. As Soji stepped out of the portal, he saw huge trees everywhere with a plain land as the cold wind swept past him, carrying the distant sounds of the forest and the goblin's low growls. His heart pounded in his chest as the system's voice echoed in his mind.
[ TRIAL 2: THE GOBLIN RAID ]
[ OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT THE 20 ARMED GOBLINS ]
He glanced ahead, seeing the goblins scattered in the clearing, their weapons glinting in the dim light. His body ached from the previous trial, but it wasn't just the pain that made his stomach twist.
I should've picked a weapon, he thought bitterly, his hand instinctively reaching for the empty space at his side. Soji muttered, frustration and despair seeping into his voice.
"Great... Now I'm stuck with nothing but my bare hands. I should've picked a weapon... in the ARMAMENT SELECTION."