Jung Ara did not speak for three days after Ha-joon disappeared.She sat in Min-joon's apartment, staring at the spot where her brother had faded away. The others tried to comfort her, but she pushed everyone away. She barely ate. Barely slept. Just sat and stared.Min-joon understood. He had failed to save Ha-joon completely. That guilt sat heavy on him. He had destroyed the System, saved dozens of trapped players, but could not save the one person who had helped him the most.On the fourth day, Ara finally spoke."He knew," she said quietly. "Ha-joon knew he was dying. That is why he kept going back to the ruins. He was searching for answers. Trying to find out what was really controlling the System.""He mentioned other Systems," Min-joon said. "A global network.""Yes. He told me about it in our last conversation before I entered task ten. He said the Debt System in Seoul was too sophisticated to be standalone. Someone or something created it. And if there was one, there would be

Tokyo at night was overwhelming. Millions of lights. Millions of people. The city never stopped moving.Min-joon took a train from the airport to a cheap hotel in Shinjuku. The app had given him an address. Not the hotel. A different location. A warehouse in an industrial district on the outskirts of the city.He was supposed to report there tomorrow at noon.Min-joon spent the night researching the location online. The warehouse appeared abandoned in satellite photos. But there were signs of recent activity. Tire tracks. Lights in windows that should be dark.The Tokyo System's base. Or one of them.At eleven AM the next day, Min-joon took a taxi to the warehouse district. He had the driver drop him off several blocks away. Better to approach on foot.The area was mostly empty. A few workers here and there, but they ignored him. This was the kind of place where people minded their own business.Min-joon found the warehouse. It was large and old, with corrugated metal walls and a few

Ara pressed the button on the device. It looked like a phone wrapped in wires and covered in the same code markings that ran across Min-joon's skin.Hae-young had built it based on her fifty years of studying the System's architecture. A severance device. Designed to cut a node's connection to the Core temporarily.The device hummed. Red light pulsed from it in waves.The Core turned toward Ara, his black eyes narrowing. "That will not work. My connection to each node is fundamental. It cannot be severed by a simple machine.""Let us test that theory," Ara said.The red light intensified. The air in the arena began to distort. Min-joon felt something shift in the System fragments inside him. They were being pulled in two directions. Toward the Core and toward the device.The Core raised his hand to attack Ara, but Seo-rin moved faster. She touched the ground, activating her curse. The stone beneath the Core's feet began to decay rapidly, crumbling to dust.The Core sank into the disin

Min-joon woke up in the hotel room. Five faces were staring down at him anxiously. Tae-hyun, Seo-rin, Ji-ho, Han, Ara."You are back," Tae-hyun said with relief. "It has been four hours. We were getting worried.""I purged the corruption," Min-joon said. His voice was hoarse. "The Core's influence is gone.""How do you feel?" Seo-rin asked."Terrible. But alive." Min-joon sat up slowly. Everything hurt. "Did anything happen while I was under?""The Tokyo node is still offline," Han reported. "But we are getting reports from other cities. Other Systems are activating emergency protocols. They know something happened here.""How long until they retaliate?""Unknown. But probably soon. We should leave Tokyo before they send enforcers."Min-joon nodded. But before they could move, his phone buzzed. Not the System app. A regular message from an unknown number.He opened it."Kang Min-joon. My name is Zhang Wei. I am a player in the Beijing System. I heard what you did in Tokyo. Disconnecti

The enforcers flooded into the factory like a dark tide. Min-joon counted at least thirty, maybe more still coming through the doors.The absorbed players moved in perfect synchronization. Empty eyes glowing red. Bodies jerking with unnatural movements. They were puppets on strings, controlled by the Core's distant will."Defensive formation!" Zhang Wei shouted.The five international players moved instantly, forming a circle with Min-joon's group in the center. Each one activated their curse, preparing for combat.Zhang Wei's hands crackled with electricity. His curse allowed him to manipulate electrical currents. He sent a bolt of lightning toward the nearest enforcers, frying three of them instantly.Priya from Mumbai touched the ground. Vines erupted from the concrete, wrapping around enforcers and pulling them down. Her curse was control over plant life, even in places where no plants should exist.Dmitri from London raised his hand. The temperature around several enforcers dropp