Yu-ri stared at Seo Joon.
Something in him had changed—his presence now pulsed with silent pressure, like a storm sealed behind glass. But it wasn't just the gauntlet or the trial. It was the look in his eyes.
He remembered something.
And it terrified her.
But there was no time to ask. The temple pulsed again. The floating bridge behind them vanished, and a second gate rose from the shadows—this one made of pale crystal.
"Yu-ri," Seo Joon said. "This one's for you."
She turned slowly, jaw tightening. "I was afraid of that."
> "Candidate: Cha Yu-ri detected." "Commencing Trial of Self."
Before Seo Joon could protest, the crystal gates yawned open—and light swallowed her whole.
---
Yu-ri awoke in a place too quiet.
She stood in a cold, gray village.
Her old village.
The slums. The hunger. The hopelessness. Children wrapped in rags. Her mother's grave. All still and silent—as if time had frozen.
She looked down—and saw herself.
A little girl, thin and bruised, sobbing in a corner.
No one else noticed her. Not even the guards beating a boy in the square. Not even the merchant who always spat when she passed.
She clenched her fists. "Why are you showing me this?"
> "You hide your pain behind kindness." "But your burden defines you."
Suddenly, the sky split—and a shadow descended.
A monstrous figure, formed of every insult, fear, and memory she buried. Its face shifted—sometimes her own, sometimes her father's, sometimes Seo Joon's.
"YOU'RE JUST WEAK," it boomed.
Yu-ri took a step back. Then another.
> "You're not a hero. You're a passenger." "He will leave you behind."
She closed her eyes.
The chains of fear tried to close around her heart.
But then—
> "I don't need to be chosen."
Her voice was steady.
> "I chose this. I chose to fight. To climb."
A gust of energy rippled around her, golden and fierce. Her shadow screamed—and the illusion began to crack.
From her back, a spear of light formed—its shape forged not from strength, but from resolve.
She lunged.
One clean strike—and the fear shattered.
---
Yu-ri opened her eyes.
She stood once more in the temple. The crystal gate had crumbled behind her.
Seo Joon stared—speechless.
Yu-ri's hair flowed in unseen wind, her eyes glowing faintly gold. The spear floated beside her.
He managed to speak: "…You awakened."
She smiled, tired but proud. "Guess I did."
> [Class Ascended – "Resolve-Bound Vanguard"]
[Skill Unlocked – Unyielding Heart (Passive)]
[Weapon Manifested – Spear of the Second Sun]
---
Elsewhere, far above, the Watchers stood again.
"She passed it."
"She wasn't meant to awaken this early."
But the oldest one only whispered:
> "The Tower miscalculated."
> "There are two of them now."
---