The light grew brighter with every step.
It wasn't fire. It wasn't magic. It wasn't even warm. Just a steady white glow, humming low and deep like something old, buried, and very much still alive.
Yuto didn't lower his weapons, even though his arms were beginning to ache. His body wanted rest. His shoulder stung from the cut. His lungs burned. But his eyes never left the pillar of light ahead.
"How close are they?" he asked, breath short.
Rin looked back. "I can't see them. I think your blast knocked them too far off course."
"They'll regroup."
"Then we better find out what this thing is before they do."
The glowing signal wasn't a tower or beacon like they expected. It was small—maybe chest height—rising from the ground like a smooth, gray stone pillar with a glowing symbol on its front. Lines etched around the surface pulsed with soft blue-white light. It didn't match anything Yuto had seen in this world.
Rin walked around it slowly, eyes wide. "This wasn't here last time I passed through. It's not natural."
"No kidding."
"It's not magic either."
"Definitely not."
Yuto stepped forward and stared at the symbol. His system chimed softly in his head.
> [ SYSTEM NODE DETECTED – INTERFACE COMPATIBLE ]
[ ACCESS GRANTED: GUNNER EXCLUSIVE TERMINAL ]
[ OPEN? ]
He raised a brow. "Terminal? Like a command post?"
Rin looked over. "Your gun's talking again?"
"It's always talking. Usually just when I'm about to make a bad decision."
"What's it saying now?"
Yuto exhaled. "Says I can access this thing. Like it was made for me."
"For you specifically?"
"Apparently."
"That's not comforting."
"I know."
He reached out and touched the glowing symbol.
The pillar pulsed. A circle of light spread out beneath their feet. No heat. No sound. Just motion. Then the pillar opened—splitting down the center like a sliding door—revealing a black screen glowing faint blue.
Text appeared.
> [ SYSTEM CORE – SECTOR NODE 04 ]
[ STATUS: DORMANT ]
[ PRIMARY LINK: RECONNECTED – GUNNER ]
[ QUERY: DEPLOY TACTICAL SHELTER MODULE? ]
[ FUNCTION: Temporary Safe Zone – 1 Hour Duration ]
Rin leaned in. "What's that?"
"A safe zone. Like a… barrier room. I think."
"You sure it's not a trap?"
"Nope."
"And you're going to press the glowing button anyway?"
"Yup."
"You've got issues."
"I'm alive, aren't I?"
Yuto pressed confirm.
The moment he did, the pillar retracted into the ground.
Then the clearing shifted.
A low hum vibrated through the dirt. Thin walls of translucent light shimmered into existence, forming a dome around them, rising like water and locking in place.
Rin spun slowly. "What just happened?"
Yuto's system responded:
> [ SHELTER DEPLOYED – HOSTILE DETECTION DISABLED – VISUAL CONCEALMENT ACTIVE ]
[ SAFE FOR DURATION: 1 Hour – Recharge in Progress ]
"We're hidden," he said. "From sight. From spells. From systems."
Rin blinked. "That's… convenient."
"No. That's terrifying."
She looked at him. "Why?"
"Because whoever built this didn't just want to hide. They wanted to hide people like me."
Rin folded her arms. "So now what? We camp in here until your timer runs out?"
Yuto lowered his weapons and sat down on the nearest stone. "That, and I try to make sense of what's going on."
She sat next to him, slowly. "Let's start simple. What are you?"
He glanced at her.
She shook her head. "Don't give me the same half-answers. I've seen mages, knights, warlocks, relic-thieves, even dragon-blooded mercs. But I've never seen anything like you."
"I'm just someone who picked up the wrong thing and got sent to the wrong place."
"By who?"
He didn't answer.
Rin let the silence settle for a moment. Then she asked, softer, "Are you cursed?"
Yuto gave a dry laugh. "Not unless you count bullets."
She smiled slightly. "Then why does the world treat you like a threat?"
"Because I'm not playing by the rules it understands."
"That sounds like a curse to me."
He leaned back, staring up at the glowing ceiling of the shelter dome. "I don't know why I'm here, Rin. I didn't ask for this. I just… woke up with a gun and a system whispering in my head."
"System?"
"Like a voice. Like instructions. It gives me info, tracks my power, tells me when I've leveled up or unlocked something new."
"That doesn't sound like anything I've heard of."
"Because it's not from here."
She didn't speak right away. Then she said, "Do you think someone sent it with you?"
"I think someone sent me with it."
"For what?"
"I don't know yet."
Rin sat forward, elbows on her knees. "You don't act like someone lost. You fight like someone trained. You shoot like it's part of you."
"I've used guns before."
"Where? In another kingdom?"
Yuto paused, then shook his head. "No. Much farther."
She tilted her head. "How far?"
He looked at her, then at the barrier wall.
"Far enough that no map here would show it."
She didn't press.
After a few moments, Rin said, "Well, whatever your reason for being here, I'm glad you were. If you hadn't shown up, I'd be dead three times over."
He gave a small smile. "You held your own."
"You still shot more."
"I have a better tool."
"Is it really a tool?" she asked. "Or is it something more?"
Yuto didn't answer right away.
Then his system chimed.
> [ GUNNER LOADOUT STATUS: 2 Weapons Equipped – 1 Slot Locked ]
[ ADDITIONAL SLOT AVAILABLE UPON COMPLETING NODE CHALLENGE ]
[ SYSTEM OFFER: Would You Like to Activate Node Challenge? ]
Yuto sat up straight.
Rin noticed. "What is it?"
"The system just offered me a challenge. Like a test."
"Of what?"
"No idea. But it says if I complete it, I get another weapon slot."
"You're seriously considering it?"
"Of course."
Rin stood fast. "Yuto—wait. You don't even know what that means. What kind of challenge? Where does it take you? What happens if you fail?"
"I don't know."
"Then why would you—"
He looked at her calmly. "Because that's how I find out why I'm really here."
Before she could stop him, he confirmed the prompt.
The shelter lights dimmed.
The pillar in the center of the dome rose again—this time glowing red instead of white.
The ground shifted.
And the system whispered:
> [ NODE CHALLENGE ACTIVATED – SOLO GUNNER TEST – SIMULATION LEVEL: UNKNOWN ]
[ PREPARE FOR DIMENSIONAL SHIFT – STAND BY… ]
Rin's eyes went wide. "What did you do?!"
"I said yes."
The ground dropped out beneath his feet.
Yuto vanished in a flash of white light.
And Rin was left behind, alone, screaming his name into the glowing silence.
The moment the light swallowed him, Yuto lost all sense of balance.
There was no falling. No floating. Just pressure. Weightless and heavy at the same time. Like being pulled through a tunnel made of electricity and static.
Then—
Silence.
He stood upright again, but the air had changed.
He blinked once. Then twice.
The world around him looked like a wide open canyon—but not a real one. The sky was flat white, like a ceiling. The rock around him glowed faintly, pulsing with lines of light in a repeating pattern. There were no trees. No wind. No sun. Just him and the quiet hum of something massive watching from behind invisible walls.
The system spoke again. Calm. Direct.
> [ NODE CHALLENGE: ENGAGED ]
[ OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE UNTIL TIMER COMPLETES – 10 MINUTES ]
[ WARNING: SYSTEM WILL GENERATE HOSTILE SIMULATIONS BASED ON USER PROFILE ]
[ RULES: NO OUTSIDE HELP. NO SYSTEM SKILLS. GUN ONLY. ]
Yuto let out a slow breath.
"So no backup. No buffs. No tricks."
He looked down. Both his weapons were still in his hands. The shotgun gleamed. The SMG vibrated softly with a low hum of charge.
"Alright," he muttered. "Just me and my hardware."
The ground trembled.
He didn't like that.
"Here we go," he said.
The first enemy appeared from the wall of the canyon like a hologram forming out of smoke.
It was shaped like a man—but not quite. Too tall. Too thin. Its arms were too long, its head featureless. Gray body. No clothes. No sound. It sprinted straight at him without hesitation.
Yuto raised the shotgun and fired.
BOOM.
The blast hit square in the chest and sent the thing flying. It evaporated mid-air like pixels fading out.
One second later, three more appeared.
"Right," he muttered, "it's one of those games."
He fired again. Then again. Two down. Third one slipped past and swung an arm like a blade.
Yuto ducked, rolled, drew the SMG, and emptied a short burst into its back.
TRRT.
Gone.
> [ ENEMIES REMAINING: 27 ]
[ TIME: 9:12 ]
He stood up fast, chest rising and falling.
"So I've got to fight off thirty of these things in ten minutes. Alone."
More appeared. This time five. They moved faster.
Yuto fired two shots, then dropped into a crouch and kicked a loose rock toward one.
It paused.
He shot it through the head.
"AI's dumb," he muttered. "Good."
But then the ground cracked.
A new one emerged. Bigger. Bulkier. With arms like blades and glowing red lines across its body.
"Oh. So we're leveling up the enemy types already," he said.
The big one charged without waiting.
Yuto raised the shotgun.
But it was too fast.
He took the hit to the side and slammed into the wall. The gun flew from his grip.
Pain exploded in his ribs.
He gasped, rolled, grabbed the SMG, and fired point-blank at the creature's chest.
Nothing.
The bullets bounced off.
Yuto scrambled back, grabbed the shotgun from the ground, and aimed up. One shot to the leg.
BOOM.
The impact blew the creature's knee backward. It fell, howling like a distorted machine.
Yuto stood and blasted the rest of the shells into its face.
Gone.
> [ ENEMIES REMAINING: 21 ]
[ TIME: 7:47 ]
[ USER CONDITION: MINOR INJURY – RIB STRAIN DETECTED ]
"Great," Yuto muttered, "so it hurts and it tracks my bones."
More enemies formed from the white mist.
This time, they came from every direction.
Yuto switched weapons again.
"Alright," he said under his breath. "Let's do this loud."
He dashed left, took out two with a clean sweep of the SMG.
Rolled through a gap. Fired once behind him. Missed.
Two creatures tackled him together.
He fell flat, but managed to twist midair and land on his back.
He aimed both guns up and fired.
CRACK. TRRT.
Gone.
He pushed up fast.
A shadow moved to his right—he reacted too slow.
The next thing he knew, claws raked across his arm.
He screamed and fired on reflex, the shotgun blast shredding the attacker's chest.
> [ WARNING: USER ENERGY DROP – 22% ]
[ BLEEDING – TEMPORARY EFFECT ]
[ AUTO-STABILIZATION BEGINNING... ]
He leaned against a pillar of light, breathing hard.
"Still alive," he whispered. "Barely."
The system voice returned:
> [ MID-POINT REACHED – ADDITIONAL SIMULATIONS INCOMING ]
[ ENEMIES REMAINING: 14 ]
[ WARNING: NEW ENEMY TYPE DETECTED – MIMIC CLASS ]
"Mimic? What's that—"
A shot rang out.
Yuto spun.
There was another him standing across the canyon.
Same clothes. Same face. Same guns.
It smiled.
He raised his own weapon.
The mimic did too.
"Copycat," Yuto muttered. "Perfect."
Then both fired at the same time.
Yuto ducked, barely dodging his own shot.
He rolled behind a rock and shouted, "You better not shoot better than me!"
The mimic answered by flanking him—fast.
Yuto turned just in time to fire.
The mimic mirrored the move.
BOOM. BOOM.
Both missed.
Then another shot came from the side.
A second mimic.
"Are you kidding me? Two?"
He fired. One went down.
The second leapt, landed on him, pinned him down.
Yuto stared up at his own face. Cold. Blank. Gun raised point-blank.
"Nope," he said.
He twisted hard, grabbed the shotgun, jammed the barrel under its chin, and pulled the trigger.
BOOM.
Gone.
He lay there for a moment, chest heaving.
> [ ENEMIES REMAINING: 6 ]
[ TIME: 3:02 ]
[ CONDITION: CRITICAL – SYSTEM STABILIZING ]
Yuto rolled to his feet slowly.
Blood on his shirt. Pain in his side. Guns almost out of charge.
"Not done," he muttered. "Not yet."
Then the air shifted.
Not like before.
This time, it felt cold.
A figure walked forward. Not from the mist—but from the end of the canyon. Calm. Slow.
Not a creature.
A person.
No face visible. Just a black coat and a silver visor.
Just like Dax.
Yuto raised his guns.
"You again?"
The figure didn't speak.
The system chimed.
> [ FINAL SIMULATION BOSS: UNKNOWN CLASS – FULL POWER AUTHORIZED ]
[ SURVIVE. ]
Yuto took a breath.
Then the enemy moved faster than anything before.
And everything went dark.