Chapter 18: The Bck World

  The wlowed before him, an invitation to step deeper into the web of uainty that already surrounded him. Kuro’s brows furrowed as he read the notification. It was another cryptic message from the system, ohat carried an ominous weight with it. The system had always unicated in veiled terms, and this message felt no different. But there was something in its simplicity that unnerved him. "Scroll of Truth," it said. The truth was rarely as simple as it seemed. It was often far more elusive, hiding just out of reach, waiting to be uncovered.

  He took a deep breath, his heart rate steadying as he prepared for whatever came . He had no choice but to follow the system's directive. It had been this way for as long as he could remember: the system made the rules, and he had little choice but to py along.

  His finger hovered over the glowi. A brief moment of hesitation passed before he tapped it. The notification dissolved almost instantly, its words repced by a new message.

  “Prepare to receive instrus. Initiating...”

  Before Kuro could fully grasp what was going on, everything around him began to fade away. The cozy, traditional Japanese inn room, with its familiar furniture and the tatami mat under his feet, seemed to melt into nothing. It was as if the very air itself was dissolving. Suddenly, he felt an odd sensation of weightlessness, as if he were floating. The room around him became blurry, and the air grew thid hard to breathe. Before he k, there was nothi—just an endless, disorientiiness.

  Kuro's instincts, hohrough years of experience, fred into full alert. This was no ordinary transformation. The room had not merely shifted—it had colpsed into an infinite expanse of darkness, a void that pressed in on him from every dire. It was a sensation unlike any he had ever experienced. His breath came in shallos as his surroundings disappeared pletely, leaving him suspended in nothingness. Kuro's instincts told him this was no ordinary transformation. He had been through other transformations before, but this was different. This time, the room had not merely shifted—it had colpsed into an infinite expanse of darkness, a void that pressed in on him from every dire.

  The eerie sensation of weightlessugged at him, and his muscles tensed in respoo the oppressive emptiness. There was no up, no down, no dire to guide him. His mind raced, and his body reacted instinctively, brag for whatever came . Whatever was happening, Kuro knew ohing for certain: he was no longer in trol.

  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to focus his thoughts. But his mind was being swallowed by the void. He couldn't see anything, and the void was encroag on his sciousness. Then, in the distance, he saw a faint glow. It was the only sign of life in the emptiness. He focused on the light, and it drew him away from the crushi of the void.

  As he took a cautious step toward it, the glow solidified, and a table with two chairs materialized out of nowhere, illuminated by an unseen source of light. The objects appeared so suddenly and with such crity that Kuro instinctively halted, his eyes narrowing in suspi. The smooth, almost surreal transition from nothio something was enough to send a ripple of uhrough his chest. This pce was not bound by the ws of logic. His heart raced slightly faster, but his body remaiill, every muscle tense and prepared for whatever came .

  One of the chairs remained vat, an invitation to sit, while the other was occupied by a woman. She sat perfectly still, her posture immacute as though she were a statue brought to life. There was a quiet elegance about her presence, a serenity that seemed almost otherworldly. In the midst of this vast void, her figure was a sharp trast to the emptiness around her—an anchor, a presehat filled the space with an uling calm.

  Her beauty was ethereal, almost unreal. There was something about her that made her appear as though she didn’t belong in this pce, as if she had stepped out of another world entirely. Her features were striking—sharp and refined, with a timeless quality to them. Her skin seemed to glow faintly, as though lit from within, and her dark hair framed her fa soft waves. Her eyes were the most captivatiure, shimmering like distant stars, impossibly bright against the void. When she looked at him, her gaze felt intense—pierg, even—as though she could see straight into his soul, peeling away the yers of his thoughts and motives with a mere gnce.

  Her lips curled into a smile that was both knowing and serene, as if she were privy to secrets that Kuro could never hope to prehend. It was the kind of smile that promised more than it gave, the kind that suggested she knew something he didn’t—a smile that spoke of knowledge far beyond ordinary uanding. Kuro felt his pulse qui, an unfortable sense of vulnerability creeping into his chest. This woman art of whatever strawisted game was unfolding, and Kuro had no doubt that she kly what was going on. But why was she here? And why, after all the chaos and fusion, did his mind still want to know more?

  "Please, have a seat," she said, her voice smooth as silk. The words were soft, almost musical, yet carried an unmistakable authority. It was the kind of voice that atention, that made you feel as though there were no other option but to obey. Despite the calm and weling tohere was something deeply uling about the invitation. The offer was yered with meaning, as if sitting down would be the first step into something far greater—and far more dangerous—than he could imagine.

  Kuro hesitated, sensing that the moment was a trap. He felt like he was being lured into an eborate ruse desigo ensnare him in some unseen web. He khat if he took the bait, he would be caught irap and would not be able to escape. He also khat if he did not take the bait, he would be forever haunted by the feeling that he had let his fear overe him.