Jang Hoon awoke to a dim light seeping through the small hole in the ceiling of the cell, as if the night hadn't fully left… just hiding behind the dust.
No sound remained except for the breath of air slipping between the bars—whispering, then fading away.
He sat up quietly. No pain, no ache… yet something inside him stirred.
He closed his eyes, recalling that moment. The guards' shiver, the commander's hesitant gaze… that faint sensation passing through his chest like a thread of cold.
A few seconds, then the feeling returned.
Something unseen, untouchable—yet undeniably present.
Like air thick with silence. No warmth… but it pierced the skin and gripped the soul.
He whispered to himself,
"It lasts only seconds… and still, they acted as if it lingered for minutes.
As if… it clung to them."
He lowered his head, his mind beginning to connect the dots.
"The commander didn't retreat. He just… faltered.
But the guards… they were on the edge of breaking."
He exhaled slowly.
"Let's say the guards are at the mid stage of Foundation…
And the commander? Most likely the start of Inner Trainee."
A faint smile touched his lips, as if he had brushed against an answer.
"It's not physical strength… but a spiritual effect?"
Suddenly, the voice echoed again from deep within the cell. Toneless, yet its presence was like a flash in utter darkness:
"The First Pulse is not power… it is a declaration."
He looked toward the corner… No one was there, yet he wasn't surprised.
"You again."
"I never left. But you… weren't ready to hear me."
Jang Hoon exhaled quietly, as if he had grown used to its presence.
"What are you?"
"Too early for that question. What matters… is what has awakened inside you now."
Suddenly, a sharp sensation surged through him—
A cold current piercing his chest, then his stomach,
As if a void inside him suddenly drew breath.
He gasped.
And then… he saw it.
There, in a depth he couldn't tell was his body or his soul… it was there.
A silent core. Transparent. Its center glowed with a slow, dark pulse.
Around it… a thin black strand coiled like a beating vein.
"This is the Core of the Void. You didn't create it… you awakened it.
The Pulse… was its first breath."
Jang Hoon asked slowly:
"But… why me?"
"Didn't I answer you before? Because you are empty.
Just like me.
The Core is not born from power… but from fracture… from emptiness."
He turned his face away, as if the answer weighed too heavily on his chest.
"You're… not inside me, are you?"
Silence. Then came the reply:
"I am imprisoned.
You… are not my prison.
Perhaps… you're my escape."
Before he could respond, the sound of faint footsteps broke the silence of the cell.
Jang Hoon looked up.
From the small hole above, familiar faces appeared… the two children he had saved.
One of them said, his voice trembling:
"Thank you… if you hadn't stopped them, they would've killed us."
The other, eyes shimmering with tears, added:
"We won't forget what you did."
Jang Hoon didn't reply, but his eyes glinted for a brief moment…
Then returned to their usual coldness.
---
Elsewhere…
Several buildings away from the prison, an old man stood on a stone balcony overlooking the market, watching the smoke columns rise slowly.
His appearance was simple: gray hair tied back, a dark woolen coat, and hands behind his back as if awaiting news.
The commander entered with steady steps, bowing with discipline.
"Elder… I came to report something… unusual."
The man didn't turn. He spoke in a low voice:
"What happened?"
The commander hesitated… then replied:
"The prisoner in Cell Nine… changed. Suddenly."
"What's strange about that?"
"The guards… were afraid of him.
One of them said he felt something pass near him—without seeing anything.
As for me… I only felt a strange cold in the air.
As if something brushed by… without touching me."
The elder kept watching the market, then said without turning:
"That's odd. His pathways are torn—he can't use Qi.
And there's no other way to use Qi…
Maybe you're imagining things.
But three of you… is too many to be just imagination.
I'll inspect him soon."
---
Back in the cell…
Jang Hoon sat in silence.
But inside, he was anything but still.
"If this power affects souls…
Then I can plant fear… tension… maybe even terror."
He raised his eyes toward the ceiling. A faint glint flickered in his gaze.
"But that's not enough."
He whispered, as if vowing to himself:
"I must escape."