Dawn had just begun when they crossed the last edge of Jakarta.
The eastern sky was painted in pale purple, mixed with a faint orange glow.
Beautiful.
But wrong.
Since the system rewrote the world, even the sky no longer looked the same.
Arlan walked at the front.
His steps were steady.
His eyes weren't.
They kept moving. Scanning. Watching everything.
The toll road ahead no longer looked like a highway.
The asphalt was cracked, split open in long jagged lines.
Blue vines crawled across the surface, faintly glowing under the morning light.
A few meters behind him, Bara walked with his usual stance.
Shield on his left arm.
Sword in his right.
The metal creaked softly with each step.
"Hard to believe this place used to be packed with traffic," Bara muttered.
His gaze moved across the abandoned cars lining the road.
Most of them were already decaying.
Some had changed.
Thin layers of mana crystal covered their frames, reflecting a cold blue light.
Others were wrapped in strange plants that seemed to grow straight out of the asphalt itself.
"Now it's just a graveyard," Bara added.
Maya walked beside Arlan.
Her staff tapped lightly against the ground with each step.
Every contact released small glowing particles of mana into the air.
She stopped.
Closed her eyes.
"Arlan."
He didn't turn.
"I know."
Maya opened her eyes slowly.
"The mana here is unstable. The fluctuation feels… strange."
"…Like we're stepping into a place that doesn't belong to the normal world anymore," Arlan finished.
Bara raised an eyebrow.
"Well. That sounds fun."
Arlan opened his system interface.
A translucent map appeared at the edge of his vision.
Blue lines formed a rough layout of the surrounding area.
A second later, a notification appeared.
[Exploration Zone Discovered]
Area: Cipularang Corridor
Danger Level: 37 – 40
Status: Uncharted Territory
Bara let out a low whistle.
"Level forty on a highway. The system really lost its mind."
Arlan closed the window.
"Bandung wouldn't be isolated by weak monsters."
He kept walking.
The further they moved away from Jakarta, the heavier the atmosphere became.
The air grew colder.
Mist slowly rolled down from the hills surrounding the road.
But it didn't move like natural fog.
It flowed.
Slow. Controlled.
Like something alive.
The silence was worse.
No birds.
No insects.
Nothing.
Only their footsteps echoing across the empty road.
Then—
A metallic creak echoed from the right side.
Bara stopped instantly.
His shield came up without hesitation.
"Contact."
Arlan turned.
Slow.
Behind an overturned container truck…
something moved.
Two yellow eyes appeared in the mist.
Then another pair.
Then more.
The system reacted immediately.
[Monster Detected]
Iron Fang Hyena
Level 38
Type: Pack Hunter
One of them stepped forward.
Its body was nearly the size of a small horse.
Black fur covered its back.
From its jaws, long metallic fangs extended outward.
It growled.
The sound echoed across the empty toll road.
One by one, the others emerged.
Six total.
Bara smirked.
"Morning warm-up."
He stepped forward.
His shield rose high, forming a wall of steel.
The first hyena lunged.
A loud impact rang out as its body slammed into Bara's shield.
His feet slid slightly across the asphalt.
But he didn't fall.
"Now!"
Arlan was already moving before the word finished.
Flash Step.
His figure vanished.
In less than a second, he appeared beside the hyena.
His sword moved.
One clean flash.
The monster split in two.
Its body shattered into particles of light.
But the rest of the pack didn't hesitate.
Two came from the left.
One from behind.
Bara turned.
His shield slammed into one of them, sending it crashing onto the road.
Another tried to bite into his shoulder.
Its fangs hit steel.
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
Bara drove it back with his shoulder.
His sword followed.
A heavy swing.
The hyena dropped.
On the other side, Maya raised her staff.
A blue magic circle formed in the air.
"Frost Bind."
Ice spread across the road instantly.
Two charging hyenas lost their footing.
Their bodies froze mid-motion, trapped inside thick ice.
Arlan moved again.
Flash Step.
One step.
Two slashes.
The last two monsters shattered into light.
Silence returned.
The fight was over in seconds.
The mist settled again.
Like nothing happened.
Bara lowered his shield and exhaled.
"Not bad."
He looked ahead.
"If that's the gatekeeper, whatever's ahead should be interesting."
Maya didn't relax.
Her eyes stayed on the thick fog hanging over the mountains.
"That was just a hunting group."
Bara glanced at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Hyena types like that don't wander far from their nest."
Arlan understood immediately.
If level 38 monsters were already here…
Then something far worse was waiting ahead.
The system reacted again.
[Warning]
Boss Territory Nearby
Bara stared at it.
"Boss?"
He let out a small laugh.
"On a highway?"
The mist in the distance shifted.
Slowly.
For a brief moment…
Arlan thought he saw something massive moving inside it.
Not just a monster.
Something older.
Larger.
Waiting.
Maya tightened her grip on her staff.
"Arlan… we can still turn back."
Arlan didn't answer immediately.
His eyes stayed fixed on the mountains.
Beyond that fog…
Bandung.
The city that might hold the answers.
About the system.
About the collapse.
About the one behind all of this.
He slowly drew his sword.
The blade reflected the rising light of dawn.
"We've come this far."
He stepped forward.
"We keep going."
Bara lifted his sword.
"Then let's meet that boss."
Maya let out a quiet breath.
But she followed.
The mist of Cipularang swallowed them.
At the edge of Arlan's vision, the system flickered again.
[Anomaly Detected]
Sector: 4-B
Signal Source: Unknown
Classification: Developer Layer Trace
Arlan narrowed his eyes.
Developer Layer.
That term had never appeared before.
If the system was starting to show traces like this…
Then their path to Bandung might lead them closer…
To the core of everything.
The mist thickened.
The road ahead disappeared into darkness.
And somewhere inside the mountains…
Something was watching.
Their journey to Bandung had just begun.
[PLAYER STATUS]
ID: AzureBound
Level: 35
Strength: 72
Agility: 74
Intelligence: 53
Dexterity: 27
Vitality: 30
ID: IronWall
Level: 37
Strength: 98
Agility: 30
Intelligence: 27
Dexterity: 27
Vitality: 101
ID: Maya
Level: 35
Strength: 27
Agility: 37
Intelligence: 97
Dexterity: 27
Vitality: 95