The concrete slammed into Jin-Woo's face before he even realized his legs had given out.
He hit the ground hard in the middle of a narrow, trash-strewn alleyway blocks away from the plaza. His chest heaved violently, but no matter how hard he gasped, it felt like he was breathing in a vacuum. The world spun in sickening circles, and his vision was completely dominated by a barrage of frantic red text.
[Authority Critical][System Stability: Failing][Emergency Shutdown Recommended]
Jin-Woo couldn't move his fingers. He couldn't even lift his head from the dirty asphalt. Above him, Seo-Ah and Tae-Soo were shouting, but their voices sounded muffled, like he was trapped underwater.
I couldn't even touch him, Jin-Woo thought, his mind fracturing under the weight of the memory. The stranger hadn't even tried. One finger. That was all it took to stop everything Jin-Woo had. That wasn't a fight. That was judgment.
"Jin-Woo! Hey, look at me!" Seo-Ah dropped to her knees, grabbing his jacket. She was furious, but the sheer terror in her eyes betrayed her. "We almost died! Do you hear me? We almost died back there!"
Tae-Soo leaned against the brick wall, sliding down until he hit the ground, clutching his chest. "No..." he wheezed, adjusting his cracked glasses. "We would have died."
A few feet away, Min-Jae was curled into a ball, trembling so violently his teeth chattered. He looked at Jin-Woo's broken state, tears cutting through the grime on his face.
"It's my fault..." Min-Jae whispered, his voice cracking. "Because of me... you had to force it..."
Silence hung heavily in the alley, broken only by Jin-Woo's ragged breathing. It took every ounce of willpower Jin-Woo had left just to turn his head toward the boy. He tasted copper and ash.
"No," Jin-Woo forced the words out, his voice barely a raspy whisper. "You... saved me."
Min-Jae's eyes widened. At that exact moment, a faint, soothing blue light pulsed in Jin-Woo's chest.
[Faith Link Stabilizing][Sync Rate: 25% → 27%]
But the relief didn't last even a full second.
Without warning, Jin-Woo's entire body violently seized up. A sickening crunch echoed in his ears, and it felt as if his internal organs were being crushed in a vice. He let out a choked, agonizing gasp, his back arching off the pavement.
[Authority Overuse Detected][Penalty Initiated]
A blinding headache split his skull open. His vision flickered red and black as thick, dark blood dripped steadily from his nose onto the asphalt. Every nerve ending in his body felt like it had been scraped raw with rusted iron. He couldn't even scream; his throat was paralyzed by the sheer, suffocating agony of his own divinity cannibalizing his human flesh. He could literally feel something inside him—something fundamental and vital—burning away like paper turning to ash.
[Warning: Authority Fragment Degradation: 3%]
Using the system's raw power wasn't just exhausting; it was consuming his very soul.
Watching him writhe, Tae-Soo's mind raced, piecing the horrifying puzzle together. "That wasn't just a stronger opponent," Tae-Soo said, his voice dropping to a grim realization. "It was a completely different system. Jin-Woo, you build power through a connection. Through faith. But that guy... he doesn't build anything. He just takes it. It's domination."
The concept clash hung in the air. To survive, Jin-Woo had to foster belief. His enemy only needed to inflict fear.
Jin-Woo stopped convulsing, his body going limp against the concrete. Slowly, he spat a mouthful of blood onto the pavement and forced his heavy eyes open.
"Then I'll build faster."
Seo-Ah stared at him. She wanted to yell at him again, to tell him he'd die first. But the memory of the stranger deflecting her bat without even blinking paralyzed her tongue. She looked away, clenching her bat so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Next time... I won't be useless."
As the words left Jin-Woo's mouth, the crimson system warnings suddenly shifted, shattering into a cascade of bright, crystalline blue text.
[New Directive Updated][Expand Faith Network][Unlock Condition Met]
A brand new line of text burned itself into his retinas.
[Sub-Authority Development Available]
Tae-Soo read the shift in Jin-Woo's expression and immediately understood the implication of the network. "You're not supposed to fight alone..." Tae-Soo muttered, a terrifying awe in his voice. "The system isn't just about linking to you. You have to arm them. You have to build an army."
At the mention of this, a strange, momentary glitch washed over Min-Jae.
For a fraction of a second, the terrified boy stopped trembling. His breathing slowed to an eerie, perfect rhythm, and a faint, unnatural blue light flickered in his dark eyes.
[Faith Response: Abnormal Growth]
Min-Jae blinked, and the light vanished. He returned to being a scared kid in an alleyway, completely unaware of the momentary shift. But Jin-Woo saw it.
Using the brick wall for support, Jin-Woo painfully forced himself to his feet. Every muscle screamed in protest.
In the distance, the faint wail of a police siren cut through the morning air. Distant shouts and the hum of early traffic echoed from the main streets. The city was waking up, ignorant and bustling, entirely unaware of the monsters walking among them. And in the shadow of that waking city, the four of them stood in the filth of an alleyway, completely crushed by a hidden god.
As Jin-Woo leaned against the wall, the system delivered one final, cold calculation.
[Target Locked: Unknown Authority User][Survival Probability: 3%]
Jin-Woo stared at the brutal mathematical truth of his own weakness. Three percent.
Then I'll change the odds, Jin-Woo thought, his eyes burning with a dark, unyielding resolve.
[Next Objective][Recruit / Strengthen Followers]