The distortion didn't announce itself.
No sirens. No broadcast.
No warning from the authorities.
It formed quietly, almost deliberately, between two abandoned concrete structures near the edge of a restricted zone. The space there was already unstable from previous dungeon activity, the air slightly heavier, the ground faintly cracked.
Then it split.
A narrow fracture at first.
Then widening.
Darkness spilling through.
An entrance.
Ethan noticed it immediately.
Not because it was obvious.
But because it wasn't.
"…Hidden deployment," he thought.
Not placed for crowds. Not meant to be seen.
A different pattern.
Before he could move
Seven figures approached it.
A group. Untrained. Unstable. Desperate.
"…This is it, right?" one of them asked nervously.
A man in his late twenties, gripping a rusted machete too tightly.
Another, taller, tried to sound confident.
"Yeah… E-rank or something. We just have to be careful."
A third laughed weakly.
"Careful? You saw the news, right?"
No one answered.
They already knew.
But they stepped forward anyway.
Because standing still meant falling behind.
And falling behind
Meant death.
Ethan watched from across the street.
His expression was unchanged.
His thoughts are precise.
"…No formation. No roles. No awareness."
They weren't a team.
Just individuals walking into the same mistake.
Then
He felt it. That presence again.
Behind him. Distant. Watching.
The same man.
"…Still observing."
Ethan didn't turn.
Didn't react.
But internally
He adjusted.
"…Then this changes the approach."
The group entered the dungeon.
Without hesitation. Without preparation.
Ethan moved.
Calm. Measured. And followed.
The moment he stepped inside
The environment shifted. A ruined interior space.
Collapsed stone structures.
Narrow pathways. Broken pillars.
Minimal visibility.
An E-rank dungeon.
But not open terrain.
This was a Compression-Type Dungeon.
Limited space.
High encounter frequency.
Low escape options.
"…Worst choice for beginners."
The creatures appeared quickly.
Too quickly.
They didn't emerge slowly from the shadows.
They were already there.
Type: Distorted Crawlers
Humanoid but wrong. Their movements cracked the air slightly, as if space resisted them.
Their limbs extended unnaturally.
Joints bent in reverse.
Skin stretched thin across sharp bone structures.
Their movement
Jerky. Unpredictable. And fast.
The group reacted instantly.
Poorly.
One rushed forward.
Panic disguised as courage.
He swung wildly.
Missed.
The creature responded immediately.
A single strike.
Clean. Precise.
His throat opened before he even realized it.
Blood hit the ground. The body collapsed.
Silence
Then screaming.
"MOVE MOVE!"
They scattered.
No coordination. No structure.
Each one is trying to survive alone.
Another creature lunged.
A woman tried to block with a metal rod.
Too slow.
Her arm twisted unnaturally.
Bone snapped. She fell, screaming.
"…Three seconds," Ethan calculated.
"…That's all they last."
He didn't move.
Not yet.
Because acting too early
Would expose him.
Another Crawler dropped from above.
Target locked. The injured woman.
Ethan exhaled.
"…Now."
"Void Pierce."
The attack came from the side.
Invisible. Precise.
It tore through the creature mid-air.
The body collapsed instantly.
The group froze.
"…What…?"
No one saw it. No one understood.
Ethan moved. Not forward.
Not in their sight. But around them.
Using broken structures.
Shadow angles. Line-of-sight gaps.
The group tried to regroup.
Barely.
"We need to stay together!" one shouted.
"Together, how? We don't even know what we're doing!"
"They're too fast!"
Another Crawler attacked.
This time
They reacted. Two of them.
Swinging together.
Clumsy. But enough.
The creature staggered.
Ethan adjusted.
"…Good. They're learning."
He didn't eliminate everything.
He guided. A second strike.
Void Pierce.
This time
Weaker.
Just enough to destabilize.
The group capitalized.
Barely. But it worked.
Then
A third death.
A man at the back.
Too slow.
Too focused on others.
A Crawler slipped behind.
Strike. Instant. Three dead.
Two injured. Two standing.
Reality settled. Heavy.
Unavoidable.
"…This is the limit," Ethan thought.
Then
The air shifted.
Heavier. Denser.
The boss appeared.
Type: Distorted Overseer
Larger. More stable.
More controlled.
Its limbs weren't chaotic.
They were deliberate.
Its eyes
Focused. Aware.
The survivors froze.
"…We're dead…"
The Overseer moved.
Not rushed. Not wild. Direct.
Ethan's gaze sharpened.
"…Too much for them."
He stepped
Forward.
At that exact moment
Something changed.
Time didn't stop.
But it separated.
Movements slowed.
Perception expanded.
Connections aligned.
"…So this is it."
The system responded.
[Skill Path Completed]
[Time Manipulation – Unlocked]
[Skill Acquired: Temporal Fracture]
(Type: Time / Support / Control)
Allows micro-segmentation of time flow within a limited range.
User perception and reaction speed drastically increase.
External movement appears slowed.
Another message followed instantly.
[Limitation Removed: Intelligence Threshold]
[Condition Met: Comprehension + System Affinity Synchronization]
Ethan understood immediately.
"…I didn't reach it."
"I went around it."
"…So this is what happens when understanding surpasses limits."
Time returned. But not the same.
The Overseer attacked.
Fast. Deadly. Ethan moved.
And now
It was slow.
Every motion visible.
Every angle is predictable.
He stepped past the attack.
Minimal movement. Maximum efficiency.
The survivors saw something.
Not clearly.
Just
A blur. A presence. Gone.
Ethan's blade aligned.
Space compressed. Time segmented.
Strike.
The attack pierced through the Overseer's core.
Clean.Perfect.
The creature froze.
Then collapsed.
Silence.
The dungeon responded.
[Dungeon Clear – E Rank]
[High Contribution Bonus]
[Skill Awakening Bonus]
[Level Up] [Level Up] [Level Up]
Ethan's eyes flickered slightly.
Level: 27
"…Minimal exposure. Maximum gain."
The survivors stood in shock.
Alive. Barely.
"…Something helped us…"
"…What was that…?"
"…Did you see him…?"
"No… I didn't see anything…"
Ethan was already gone.
Outside
The observer stood still.
Waiting. Watching. A distortion.
Faint. Almost nonexistent.
"…Again."
Ethan exited
Not normally.
He activated Temporal Fracture.
Not true invisibility.
But misalignment. Time difference.
Perception gap.
To others
He didn't exist.
The observer stepped forward.
Scanning. Measuring. Nothing.
"…You're hiding in the flow itself."
"…If that's true… you're not just ahead."
"…You're dangerous."
A faint smile.
"…Interesting."
Ethan walked away.
Unseen. Untracked.
Behind him, silence returned.
Ahead control tightened.
But now
He had something new.
Not just power. Not just skill.
A way to move
Outside observation.
His thoughts remained steady.
"…Time isn't stopped."
"…It's controlled."
And that changed everything.
End of Chapter 13