"Here I am, Card God, or whatever you call yourself." Suhyeon mentioned without interest, putting his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"[Right, I didn't tell you my name. Then I will introduce myself. I am the fourth God, Yeomna – King of the Underworld.]"

"King of the Underworld… and fourth God? How many of you are there?" asked Suhyeon.

"[We are ten, but right now I didn't call you to talk about that. I saw that you have advanced quite a lot, but you still have a long road to walk.]"

"Yeah… when I faced Johan I discovered that I am still not strong enough. Lookism is on a different level." Suhyeon mentioned, clenching his fists.

"[That's right, and for that reason I will give you a small gift, as a show of trust to my right hand.]"

"What kind of gift? You're already making me way too curious." said Suhyeon.

"[Listen carefully…

I will give you your first card…

CHALLENGER.]"

Suhyeon felt how the ground beneath his feet vibrated.

"[With this card you will not only challenge the strong ones of your land…

but you will be summoned to confrontations beyond your reality.

Other bearers of the system, in distant cities, in parallel worlds,

will be your enemies and your trials.

The Challenger Card opens the gates of the true battlefield…

where only one will remain standing.]"

Suhyeon clenched his teeth, feeling a shiver run down his back. He hadn't yet seen the card, but the mere mention of its name made him understand that his fights in Gangbuk had been nothing more than a prelude.

"I see…" he murmured in a low voice, almost to himself. "So this card isn't a simple gift… it's an invitation to the true battlefield. Quite a present you give me, huh?"

He lifted his gaze toward Yeomna, without a trace of fear in his eyes.

"If that's the destiny you're setting for me, I'll accept it." he exclaimed firmly, without fearing what could happen from now on.

"But tell me… what is the purpose of carrying out these kinds of global confrontations between parallel realities? And, above all… how and when are these kinds of things carried out?"

"[Listen well, Suhyeon… or rather, Klaus.

This card I give you because you are a key piece: you bear the mark.

Imagine the world is a game and everyone else must advance step by step, level by level. But you… you are different. It's as if you had obtained full access from the very start.

You skipped all the phases and arrived directly at the end, without needing to complete the ordinary path. That's why your role is not that of a simple player… but of the one who challenges the board itself.]"

At that, Suhyeon listened attentively, without interrupting Yeomna.

"[You decide when and how things will happen.

The objective of most users of the system… is to obtain what you carry: the mark.

That mark is a sacred symbol, highly coveted among the users. It places you above all of them. And as you well know, you are my right hand… in the same way, those who bear a mark are the right hand of other gods.

If someone manages to defeat a bearer, they ascend in rank and become an aide to a god. Those are known as Irregular Observers.

But that is only the beginning of their path. Because every so often the Ragnarok is celebrated… an event that no user is allowed to miss.

There, even those who carry the mark run the risk of losing it.]"

Suhyeon calmly raised a hand, interrupting the god's words.

"I understood almost everything." he said in a calm voice. "Right now it wouldn't make sense to face another user of the system. It would be a waste… most likely they are already stronger than me by having completed their world."

Yeomna observed him in silence for a few moments, and finally nodded with a slight gesture.

"[Exactly. You are correct.]"

Suhyeon narrowed his eyes, evaluating every detail.

"Then tell me… when will that Ragnarok be held?"

Yeomna's shadow spread throughout the place, and his voice rumbled like an omen.

"[The Ragnarok is celebrated every ten years… but for you, Klaus, only eight remain.]"

Yeomna's voice resounded like an echo in the depths of nothingness.

"[Now behold the true gift.]"

The atmosphere was charged with silence as a soft form began to materialize in front of Suhyeon. It wasn't paper nor ink, but a fragment of floating light that seemed to breathe.

Whistling in crimson, gray, and amber colors, an ethereal card was built that rested on nothing tangible. On its surface shimmered the outline of a humanoid figure, deliberately undefined —a presence more than a form— as if it harbored a consciousness.

The card vibrated with a dull pulse, a murmur that resonated in the air without pronouncing words.

[The Challenger Card.

It is not a power within anyone's reach…

It is the voice of the system and its most absolute challenge.

Now you shall receive it, Suhyeon.

Welcome to the battlefield of the users of the system.]

[Ascension of the Mandate: the beginning of the true war of the system.]

Suhyeon lowered his gaze for just an instant toward the card, and then lifted it again toward Yeomna, unconcerned.

"Then there's nothing else to talk about." he responded, sighing as if tired from all this information.

Suhyeon turned calmly, ready to leave. The card still floated behind him, shining with a faint glow.

It was then that a different voice resounded, colder.

[Do not disappoint me… Suhyeon.]

The sound vibrated in the depths of his mind, without any emotion.

[I won't be mistaken in having chosen you… right?]

Suhyeon stopped for just an instant, enough to show that he had heard.

"Don't worry." he murmured calmly. "You know I don't like going back to what I was before… from now on I'll be the one who breaks this damn system."

A faint confident smile crossed his face, just a flash in his usual serenity.

Then he kept walking, without looking back.

The dark space began to crack, like a crystal breaking in silence. Suhyeon's figure advanced without stopping, crossing the rift until disappearing into the light of the real world.

Behind him, only Yeomna remained.

"[That's how it must be…]" he murmured, watching how the rift sealed. "[But don't be deceived, Klaus. The other users of the system won't be easy to face. Each one of them is a forged monster, and they will do the impossible to take from you what you carry.]"

The shadow of the god stirred, as if a contained storm engulfed him.

"[I will do everything necessary to make you grow, whatever it takes. I will not lose to those damn gods…]"

The last word resounded with a trace of fury, reverberating in the void, like an eternal oath.