I opened my eyes. My breath caught in my throat.

—Thump, thump.

My lungs constricted, and the pounding of my heart echoed in my ears.

My fingertips trembled. It felt like I’d barely broken the surface after holding my breath deep underwater for too long.

“Ah...”

The sound that escaped my throat was rough and cracked.

I was alive.

Fragments of images still lingered in my mind. Was it a dream, or was it real?

I couldn’t tell.

But what I knew for certain—was that I had failed, or would fail.

I looked around. As I exhaled, the air sank heavily. Damp, sticky humidity seeped into my skin.

Even the air pulled deep into my lungs felt heavy.

The walls were made of crudely carved stone—not naturally formed, but shaped by something.

Scratches here and there, and broken rocks strewn about in irregular patterns.

Slowly, I raised my head.

There was no sky.

Only a high ceiling.

A dome of stone arched above like a giant cavern roof.

And then, as I lowered my head again—

There it was. A massive figure looming before me.

It felt like my breath stopped.

A towering mass like a mountain of rock.

A colossal silhouette that looked like it could swallow the entire cavern.

Even without moving, it exuded overwhelming presence.

I knew what it was. I just hadn’t expected to meet it so soon.

Gigantic scales glowing dark crimson.

It radiated an almost transcendental aura.

Slowly—

It opened its eyes.

Red light rose from within the darkness.

The Civilization-Ender Beast.

Aldebaran.

The primordial dragon was looking down at me.

I glanced around again.

No weapons.

Even if I had one, it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Its crimson eyes swept over me.

I simply sat still, waiting.

—Did you endure it?

A deep, resonant voice filled the cavern.

Before I passed out, it had been nothing but a maddening echo forced into my head—but now, it was clear.

The being before me—the one who ruled this space—was speaking directly to me.

“Felt like I was dying.”

I hadn’t expected to face it this soon.

The original plan had only been to draw out the true form of Catastrophe.

A direct encounter was supposed to happen after preparations were complete.

But it seemed the mana of the Fragment provoked a stronger reaction than expected.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Aldebaran gives trials to those who awaken it.

And I had been thoroughly crushed.

I opened my mouth.

“What the hell are you?”

I meant it.

I was genuinely curious.

Aldebaran—an existence that utterly transcends the flow of time.

Its trials appear in countless forms. The most painful moment. The most sorrowful moment.

It creates situations where emotions are pushed to their limits—and makes you live through them.

Whether past or future. Only those who endure them can pass.

And the fact that I’d made it here meant—

[『Clear Mirror, Still Water』 resists the Trial of the Primordial Dragon!]

To some degree, I had passed.

For the record, I nearly died. Well, I did die—many times.

Either way, I never want to experience that pain again.

But that’s not what I’m curious about.

I couldn’t remember the full content of the trial—but one thing was clear: I had failed.

However, the version of me within the trial was different from the me now in several key ways.

He hadn’t drunk Iano’s Elixir, didn’t have the Vitality Bracelet, and most importantly, didn’t have the Fragment.

He was also far less skilled, technically speaking.

But what shocked me most—

Was that at Vanquisher’s mission site, there were three Apostles.

Whether that was a glimpse of the future or some constructed vision made from fragments of my memory—I couldn’t be sure.

But one thing was certain. If there really were three Apostles, then my entire plan had to be rewritten.

Vanquisher and I wouldn’t be nearly enough.

“Was that a vision of the future?”

The massive being stared down at me in silence.

“Or was it just a joke?”

It was a critical question.

But Aldebaran slowly smiled.

—I do not know. Even I cannot predict that.

I frowned.

—But does it matter?

—In the end, what you seek is not to face that despair.

I swallowed hard. He was right.

Even if it was just a possibility—I had to stop it.

I let out a bitter laugh.

“So then, mind lending me a hand?”

The primordial dragon slowly began to rise. The scraping of sharp scales against each other.

The cracking and shifting of bones.

As its full mass stretched and unfurled, the cavern seemed to grow darker.

If the first trial tested my mental strength—

Then the second was to prove my qualifications.

—That’s a different matter entirely.

The dragon stood upright.

Its massive form filled the entire cavern.

Its red eyes locked onto me.

I rose to my feet slowly.

—Clang!

A spear came flying from somewhere and embedded itself in the ground.

Black and sharp like obsidian.

Catastrophe.

Without hesitation, I reached out and picked up the spear. Then I looked around.

This would probably be a place I’d return to often.

“Let’s take it easy, yeah?”

And I charged in with everything I had.

***

A hospital run by Glory, equipped with top-tier facilities. On its highest floor—its most exclusive VIP room.

The air in the room was thick with tension and weight.

A man lay on the bed.

His eyes closed, submerged in a deep sleep.

And watching over him—three women.

Their expressions as they looked at ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) him were each different, yet their hearts were aligned in one thing: they were all worried about the man lying there.

—Crash!

The door burst open violently.

Black hair, red eyes.

Dressed in a sharp suit, someone burst into the room.

Kang Arin.

She hurried inside and turned to the other women.

“That it?”

She pointed toward the spear placed on one side of the room—an obsidian weapon.

Yu Hana quietly nodded.

And then—

—Bang!

—Bang!

Without hesitation, Kang Arin drove her fist into the spear.

But despite the force of her blows, the spear didn’t budge.

Cheon Yeoul, unfazed, pulled the blackout curtains over the room. To prevent the sound from leaking out—and, as a bonus, to shield Jeong Haein from that brutish attack.

Kang Arin stepped back and bit her lip hard.

“Come out.”

She spoke to the spear.

To any observer, it would’ve looked like madness—but to their shock, the spear responded.

—Impatient, aren’t you.

Black smoke began to rise from the spear.

It didn’t form a shape, but a voice emerged from within it.

Kang Arin stared piercingly at the smoke and demanded,

“What the hell are you doing?”

It had already been five hours since he lost consciousness.

The other women remained silent, but their thoughts were aligned.

—It’s a trial.

“Ah...”

A quiet sigh filled the room.

That was what they all feared.

To dismiss his life as just a ‘trial’ was far too kind. Any random piece of his life, taken on its own, would still qualify as a horrific ordeal.

And they knew this better than anyone.

“When’s it going to end?”

—Who knows, I think he just died for the 4,500th time.

For an instant—

The air in the room froze.

All of them widened their eyes and stared at the spear and the dark silhouette.

And in their eyes—murderous intent surged.

4,500 times.

Even among the futures they knew, that was one of the most brutal.

“That’s... impossible...”

Ha Sion clamped a hand over her mouth in horror.

Cheon Yeoul shot to her feet.

A surge of blue energy exploded from her body.

“Let him out. Now.”

Her voice was low, but the fury inside it flared like fire.

—Can’t do that.

—As long as he’s trying to wield my power, I have no choice but to respond accordingly.

The voice rumbled deep and low, echoing like a cavern.

“You want to die?”

Cheon Yeoul’s gaze turned icy cold. Panic gripped her heart. They had to wake him—now.

All four of them in that room shared the same thought: this trial was far beyond what a human could withstand.

—It’s almost over.

—And don’t you understand yet why this bastard is enduring such a fucked-up trial?

The black smoke from the spear rippled with twisted waves.

—The suppression force of the world.

—This guy is shouldering the recoil and backlash of the twisted, distorted flow you all warped for your own convenience.

In that moment, the expressions of all four women in the room froze at once.

—Of course, compared to facing it directly, this is still a hundred times better... So just wait—oh?

Suddenly, the black smoke twisted grotesquely.

At the same time—crack!

A sharp, tearing sound sliced through the air, and the smoke retreated back into the spear.

“...!”

She reached out too late.

That moment—on the bed—a faint movement was detected.

Jeong Haein’s fingertip twitched.

It was barely a flinch, but all four women in the room snapped their gazes toward him.

And then, the man on the bed suddenly sat upright.

“Holy shit, that bastard is way too strong.”

It was a muttered comment, filled with raw honesty.

Panting, Jeong Haein slowly turned his head.

His gaze swept across the room—then landed on the four women.

“Oh fuck, that startled me.”

Surprise spread across Jeong Haein’s face.

“...What are you all doing?”

Within his light question, the emotions of the women around him rippled instantly.