Chapter 17 - The First Step Into the Unknown

  Akari’s gaze remained fixed on the floating words before her.

  > System Notification: A Choice Must Be Made.

  Accept the Veil’s Pact - ???

  Reject and Face the Unknown Consequence.

  The Nameless Watcher stood motionless, waiting.

  Akari’s instincts screamed at her. This wasn’t just another system notification. It felt… alive.

  A trap? A test? Or something else entirely?

  She inhaled slowly. Think.

  The Veil had already taken everything from her—her normal life, her choices, even her control over what came next.

  If she refused, what would happen? Would it erase her? Throw her into an abyss? Force her into something even worse?

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  She had no guarantees.

  Her grip on her sword tightened.

  “I’ll decide on my own terms,” she muttered.

  And then—she raised her hand and accepted.

  The moment her fingers touched the floating text, the world fractured.

  A pulse of power surged through her veins, scorching through her soul.

  > You have accepted the Veil’s Pact.

  A new path has been unlocked.

  A new path?

  Before she could process it, a deep pressure slammed into her, forcing her to her knees.

  Her vision blurred. Something was changing inside her.

  The Nameless Watcher spoke, her voice like a whisper woven into the fabric of reality.

  “You have taken the first step. Now, you must survive it.”

  And then—

  A blinding white light swallowed everything.

  ---

  [New System Notification]

  > Trial of the Veil Initiated.

  Awakening Process: 1%

  ---

  Akari’s Consciousness - Unknown Location

  When Akari came to, she was somewhere else.

  The world around her was… nothingness.

  No sky. No ground. Just an endless expanse of pure white.

  She tried to move—but her body felt wrong.

  A new pain throbbed through her chest, deeper than any wound she had ever felt before.

  Like something inside her was breaking apart. Rebuilding.

  > Awakening Process: 12%

  What the hell was happening?

  A sudden voice whispered through the void.

  > “Who are you?”

  Akari tensed. The voice didn’t belong to the Nameless Watcher. It was something else.

  Something older.

  She turned—but there was no one there.

  > “Who are you?”

  The voice came again. Demanding. Unrelenting.

  She clenched her teeth. “I don’t know what you want from me, but I’m not answering to some disembodied voice in the dark.”

  Silence.

  Then—

  A figure emerged.

  A reflection of herself.

  But different.

  Darker.

  Its eyes were empty voids, its expression unreadable.

  > “Then you will never survive.”

  The reflection lunged.