[System Notification]
Mental Load Status: HIGH
Mental Noise: 83%
Dissonance Level: Critical
Education Level: Stage 3 – "The Darkness of Silence"
Training Area: Noctem Vastum – The Void That Answers with Silence
Warning: This area is sound and thought-focused. Thought frequencies are reflected, and repressed mental fractures can turn into concrete threats.
Fade, when he opened his eyes to the third training... he couldn't hear anything.
It was as if their eardrums had burst. But no—this was a deeper silence. It was not the silence of the outside world, but the silence within himself. Suddenly, he realized: His heartbeat, breath, footsteps... none of them were audible. Even his thoughts no longer echoed.
Everything felt suffocating.
It was as if he was gliding in a groundless darkness. Up, down, right, left... no direction was felt. Fade tried to take a step, but he couldn't get anywhere. Each step was pulling him back to where he was.
And at that moment...
[System: Mental Reflection Started]
The area around him glowing up. Thousands of sentences, voices, cries... poured out of Fade's mind and formed a circle.
"We couldn't protect you."
"You are unworthy."
"Why did you run away?"
"This is your fault."
"The darkness will swallow you."
"You are nothing."
None of these voices were coming from outside. These were Fade's inner voices. Repressed thoughts, pains he thought he had suppressed. And now... they had all surrounded him.
The system's voice echoed again:
[Task: Silence the Mental Noise]
Method: Stay Calm – Don't Fight Thoughts, Overcome Them
Failure Condition: Mental Breakdown
Time Limit: 10:00 Minutes
Fade closed his eyes. He had fought with fears, guilt, and shadows. But this was something else. This… fought directly against himself. More precisely, it was the obligation not to fight.
At first, he tried to resist. He wanted to suppress his thoughts, silence them, and empty his mind. But with every suppression, the voices multiplied.
"You still can't do it."
"You are alone."
"Everything feels empty."
He couldn't do it. He wanted to scream, but no sound came out. His throat tightened. He knelt down on his knees. His face was drenched in sweat. Every moment, every break, was stabbing into his mind like a knife.
Mental Noise: 91%
And at that moment… the voice of the Watcher of the Abyss reappeared—but this time not from outside, but as one of Fade's inner voices.
"You cannot win by fighting." The mind is shaped not by the sword, but by silence. "The mind is shaped not by the sword, but by silence."
Fade took a deep breath. He stopped resisting.
He just started watching his thoughts.
Rising voices... his mother's scream, his father's whisper, his grandfather's gaze, the shadows of a collapsing house, the laughter of his enemies...
He watched them all. He heard. But he didn't take ownership.
He took a step.
The ground was felt.
Second step. The deep silence began to grow.
Mental Noise: 70%
Third step. All the voices in your mind turned into droplets. Transparent and vibrating droplets. Like water particles floating in the air...
Fade stopped.
And he opened his hands.
"All these voices are mine." But they will no longer have power over me. "But they won't be able to control me anymore."
The droplets sparkled. They rose to the sky. And they disappeared silently.
Mental Noise: 38%
The darkness around him cracked.
There were only a few pieces of silence left.
And just then… a shape appeared. This time, it was not an enemy, but a form. A being resembling a human body but entirely made of text: The Loss of Voice.
The explanation of the system has arrived:
[Mental Noise Representative: "The Loss of Sound"]
Definition: "The echo of everything that couldn't be silenced."
Task: Listen to him, don't silence him. You can't overlook him without understanding.
Fade approached him.
The entity did not speak. But from his chest, Fade's own voice was heard:
"Every day you suppressed me, I grew stronger." I stayed silent because you didn't hear me. Now I'm here. And you must answer without saying a single word to me. And you must answer without saying a single word.
Fade closed his eyes.
He only listened to his heart.
No words, no thoughts crossed his mind.
And for the first time... he remained completely silent.
"Loss of Voice" revolved around Fade. The letters on its body began to dissolve one by one. And then it flowed into Fade's body—as if a missing limb was being reattached.
[Mental Harmony Achieved!]
+ New Skill Acquired: "Silent Zone" – Completely blocks mental attacks for a certain period, silences enemy sounds.
+ Permanent Stat Increase:
→ Mental Resilience +5
→ Spiritual Strength +2
→ Focus +3
When darkness fell, Fade was not alone.
He had reconciled with him.
The voices inside were no longer enemies.
They had become comrades.
And at that moment, the Watcher of the Abyss reappeared.
But this time it was not a shadow, it was a pure figure. Its body was made up solely of stars.
He looked at Fade and spoke:
"Silence speaks more than a scream." You have silenced your mind. It means you are getting a bit closer to the moment of decision. It means you are getting closer to the moment of decision.
Fade shook his head.
"What's next?" he said.
The lookout turned, and a passage appeared in the darkness.
"Next up is the Mirror of the soul. When you get there... it won't be your body, but the core of you that will sweat."