Chapter 161: When the Shadows Burn
The wheel spun.
A hum echoed through the massive chamber, as hundreds of names blurred across the screen suspended above the arena. Jin, still recovering from his previous fight, watched from the glass box as the platform below them shifted again. Cracked stone repaired itself with glowing pulses of green light. Fallen pillars lifted and reassembled with loud, grinding snaps of matter rewriting itself. The sand from earlier battles swept into the corners as if gathered by unseen wind.
The Dokkaebi’s voice rang out, smooth and unimpressed. "Next contenders—prepare yourselves."
The spinning slowed.
A name blinked once in brilliant silver.
[Hanuel Lim]
Another pulse.
His opponent’s name flashed beside it. A single syllable.
[Rho]
Then the command:[Commence Descent.]
Two new glass prisms dropped from above.
Jin leaned forward, eyes narrowing slightly. He remembered Hanuel’s sparring—back in the earlier days of the collapse, when the world still felt like it had rules. The man had always been precise. Not flashy, not explosive—just a specialist. Quiet. Lethal. Like he was always saving something.