"YESSSSSS!" Nobody threw both hands into the air while breathing heavily. "I FINALLY DID IT!"

His voice echoed through the ruined city battlefield. "The shadow dogs are DONE!"

He pointed dramatically upward. "REN! ARE YOU SEEING THIS?! I FINALLY DEFEATED THOSE DAMN DOGS!"

Then Ren’s voice lazily echoed through the area."...Well done....Well done..Bowlcut.

Nobody grinned proudly despite looking half-dead. "Damn right well done. You saw that final move? I was moving DIFFERENT."

Ren answered flatly. "You were screaming differently too."

"...Rude." Nobody laughed breathlessly and placed the twin blade crowbars over his shoulders dramatically.

"...Man..."

"...I actually survived."

The ruined battlefield slowly became quieter around him.The fog began dissolving. The shadows faded.

Then something strange happened. Tiny blue particles suddenly appeared around Nobody’s arm. "...Huh?" He blinked. More particles appeared.

His hand slowly started dissolving into glowing fragments. Nobody froze instantly. "...Wait....WAIT." He looked at his disappearing fingers in horror. "...WHY AM I PIXELATING?!"

The process spread rapidly across his body. Blue glowing particles floated upward from his clothes and skin.

Nobody panicked immediately. "REN?! WHAT THE FARAK IS HAPPENING TO ME?! I JUST WON! YOU CAN’T DELETE ME AFTER THE FIGHT LIKE THIS!"

The system window calmly appeared.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Stage Transfer Initiated]

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Nobody pointed angrily at it. "THAT DOESN’T EXPLAIN ANYTHING!" His legs dissolved next. "...OH THIS FEELS WEIRD! I am feeling nauseous.

The world around him started distorting. The ruined city stretched unnaturally. The broken buildings fragmented into light. Nobody flailed dramatically while continuing to dissolve. "REN YOU HUMANOID RABBIT SCAMMER....!"

FWOOOOOSH

Everything vanished.

A second later....

Nobody crashed face-first onto a smooth metallic floor.

THUD!

"...Ow..."

Blue transparent walls surrounded the chamber again. The familiar tutorial room had returned. Soft glowing lights moved through the walls like flowing energy.

Nobody slowly lifted his head. "...I’m alive?" He immediately checked his arms. "...Okay good....Still have two."

A calm voice came from ahead.

"You look nice."

Nobody turned.

Ren sat casually on the floating couch again. Leg crossed. One hand near his face. Eyes closed. Head tilted slightly downward. That same smug smirk rested on his face like always.

Nobody stared at him in disbelief. "...THIS torn-up dress looks nice to you?!" He pointed dramatically at his ruined office clothes. Large claw marks stretched across the fabric. Half the sleeves were damaged. Dust and blood stains covered almost everything. "Those dogs were chasing me like I was their afternoon snack!"

Ren opened one eye slightly. "...You yell so much."

Nobody looked offended. "I almost became premium dog food!"

Ren sighed softly.

Then..

SNAP !

He snapped two fingers casually. Blue light instantly wrapped around Nobody’s body.

FWOOOOSH...

The torn office clothes began repairing themselves rapidly. Ripped fabric stitched back together. Dust disappeared. Blood stains vanished. Even the wrinkles smoothed themselves out.

Nobody blinked repeatedly. "...Hold on."

His cuts disappeared next, pain vanished. Fatigue faded away like it had never existed. The soreness in his muscles melted completely.

A few seconds later...

He looked completely normal again. Perfectly restored.

Nobody slowly looked down at himself. Then touched his clothes. "...Damn. I look like I was renovated just now."

Ren smirked slightly wider. "Maintenance complete."

Nobody rotated his arm slowly. "No pain...no cuts...Okay that was actually a cool thing that you just did." He suddenly narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "...Wait you could heal me THIS easily the whole time?"

Nobody pointed accusingly. "YOU LET ME SUFFER ON PURPOSE!"

Ren calmly leaned back against the couch. "It builds character."

"It builds trauma!"

Ren ignored the complaint completely. "Sit down."

Nobody blinked. "...Huh?"

"You completed Stage Two." Ren finally opened both crimson eyes fully. "Which means your real training starts soon."

Nobody’s expression slowly changed. "...Real training?" A bad feeling instantly crawled up his spine. "...What do you mean REAL training?"

Ren’s smirk deepened slightly. And for some reason that expression felt more dangerous than the wolves ever did.

Ren leaned back comfortably against the floating couch while staring at Nobody with amusement.

Ren slowly raised one finger. "Stage Three...contains crawling-type monsters."

Nobody blinked. "...Crawling?"

Ren nodded casually,"Fast and flexible. They move through walls, ceilings, tight spaces." His smirk widened slightly. "And unlike the wolves...they are far more dangerous."

Nobody’s confident posture slowly weakened.

"...How dangerous are we talking?"

Ren rested his chin on one hand. "Dangerous enough that even your twin blade crowbars won’t guarantee safety."

Nobody stared at him. "...Excuse me?"

Ren continued calmly. They attack in swarms. They adapt rapidly. And once they lock onto prey...they rarely stop chasing."

Nobody laughed awkwardly. "...Haha...Cool joke."

Ren did not laugh.

Nobody’s smile slowly faded. "...You’re serious."

Ren nodded once.

Nobody immediately pointed at him dramatically. "THOSE WOLVES WERE ALREADY NIGHTMARE FUEL! Things literally cannot get any worse than that, right?!"

Ren suddenly made a strange amused sound. "Uuhhu hu hu..." The laugh echoed softly through the chamber. That laugh scared Nobody more than the wolves did.

Ren slowly looked up at him. "...You really don’t have a clue."

Nobody gulped.

A visible one. "...Eh?"

Ren crossed one leg casually. "The wolves hunted your body. The crawlers...hunt fear."

Nobody’s face slowly stiffened. "...What does THAT mean?"

Ren gave the same calm terrifying smile.

Nobody suddenly felt cold for some reason. "...Ren..." He forced out an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head nervously. "...I think you’re joking, right???"

Ren stayed silent. that silence answered everything. The blue transparent walls continued their slow, soft glow, but Nobody suddenly stopped noticing them.

Even the system interface flickered once....then stabilized again, like it was uncertain whether to intervene.

Nobody forced a nervous laugh. "...Okay, okay....You’re definitely messing with me."

Ren tilted his head slightly. "...Am I?" That single question landed worse than a direct threat.

Nobody’s smile froze mid-expression. "...Bro....That’s not reassuring."

Ren finally stood up from the couch. Slowly and casually like nothing in the conversation mattered at all. His footsteps made no sound as he walked closer.

Nobody instinctively stepped back half a step.

Then stopped himself. "...Why am I stepping back...This is a training room."

Ren stopped a short distance away. His red eyes looked at Nobody with mild curiosity. Not anger nor excitement. Just evaluation. Like he was checking equipment quality. "...You’re still thinking in straight lines."

Nobody blinked. "...What does that mean?"

Ren raised a hand slightly.

A faint holographic projection appeared between them. It showed the Stage Three label. Then it distorted. The image shifted.

Not like orcs, not wolves. Something bigger and faster. Unclear shapes crawling through broken environments. Walls, ceilings, even underground routes.

Nobody leaned forward slightly without realizing it.

"Ehhh!...Okay that’s already giving me the heebie-jeebies "

One of the shapes suddenly "looked" toward him in the projection. Even though it was from the projection screen Nobody instinctively leaned back again. "...NOPE."

Ren observed quietly. "...Good."

Nobody frowned. "Good?!"

Ren continued. "Your reaction time is still based on visibility....Which is why Stage Three will break that assumption." He lowered his hand. The projection disappeared.

The chamber returned to normal calm lighting.

But Nobody didn’t relax. That was the problem. Nothing about the explanation felt like a joke anymore. He crossed his arms tightly. "...So what you’re saying is...I can’t see them properly."

Ren nodded. "Correct."

"...I can’t hear them coming."

"Sometimes."

"...I can’t predict them."

"Rarely."

Nobody stared. "...Then how am I supposed to survive?"

Ren replied immediately. "You adapt."

Nobody laughed once. Short. Dry. "...That’s not an answer."

Ren tilted his head slightly. "It is the only answer that matters here."

Nobody slowly lowered his arms. His expression shifted from panic to something more controlled. "...Okay....Let’s say I believe you."

He pointed slightly. "What do I actually fight in Stage Three?"

Ren didn’t answer right away. Instead, he lifted one finger again.

And snapped.

The system reacted instantly.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[STAGE THREE PREVIEW]

Entity Type: Crawling Red-Headed Centipede

Classification: Subterranean / Vertical Mobility Predators

Threat Level: HIGH ⚠︎

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody squinted at the text. "...Subterranean?...So they come from underground?"

Ren nodded slightly. "Yes."

"And above."

"...And walls?"

"Yes."

"...And ceilings?"

"Yes."

Nobody paused. "...That’s basically everywhere."

Ren gave a small smile. "You’re learning."

Nobody ran a hand through his hair slowly. "...Man...This tutorial is not a tutorial." He exhaled deeply. Then looked at Ren again. "...Is there even a win condition?"

Ren replied without hesitation. "Yes....Survive."

Nobody blinked. "Again...Don’t give me that crap?"

Ren shrugged slightly. "It is true for stages like this....Later stages will refine objectives."

Nobody covered his face with one hand. "...I hate this place."

Ren stepped back toward the couch again.

Then casually sat down. "...You’ll start tomorrow."

Nobody instantly turned. "...TOMORROW?!"

Ren didn’t look up. "Yes."

Nobody pointed at him. "I JUST FINISHED GETTING MENTALLY DESTROYED BY SHADOW DOGS!"

Ren replied calmly. "Good preparation."

"...THAT’S NOT PREPARATION, THAT’S TRAUMA STACKING."

Ren leaned back slightly, "Then do you want to go for stage three now?"

Nobody froze. "Nooooo!" Then slowly lowered his hand. "...You’re not normal."

Ren finally glanced at him again. His expression was unreadable. "...Neither are you."

Nobody didn’t respond immediately.

"...Yeah...I’m starting to notice that."

A quiet pause filled the chamber.

Then the system flickered again.

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[REST PHASE INITIATED]

Next Stage Preparation: Pending

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody exhaled slowly. "...So what now?"

Ren closed his eyes again. "Rest."

"...That’s it?"

"Yes."

Nobody frowned. "That feels like a trick."

Ren didn’t respond.

Which somehow confirmed nothing and everything at the same time.

Nobody slowly walked a few steps away.

Then stopped.

"...Hey Ren."

Ren hummed slightly.

"...Hm?"

Nobody hesitated.

"...Those crawling monsters..."

"...they’re not like, fast-fast... right?"

Ren answered softly. "...Faster than your reaction if you panic."

Nobody stood still."...Cool....Great..RIP MR.NOBODY....

He turned away slowly and muttered under his breath. "...I’m going to need more than crowbars for this..."

Behind him, Ren’s faint smirk returned.

And somewhere deep in the system interface..

a new warning quietly blinked.

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[STAGE THREE PREPARATION COMPLETE]

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