The Rift answered with silence. At least, for now.

Jaemin stood still, katana at his side, steam rising from the ground and the corpses around him. His breath was heavy. His heartbeat was loud in his ears.

But his hands? They no longer trembled.

A building hung upside-down in the sky — floors suspended midair, furniture bolted to the ceiling as if gravity had given up. Glass shards floated motionless in the mist, reflecting Jaemin from a dozen angles. He moved cautiously, his katana held low, his steps silent on the inverted floor.

Something was here. He could feel it.

A pressure… like eyes watching from every corner. The air was heavier, warmer. His instincts screamed the word before he could think it:

Overseer.

The final boss of a Tier-5 Rift.

Even trained Coreborn tread carefully when facing one. They were fast, intelligent, and brutal. And Jaemin? He was just a rookie. Barely awakened. Wounded not long ago.

His breath caught in his throat. For a moment, his grip on the katana faltered.

Am I doing this?

Yes. He had to.

His fear hadn't vanished. It still gnawed at him, coiled in his gut like a snake. But wrapped around that fear now was something stronger—will.

He stepped forward again."

I'm not here to survive anymore. I'm here to kill. To win."

He clenched the sword tighter and whispered into the shifting air around him:

"I know you're here. Come out, Overseer."

And from the far side of the upside-down ruin…Something stirred.

From the darkness, it descended, coiled around a rusted support pipe above a silver-black lake.

A long, humanoid figure. Its torso shimmered with a faint glow, like constellations stitched into flesh. A jagged crown hovered above its head, spinning slowly like a blade waiting to fall. Two eyes burned in its face—no pupils, just gleaming orbs of fractured starlight. Its arms ended in claws, each finger curved like scythes. Below the torso, there were no legs—just a serpentine lower body, scaled and endless, winding up around the pipe in a spiral upside down that defied gravity.

It didn't breathe.

It didn't blink.

I only watched.

Jaemin stared back, gripping his katana. The "Eye of the Sun" hummed faintly in his hands, the golden edge picking up reflections from the lake. Behind him, the upside-down world held its breath. Even the broken glass had stopped spinning.

This thing... this is on another level entirely. Still a tier-5..still something I can fight then.

But he didn't step back.

Because the Overseer wasn't just some monster—it was a wall. One, he had to break through.

If I run now, I'll never come back. If I win... I prove I belong in this world.

His voice cracked the silence.

"I'll take you down."

The Overseer uncoiled with the hiss of shifting metal, dropping low toward the lake with a grace far too fluid for its massive size. Ripples moved out in a circle, glowing faintly blue.

And then—The Overseer shrieked, a hollow, mechanical sound like static tearing through speakers—

As if answering that glow, Jaemin tightened his grip around the hilt.

A pulse. A flicker of light.

His blade shimmered—softly, faintly—but unmistakably alive with energy. The golden edge wasn't just reflecting now; it was glowing. Not bright. Not loud. But ready.

The Overseer tilted its crowned head.

Jaemin didn't flinch.

He was ready.

Author's Note: Coreborn is my first return to novel writing in a while, so you may spot some rough lines or inconsistent pacing early on. But trust me—starting from Chapter 15, things get tighter, bolder, and way more intense. Over 20+ chapters are already drafted, and the world of Coreborn is only getting deeper from here.

Thank you for joining me this early—it means everything.

With love,
—XcX 🖤