NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 55: The Law of the Strong
Location: Safe Zone
Time: July 20th, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
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It started with a sound no one could place.
A metallic chime that rang inside skulls, not ears—low, resonant, and impossibly ancient.
Kael sat upright in bed, breath sharp. His mimic convulsed beside him, flickering in and out of sync like a disturbed reflection.
He wasn't alone.
Across the Safe Zone, power-users fell to their knees. Some screamed. Others clutched their chests as a surge of foreign energy flowed through them.
Then came the voice.
It wasn't loud. But it was absolute.
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> [SYSTEM MANDATE: WEEKLY TRIALS ACTIVATED]
— "All Awakened are now subject to a weekly mandatory combat trial."
— "Failure to complete will result in partial suppression of power."
— "Completion will unlock advancement opportunities and mutation upgrades."
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Silence followed—but only for a moment.
Then panic.
Kael stood in the central plaza, joined by Elle, Dain, Armin, and dozens more. The screens embedded in old buildings lit up blue, glowing with system runes that translated in real-time:
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> [WEEKLY TRIAL – 001: HUNT OR BE HUNTED]
▪ Objective: Eliminate 3 hostile entities of equal or higher Combat Rating
▪ Time Limit: 7 Days
▪ Tactics: Open – solo, team, ambush, or direct assault
▪ Penalty: 60% Power Suppression for 21 Days
▪ Reward: Special trial of evolution upon completion will be granted 1 evolution point upon gathering 3 the user can level up
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Elle cursed under her breath. Dain rubbed his temples. Armin just stared at the glowing text.
> "So it's come to this," he muttered. "Tasks. Deadlines. Penalties. Like school, but with murder."
Kael said nothing. The glyphs hovered above his hand, embedded deep in his nerves like a brand.
The System had spoken.
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11:00 AM – Judgment Is Law
Kael wasn't in control of this. No one was.
There was no room for negotiation or rebellion.
He paced, trying to make sense of it all, but his mimic was the first to speak:
> "It doesn't trust its creations anymore. It will push them until they break… or bloom."
Kael stared at the others gathering nearby.
People with powers. Ordinary people, once.
Now locked into a race with extinction.
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12:00 PM – The Hunter List
Each Awakened saw a different screen:
Names.
Locations.
Power class of the targeted monsters.
The System had matched every fighter with three threats tailored to their current skill.
One woman, a fire user, vomited when she saw hers: three Flame-Resistant Beasts with tactical intelligence.
A lightning-wielding teen laughed—until he realized his prey could fly faster than he could think.
It wasn't a trial.
It was a hunt with no guaranteed predator.
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1:30 PM – Mutation and Madness
> "What's a Mutation Tree?" Elle asked, staring at her mission UI.
Kael answered quietly.
> "It's how you change. Or get changed."
Dain crossed his arms. "So the System's not just testing us anymore. It's… training us."
> "No," Armin said. "It's modifying us."
At that moment, a low shriek rang out.
A scout team returning from the northern border had been ambushed. One survivor dragged himself back—his arm gone, face shredded.
> "It wasn't just a monster!" he gasped. "It… it set a trap. It waited for us. Like it knew!"
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3:00 PM – The Elite Tier Unlocks
Kael's mimic twitched violently. Then a new screen burned into existence.
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> [ELITE TRIAL: CODE NAME – HOLLOW CLEANSE]
— Objective: Eliminate a Class-Red Target known only as "The Watcher's Fang"
— Location: Undisclosed
— Time Limit: 48 Hours
— Reward: One Passive Ability
— Failure: 100% Suppression for 14 Days
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Kael stared at it. The others didn't receive this message.
Not yet.
> "What the hell is that?" Armin asked.
Kael looked up at the jagged spire of the ruined Sky Tower in the distance.
> "An invitation," he whispered. "From the Hollow."
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5:00 PM – Evolution Goes Both Ways
Another report came in.
A different team—three strong Awakened—were wiped out outside Zone Sector 4. When their bodies were recovered, only one thing had been added to the crime scene:
The System Glyph.
Burned into their corpses. Not by the System—but by something else.
Something that had learned to mimic it.
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> "They're copying the System's markings?" Elle said, horrified.
> "No," Kael replied, voice grim. "They're claiming territory."
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6:00 PM – Cliffhanger
As the sun bled into the horizon, red and thick as old memory, the Safe Zone fell quiet again.
Kael stood alone on the rooftop of the assembly building.
His mimic stood beside him. Silent. Almost human.
Then—Kael felt it.
A pulse. From beyond the wall.
He turned—and saw it.
A monstrous humanoid shape, bone-armored and glass-eyed, stood at the edge of the eastern forest.
It held something in its hands.
It was a human.
Still alive. Gagged.
The creature raised its free hand—and drew a perfect System Glyph in the dirt.
But this time, it wasn't just a circle.
It added something new: a crossed-out eye in the center.
It meant one thing:
> "We're watching too."
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TO BE CONTINUED....