Sung Jin woo's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Sung Jin-woo stepped onto the cracked training field at dawn. He pressed the brass locket against his chest, feeling the engraved letter dig into his palm. One day soon, he would split his shadow and stand in every place his short list of people needed him. Today, he only needed to land one clean jump without breaking the ground beneath him. He fixed his eyes on the old chainbound armor at the far end of the field. The rusted statue stood with arms outstretched, a steady anchor for his shadow to lock onto. He breathed in. He pictured the swap. He let go. The shadow leapt. Halfway across the field, his mind slipped sideways. He thought of her, alone, waiting, the way she had waited the last time he was too slow. His pulse spiked. The shadow twisted off course. A shockwave cracked the air. Stone exploded near the field's edge. When the dust cleared, a tall pillar stood split down its length, metal bars bent outward like broken ribs. Jin-woo was on his knees, the locket clenched white in his fist, ten meters from where he had aimed. He stared at the ruined pillar. He understood now, with cold certainty, what the real problem was. His power did not fail him. His love did. Every time he reached for the people he wanted to save, the reaching itself threw him off the mark. He rose slowly and slipped the locket back beneath his collar. The armor still waited at the field's end, patient and unmoved. He would learn to feel everything and still land true. Or he would learn to feel nothing at all.