SWNOVELXO Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Who Do You Trust?
4:02 AM – The Safehouse, Seoul
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The metal door shook under the relentless pounding.
"Please! Let me in!"
The voice outside was hoarse, panicked—human.
Everyone inside the safehouse froze.
The silver-haired girl was the first to move. Her gun was already raised, aimed directly at the door. Cold. Unwavering.
Ji-hye, the Windstalker, whispered, "That doesn't sound right."
Seok-hoon clenched his fists. "What do you mean?"
She swallowed. "Listen carefully. The way he's screaming—he's desperate, but not afraid."
"…What?"
Ji-hye's voice was barely above a whisper now. "If you were about to die… you wouldn't be knocking. You'd be banging like a madman, screaming your lungs out."
A heavy silence followed.
Ji-hye was right.
The voice outside was frantic—but controlled.
Like someone pretending to be desperate.
Kyung-min's fingers twitched.
[System Notice: Unknown Entity Detected]
"Warning: This being is not what it seems."
His stomach dropped.
Tae-sik was already moving toward the door.
Kyung-min's instincts screamed—stop him.
But before he could say anything—
Tae-sik reached for the handle.
4:03 AM – A Mistake Was Made
The door burst open.
A man stumbled inside. His clothes were ripped and bloodstained, his face pale and streaked with sweat. He looked like he had barely escaped death.
"Thank you—thank you so much!" he gasped, collapsing onto his knees. "I—I thought I was going to die out there."
Tae-sik knelt beside him. "Are you hurt?"
The man nodded shakily. "J-just some scratches. I—there were these… things chasing me, I barely—"
His breath hitched. His eyes darted around the room, scanning the survivors.
Kyung-min saw it.
That flicker of calculation.
The moment the man realized something.
He wasn't scared.
He was evaluating them.
He was hunting.
Kyung-min moved.
But he was too late.
The man's body convulsed.
His skin split open.
His bones cracked, shifting, breaking, reforming.
And then—
A monster was standing where the man had been.
[System Notice: Shapeshifter Identified – Hollow Imitator (C-Rank, Predator-Type)]
"A creature that mimics human survivors to infiltrate safe zones. It feeds not on flesh, but on trust."
Tae-sik's eyes widened in horror.
"Shit—"
The Hollow Imitator lunged.
4:04 AM – Trust Is a Weapon
Everything exploded into chaos.
Tae-sik barely had time to raise his arms before the monster slammed into him, sending him crashing into a stack of crates.
Do-yoon, the Warden, charged forward, shield raised. "Hold the line!"
BANG! BANG!
The silver-haired girl fired twice—two perfect shots to the head.
The Hollow Imitator's face snapped backward— but didn't break.
Instead, its head twisted back into place, its mouth splitting into a sickening grin.
[System Notice: Hollow Imitators Possess Rapid Regeneration.]
Kyung-min felt cold.
Joon-hyuk, the Pyromancer, threw a fireball. It hit the creature square in the chest, engulfing it in flames.
For a moment, everyone held their breath.
Then—
The creature laughed.
And kept walking.
"Oh, shit," Ji-hye whispered.
They couldn't kill it.
Not fast enough.
Not before it killed one of them first.
The Hollow Imitator twitched forward—then vanished.
A blur.
A phantom movement.
It reappeared behind Joon-hyuk.
Before anyone could react—
A clawed hand punched through his chest.
Joon-hyuk gasped.
For a split second, his eyes met Kyung-min's.
Shock.
Then—
Nothing.
[System Notice: Kim Joon-hyuk Has Died.]
[Hidden Skill Activated: Final Echo]
Extracting Usable Skill…
Acquired: Firebolt (One-Time Use Only).
Kyung-min barely had time to process it.
Joon-hyuk's body hit the ground.
The Hollow Imitator turned to its next victim.
And Kyung-min felt something snap inside him.
4:06 AM – The First Kill That Matters
The battle raged around him.
Tae-sik and Do-yoon were holding the monster back, but barely. Ji-hye was circling, looking for an opening.
The silver-haired girl was reloading, searching for weak points.
And Kyung-min—
He was standing over Joon-hyuk's body.
His hands trembled.
Not with fear.
With power.
[Acquired: Firebolt (One-Time Use)]
Joon-hyuk's last skill pulsed inside him, waiting to be used.
Kyung-min looked up at the Hollow Imitator.
It was strong. It was fast.
But it wasn't immune to everything.
Fire hurt it.
Not enough to kill it immediately—but enough to slow it down.
And that was all he needed.
Kyung-min raised his hand.
[Activating Firebolt.]
A roaring flame ignited in his palm.
The Hollow Imitator turned—
And Kyung-min fired.
The firebolt exploded into its chest, burning deeper than before.
The monster shrieked, its regeneration slowing.
Tae-sik's eyes widened.
"…The hell?"
But Kyung-min wasn't listening.
He had just proven something important.
Final Echo worked on anyone.
Not just monsters.
If someone stronger died near him…
He could take their power.
The realization hit him like a thunderstorm.
If he wanted to grow stronger—if he wanted to win this game—
He didn't just need to survive.
He needed powerful people to die near him.
And that…
That was something he could make happen.