The stench of failure clung to everything in the disposal facility basement of Crescent Moon Martial University.
Kang Min-woo pulled his worn jacket tighter as he descended the concrete steps, each footfall echoing in the dimly lit space. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting dancing shadows across piles of discarded training manuals, broken practice weapons, and torn scrolls that had been deemed "worthless" by the academy.
"Perfect place for someone like me," he muttered, adjusting his thick-rimmed glasses.
His part-time job as a disposal facility cleaner wasn't glamorous, but it paid enough to cover his daily meals. With a GPA hovering dangerously at 1.8 and zero scholarship prospects, Min-woo couldn't afford to be picky about work.
As he began sorting through the latest batch of discarded materials, a particular scroll caught his attention. Unlike the others, this one wasn't torn or water-damaged. The silk was pristine, almost glowing under the harsh fluorescent light.
"Phantom Step Method - DEFECTIVE - DO NOT USE"
The red warning stamp was bold and unmistakable, but Min-woo's curiosity was stronger than caution. He'd always been fascinated by martial arts theory, even if his practical application was... less than stellar.
"Phantom Step Method," he read aloud, carefully unrolling the scroll. "A movement technique designed to create afterimages through rapid displacement..."
His eyes scanned the intricate diagrams and complex qi circulation patterns. To most people, this would look like incomprehensible gibberish. But Min-woo had spent countless hours in the library studying martial arts theory, and something about this manual felt different.
"Wait..." He frowned, tracing a finger along one of the qi pathways. "This circulation route conflicts with the lightness technique here, but if you were to combine it with a stabilizing force..."
Suddenly, the world seemed to freeze.
A subtle vibration started from the scroll and spread through his fingertips to his entire body, as if something that had been sleeping for ages was finally awakening. The ancient silk in his hands began to emit a faint glow—weak as candlelight at first, but growing brighter, pushing back the shadows of the basement.
Particles of blue light rose from the scroll and began to dance in the air. They swirled around him like living things, wrapping him in their ethereal embrace. Min-woo gasped. The light particles were gathering at the edges of his vision, creating lines and shapes as if invisible hands were drawing pictures in the air.
The first window materialized. A translucent blue rectangle solidified in mid-air, pulsing gently with soft light. Then came the second, the third. Each one rose at different heights, arranging themselves in perfect harmony before his eyes. It was as if some cosmic architect had designed a personal workshop in the air just for him.
Ancient Chinese characters and modern Korean text flowed naturally together along the borders of the windows. Golden letters floated up from the surfaces of the windows and disappeared in endless cycles. Some characters he could recognize, but others seemed like ancient script that could only be understood from somewhere deep in his memory.
The air itself seemed to vibrate. A low, deep humming sound echoed through the basement, like a massive ancient machine starting up for the first time in centuries.
A strange sense of familiarity washed over him, as if he had seen this sight before in a half-remembered dream. No, not a dream. This was... like coming home. The blue light felt warm. Welcoming, almost, as if greeting a long-awaited friend.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[無極分析鏡 AWAKENING...]
[DEFECTIVE MANUAL DETECTED]
[BEGINNING ANALYSIS...]
Min-woo stumbled backward, dropping the scroll. "What the hell—" He paused, blinking hard. For just a moment, he could have sworn he saw the silhouette of an old man in flowing robes, watching him with kind, ancient eyes. But when he looked again, there was nothing but empty air and flickering fluorescent lights.
[Analysis Complete]Manual: Phantom Step Method
Completion Rate: 73%
Defect Points: 7 detected
Compatibility: 85% match with lightweight techniques
Recommended Combinations: 3 techniques found
Analysis Time: 12 minutes 37 seconds
"This can't be real," Min-woo whispered, but the glowing interface remained stubbornly visible. He reached out tentatively and touched one of the floating windows. It responded to his touch, expanding to show detailed breakdowns of the manual's flaws.
[PRIMARY DEFECT IDENTIFIED] The speed enhancement module conflicts with the weight reduction circuit at meridian point 15. This creates qi turbulence that makes the technique unstable and potentially dangerous.
[SUGGESTED MODIFICATION] Integrate with a grounding technique to stabilize qi flow, or combine with a defensive internal force method to absorb excess energy.
Min-woo's hands trembled as he picked up the scroll again. Everything the system was telling him made perfect sense from a theoretical standpoint. The Phantom Step Method wasn't truly defective—it was incomplete. Like a puzzle missing crucial pieces.
But more unsettling than the impossible interface was the nagging feeling that he had used something like this before. The way his fingers naturally navigated the floating windows, the way the analysis patterns felt intuitive rather than alien... it was as if his hands remembered something his mind had forgotten.
"If I could find a compatible technique to fill the gaps..." he murmured, and even his voice sounded strange to his own ears—more confident, more knowing than it should have been.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: First Analysis][NEW ABILITY: Manual Inventory][NEW ABILITY: Compatibility Scanner]
More windows popped up, showing what looked like an RPG inventory system. The Phantom Step Method appeared as a translucent gray icon with red warning markers at its defect points.
A sound from the stairwell made Min-woo quickly roll up the scroll and shove it into his backpack. Professor Lee's voice echoed down the stairs.
"Min-woo? Are you down there? I saw the lights on."
"Yes, Professor!" Min-woo called back, trying to keep his voice steady. "Just finishing up the weekly sorting!"
Professor Lee Seung-ho appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his graying hair disheveled and his martial arts robes wrinkled. Despite being one of the most respected martial arts theorists at the university, he had a habit of working late into the night.
"Working hard as always," the professor observed, glancing around the cluttered basement. "Find anything interesting in today's batch?"
Min-woo's hand instinctively moved to his backpack. "Just the usual broken weapons and failed practice attempts, Professor."
"Hmm." Professor Lee's sharp eyes seemed to linger on Min-woo's face for a moment. "You know, some of the most revolutionary discoveries in martial arts came from studying failures. What others see as worthless, a keen mind might recognize as simply... unfinished."
The professor's words sent a chill down Min-woo's spine. Did he know something?
"I should head back to my dorm," Min-woo said quickly. "Early class tomorrow."
"Of course. Oh, and Min-woo?" Professor Lee paused at the foot of the stairs. "If you ever find anything that seems... unusual... during your work here, don't hesitate to bring it to my attention. Academic integrity is important, but so is recognizing potential when you see it."
With that cryptic comment, the professor climbed the stairs, leaving Min-woo alone with his racing thoughts and the stolen scroll burning a hole in his backpack.
Back in his cramped four-person dormitory room, Min-woo waited until his roommates were asleep before pulling out the Phantom Step Method scroll. The system interface immediately reactivated, bathing his corner of the room in soft blue light.
[WELCOME BACK, COLLECTOR]
That word—Collector—resonated through him like a struck bell. Why did it feel less like a new title and more like... a homecoming?
[CURRENT INVENTORY: 1 Defective Manual][ANALYSIS LEVEL: 1][COMBINATION ATTEMPTS: 0][INHERITED RESTRICTIONS: 47 FUNCTIONS LOCKED]
Min-woo frowned at the last line. "Inherited? Locked by whom?" he whispered, but the system provided no answer. The blue glow seemed to pulse gently, almost apologetically.
Min-woo stared at the floating windows in amazement. Somehow, impossibly, he had stumbled upon something that could change everything. His miserable grades, his financial struggles, his reputation as the worst student in the Martial Arts Department—none of that might matter if he could truly understand and repair these discarded techniques.
"Collector," he whispered to himself, testing the title. It had a nice ring to it.
He spent the rest of the night studying the Phantom Step Method through the system's analysis tools, taking notes on the defect patterns and potential solutions. Despite never having used such an interface before, his fingers seemed to know exactly which commands to input, which analysis modes to activate. It was like riding a bicycle he couldn't remember learning to ride.
By dawn, he had filled half a notebook with theories and diagrams, some of which included insights that seemed to come from nowhere—as if someone else's knowledge was bleeding through into his thoughts.
When his alarm rang at 6 AM for his Basic Internal Force class, Min-woo was exhausted but more excited than he'd been in months. He had a secret now, a power that no one else possessed.
As he stumbled toward the bathroom, his roommate Park Jae-sung was already up and practicing sword forms in the small space between their beds. Jae-sung was everything Min-woo wasn't—top 5% of their class, scholarship recipient, heir to a prestigious martial arts family, and someone who made even the most difficult techniques look effortless.
"Late night again?" Jae-sung asked without pausing his practice routine. "You know, if you spent half as much time actually training as you do with those theoretical books, maybe you wouldn't be failing every practical exam."
Min-woo bit back his usual defensive response. Let Jae-sung think what he wanted. Soon enough, the whole academy would see what the "worthless" student could really accomplish.
"Yeah, well," Min-woo said, grabbing his toiletries, "some of us have to work harder than others."
As he headed to the bathroom, the system interface flickered back to life in his peripheral vision, displaying a new message:
[DAILY QUEST AVAILABLE][Objective: Locate 1 additional defective manual][Reward: Analysis Experience +10][Time Limit: 24 hours]
Min-woo grinned. Today was going to be a very different kind of day at Crescent Moon Martial University.
The hunt for broken arts was about to begin.
To be continued...