Chapter 18: New Horizons

  Jin had returned to the real world once more, but his thoughts were still tangled in the virtual web of Echelon. It was hard to break away from the simutions, the constant tension, and the growing sense that something bigger was lurking in the shadows. The moment he slipped off the old VR headset, the real world felt strangely dull, like stepping back from an edge where everything had been intense and full of potential.

  But here, in the quiet of his small apartment, reality held no such grand mysteries. It was the same walls, the same window looking out at the same view of the city—crammed streets, fshing billboards, and that undercurrent of noise that always seemed to be there, no matter the time of day.

  Jin sat on the edge of his couch, his fingers twitching as if expecting some kind of virtual interface to pop up. But nothing came. The Cheat Module was gone. Just like Echelon. For now.

  What now?

  He couldn’t just stay here, stagnant and waiting for another opportunity to fall into his p. No. He had to grow. Echelon had shown him that much. He’d seen the power and the secrets locked away beneath the surface, and now he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had to fight for a pce in that world.

  A sudden buzz from his wrist broke the silence. It was an alert from a training program he’d signed up for a while back—something simple. Martial arts. Physical conditioning. If he was going to survive in the VR world, he couldn’t rely on shortcuts alone. He needed to build real strength, the kind that came from blood, sweat, and hard work.

  The notification was a reminder for a session. Jin had been putting it off for a while, telling himself that his mind and quick reflexes were all that mattered. But now, with the weight of Echelon’s world on his shoulders, he realized that wasn’t enough.

  He grabbed his jacket and headed out.

  As he walked through the streets, the sounds of the real world filled his ears. Cars honked, pedestrians hustled along, and street vendors shouted their wares. Jin couldn’t help but compare it to the silent, isoted world of Echelon. There, every step had purpose, every move had consequence. Here, it felt almost… empty. The chaos of the world outside was just background noise.

  He reached the dojo in a quiet corner of the city, the faint clink of metal on metal reaching his ears as he pushed the door open. The instructor, a broad-shouldered man with a serious look, nodded at him as he entered.

  “Jin, ready for your training?”

  Jin returned the nod. “Let’s get started.”

  The day passed in a blur of physical exhaustion. His muscles screamed for rest, but Jin kept going, pushing through the pain. His mind, however, wasn’t as focused as it should have been. Even while sparring, his thoughts kept drifting back to Echelon, to the Cheat Module, to what he could become if he pyed the game right.

  By the time he finished the training session, it was evening, and the city around him felt less oppressive. For the first time in a while, he felt a shift in his perspective. The physical world didn’t need to be overshadowed by the digital one. The training was real, the sweat, the effort—he could take this with him into Echelon. It was a way to bance out his virtual progress.

  Still, there was something missing.

  That night, as he prepared for bed, his mind raced. The Cheat Module had given him a taste of something greater, but now it was up to him to fill in the gaps. He needed more than just virtual cheats or shortcuts. He needed to learn how to survive, how to fight, and how to outsmart the dangerous web of systems both in the real world and Echelon.

  He knew that if he wanted to climb the social dder, to rise through the chaos of Echelon, he’d have to start by building a solid foundation here in the real world. The training, the physical development—this was the start of a journey he wasn’t going to quit. He’d make sure of it.

  Tomorrow, he’d continue. Not just in Echelon, but in every world.