Chapter 5: The Market Crash of the Soul

The silver coin spun through the air, a gleaming streak of light destined to end the farce. In every calculation, in every one of my thousand lives, 1hp was a death sentence. It was the absolute zero of existence. But as the coin reached the tip of Jax’s nose, the air didn't shatter—it froze.

A hand, blurred by blinding speed and wrapped in tattered bandages, snatched the coin out of the air.

"You're the one who likes to play with decimals?"

The voice was quiet, raspy, and carried a weight that made my Passive Mogging feel like a child’s tantrum. Out of the shadows of the arena stepped a boy with messy hair and eyes that looked like they had seen the bottom of an abyss. It was Johan Seong, the legendary leader of the God Dog crew. He wasn't a student here; he was a glitch in the system, a "copycat" genius who didn't care about levels or logic.

"Johan?" the Dean gasped, his golden aura flickering in fear. "What are you doing here?"

Johan didn't answer the Dean. He looked at the coin in his hand, then at me. "You told them to bring a warrior to you at 1hp. You thought that made you a genius. You thought that gave you Aura." Johan crushed the silver coin between his fingers, turning it into dust. "But in my world, being at 1hp isn't weakness. It’s when the copying starts. You just insulted the struggle of everyone who ever fought from the dirt."

The Downfall

Suddenly, the system screen in front of my eyes turned blood-red.

[CRITICAL ERROR: MARKET COLLAPSE]

[Your 'Aura' has been identified as 'Counterfeit']

[Johan Seong has 'Copied' your presence and found it lacking.]

I felt a sudden, violent tug in my chest. My SSS-Rank potential, my thousand years of experience, and the bottomless wealth of the Luca family—it was all being sucked into a vacuum. The ground beneath me vanished. I wasn't climbing the stairs anymore; I was falling down them.

"BODREI!"

Subaru screamed, his voice no longer a distorted meme, but a cry of pure agony. The Aura Monster was tethered to my soul, and as my aura drained into Johan’s sheer, terrifying presence, Subaru began to dissolve. His frying pan shattered into shards of gray light. His "Sigma" smirk was replaced by a look of profound, human terror.

"The tank is empty, Chat..." Subaru whispered, his body becoming transparent. "The stairs... they’re gone. Don't... don't lose the rizz..."

With a final, pathetic tung, Subaru vanished. The Master of Brainrot was dead, consumed by the very void left by my failed gamble.

The Debt Collector

I collapsed to my knees. The Myril-Silk suit felt like lead. The SSS-Rank light in my eyes extinguished, leaving me as nothing more than the dim-witted son of a merchant—the very thing I had tried to escape.

Johan Seong walked toward me, his footsteps echoing like a funeral march. The "God Dog" aura he radiated was suffocating. By failing to finish the 1hp fight, I hadn't just lost my power; I had tainted his reputation by association. In the world of high-stakes "Aura," I had committed the ultimate sin: I had Capped.

"You talked big about the '1hp Protocol,'" Johan said, standing over me. He looked down, his eyes cold and unimpressed. "But because you couldn't even finish a dying man, you made the God Dog look like a joke. You made me lose my streak."

He reached down and grabbed me by the collar, lifting me effortlessly.

"My aura is worth more than all your father's gold, Bodrei. And since you made me lose it, I’m going to take the only thing you have left."

Johan’s grip tightened, his fist pulling back, glowing with the copied techniques of a thousand better men.

"Give me your head. Let's see if your brains have as much 'gold' in them as your mouth."

[Status: TOTAL LOSS]

[Aura: 0.00]

[Master: DECEASED]

[Current Quest: Survive the God Dog’s Judgment]

Bodrei had spent 1,000 lives trying to win. In his 1,001st, he had finally learned what it felt like to truly lose. The stairs were gone, and the monster was dead.

Now, there was only the fist.