Ep.10 – Trial of the Ear: "The Path That Lost Its Balance"
📍[Temple of Senses – Gate 3: Trial of the Ear Initiated]
📍[Entry Zone: External Ear → Middle Ear → Cochlea]
📍[Initial Test: Horizontal Perception Distortion Engaged]
---
The moment I took my first step,
the ground twisted beneath me.
The floor rose like a ceiling,
and the sky collapsed like pavement.
The entire space had flipped—
and so had my sense of balance.
Left and right, up and down...
all orientation was gone.
---
📍[Warning: Vestibular System Disrupted]
📍[Positional Awareness Error: 71.3%]
📍[Balance System Failure Detected]
> "This isn't just space... it's the inside of my own ear."
My mind was awake,
but my body moved on its own.
I stepped with my right foot—
and tumbled to the left.
Then,
the ground split open beneath me.
From within the crack,
a creature emerged—
A gyroscopic bioform: Nator.
---
[Phase 1 – Battle Begins: Nator, the Balance Breaker]
Nator looked like a monstrous snail.
But its body spun with the space itself,
twisting gravity around its rotating shell.
> "When your ear collapses, you lose all direction."
> "And without direction… there's no path left to Juhui."
I drew my blade—
but when I slashed to the right,
the cut landed on the left.
> "This space is warped.
What I see isn't matching what I feel…"
---
[Phase 2 – Disorientation & Injury]
BOOM!
Nator's shell slammed into my torso mid-spin.
Two ribs snapped.
Blood burst from my mouth.
> "You can't even walk straight…
What do you think you can protect?"
A piercing screech rang through my ears.
A high-pitched "Fiiii—"
vibrated straight into my skull.
> "This trial isn't attacking my emotions.
It's destroying pure sensation."
---
[Phase 3 – Reconstructing Perception]
Just then—
Rika appeared.
The sensory embodiment born from the Tears of Salt.
She gently touched my ear.
> "You've only tried to listen."
"Now… feel it. Sensation is something you accept, not control."
In that moment,
one of the fragments inside me—
a Sensory Feedback Core—
reacted.
> "Perceptive orientation recalibrated.
Emotional axis… stabilized."
The space realigned.
I found my center.
And aimed my blade at Nator once more.
---
[Final Phase – Regaining Balance and Breaking Through]
I plugged my ears.
I closed my eyes.
And opened only my senses.
> "Three spins counterclockwise.
One second later—strike."
SWWWWWIP!!
The Blade of Azure Dew sliced through Nator's rotational axis.
His body twisted violently—
then flew into the air,
spiraling out of control.
CRACKKK—!!
An explosion.
The distorted space collapsed into normality.
---
📍[Horizontal Orientation Trial – Complete]
📍[Sensory Fragment Acquired – "Auditory Balance Mapping" Unlocked]
📍[Next Zone: Approaching Middle Ear]
---
I gently touched my ears.
One was still numb...
The other—
was waiting for something.
> "To hear... is to accept balance itself."