Webnovel's Extra: Reincarnated With a Copy Ability-Chapter 178: What Breaks First
No one said it out loud.
But everyone felt it.
The next morning, the training hall didn’t buzz the way it usually did. There were still people. Still movement. Still the low hum of projection systems warming up.
But something underneath all that had gone quiet.
Lucas noticed it before he even stepped inside.
Fewer people at the door.
No one pushing ahead.
Just... space.
He slowed, glancing toward Raisel.
"They’re avoiding it."
Raisel didn’t argue.
"Yes."
Lucas let out a breath through his nose.
"Yeah. Thought so."
Inside, the grid was already active.
Same as last night.
Same inconsistent delay.
Same lack of pattern.
But now there were gaps.
Places where people should’ve been standing, waiting their turn, pushing themselves to figure it out.
Empty.
Lucas scanned the room.
A few students worked through it anyway. Some stubborn. Some focused. A couple looked like they hadn’t slept, eyes locked on the grid like they were trying to force it into something that made sense.
Most stayed back.
Watching.
Lucas clicked his tongue.
"Alright."
He stepped forward.
"Don’t."
Arden’s voice came from behind him.
Lucas stopped, half-turning.
"Don’t what?"
"Don’t just walk in again."
Lucas frowned.
"That’s what we’ve been doing."
"Yes," she said. "And that’s why people are starting to stall."
Lucas looked at her, then back at the grid.
"So what, we just stand here?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Arden didn’t answer immediately.
That was enough.
Lucas sighed.
"Yeah, that’s helpful."
Dreyden stepped past them.
He didn’t go straight into the grid.
He stopped just at the edge.
Watching.
Lucas frowned slightly.
"You’re not going in?"
"Not yet."
Lucas crossed his arms.
"...Why?"
Dreyden didn’t look at him.
"Because they’re all making the same mistake."
Lucas glanced around.
"Which is?"
"They’re trying to solve it."
Lucas blinked.
"...Isn’t that the point?"
"No."
That answer didn’t sit right.
Lucas watched the next student step into the grid.
They moved cautiously.
Too cautiously.
The first wave came.
They waited.
Too long.
The delay didn’t matter.
They were already behind.
The correction came late.
The second wave finished what the first started.
Reset.
Lucas exhaled slowly.
"Alright."
He could see it.
"They’re thinking about it too much."
"Yes."
Lucas nodded once.
"Yeah."
That part he understood.
Another student stepped in.
This one didn’t hesitate.
They moved fast.
Confident.
The first wave aligned.
The delay hit.
The correction came—
Too sharp.
The second wave twisted into it.
Reset.
Lucas winced.
"Okay, so not that either."
Dreyden stepped into the grid.
No announcement.
No buildup.
Just movement.
Lucas straightened slightly.
"...Alright."
The projection activated.
Dreyden didn’t move.
The first wave came.
He watched it.
Not the start.
Not the angle.
The movement.
The shift.
The moment it became something else.
Then he stepped.
Clean.
Lucas narrowed his eyes.
"...He’s not waiting for the delay."
No.
Raisel spoke quietly.
"He’s ignoring it."
The second wave came.
Dreyden moved immediately.
No pause.
No hesitation.
The delay twisted the angle. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
He adjusted mid-step.
Not reacting to the delay.
Reacting to the change.
The movement held.
Lucas felt something click.
"...Wait."
The third wave hit.
Faster.
Harder.
Dreyden didn’t slow.
Didn’t speed up.
He moved the same way he had before.
The delay hit.
Didn’t matter.
He adjusted.
It worked.
The grid dimmed.
Silence.
Not heavy.
Just focused.
Lucas exhaled slowly.
"...Okay."
Dreyden stepped out.
Lucas stepped forward immediately.
"Again."
Dreyden didn’t stop him.
The grid activated.
Lucas stood still.
The first wave came.
He didn’t think about the delay.
Didn’t wait for it.
Didn’t anticipate it.
He watched the movement.
Stepped.
The alignment held.
Lucas’s eyes sharpened.
"...Alright."
Second wave.
He moved immediately.
The delay twisted it.
He adjusted.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The arc broke.
Lucas reset his stance.
"Okay."
Third wave.
He didn’t think.
Didn’t predict.
Moved.
Adjusted.
Held.
The grid dimmed.
Lucas stepped out, breathing steady.
That felt different.
Not easier.
But... clearer.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"...Yeah."
Arden stepped closer.
"You stopped trying to solve it."
Lucas nodded.
"Yeah."
He looked at the grid.
"I just... moved."
Raisel folded his arms.
"And corrected."
Lucas glanced at him.
"Yeah."
Dreyden watched the others.
The ones who stepped in next.
Some tried to copy the movement.
It didn’t work.
They focused on speed.
Or timing.
Or the delay itself.
All wrong.
Lucas saw it.
"Yeah, you can’t copy that."
No.
Raisel said.
"You have to feel it."
Lucas let out a quiet breath.
"Yeah."
The shift was subtle.
But it spread.
Not everyone got it.
Not even close.
But a few did.
Lucas saw it in the way they moved.
Less forced.
Less reactive to the wrong thing.
More... present.
He nodded slowly.
"Okay."
Across the hall, though—
The others were still struggling.
Still hesitating.
Still trying to force something that didn’t exist.
Lucas watched one student step in.
Fail.
Step back.
Hesitate.
Then leave.
Not just the grid.
The hall.
Lucas frowned.
"...There it is."
Arden followed his gaze.
"Yes."
Lucas crossed his arms.
"They’re not breaking in the drill."
"No."
"They’re breaking before they even try again."
Dreyden didn’t look at them.
He was already watching something else.
The rate.
How many stepped in.
How many stepped out.
How many didn’t return.
The pattern was clear.
Not obvious.
But consistent.
Lucas noticed him watching.
"You see something?"
"Yes."
Lucas waited.
Dreyden didn’t elaborate.
Lucas sighed.
"Of course."
The session thinned out faster than before.
Not because it ended.
Because people left.
Quietly.
One at a time.
Lucas leaned back against the wall.
"...Yeah."
He exhaled slowly.
"This is where it happens."
Raisel glanced at him.
"What?"
Lucas gestured toward the hall.
"The drop."
No one argued.
Because they could all see it.
Not in numbers.
In behavior.
In the space between people.
Lucas pushed off the wall.
"Alright."
He rolled his shoulders once.
"So what’s the move?"
Arden looked at him.
"Stay."
Lucas nodded.
"Yeah."
Dreyden turned toward the exit.
Lucas frowned.
"...You’re leaving?"
"Yes."
Lucas blinked.
"Why?"
Dreyden met his gaze.
"Because staying too long is the same mistake."
Lucas went still.
That landed.
Harder than anything else.
Lucas let out a slow breath.
"...Right."
They walked out together.
The hall behind them still active.
Still breaking people down.
Lucas glanced back once.
"...This one’s different."
Dreyden didn’t deny it.
The corridor felt quieter.
Lucas shoved his hands into his pockets.
"They’re not pushing harder."
"No."
"They’re just... letting it happen."
Dreyden’s voice stayed calm.
"Yes."
Lucas nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
He understood now.
This wasn’t about who could figure it out.
It was about who kept going.
Who stayed.
Who stepped back—
and still came back.
Lucas exhaled.
"...Alright."
Because for the first time since the evaluation started—
The system wasn’t forcing anyone out.
People were choosing it themselves.
And that—
Was a lot harder to fight.
