Nobody moved between ruins. Wolves were following like a closing storm.

One leapt from his right.

He stepped into its blind spot instead of away.

It missed completely.

"...Too predictable when you commit fully." He struck its side with a broken metal rod mid-motion.

THUD!

The wolf slid across rubble.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Hit Confirmed]

Stability reduced in target unit

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Another wolf immediately replaced it. But the pattern had changed slightly.

Just slightly.

Enough for him to see it. "...You recover faster when I stall." He adjusted and stopped overusing dodges.Nobody started conserving movement.

The wolves pressed harder. But his breathing stabilized slowly.

The system updated.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Progression Detected]

Stamina Control: Improving

Footwork Efficiency: Stabilizing

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

One wolf suddenly rushed in a straight line.

Nobody didn’t move immediately. He waited half a second. Then stepped aside at the last instant.

The wolf overshot.

"...That’s it." He struck its leg as it passed.

It stumbled. Not defeated but disrupted.

Another wolf tried to follow instantly. But its timing was off because of the previous disruption.

"...Chain reaction..!" He realized it clearly now. "...If I break one rhythm...the rest collapse slightly." His eyes sharpened. "...So that’s the real lesson." He exhaled.

The wolves circled again. But now they were less perfect and less synchronized.

Because he had broken their flow.

One wolf hesitated.

Another overcommitted.

Another adjusted too late.

Nobody moved forward. He slid between two wolves.

A third lunge..

He twisted.

The system flashed.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Combat Adaptation Milestone]

User no longer reacting solely on instinct

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody smirked slightly while breathing heavily. "...Yeah....Now we’re talking."

The wolves growled louder again. The wolves tightened their formation again. This time, slower and more controlled. Like they had decided rushing him was no longer necessary.

They could just... compress the space until he had nowhere left to move.

Nobody noticed it immediately....but the battlefield had changed shape. Broken streets behind him, collapsed building walls to his left, a sinking crater to his right.

And in front three wolves. Behind...One... a perfect box forming.

He exhaled slowly. "...So that’s the plan now."

Step by step.

Click.

Click.

Click.

The rear wolf took one step forward. Nobody immediately adjusted his stance.

Then stopped himself. "...No."

He narrowed his eyes. "Wait...That’s bait. You motherfu****!"

The wolf stopped too.

Then a low growl echoed through all four beasts at once.

Grrrrrr!

One signal and they moved while synchronized. Front wolf advanced one step. Side wolves mirrored. Rear wolf closed distance.

Nobody clicked his tongue. "...Okay. This is actually creepy. Are they planning on eating me with sauce and pepper?"

He backed up slightly.

But immediately..a wolf shifted to cut off that direction.

His exit route shrank again.

The system flickered.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Warning] (°Д°)

Mobility zone: Critical reduction

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody sighed. "...Yeah, I can see that." He rolled his shoulder slightly. Pain still lingered from earlier scratches. Nothing fatal. But enough to remind him he wasn’t invincible.

The wolves advanced again.

One more step.

Then stopped.

Watching.

Waiting.

Nobody’s breathing slowed.

"In..."

"...Out..."

He tried to stabilize it. But the pressure made it harder. Every second felt like a countdown.

The rear wolf suddenly lunged. Not full speed but a probe attack.

Nobody reacted immediately. He stepped sideways.

But that was the problem. The moment he shifted....the side wolves moved instantly. They predicted it.

"...Tch!" He jumped back.

But the front wolf matched his movement.

Nobody landed on unstable rubble. His foot slipped slightly. "...Ah...!" He corrected instantly, but the opening was gone.

The wolves didn’t attack. They just closed in again. Like they were waiting for him to exhaust himself.

Nobody narrowed his eyes. "...So you want me tired....Bad idea." He suddenly stepped forward instead of backward.

The wolves reacted instantly. Front wolf charged. Side wolves adjusted. Rear wolf prepared to cut off retreat.

But Nobody didn’t retreat. He ran into the pressure.

BOOM!

The front wolf lunged.

At the last moment....he dropped low and slid under its attack. His hand grabbed a broken metal rod mid-slide. He swung upward.

THUD!

The wolf staggered slightly. Not completely but its balance was disrupted.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Impact Registered]

Formation stability reduced

╰ (≖‿≖) ╯

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The wolves reacted immediately. Side wolves shifted to compensate. But that small disruption changed timing.

Nobody saw it instantly. "...There."

He stood up quickly. "...That’s the rhythm break." He didn’t wait. He moved again. He moved between them, slipping through narrow gaps.

The wolves tried to re-form instantly. But now...their synchronization had a delay. Just a fraction. But enough for Nobody.

Nobody used it. He dodged one attack. Stepped through another. Twisted away from a third.

His breathing was still heavy....but now controlled.

"In..."

"...Out..."

The system flickered again.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Adaptation Progress]

User timing recognition improving

(′ꈍᴗꈍ‵)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A wolf tried to intercept him mid-movement.

"Too slow, puppy bitch." He slipped past.

Another tried to flank.

He pivoted sharply.

The wolves growled louder. Their coordination increased again.

Nobody felt it immediately. "...Oh no. They are again adapting to my adaptation."

The pressure returned. The wolves stopped overextending. Now they waited for him.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The space closed again.

Nobody’s breathing hitched slightly. "...This is annoying." He wiped sweat from his cheek. "...No....This is good."

The wolves paused slightly watching him.

Nobody exhaled. "...If they’re learning me...then I just need to stop being predictable."

He suddenly changed pace. Not faster, not slower but irregular.

Step-step-stop.

Dash.

Stop.

Pivot.

The wolves hesitated. That created an opening for a fraction of seconds.

Nobody moved through a narrow opening again.

The system flickered.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Warning] ⚠︎

Behavior pattern: Unstable but effective

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody smirked faintly. "...Yeah....I’ll deal with it."

But the wolves were not done. They regrouped again. One wolf crouched lower than before. Another circled wider. The rear wolf disappeared briefly into fog.

Nobody frowned. "...Okay, that’s new." A second later...he felt it.

Behind him awolf was already mid-air.

BOOM!

He barely blocked with the metal rod. The impact sent him sliding back.

"...Gah....!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[HP Warning] ⚠︎

Minor injury accumulation detected

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Nobody steadied himself. "...why is the system not showing how much hp I lost." He breathed heavily. "...They’re getting sharper."

The wolves slowly advanced again. But now something was different. They weren’t just hunting him anymore. It was as if hey were training with him. Adapting, escalating, matching his growth in real time.

Nobody wiped blood from his lip. "...Ren...!"

"Huh...No response....Of course."

The wolves moved again. No escape routes left now.

Nobody stood still. "...Okay."

"...Let’s see how long I can keep breaking your rhythm."