2026-07-13 19:58:40Ethan did not hesitate. The wind tore at his face as he fell down the dark pit. He pushed his thoughts toward the glowing letters floating in the air.
Yes, he thought with all his strength. I choose to live.
[Selection Confirmed.]
[Activating Passive: Sin-Eater.]
A sudden impact cut off his breath. Ethan crashed through a thick layer of giant, soft mushrooms that grew along the walls of the pit. They broke his speed before he hit the solid floor below. He rolled across the damp ground and landed heavily on his side.
Pain ran through his back. He tried to move his legs, but they were completely numb. Malakai’s blade had ruined his veins, cutting off his connection to his own body. Blood still pooled from his missing right hand. He was trapped at the bottom of the world, crippled and bleeding to death.
The air down here carried the scent of old iron and wet dirt. It was completely dark, except for the dim purple light of the floating screen.
[Alert: Your life force is at 12%. You are bleeding out.]
[Warning: A flesh-eating creature has noticed your blood.]
A low growl echoed from the shadows. Ethan turned his head with great effort. Two large, glowing red eyes fixed onto him from a dark tunnel just ten feet away.
A massive creature crawled out on four legs. It looked like a human skeleton covered in thick, grey skin. Its fingers ended in long, sharp claws, and its wide jaws were lined with yellow teeth. A thick fluid dripped from its mouth, sizzling against the stone floor. It was an Abyssal Ghoul.
The monster sniffed the air and fixed its eyes on Ethan’s bleeding wrist. It saw an easy meal.
Ethan gritted his teeth. He had spent his whole life playing by the rules, trying to be a good brother and a loyal citizen. The reward for his goodness was a severed hand, a broken back, and a sister who sold him out for gold.
I am not dying here, Ethan thought. He looked at the monster. If you want to eat me, you will have to fight for it.
The ghoul lunged forward. It moved incredibly fast, its claws aiming directly for Ethan's throat.
Ethan could not move his legs to run. He could not lift a sword. As the heavy monster slammed into his chest, pinning him to the ground, Ethan swung his remaining left arm. He jammed his left hand straight into the creature's thick neck, holding it back with all his remaining strength.
The ghoul snapped its jaws, its sharp teeth inches from Ethan’s face. The pressure was breaking his ribs.
Ethan did not try to push it away. Instead, he pulled the monster's neck closer. He opened his mouth and bit down directly into the creature’s throat.
[Skill Activated: Gluttony's Maw.]
[Devouring Target...]
A rush of freezing energy poured out of the monster’s throat and straight into Ethan’s mouth. It tasted like bitter ice. The energy rushed down his throat and expanded inside his stomach like a wildfire.
Suddenly, strange images flashed across Ethan’s mind. He saw a great warrior in silver armor fighting against a younger High Priest Malakai. He saw the warrior getting framed, having his veins cut, and being thrown into this exact pit years ago. The warrior had changed into this monster over decades of hunger.
The ghoul shrieked, but the sound grew weaker as its body began to shrink. The grey skin dried up and turned to dust.
[Sinner's Legacy Digested.]
[Acquired: Unholy Berserker Soul-Core.]
[Level Up! Level 1 → Level 8.]
[Damaged Mana Veins: Fixed and Converted to Void Pathways.]
The freezing energy inside Ethan’s stomach exploded outward through his entire body. The numbness in his legs vanished instantly. He could feel his toes again. The broken bones in his chest snapped back into place.
Ethan looked down at his right arm. The bleeding had stopped. Dark purple energy gathered around his missing wrist, twisting and growing until it formed a brand-new hand. It was made of solid, pressurized shadow, glowing with a soft purple light. He flexed his new fingers. They felt stronger than steel.
He stood up easily, the cold air rushing through his lungs. He was no longer a weak boy from the slums. He possessed the power to fight back.
But as the energy settled, Ethan felt a sharp, cold pinch at the very back of his brain. It felt as if a needle had pierced his mind.
[System Alert: Data Syncing...]
[Current Status: Personality Integration at 5%.]
"Well, well," a rough, tired voice spoke out.
Ethan spun around, raising his shadow hand defensively. There was nobody in the cavern. The voice had not come from the tunnels. It had echoed from inside his own skull.
"Do not bother looking around, kid," the voice said again, sounding like an old, grumpy warrior. "I am in your head now. You ate my old body, so now we are stuck together. My name is Kaelen."
Before Ethan could even ask a question, the purple system screen flashed violently, turning a bright, bleeding red.
[Warning: The massive energy spike from your level-up has traveled through the tunnels.]
[The local monster pack has woken up.]
[Hostile entities approaching your position: 67.]
[They are hungry. Run.]
Ethan looked up. In the dark tunnels all around him, dozens of glowing red eyes opened at the exact same time.
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The Falling Ceiling
A giant stone slab broke off the ceiling, dropping straight toward Lily and my mother.In our world, the ancient subterranean rulers built self-destruct networks directly into every core room to make sure their secret power never fell into enemy hands. If a realm was lost, they would bury everything in rock and fire rather than surrender. Lyra did not waste time screaming as the ceiling gave way. She had lived her whole life in the lowest districts, where surviving meant reacting before the danger could touch you. While others froze in fear, her eyes swept across the breaking room, locating every dropping rock and finding the exact route to reach safety."Ethan! Shift the target weight!" Lyra called out, her voice loud and sharp over the crashing rocks.I lunged forward, thrusting my mutated black hand upward into t
The Ultimate Steal
Master Gideon jammed the silver scroll directly into his sternum, and his body exploded into a towering pillar of purple fire.In our world, the Syndicate leaders survived on black magic contracts and stolen life force, absorbing forbidden ancient keys to rebuild their dying bodies at any cost. Lyra hit the hard stone floor, spinning instantly to her feet without a second of hesitation. She did not waste time in shock or grief over the stolen scroll. In her mind, an enemy taking a powerful weapon just meant they had created a bigger target with a brand new weak spot. Her dark eyes immediately scanned Gideon’s swelling chest plate, calculating the exact second the magic seal would crack open under the pressure of the raw void energy."Ethan! He cannot absorb the scroll’s energy while the core orb is leaking!" Lyra called out, her voice sharp and stea
The Choice of Blood
Lyra pointed her bloody dagger straight at my chest, her eyes cold as stone.In our world, the ancient bloodlines of the subterranean kingdoms did not value love or trust. They valued power, control, and survival above everything else. If a mother demanded the life of a pawn, a loyal daughter was supposed to strike without hesitation to claim her throne. Lyra had spent her whole life learning that trust was a trap used by weak people to get themselves killed. Standing in front of the mother who had placed an ancient core inside her soul, she stepped forward with her blade raised, every movement sharp and full of lethal intent."Lyra..." my father rasped from behind me, trying to stand up on his broken legs. "Do not do this...""Stay back, Father," I said, putting my arm out to cover him while my mutated hand burned
The Crown of Ashes
The woman stepping out of the liquid void orb wore a crown of purple crystals, but her eyes were as cold as ice.In our world, the ancient bloodlines of the subterranean kingdoms were built on absolute power, where rulers passed down dark magic through direct family lines while sacrificing anyone weak enough to fall behind. Lyra stood frozen for only a single fraction of a second before her posture shifted into a defensive stance, her dagger spinning into her palm. She had spent her entire life believing she was an abandoned slum orphan who had to fight for every scrap of food. Discovering that her biological mother was the ancient Void Queen did not make her shed tears or drop her guard. Lyra was a survivor first, and she knew that anyone standing beside a control panel in an exploding mountain was a threat until proven otherwise."I have no mother," Lyra said
The Lake of Fire
The explosion blew the warship into a thousand burning pieces, throwing us into the air as the deck split apart.In our world, the deep void lake beneath the city was known as the Lake of Fire, a glowing subterranean sea of pure liquid magic that fed energy up into the mountain core. Falling into that liquid meant instant death for regular humans, as the raw magic would burn their blood from the inside out. But as we tumbled through the smoke, Lyra did not waste a single second in terror. She unclipped her leather climbing hook, snapped the line around my mother's waist, and tied the other end to my belt in one smooth movement. She was a survivor who treated every disaster as a tactical puzzle. Even while falling through a burning sky, she calculated our weight, vector, and landing angle to make sure none of us hit the liquid magic directly."Ethan! Use your sh
The Bloodline Trap
High Priest Malakai stood on the iron deck of the black warship, holding a glowing red chain that wrapped around a woman's wrists.In our world, the High Council maintained their absolute rule through the royal bloodline system, using ancient collars to link slaves directly to their master's magic core. For twelve years, my sister and I believed our mother had died in the lower city plague. But Lyra took one look at the glowing red collar around the woman's neck and instantly understood the cruel truth. The council had never destroyed our family by accident. They had stolen our mother to harvest her royal blood, using her living body as a battery to power Malakai’s red mechanical armor. Lyra did not let the shocking sight slow her down. Her mind turned like a steel trap, assessing the warship’s weak points and calculating the fastest way to turn this trap into a battlefield.
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