The moment Ren stepped through the stone corridor, he felt it.
A shift in the air.
A tension older than kingdoms.
Older than the people who lived in this land.
Older than memory itself.
Behind him, Lyra lay unconscious on the soft moss bed, her injured ankle wrapped neatly with ancient, medicinal vines the Earth Golem had somehow provided. The faint green glow kept her warm, her breathing steady and calm.
Ren touched her forehead gently.
"You'll be okay… I promise."
Then he stood.
And turned toward the darkness ahead.
The Earth Golem followed—not like a monster, not like a guard, but like a silent escort fulfilling an ancient duty. Every step it took thudded through the cavern like a slow heartbeat, echoing against the crystalline walls.
Ren's torch flickered violently when a cold wind rushed down the passage.
Something… waited deeper inside.
Something aware.
Something patient.
The passage ended before a towering slab of stone—the doorway covered in old script, almost erased with time.
Ren raised his torch.
The runes glimmered faintly:
"Only the Lost Soul may enter."
The moment Ren's hand lifted toward it, the Earth Golem rumbled and stepped forward.
Its hand pressed against a glyph.
CLICK.
CRRRRRRKKK—
The stone doorway trembled, dust raining down from the ceiling as the mechanism inside woke after centuries of slumber.
With a deep groan, the door slowly slid away, revealing—
A chamber untouched by the outside world.
Air that had never been inhaled in two hundred years brushed against Ren's face.
His breath froze.
His body stiffened.
His heart dropped.
A stone chair sat at the room's center.
Upon it—
A skeleton.
Upright. Regal. Dignified.
As if death never claimed him.
Its hands rested on a thick black grimoire, the cover engraved with symbols Ren had never seen before—complex and beautiful, like intertwined circuits and ancient runes fused into one.
His pulse pounded.
"…Japanese characters?"
Carved faintly at the corner.
Old.
Weathered.
But unmistakably from Earth.
His chest tightened.
This…This man was the reincarnator.
The one from 200 years ago.
And he had died alone—in this cold, forgotten cavern.
A faint golden shimmer enveloped the bones for a moment, as if acknowledging Ren's presence.
Then it dimmed, as if exhausted.
Ren's voice trembled as he whispered:
"You waited… for someone like me."
He reached out.
And the moment his fingers brushed the book—
everything shattered.
Mana exploded outward from the grimoire.
The entire chamber lit up in radiant sigils.
Ren felt his mind pulled into a vortex—runic diagrams, ancient blueprints, and hundreds of spell structures spiraling around him like a cyclone.
He felt his consciousness stretch—
Strain—
Then almost break—
Before the system stabilized the flood.
[SKILL ACQUIRED: GOLEM CREATION (MAX)]
— Rank: EX
— Allows creation, evolution, and fusion of all golem types
— No material or mana limitations
— Legacy of the Fallen Craftsman
Ren staggered back.
His brain felt full—too full.
As if generations of knowledge forced their way into him.
But the system didn't stop.
A new vision erupted—immersive, vivid, suffocating.
Ren stood inside someone else's body:
A young Japanese man, around twenty, confused and terrified, surrounded by nobles.
A king dressed in gold smiled warmly.
Too warmly.
"Welcome, Child of Heaven. Our kingdom is in dire need. Only you can save countless lives. Help us protect our people."
The reincarnator hesitated.
But he was alone.Confused.Lost.
Just like Ren was… once.
He nodded.
Believed the king.
And he created golems—his gift, his creativity, his power—given freely to the kingdom.
Stone golems.
Metal golems.
Arcane golems.
Rotating cores, mana-linked circuits, enchanted armor plates—creations far beyond this world's technology.
He was praised.
A hero.
A savior.
Then—
War tension rose between two kingdoms.
An envoy approached carrying banners of peace.
The reincarnator didn't know the truth.
He obeyed the king's urgent order:
"The envoy plans to attack. Eliminate them."
He commanded his golems.
And slaughtered an innocent delegation.
The vision twisted into nightmare:
The reincarnator kneeling in the mud, rain pouring, surrounded by charred bodies—
Adults.
Children.
Infants.
His hands trembled violently.
His mind cracked.
"I killed… them…?"
"They tricked me. Used me."
"Because of my power… two kingdoms burned."
Ren felt the agony as if it were his own.
The reincarnator fled.
Hid.
Hunted by both sides.
Blamed for the war alone.
In the cavern, half-mad and heartbroken, he left behind his skill.
His life's work.
His warning.
"To the next soul like me—trust no royalty."
"Never give rulers the power you hold."
"Never become their weapon."
The vision ended.
Silence crashed back into the room.
Ren's hands were shaking violently.
He stared at the skeleton.
At the man who carried guilt too heavy for any human soul.
"…You didn't deserve this."
His voice cracked.
"You were just used."
He bowed deeply—respectfully, sincerely.
"I'll carry your warning."
"And I'll make sure your creation won't be twisted again."
Behind him, the Earth Golem bowed its head slowly—as if recognizing its former master's wish fulfilled.
Ren exhaled shakily and moved toward the darker hallway.
The air pulsed—like a heartbeat calling him.
The reincarnator left more than a skill.
Something greater.
Something dangerous.
Something that changed everything.
Ren stepped forward.
And the Earth Golem followed, sealing the stone door behind them.
The stone corridor narrowed the deeper Ren walked, the air becoming heavier—as if saturated with memories that refused to die. Behind him, Lyra slept silently, still pale but breathing steadily, her ankle wrapped and healing. The faint glow of the cavern's mana crystals guided him, and beside him the Earth Golem followed with slow, obedient thuds, its massive stone frame scraping lightly against the ancient walls.
Ren stepped into the next chamber.
This room was smaller but strangely warmer, almost like a sanctuary. At the very center sat a pedestal of polished obsidian, and on it lay another leather-bound book—untouched by time, sealed with an elaborate sigil that glimmered faintly at his presence.
Ren swallowed."Another… skill book?"
He reached out, and the moment his fingers brushed the surface—
A surge of white light pierced his mind.
Not painful.But absolute.
Like being pulled into the memories of someone who had lived, suffered, and died centuries before.
The world around him transformed.
Ren now saw through someone else's eyes—the previous reincarnator. A young man dressed in simple earth-toned clothes, standing inside an extravagant throne room decorated with the banners of an ancient kingdom long erased from maps.
Before him sat the king.A man with greedy, triumphant eyes.
"Your golems were magnificent," the king said, leaning forward with a smile too wide to be human. "The envoy of the Western Kingdom never saw it coming."
The reincarnator's hands trembled.
"…You told me they were invaders. That they were coming to destroy your people."
The king laughed.
"Their offer of peace was legitimate, of course. But peace cannot feed ambition. War, however…" His smirk sharpened. "War lets me take both kingdoms at once."
The reincarnator took a step back, horror dawning on his face.
"You manipulated me… into starting a slaughter."
"Oh, don't be dramatic," the king waved lazily. "Your constructs are too useful. With them, I'll claim both nations before they recover their strength. You should feel honored. Your power is—"
The reincarnator finally understood.
He wasn't a savior.He wasn't a hero.He had been a weapon.A tool.
And because he trusted the wrong man… tens of thousands had died.
Mothers. Fathers. Children.Entire families.Entire bloodlines wiped away by his hands.
His voice broke."…I see."
He turned away.
The king frowned. "Where do you think you're going?"
The reincarnator did not answer.
He simply whispered a word.Soft.Regretful.A farewell more to the world than the king.
"さようなら." (Sayōnara)Goodbye.
The world erupted.
A chain reaction detonated across the entire continent—the embedded command pulsing through the countless golems he had created. Every construct hidden in outposts, stationed in armies, buried beneath fort walls—
—all of them exploded at once.
A roaring wave of destruction spread like a dying star's collapse.The kingdom turned to ash.Cities vanished in blinding flashes.The palace evaporated before the king's scream even left his throat.
And then—
Silence.
Only one golem remained.A single colossal titan of stone who lifted its dying master onto its back and carried him—limping, broken—to this mountain. To the cavern Ren now stood inside.
There, the reincarnator had lived his final days.Alone.Writing.Preparing.Hoping that someday… someone like him would arrive and prevent another tragedy.
Ren gasped as the vision shattered, stumbling back against the wall. The skill book pulsed softly in his hand, now glowing with ownership, its sigil fully absorbed.
Inventory (MAX) acquired.
But he could barely register it.
Because beside him, the Earth Golem—the last legacy of a man who died 200 years ago—began to crumble.
Stone fingers cracked.Its chest fractured.Pieces fell like shedding memories.
Ren stared, unable to move.
"You… finished your last order," he whispered.
The golem turned its fading gaze toward him. Though it had no expression, Ren felt a strange warmth in the aura around it—something like gratitude. Or perhaps relief.
A single glowing rune on its forehead flickered——the same one Ren saw in the memory, placed there by its master's hand.
Then the light went out.
The golem collapsed into a mound of ancient stone and dust.
The cavern became still again.
Ren clenched his fists.
"This… this wasn't just a legacy."His voice trembled."It was a warning."
The previous reincarnator's story… wasn't just history.
It was a reminder of what trusting the wrong people could cost.
Ren exhaled slowly, wiping the dust from his clothes.He lifted the inventory book, absorbing it fully as the runes dissolved into his skin.
Behind him, deeper into the cavern, a faint blue glow flickered from yet another door left half-open.
The next passage.
The next secret.
The next step of a journey someone left behind for him to finish—not repeat.
Ren looked once more at the pile of stone that had once been a loyal companion.
"…Thank you."
Then he walked toward the glowing doorway.