The air in the rift didn't just feel cold; it felt thin, like it had been stripped of anything that supported life. Every breath Kerry drew came out in a thick, white plume that hung stagnant in the grey fog. The ground was a mosaic of sun-bleached fragments shards of ribs, shattered skulls, and femur bones that crunched like dry glass under his boots.
Then, a growl. It wasn't a sound made by a throat; it was a vibration that started in the earth and climbed up through the soles of his feet.
Kerry looked up. The mist peeled back.
The beast didn't walk; it hauled itself forward on massive, scale-covered forelimbs. Its skin was a sickening patchwork of rot and grey hide, held together by dark, weeping seams. Two rows of yellowed fangs jutted from a jaw that seemed too large for its head, dripping a black, viscous saliva that hissed as it ate into the bone-littered soil. Its eyes were two points of red hatred, locked onto the only thing in the clearing that still moved.
[Target Identified: Fang Devourer Beast]
Rank: E
Type: Aberrant Corpse Beast
Weak Point: Neck (unstable bone link)
Kerry's fingers curled into fists. He had nothing—no steel, no leather, just the clothes on his back and a system that told him he was already dead.
[System Tip: Physical combat advised. Use the environment.]
The beast didn't wait. It lunged.
Kerry threw himself to the side, the wind of the creature's passage cold against his neck. The beast slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, claws gouging a crater into the earth. Dust and the stench of old rot billowed upward, choking the air.
He scrambled up, his heart thudding against his ribs. "If I die again... that's it, right?"
The Devourer turned, its throat clicking as it gathered itself for another strike. Kerry's hand hit something hard on the ground. A femur, long as his arm and heavy as a club.
He gripped the bone, his knuckles white.
When the beast charged, Kerry didn't run. He swung.
The bone connected with the beast's jaw in a jarring crack. One of the long fangs snapped, spinning into the fog. But the beast didn't stumble. It roared, a sound that felt like a physical blow, and a massive claw caught Kerry in the chest.
He went flying. His back hit a pile of skulls with a sickening thud, the wind leaving his lungs in a sharp wheeze. He tasted copper.
He tried to draw air, but his ribs felt like they were being crushed by an invisible hand.
[Vitality dropping.]
[Activating Combat Subroutine.]
A new line of text burned into his vision, dark and jagged.
[Skill Unlocked — Bone Grasp (Lv.1)]
"Command the remnants of death to obey your will."
The bones beneath him began to vibrate. It started as a rattle, then a frantic clattering.
Fragments of white rose from the dirt, hundreds of shards swarming toward his right arm.
Kerry raised his hand instinctively. The bones didn't just hit him; they fused. They knitted together over his skin, forming a massive, skeletal gauntlet that climbed up to his shoulder. Veins of black energy pulsed through the marrow, binding the armor to his soul.
[Skill Active: Bone Grasp.]
The beast roared and threw itself forward. Kerry stepped into the charge. He thrust his hand out, and the skeletal arm extended mid-air, the finger-bones sharpening into claws.
The gauntlet slammed into the beast's throat.
CRACK.
The creature thrashed, its claws tearing at Kerry's hoodie, but the bony grip was absolute. Dark mist bled from Kerry's palm, crawling up the beast's scales like a living shadow.
[Soul Drain Initiated.]
The red light in the beast's eyes flickered. It began to shrink, its flesh turning to grey ash that the wind tore away. Kerry felt a rush of cold fire surge through his veins, the strength of the thing he was killing, pouring back into him.
The Devourer went still. Its body collapsed into a pile of harmless dust.
[Target Eliminated.]
[E-Rank Gate Cleared.]
Reward: Soul Core (E-Rank) obtained.
The skeletal arm shattered, the bones falling away and dissolving before they hit the ground. The mist receded, and the world cracked like a mirror.
Kerry was back in the hospital courtyard.
The sun was a sliver of deep crimson on the horizon. He stood between the silent statues, his chest heaving, his shadow long and jagged on the stone.
"A whole day," he muttered. "For one quest."
He pulled up the status window.
[SYSTEM STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Kerry | Level: 3
Title: The One Who Returned from Death
Strength: 10 | Agility: 11 | Endurance: 11
Vitality: 3 | Intelligence: 14 | Luck: 4
"Ha..." He let out a tired, dry laugh. It was a start.
He began the slow walk back to the ward, his legs feeling like they were made of lead. He didn't know this town. He didn't have a coin to his name. The hospital bed was the only anchor he had left.
As he walked, a small orb rolled against his palm. It glowed like the last embers of a fire, pulsing with a warmth that felt dangerously seductive.
[Reward: Soul Core (E-Rank)]
[Absorption Recommended.]
He stopped. His fingers closed over the orb. The second they touched, it shattered, turning into a black smoke that forced its way into his pores.
It didn't hurt his body. It hurt his mind. A thousand whispers filled the silence of the courtyard, weeping, snarling, a low chanting in a tongue that felt like it was carved out of ice.
[Soul Core Assimilation in Progress...]
[Strength +3]
[Intelligence +2]
[New Passive Skill: Grave Instinct (Lv.1)]
Kerry gasped, his lungs finally expanding.
The whispers settled into a low hum.
Suddenly, the world felt different. He could feel the air moving behind him. He could feel the tiny, dying insects in the grass. He could feel the cold, heavy presence of something drifting in the shadows of the hospital wing.
"This power..."
The system didn't respond with words.
Instead, a new notification pulsed in deep, blood-red light.
[New Path Available: Necromancer's Evolution Route]
* Bone Sovereign – Command armies of skeletal beasts.
* Soulbinder – Manipulate the spirits of the dead.
* Death Warden – Consume souls to strengthen your own.
Kerry stared at the choices. His reflection in a dark window showed eyes that weren't brown anymore. They were a ghostly, shimmering silver.