What the Dead Are Worth
The fire burned low.
Bodies became shapes. Shapes became ash.
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
Every muscle in my body trembled like it was holding itself together by habit alone. My mind felt stretched thin—like one more death might tear something that wouldn't heal.
[Mental Stability: 33%]
[Critical Threshold Approaching]
"So that's the real cost," I whispered.
Pain faded.
Fear lingered.
Memory stayed.
The system waited until the last scream echo died before speaking again.
[Evolution Available]
[Soul Weight Threshold Achieved]
Light gathered before me, forming a translucent screen etched with symbols that hurt to look at directly.
Three options appeared.
No explanations.
Just names.
[Evolution Path I: Revenant]
A being that refuses rest
Enhanced resurrection speed
Increased resistance to soul damage
Severe empathy degradation over time
[Evolution Path II: Gravebound]
A soul anchored to death
Ability to draw strength from nearby corpses
Limited death manipulation
Permanent physical decay
[Evolution Path III: Hollow King]
A void that learns to rule
Authority over Hollowborn and failed souls
Death Echo amplification
Accelerated mental erosion
My throat went dry.
None of them said human.
I laughed softly, bitter and hoarse.
"So those are my choices," I said. "Die slower, rot faster, or lose myself completely."
The system didn't disagree.
I stared at the options, my reflection faintly visible in the glassy light. My eyes looked wrong—too sharp, too aware. Like something already watching from behind them.
Revenant meant endurance.
Gravebound meant dependence.
Hollow King meant control.
Control over what I was becoming.
Over others like me.
I thought of the man kneeling by the fire. Of how easily they'd ended him. Of how quietly his soul had risen and vanished.
No resistance.
No echo.
No choice.
"I won't let that happen again," I said.
The system flickered.
[Warning: This path accelerates loss of self.]
"I'm already losing it," I replied.
My hand passed through the screen.
I made my decision.
[Evolution Path Selected: Hollow King]
The world screamed.
Not aloud—but inside me.
Something unlocked.
I collapsed forward as a pressure like a crown made of thorns settled onto my soul. Memories that weren't mine brushed against my thoughts—fear, despair, resignation. The lingering remains of Hollowborn who had died unnoticed, unmourned.
They were everywhere.
And now—
They could hear me.
[Authority Established]
[Domain: Failed Reincarnates]
[Title Acquired: Hollow King (Uncrowned)]
I gasped, fingers digging into the ash as voices whispered at the edge of my perception. Not words. Feelings.
Loneliness.
Anger.
Relief.
[Mental Stability: 27%]
I laughed weakly.
"So that's it," I muttered. "I survive… by inheriting the dead."
The red sky pulsed violently.
Far above, something noticed.
Something ancient.
[Divine Attention Escalated]
[Correction Protocol Initiated]
The temperature dropped instantly.
Frost crept across the stone.
A presence pressed down on the outpost—heavy, absolute, offended.
A voice thundered through the heavens.
"ERROR CONFIRMED."
"ANOMALY EXCEEDS ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS."
I forced myself to stand.
My legs barely obeyed.
"You sent me here," I said, staring into the sky. "You marked me defective."
The clouds twisted, forming an eye vast enough to swallow cities.
"YOU WERE MEANT TO FEED THE SYSTEM."
I smiled.
It hurt.
"Then you should've made sure I stayed dead."
The ground split open.
Light poured down like judgment.
I didn't run.
I couldn't.
But behind my eyes, countless broken souls stirred—listening, waiting.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, I wasn't alone.
End of final Chapter