The taste of blood is iron. It's bitter, warm, and unapologetic.
Kwon Do-Hyeon lay face-down in the dirt of the 15th Floor, his lungs whistling with every breath through a punctured chest. The artificial sun of the Tower's ceiling—a marvel of magical engineering—mocked him with its sterile, golden warmth. It was a light meant for heroes, for the victors. It was never meant to shine on a 'porter' dying in the shadows of a Great Raid.
"Why, Tae-Jun?"
The words were a wet gargle, accompanied by a spray of crimson foam. Do-Hyeon struggled to lift his head, his chin scraping against the jagged rocks. Through the blur of salt, tears, and thickening blood, he saw the golden-plated boots of the man he had called 'brother' for fifteen years.
"Don't look at me like that, Do-Hyeon," Pyo Tae-Jun sighed. The sound was weary, as if he was the victim here. His voice was smooth and untroubled, like a calm lake hiding a thousand rotting corpses. "You've always been a sentimental fool. Did you really think we were ever equals? You, an E-Rank Shadow-Bearer who can barely lift a shadow, and me, the 'Sun' of humanity?"
Tae-Jun knelt, his movements graceful, like a predator confident in its kill. He grabbed a handful of Do-Hyeon's matted black hair and yanked his head back. The sudden movement sent a white-hot spike of agony through Do-Hyeon's shattered spine.
"I needed a sacrifice to stabilize the Rift, Do-Hyeon. The Tower demands a toll for the Divine Core, and frankly, your life is the only thing you have that's worth anything. Think of it as your final service to me. Your only contribution to a history that will never remember your name."
Tae-Jun's grip tightened, his eyes glowing with a cold, divine light. Behind him, the other members of the 'Solaris Guild' stood silently. Some looked away in guilt, but most just watched with the bored indifference of people watching a broken tool being discarded.
"Goodbye, Do-Hyeon. In the next life, try not to be so pathetic."
CRACK.
Tae-Jun's boot slammed into Do-Hyeon's ribs, the force of an S-Rank Hunter shattering what little was left of his ribcage. The impact sent him hurtling backward, over the edge of the altar and into the swirling, violet-black maw of the spatial rift.
As he fell, the gravity didn't just pull him; it tried to peel the skin off his bones. The wind was a screaming ghost, tearing at his open wounds. He watched the light of the 15th Floor grow smaller and smaller. He watched Tae-Jun turn his back, clutching the glowing Core, walking toward fame, toward the cameras, toward the life they had both dreamed of while starving in the slums of Seoul.
'I loved you like a brother,' Do-Hyeon's mind screamed into the void. 'I sold my dignity to buy your first sword. I took the permanent scars from the Slime King so you could stay beautiful for the sponsors. I was your shadow so you could be the light.'
The betrayal felt like liquid acid in his veins. The agony was so intense it transcended the physical. It was a cold, soul-crushing realization that his entire life had been a lie—a stepping stone for a monster disguised as a saint.
'If there is a god... I curse your light. If there is a devil... I beg for your darkness.'
[Warning: Physical Body is 98% destroyed.]
[Warning: All Mana Circuits have ruptured.]
[Warning: Consciousness fading...]
He hit the bottom. Not a floor, but a mountain of bones.
This was the Negative Floor. The 'Trash Bin' of the Sky Tower. A place where the light of the world dies and the forgotten rot for eternity. The air here was thick, smelling of ancient decay and a strange, heavy energy that felt like liquid lead.
Do-Hyeon lay there, a broken pile of meat and shattered dreams. He wanted to die. The darkness felt like a heavy, comforting blanket, inviting him to finally stop hurting. His heart slowed. One beat... two...
No. A spark of pure, unadulterated hatred flickered in the ruins of his soul. It wasn't the heroic fire of a protagonist; it was a dark, jagged, ugly thing.
'I won't die. Not here. Not like this. I won't die until his golden armor is stained with his own filth. I won't die until he begs me for the mercy of the death I'm feeling right now.'
[Extreme Malice Detected.]
[Target matches the frequency of 'The Primordial Abyss'.]
[Resonance reached 100%.]
Suddenly, the blue System window—the familiar interface given to all Awakened—shattered like a sheet of ice under a hammer. From the jagged shards, a black interface emerged, dripping with dark, viscous ichor that seemed to burn the very air.
[The Sky Tower System has lost control over the User.]
[The 'Abyss' has claimed its Sovereign.]
[Do you accept the 'Throne of Graves'?]
[Caution: You will no longer be 'Human'. You will become the 'Enemy of the Light'.]
Do-Hyeon's fingers clawed into the cracked skulls beneath him, his nails tearing off. He didn't care about being human. Humanity had failed him. He didn't care about the world. The world had cheered while he was discarded. He only cared about the heat in his chest—the raw, pulsing need for retribution.
"Yes," he croaked, his voice sounding like two gravestones grinding together. "Give me... everything. I'll pay any price. I'll eat the world if I have to. Just give me the power to drag him down here."
[Contract Established.]
[Initiating 'Abyssal Rebirth'.]
[Breaking the Chains of Rank: E... F... Error...]
[Re-calculating Power Scale based on 'Descent'.]
[Current Level: -1 (The First Grave)]
The shadows of the pit didn't attack him. They didn't eat him. They venerated him. They crawled into his open wounds like black maggots, but instead of rot, they brought a terrifying strength. They stitched his flesh with threads of black silk. His snapped bones fused back together with the density of cold, abyssal iron.
He stood up. The air around him froze, frost forming on the bones beneath his feet. He wasn't breathing anymore—not in the way humans do. The abyss was breathing through him, a rhythmic pulse of dark energy.
His old, cheap leather armor had melted away, replaced by a tattered black cloak that seemed to be made of solidified smoke. His eyes, once a dull, tired brown, now burned with a cold, spectral violet flame.
[Skill Unlocked: Shadow Synchro (Phase 1).]
[Title Acquired: The Sovereign of Grudges.]
[Hidden Quest: The King's Return.]
[Objective: Slay the 7 Lords of the Negative Floors and Reclaim the Abyssal Throne.]
Do-Hyeon looked up into the endless, suffocating darkness. The climb back to the 15th floor would be long. It would be bathed in blood and paved with the souls of his enemies. But for the first time in his life, Kwon Do-Hyeon wasn't afraid.
The Sun was going to set. And he was the night that was coming to swallow it whole.
[Level -1: The Graves of the Nameless — Exploration Started.]