Kian woke up to the sound of something breathing
slow, heavy, and too close.
His eyes snapped open.
He wasn't on the pavement anymore.
He was lying on a patch of rough, dark soil under a sky that looked like a storm trapped forever. The air was cold enough to sting his lungs, and a strange metallic mist floated just above the ground like restless spirits.
"What is this place…?" he whispered, sitting up.
He scanned the area. Ruins stretched around him: broken pillars, shattered statues, and half-sunk stone slabs covered in ancient markings. Everything looked dead, yet somehow… aware.
Then he remembered the beast.
And the voice.
"The system…"
As if responding to the thought, a soft chime echoed inside his head.
[ECHO SYSTEM • ACTIVE]
[Basic Diagnostics Running...]
Kian flinched. "Okay okay. So that wasn't a dream."
Another chime.
[Warning: User power level extremely low.]
[Survival rate: 12%.]
"Great," Kian muttered. "I die once and still get bullied."
Before he could finish processing, a low growl rolled through the ruins.
He froze.
The sound came from behind a collapsed archway. Something was moving there slow steps, claws scraping stone.
Kian's pulse climbed rapidly. Instinct screamed at him to run, yet no direction looked safe. No exits. No shelters. Just him… and whatever was stalking him.
The creature emerged.
Not the same monster as before this one was smaller, leaner, with bone-like armor running along its spine and two curved horns. Its eyes glowed a cold, haunting yellow.
It sniffed the air.
Found him.
Locked on.
Kian swallowed hard. "No, no, no… I'm not ready"
The beast crouched.
Then it charged.
Kian jumped back, barely rolling aside as claws slashed the dirt where he had been standing. He felt the shockwave vibrate through his bones.
He scrambled to his feet. "Come on, think!"
The beast lunged again, faster this time.
Kian ducked behind a fallen pillar, breath sharp and uneven. The monster rammed into the stone, cracking it like dry wood. Dust showered him.
He couldn't outrun it.
He couldn't hide.
And he had no weapon.
"This can't be how I die twice in one night," he whispered.
The creature prowled around the pillar, sniffing. It was seconds away from finding him.
Then
That burning feeling in his chest flared again.
A whisper followed:
[Combat Mode Suggestion: Engage.]
[Reason: Fleeing will result in certain death.]
Kian clenched his fists. "I don't have a weapon, damn it!"
[Temporary Ability Unlocked: Echo Pulse (Lv. 0)]
[Effect: Releases a short-range shock burst.]
His heart jumped. "Okay… that might actually help."
The creature leaped onto the pillar, ready to strike down.
Kian stepped out, lifted his arm instinctively, and yelled
"GET OFF!"
A blast of invisible force exploded outward.
The shockwave hit the creature point-blank, slamming it into a wall. It screeched, stunned but not dead.
Kian's arm went numb. His breath hitched. The ability felt like ripping energy straight from his bones.
The monster staggered up again, furious.
No time.
No second blast.
He needed to finish it now.
He grabbed a broken shard of stone from the ground nothing but a jagged piece of rubble, but it was all he had.
The creature lunged.
Kian rushed forward too.
For a split second, adrenaline drowned out fear.
He ducked under its swipe and drove the stone upward with everything he had straight into the soft flesh under its jaw.
The beast jerked violently, choking on its own blood. Kian shoved harder, twisting the shard until he felt something snap.
The monster collapsed.
Kian stumbled back, chest heaving, arms trembling uncontrollably.
He had killed it.
He had actually killed it.
Silence fell deep, heavy silence.
Then the air shimmered.
[Echo Assimilation Ready.]
[Absorb? Y/N]
Kian stared at the floating text only he could see.
"Absorb… what exactly?"
[Target: Shadehorn Beast • Class F]
[Traits Available: Instinct • Claw Reflex • Low-Light Vision]
A part of him hesitated.
Another part
the part that wanted to survive
answered first.
"…Yes."
The world shifted.
A surge of cold power rushed from the dead creature into Kian's body. Images flashed in his mind running through forests, hunting in darkness, sensing fear.
He gasped and fell to his knees.
When the rush faded, he opened his eyes.
The darkness around him looked different clearer, sharper, alive with hidden details he hadn't seen before.
He could see in the dark.
"I… absorbed it," he whispered.
The system chimed once more:
[Assimilation Successful.]
[New Trait Gained: Low-Light Vision]
[Your journey has begun.]
Kian wiped sweat from his forehead.
He wasn't safe.
But he wasn't helpless anymore.
And for the first time since waking up in this strange, cursed world…
he felt something else rising inside him.
Purpose.