Lee Hyeon’s eyelids fluttered open to a world of fractured stone and suffocating silence. The air hung thick with the metallic tang of blood and the damp musk of mildew, clawing at his throat like a burial shroud. His body felt foreign—every nerve alight with a dull, throbbing ache, his left leg twisted beneath him at a nauseating angle. The cavern ceiling loomed above, veined with bioluminescent fungi that cast a sickly green glow over the ruins. Shadows pooled around him, restless and alive, coiling around his fingers like serpents.

  He tried to move, but agony seared through his leg. A choked gasp escaped his lips, echoing through the hollow chamber. The Alpha’s corpse lay nearby, its massive frame desiccated, fur brittle as ash. One milky eye stared vacantly, the other a hollow socket where shadows writhed.

  *What happened to me?*

  **“You lived,”** a voice slithered into his mind, cold and resonant, as if dredged from the depths of a frozen lake. **“You claimed what was yours.”**

  Lee Hyeon recoiled, his breath hitching. The voice was everywhere and nowhere—a presence that seeped into his bones. He pressed a trembling hand to the cavern floor, recoiling as the stone pulsed faintly beneath his palm. The shadows responded, swirling toward the Alpha’s corpse like smoke drawn to flame.

  *No. Not again.*

  But instinct overrode fear. He dragged himself forward, gritting his teeth against the white-hot pain. His fingers brushed the Alpha’s matted fur.

  The shadows erupted.

  Darkness engulfed the beast, tendrils of void-black energy lashing hungrily. The cavern shuddered as the Alpha’s essence tore free—a spectral wisp of crimson light swallowed whole by the abyss. Lee Hyeon’s leg snapped audibly, bones knitting beneath torn flesh.

  **[Soul Absorbed: Gorefang Alpha]**

  **[+25 Soul Essence]**

  **[Leg Injury Partially Healed]**

  He collapsed, panting, as warmth flooded his veins. The shadows retreated, sated for now. His leg still ached, but he could stand. Barely.

  The voice hummed, almost amused. **“You hesitate. Why?”**

  “I’m not… this isn’t me,” he muttered, voice raw.

  **“Liar.”**

  A flicker of movement caught his eye. The cavern wall behind the Alpha’s remains shimmered, ancient runes materializing like scars on stone. They pulsed faintly, reacting to his presence.

  **[Ancient Script Detected]**

  **[Translation: Active]**

  The runes rearranged themselves in his vision, forming words that burned:

  *Here lies the throne of ash,*

  *Where the last Sovereign fell.*

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  *The Guilds’ betrayal stained these stones,*

  *But the shadows remember.*

  Beneath the text, a mural unfolded—a towering figure cloaked in darkness, crowned by jagged obsidian, standing atop a mountain of corpses. At its feet knelt armored warriors bearing familiar sigils: Crimson Maw’s snarling maw, Silver Fang’s crossed blades.

  Lee Hyeon staggered, a memory not his own tearing through his mind.

  *Smoke choked the air. A child screamed, clutching a doll as silver-armored paladins stormed a village. “Purge the abomination!” a knight roared, driving his blade through the boy’s chest. The doll fell, its porcelain face shattering—*

  He lurched sideways, retching. The vision faded, leaving bile on his tongue and a frigid rage in his chest.

  **“They erased us,”** the voice whispered. **“But you… you will make them remember.”**

  ---

  The tunnels twisted deeper, walls slick with condensation and streaked with phosphorescent lichen. Lee Hyeon limped forward, shadows curling around him like a second skin. His senses sharpened unnaturally—the skitter of insects echoed like thunder, the stench of decay layered itself into notes of rot and mildew. Ahead, guttural snarls reverberated.

  He pressed against a jagged outcrop, peering into a cavern lit by the guttering remains of a lantern. Three Lesser Gorefangs hunched over a corpse, their muzzles buried in its ribcage. Blood slicked the floor, pooling around familiar boots—Park Dae-ho’s boots.

  Lee Hyeon’s stomach churned. The laborers had been disposable, but Dae-ho had shared his moldy bread once. Had laughed weakly at a joke.

  **“Sentiment,”** the voice sneered. **“Feed. Grow stronger.”**

  The shadows surged hungrily.

  He stepped into the open.

  The hyenas froze, blood dripping from their jaws. Their yellowed eyes widened as the shadows around Lee Hyeon deepened, swallowing the lantern’s glow. One lunged, saliva flecking its fangs.

  Lee Hyeon’s hand shot up. **“Stop.”**

  **[Skill Activated: Shadow Bind]**

  Darkness erupted from the floor, coalescing into chains that ensnared the beast’s limbs. It crashed to the ground, howling. The others hesitated—a fatal mistake.

  Lee Hyeon moved. The dagger in his hand felt like an extension of his will, guided by the shadows. He drove it into the second hyena’s throat, hot blood spraying his face. The third turned to flee, but obsidian chains dragged it back, snapping its spine.

  **[Souls Absorbed: 3x Lesser Gorefang]**

  **[+9 Soul Essence]**

  **[Leg Injury Healed]**

  Power flooded him, intoxicating and vile. His shadows writhed eagerly, whispering for more.

  “This isn’t right,” he rasped, staring at his bloodied hands.

  **“Lies,”** the voice hissed. **“You’ve always hungered. They simply starved you.”**

  Memories surfaced—Crimson Maw Hunters tossing scraps to laborers like dogs. Min-ji’s hollow eyes as she whispered, *“We’ll escape someday.”* The branding iron searing his flesh for stealing a crust of bread.

  The shadows thickened, smothering the light.

  ---

  Voices echoed down the tunnel. Human voices.

  Lee Hyeon melted into a crevice as torchlight approached. Four Crimson Maw Hunters prowled into view, their armor clanking. Joo-won led them, his face a familiar sneer beneath a jagged scar.

  “—waste of time,” Joo-won growled, kicking a stone. “Boss just wants loose ends tied. Permanently.”

  A woman with a crossbow snorted. “You really think any of those rats survived?”

  Joo-won smirked. “Dead men tell better tales.”

  Lee Hyeon’s breath stilled. The shadows coiled, eager.

  **“Show them fear,”** the voice purred.

  **[Skill Available: Phantom Blink]**

  He didn’t think—he *moved*.

  Darkness swallowed him. For a heartbeat, he existed nowhere and everywhere. Then he reformed behind the rearmost Hunter, shadows clinging to his silhouette.

  The man gasped. Lee Hyeon’s dagger found his kidney.

  **[Soul Absorbed: Crimson Maw Hunter]**

  **[+15 Soul Essence]**

  “Contact!” Joo-won roared.

  Lee Hyeon vanished, reappearing atop a boulder. Crossbow bolts clattered harmlessly below.

  “It’s one of those shadow imps!” the woman shouted.

  He blinked behind Joo-won, breath cold against the enforcer’s ear. “Remember me?”

  Joo-won spun, eyes widening. “The runt? But you’re—”

  Lee Hyeon’s hand closed around his face. **“Feed.”**

  **[Soul Extraction Activated]**

  Joo-won’s scream died as his essence tore free—a glowing wisp devoured by shadows. His corpse crumpled, desiccated.

  **[Soul Absorbed: Crimson Maw Enforcer]**

  **[+30 Soul Essence]**

  **[New Skill Unlocked: Brutal Insight]**

  Memories flooded Lee Hyeon—Joo-won’s laughter as he kicked a starving child. Min-ji’s terrified face as he shoved her into a monster’s path. The Guildmaster’s orders: *“Cull the weak.”*

  **“Now you see,”** the voice murmured. **“This world deserves its Sovereign.”**

  ---

  Dawn bled through toxic clouds as Lee Hyeon emerged from the dungeon. Acidic rain sizzled against his shadow-cloaked skin, the ruins of Seoul stretching before him—skyscrapers skeletal, streets choked with rusted cars and bone-white trees. The Crimson Maw fortress loomed in the distance, searchlights scouring the wastes.

  A notification seared his vision:

  **[Soul Essence Threshold Reached]**

  **[Class Evolution Available: Soul Sovereign (Stage 1)]**

  **[Accept? Y/N]**

  Somewhere in the ruins, a scavenger’s cry echoed—half-human, half-howl.

  Lee Hyeon raised his hand. Shadows gathered, forming a jagged crown.

  “Yes.”

  Black flame erupted, vaporizing the rain. When it cleared, obsidian armor clung to his frame, eyes pools of endless night.

  **[Class Evolved: Soul Sovereign (Stage 1)]**

  **[New Title: Shadow’s Scion]**

  In the distance, a cloaked figure watched, eyes glinting violet before vanishing.

  Lee Hyeon turned north, where the deadlands whispered