I raced up the stairs to the upper plateau like a bullet, launched myself forward, and drove my blade into Ash’s gut. He didn’t even have time to drop the little detonator in his hand. That happened now.

  His eyes flew open. Bloodshot. Terrified. He stared past me with a face twisted in fear. We were cheek to cheek. While one hand twisted the blade in his stomach, shredding his insides, the other rested almost fatherly on his back, holding him close.

  I could feel the strength leave him.

  His body sagged, and I guided him slowly to the ground.

  [Achievement Unlocked: The First Severance]

  Condition: Kill another human

  Reward: +6 Stat Points

  "There’s no going back now."

  "ASH!" his twin brother screamed.

  Fear. You could see it. Feel it. Smell it. But fear was quickly swallowed by pure, primal rage. He snorted like a beast, raised his crossbow, and fired point-blank.

  The bolt slammed into my shoulder.

  -56 HP.

  It burned, hot, sharp, blinding. I yanked it out without stopping. Blood poured down my arm, the Bleeding debuff ticking away.

  Stonecut dropped the crossbow and pulled his sideblade just in time.

  Clang! Steel met steel.

  Barely saved his skull from being split open.

  "So you’re the stronger one," I growled, right in his face.

  He was fast. Furious. Desperate. Every strike was a scream. Every swing, a shot at revenge.

  But he couldn’t keep up.

  "BEACON!" he yelled. "Help me, you bastard!"

  Beacon12 slowly rose from a crouch, drained from nonstop healing the twins. He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just stood there, face blank. This wasn’t his fight. Not anymore.

  Stonecut glanced over.

  Big mistake.

  I stepped into his swing, pivoted past his blade with the short sword I’d looted from that dead elite mob, and drove it into his throat. Right through the Adam’s apple.

  Blood sprayed in a hot burst. His breath turned to a sick, gurgling rasp. He dropped to his knees. Twitched. Choked. Then fell sideways and went still.

  Only Beacon12 remained.

  He stood a few paces away, leaning on his massive war mace. His armor was blackened by the blast, his expression unreadable.

  "What in all the realms are you?" he asked. His voice was calm, but something sharp lay beneath it. "You’re no Paladin, that much is clear. But you’re too fast. Too strong for a normal human."

  I didn’t answer. Just stared him down, muscles tight. Something about him made me uneasy, and not just because half my HP was gone. He had experience. Way more than me. Even if our stats weren’t far off, he’d crush me in a straight fight.

  Still, my eyes flicked to Stonecut’s body. The green sword. Magic-enhanced. I could reach it in seconds. And with my 300% damage boost… I might take him down.

  Then Beacon spoke again: "I’m not going to fight you. You defended yoursef. They tried to kill you over a quest item. By the Code of Elysia, that gives you the right." He paused. Just for a second. Then his voice changed, softer, but weighted. Like he didn’t quite believe what he was saying. "But the way you... executed them...." His eyes swept across the wide stone steps beneath us—ancient, moss-covered, soaked in blood. The corpses of elite mobs lay twisted around us like shattered statues. And in the center of it all: the twin brothers, lifeless, broken. "...it was needlessly brutal. Cruel. I've seen killers show more mercy."

  He didn’t look away, but something behind his gaze faltered.

  "If it had been unjustified, I would’ve stopped you then and there. But this.." He gestured around at the blood-soaked monastery steps, now nothing more than a graveyard. "This was self-defense... taken too far."

  Merciless.

  Ruthless.

  Yes.

  I nodded slowly. "Then I’m leaving."

  He didn’t move.

  "No one’s stopping you, Rook."

  I turned away. The wind swept through my hair. Dark clouds rolled over the mountains, veiling the full moon. The steps of the Terrace of Broken Bells stretched out before me, old and still, covered in black moss. The shattered remains of bells were scattered around, their shards catching the moonlight at strange angles.

  The air reeked of ash. Of iron. Of death.

  And that scent, that whole atmosphere, was threaded with the eerie sound of ghostly bells echoing from above. The Twilight Bells, they called them. They would ring until the final boss was defeated.

  But not tonight.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Not by me.

  I walked away. But just as I took my third step down the mossy stairs, his voice followed... low now, and steady, but sharp as a blade darwn in silence: "There’s one more reason I should stop you."

  I froze. Didn’t turn around. Waited.

  "If you were marked by darkness..." He hesitated, searching for the right words. Or maybe daring to say them. "If I sensed the corruption taking root in you, if I knew you walked the path that rots the soul, bearing the mark of something not just evil, but... elsewhere… something that crawled through from the other side, then it would be my sacred duty to strike you down here and now. But the truth is.... I don’t know."

  He said it like a confession. Not to me, but to the world. To the gods.

  "I only hope I’m not making a mistake… by letting you live."

  With a Little Help from Your Friend [8/10]

  Time left: 00:00:03

  The countdown ticked away.

  Two.

  One.

  Then the sound hit.

  A sad trombone echoed in my head, the jingle of failure.

  Womp womp wooooomp.

  [Notification: Quest Failed]

  Penalty Applied: Takuya’s beloved has died.

  My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to punch its way out. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe, lungs clawing for air that wouldn’t come. A ringing filled my ears.

  No. No no no no.... Are you freaking kidding me? Who the hell was behind this?

  Someone was messing with me. But were they really that twisted, that cold, to take someone I loved just for laughs?

  I sprinted down the street, turned a hard corner, and froze. Right outside the apartment building where Grandma and I lived, a cop car was parked. Blue lights flashed against the facade, throwing jagged shadows. A police officer stood in front, talking into his radio.

  My heart went full panic mode.

  No. No. NO!

  I dashed across the rain-slicked street toward him.

  "What happened?!"

  He looked me over briefly, then said calmly, "Noise complaint. Someone reported loud sounds coming from one of the apartments."

  For half a second, my brain tried to twist that into good news.

  No dead body. No crime scene tape. Just noise.

  Maybe... maybe it wasn’t Grandma.

  But no. That never meant it was fine.

  Not in this world.

  "Which one?"

  “Not your business, kid.”

  I bared my teeth. He didn’t like that, obviously.

  "Was it.... the Nakarumas’ place?” I asked, trying to keep it chill.

  His head tilted slightly as he studied me.

  "You the one who called it in?"

  That was all I needed to hear.

  The system had actually come for Grandma.

  My mind flashed back—Penalty Applied: Takuya’s beloved has died.

  You’ve got to be shitting me.

  Everything went quiet. Just the roaring in my ears. I ran.

  Stairs. More stairs.

  No time for the elevator.

  [Achievement Unlocked: Run This Town]

  Level 1 – Condition: Jog 5 miles without stopping

  Reward: +1 Stat Point

  "If your legs burn, good. That means you’re still alive."

  Seriously? An achievement now?

  I dismissed the popup with a furious thought. Panting, I stopped in front of our door. Inside, the sounds of chaos. Crashing. Splintering. Metal clanging. Chittering. Laughter so twisted and sharp it made my spine freeze.

  No one in the building had checked on Grandma?! They just called in a complaint about the noise?!

  Everyone knew an 85-year-old woman lived here.

  Fucking cowards.

  My fingers trembled as I pulled the key from my pocket. Deep breath. Turn the lock. Push the door open.

  I saw them instantly.

  Three... no, four... wait, six of them.

  Small figures in shredded clothes. Gray-green skin. Twisted features. Leather armor straight outta some cursed realm. Ugly faces. Pointy ears. Long claws.

  One turned toward me, snarling.

  [Bloodshard Goblin – Lv. 3]

  Goblins. Of course. Just my luck.

  They were ripping drawers from the walls, pulling coats off the rack, stomping across the dinner table, chewing on cables like rabid squirrels. And in the middle of the room: a blue, flickering rift—a tiny Abyss, collapsing like a tear in space being forcefully sealed.

  Azarak’s Blessing? Yeah, no. That buff vanished the moment I left the world boss domain, the Silent Vale. What I had left... was just me.

  Level 2, at least.

  But unbuffed. Alone.

  And suddenly, it felt like the beginning again.

  No power.

  No advantage.

  No time to think.

  The first one lunged.

  I dove to the side, slammed into the wall, felt claws swipe through empty air. Still rolling, I shrugged off my backpack, tossed it down, yanked open the zipper... The grey sword I’d looted from a Bellguard Initiate... right before I killed two people.

  Not fancy. But sharp. I grabbed the hilt and pulled it free.

  The second goblin came at me, jaws wide, teeth like broken glass. I raised the blade, clang!

  Metal met claws in a burst of sparks.

  The third flanked me.

  I dodged, too slow. Its claw ripped across my forearm.

  -14 HP.

  I gasped. Blood dripped down my elbow.

  The goblins cackled. High-pitched, shrill, completely deranged.

  I drove the sword straight into the one in front, right in the throat. Felt it slide through. Heard the gurgling as he dropped.

  One.

  I backed up, slashing wildly.

  The fourth jumped—I ducked, spun, and sliced across his belly mid-air. Guts spilled out like wet ropes.

  [Level Up!]

  Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 3.

  A triumphant jingle echoed in my head as golden light burst around me, warm, blinding. My wounds sealed. HP full.

  The fifth caught the blade straight through the jaw, split open. Dead.

  Five.

  My breathing was shallow, ragged. No more chittering. No more laughter. Just the sound of my heart.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  The fear was still there.

  But it wasn’t driving anymore.

  I was.

  Not the system.

  Not Azarak.

  Me.

  The sixth one got too close.

  I kicked it in the shin. Drove the sword into its chest. The seventh leapt on me, claws digging into my shoulder. I screamed, grabbed the bastard by the neck, yanked him down, and let him fall straight onto my blade.

  Eight. Nine. Ten.

  The living room had become a war zone. Blood smeared across the walls. Goblin limbs scattered across the table. One of them had crawled under the couch. I dragged it out by the leg, stomped its skull. Until it burst beneath my boot.

  Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

  [Level Up!]

  Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 4.

  Killing them was easier now.

  I was faster.

  Stronger.

  And for the first time, I knew it. And that realization exploded through me. Confidence flooding in like fire through my veins.

  The fourteenth one made a noise, maybe pleading. Or maybe just gibberish. Didn’t matter.

  I took its head off.

  The last one came straight at me.

  I let it.

  One deep breath.

  A sidestep.

  A clean horizontal slash—Its upper body slid off at the waist and flopped onto the rug.

  Fifteen.

  I stood in the center of the carnage. Blood on my glasses. Cuts across my arms. Short sword dripping with goblin blood. The floor slick. Everywhere, pieces... claws, teeth, jaws, eyeballs torn from sockets, skulls split wide open. There was no peace. No silence. Just the sound of my own breath, too fast, too loud, and the thoughts screaming in my head. I knew what goblins did to women. I’d seen it. That blonde girl in the ticket booth in Everland...her torn clothes, bruised skin, that hollow, shattered look in her eyes. It had haunted me every night since. And now those same monsters were in her room. My grandmother.

  The System had already told me.

  Grandma was dead.

  And I knew exactly what kind of death it had been.

  I stumbled into the hallway, sword still in hand. The door stood open. The air was thick, humid, wrong. Every instinct screamed at me not to look, not to go in. But I did.

  And what I saw... it broke something in me I didn’t know was still whole.

  Update – April 1, 2025