Chapter 2 : The Weight of Awakening
"Shattered Reflections"
---
A day had passed since the catastrophe.
The city lay bruised. Streets were littered with broken debris, burnt-out cars, and yellow caution lines. The chaos that consumed the night prior had now dissolved into a forced stillness, like the eye of a storm.
Eden sat on a hospital rooftop, legs dangling over the edge. His borrowed hospital gown flapped in the breeze, and his cracked glasses reflected the setting sun. Below him, people hurried to rebuild, patching walls and windows as if they could also patch up the invisible scars left behind.
He didn't feel like a hero.
[System Notification: Awakening Complete]
[Path - Predator of the Forgotten: Stabilizing]
[Passive Skill: Devourer's Hunger - Temporarily Unsealed during Critical Conditions]
[Current State: Semi-Awakener]
The words hovered in his vision, meaningless compared to the echo of Lucien's final scream still ringing in his head. Eden's mind wandered—not to victory—but to how close he had been to losing himself.
Five years.
He clenched his fist. For five long years he endured unspeakable horrors in the Negative Realm. The thought that it could still drag him back every midnight made his stomach churn.
His attention shifted as Velka stepped onto the roof, carrying two convenience store rice balls.
"You're supposed to be resting," she said, tossing him one.
Eden caught it without looking. "Rest feels... wrong."
Velka leaned against the railing. "It should. You've been forced into something that doesn't care if you live or die. And somehow, you keep standing."
Eden unwrapped the rice ball and took a small bite. Even the simple taste of food felt strange after years of rotten meat and monster flesh.
"Why did you help me?" Eden asked, breaking the silence.
Velka's expression didn't shift, but her voice softened. "You remind me of someone."
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city...
Serena sat silently beside Yuu in a separate hospital room. She couldn't get the image of Eden's expression out of her mind. The boy she used to argue with. The boy she used to despise.
He had stood alone against an abomination without hesitation.
Her nails dug into her palm. Was it guilt? Shame? Fear?
"You alright?" Yuu asked cautiously.
She shook her head. "No. Nothing's alright."
Yuu rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean... he saved us. He saved you. Maybe you should just talk to him."
Serena's eyes watered. "After everything? After the way I treated him? What would I even say?"
---
Back on the rooftop, Velka broke the tension. "You'll need to get used to the Awakening World fast. It's not just about power—it's politics, ancient grudges, and monsters in suits smiling while holding knives behind their backs."
Eden's eyes narrowed. "And where do you stand?"
Velka smirked. "Officially? I'm just a concerned elder. Unofficially? I'm your sponsor... if you accept."
[System Notification: Optional Contract Detected]
[Contract Offer: Become Velka of House Vaelgard's Apprentice]
[Benefits: Training, Protection, Information Access]
[Drawbacks: Entanglement in Awakener Politics]
[Do you accept?]
Eden didn't answer immediately. His eyes fell to his palm, where faint, dark runes—remnants of the Negative Realm—pulsed faintly.
His life was no longer his own. The curse made sure of that.
But perhaps, with Velka's help, he could carve out a place to stand.
"I'll think about it."
Velka chuckled. "Smart answer."
Far below them, the city's lights flickered as night approached—bringing with it the looming threat of midnight.
The Night That Comes"
---
Hours passed, and the orange twilight faded into a deep, ink-black night. Eden stood alone in his hospital room, staring out of the window. Below, the city's lights shimmered, unaware of the ticking clock that haunted him. Midnight was approaching.
[System Warning: Negative Realm Cycle Initiation - 2 Hours Remaining]
He gripped the windowsill tightly. Even after his awakening, the curse still clung to him. The system had merely made it... manageable.
Eden's fingers brushed against his forearm where the faded, rune-like scars glowed faintly. He could almost hear the whispers of the Negative Realm.
---
At the same time, Velka stood in front of an ancient stone monument hidden deep within the city's abandoned cathedral district. The structure, known only to high-ranking Awakener Families, marked the presence of ley-lines—the source of awakened powers.
"Are you watching, mother?" Velka whispered to the wind.
She touched the worn stone, causing it to pulse softly.
Velka's mind returned to Eden. The boy who had survived the Negative Realm's influence without breaking, unlike so many others.
"He's going to change everything," she murmured. "For better or worse."
---
Meanwhile, Serena paced nervously in front of the hospital's vending machines. Yuu leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"You don't have to do this if you're not ready," Yuu said, sensing her hesitation.
Serena shook her head. "It's not about being ready. It's about responsibility."
She clenched her fists. "Eden endured hell and came out alone. I owe him an apology. I owe him an explanation."
Yuu's brow furrowed. "What if he hates you?"
Serena gave a bitter laugh. "He has every right to."
She gathered her courage and made her way toward Eden's room.
---
Inside Eden's room, the clock struck 11:00 PM.
[System Notification: 1 Hour Until Negative Realm Transfer]
[Optional Quest: Voluntary Entry Available]
The option floated before him.
He could enter on his own terms, or be dragged unwillingly.
Before he could decide, there was a knock at the door.
It creaked open, revealing Serena, visibly nervous.
"I... I wanted to talk," she said softly.
Eden turned, the glow of the system reflecting in his tired eyes.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Eden gestured for her to sit.
Serena took the seat beside his bed, hands trembling.
"I was wrong," she began. "About you. About everything."
Eden raised an eyebrow. "Took you long enough."
Serena's head lowered. "I don't expect forgiveness."
Eden exhaled. "Neither do I."
Serena looked up, confused.
"I hated myself more than you ever could," Eden admitted, staring out the window. "But I'm too tired to hate you now."
The silence was heavy, but somehow, peaceful.
[System Notification: Emotional Stability Improved - Passive Resistance to Negative Influence +2%]
Serena clenched her fists. "Eden... I want to help."
Eden gave a sad smile. "Then stay alive. That's all I need from you."
---
As the clock inched closer to midnight, Eden knew one thing for sure: The Negative Realm wasn't done with him.
And this time, he wasn't sure if he would survive.
Midnight's Gate"
---
[System Notification: 5 Minutes Until Negative Realm Transfer]
The room had never felt colder. The fluorescent lights above flickered faintly as if reality itself trembled. Eden sat motionless, staring at the countdown ticking away before him.
Serena remained frozen in her chair, visibly shaken by the sudden oppressive atmosphere.
"Eden…?" she whispered.
He clenched his fists, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. "Leave. Now."
Serena shook her head. "Not without you."
"You can't follow me where I'm going." His voice was distant, like a man speaking from the edge of a cliff.
[System Notification: Forced Transfer in Progress]
---
In the world outside, Velka suddenly raised her head.
"The gate is opening..." she whispered, sensing the shift in spatial energy.
Other awakeners from the Great Ten Families stirred. Even those in distant parts of the world could feel the disturbance. The Negative Realm was pulling.
---
Within the hospital room, black cracks appeared midair, fracturing reality like broken glass. Through them, an endless void leaked, pulling at Eden's body.
Serena screamed as her chair slid toward the distortion.
Eden lunged, grabbing her wrist. His other hand clawed at the floor, but the pull was stronger than ever.
[System Notification: Party Member Detected - Serena K.]
[Warning: Non-Awakener Risk of Death - 97%]
Eden's mind raced. "She'll die if she goes in."
Without a second thought, Eden slammed his palm against Serena's chest, releasing the faint traces of awakening energy he barely controlled.
[Emergency Skill Activation: Boundary Seal - Basic]
A translucent barrier encased Serena, pushing her safely against the far wall just as the vortex's suction peaked.
"EDEN!" Serena cried, pounding against the barrier.
Eden only managed a weak smile as the cracks widened fully.
[Forced Transfer Initiated]
Reality shattered.
---
Eden tumbled through an endless spiral of warped space. The familiar terror gripped him—the chilling wind, the empty silence, and the incomprehensible scale of the world he was falling into.
When he hit the ground, it wasn't gentle.
A crater formed beneath him. Dust and ash floated like snowflakes.
The Negative Realm.
The same red-black sky.
The same distorted horizon.
The same nightmare.
He lay there for a moment, staring at the swirling abyss above.
[System Notification: Awakening Quest - Phase I]
> Objective: Survive 7 Days Within the Negative Realm (Voluntary Cycle)
> Reward: Partial Control Over Curse / Trait Unlock
> Failure: Loss of Consciousness / Soul Erosion
Eden chuckled bitterly. "Seven days? Only seven?"
To anyone else, that might seem like hell.
But Eden had already survived quintillions of years here.
What's seven more?
Yet, as he rose, something gnawed at him. The realm... felt different.
The air was thicker.
The screams in the wind louder.
The monsters' silhouettes on the horizon sharper.
It wasn't the same Negative Realm.
It had evolved.
And it knew he was back.
---
Echoes of Quintillions"
---
Eden's boots crunched against the brittle blackened soil as he stepped out of the shallow crater. In every direction, towering skeletal trees twisted skyward like the charred fingers of giants. The blood-red moon above bathed the world in an eerie glow.
Despite the horror, it was familiar.
Yet wrong.
He felt it deep in his bones—the realm itself had changed.
As Eden surveyed his surroundings, distorted mountains loomed in the distance, hunched as if in mourning. The ambient screams, once faint background noise, now echoed directly into his mind.
[System Notification: The Negative Realm recognizes your return. Difficulty Level - Doubled]
"So, you remember me too," Eden murmured.
Before he could move, a deep growl rumbled behind him.
Slowly, he turned.
A massive quadrupedal beast, twice the height of a house, stood before him. Its skin was translucent, revealing grotesque muscles pulsing beneath. Hollow, empty eyes locked onto Eden.
[Negative Realm Beast - "Sorrowfang"]
[Estimated Threat Level: Catastrophic]
Eden's heartbeat remained steady. Compared to what he had fought during his quintillion-year imprisonment, this was nothing.
He rolled his neck and whispered, "Let's see if I've gotten rusty."
---
He sprinted, narrowly dodging as Sorrowfang lunged, shattering a stone pillar. Eden's movements were sharp but noticeably sluggish.
[System Notification: Curse Penalty Active - Movement Speed Reduced by 40%]
"Still cursed…" Eden gritted his teeth, flipping over the beast's lashing tail.
He conjured a sphere of unstable black energy in his palm—an imperfect spell he had created during his endless time trapped.
The sphere pulsed with raw Negative Realm energy.
"Soul Rend."
He slammed it into Sorrowfang's chest.
The creature wailed, stumbling back, black ichor spraying from the wound. Yet, it remained standing.
[System Notification: Partial Awakening Skill Registered - "Soul Rend"]
[Skill Grade: Incomplete]
[Warning: High Energy Cost - Inefficient Structure]
Eden smirked. "Good enough."
Sorrowfang pounced again, but this time, Eden redirected his energy.
---
In the distance, Serena's muffled cries still echoed faintly in his mind. He could almost see her pounding on the barrier back in the hospital.
"You'll have to wait," he whispered.
With renewed determination, Eden sidestepped the monster's jaws and climbed its back. His fingers dug into its flesh, channeling Negative Realm energy directly.
The beast roared.
Veins of dark light spread across its body like webbing.
Then it exploded into a mist of black particles.
[System Notification: First Negative Realm Beast Defeated]
[Partial Curse Resistance Unlocked]
[Movement Penalty Reduced to 20%]
[Skill "Soul Rend" Stabilized to Grade: C]
Eden panted, falling to his knees.
He could feel it—the realm testing him, mocking him.
But he wasn't the same scared child from years ago.
No, this time he had a choice.
He had a system.
He had purpose.
Eden stood and gazed deeper into the blood-soaked horizon where darker, towering shadows slithered just out of sight.
"I'm ready," he said.
And with that, he stepped forward into the realm's abyss.
---
The Cost of Time"
---
Eden's footsteps echoed softly as he trudged deeper into the forest of desolation. The air was heavy, tinged with metallic bitterness. Each step felt both familiar and alien. The landscape hadn't merely grown darker—it was alive, pulsing with a malevolent intent.
[System Notification: Passive Curse Effect Detected - Realm Synchronization: 5%]
Eden exhaled sharply. "So even the realm wants a piece of me."
The skeletal trees warped as he passed, their twisted branches bending unnaturally toward him, as if hungry. Black moss writhed on their trunks like worms, reaching out, but stopping inches away—as if they feared him.
The silence was oppressive, interrupted only by Eden's own breathing and the distant cries of unseen monsters.
Then he noticed it.
A faint shimmer—a thread of silver light slithering like a river through the forest floor.
[System Notification: Hidden Pathway Detected]
He crouched, examining the glowing thread.
"Not part of the original Negative Realm," Eden muttered. He remembered every inch of this accursed place, yet this was new.
Without hesitation, he followed the path, weaving between the shifting trees. The deeper he went, the more warped the environment became. Time itself seemed unstable—he could see afterimages of himself flickering ahead or behind.
"Temporal distortion?" Eden frowned. "Is this the system's doing... or something else?"
---
As he walked, fractured memories surged.
Visions of himself, a younger version, crawling through this same forest, starving, screaming, begging for an end.
Another afterimage—a monstrous, half-insane Eden tearing at his own flesh, laughing madly.
He stopped.
They weren't illusions.
They were echoes of himself.
[System Notification: Time Echoes Detected - Residual Mental Imprints]
[System Warning: Exposure May Accelerate Mental Degradation]
Eden clenched his fists.
"I already went mad," he said quietly. "I've already returned."
He pressed forward, eyes hardening. The silver thread eventually led him to a clearing where an old, half-collapsed stone tower stood, swallowed by the roots of a dead tree. Above it, swirling vortexes of Negative Realm energy churned like storm clouds.
[System Notification: Hidden Sub-Realm Entrance - The Tower of Fractured Time]
[Recommended Action: Investigate]
---
Eden circled the tower cautiously. Inscribed across the ruined entrance were symbols he had seen in his previous lifetime.
He traced them with his finger. "Pre-Awakening Era script… this predates the Awakening System."
The realization made him uneasy. It suggested the Negative Realm's influence stretched far beyond the modern awakening phenomenon.
Before he could question further, the ground trembled.
A distorted humanoid emerged from the shadows. Its form was warped, constantly shifting between shapes, like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
Eden recognized it instantly.
His own reflection.
A manifestation of the time echoes, twisted by the realm.
[Time Echo Revenant - Boss Class Entity]
"You're me... from when I gave up."
The revenant grinned with jagged, broken teeth.
It lunged.
Eden barely dodged, its claws grazing his cheek, drawing blood. Pain lanced through him sharper than expected.
[System Notification: Revenant Inflicts Temporal Decay]
[Status Effect: Time Bleed - You will rapidly experience past traumas and injuries]
Almost instantly, phantom wounds opened across Eden's body—scars he had long since healed in the real world tore open again.
His legs buckled.
This was no simple monster—it was him, amplified by the realm's malice.
The realm wasn't merely testing him.
It was forcing him to confront the price he paid to survive.
Eden wiped the blood from his eyes. "If you think I'm still the boy who broke, you're wrong."
He stood, raising both arms, energy swirling violently around him.
The battle for his very soul had begun.
---
The Revenant Duel"
---
The clearing became a maelstrom of swirling, oppressive energies. Eden's breath grew ragged as he circled the shifting revenant—his own broken reflection given life by the Negative Realm.
The creature hissed, its grotesque form morphing with each flicker of the vortexes overhead. Fragments of Eden's past warped its body: the tattered uniform he wore during his first accidental visit at age twelve, the hollow eyes of the years he had lost, and the skeletal limbs of the monster he once became.
[System Notification: Status - Time Bleed: Active]
[Status Effect: Pain Sensitivity Increased]
Every movement stung. His muscles ached not only from physical exertion but from the echoing traumas that now overwhelmed his senses. Yet Eden stood tall.
He had suffered worse than this, countless times.
"You are nothing but the past," Eden said, forcing steadiness into his voice. "And I've already survived you."
The Revenant screeched, voice fractured, echoing hundreds of overlapping versions of Eden's own scream. It lunged, but this time, Eden was ready.
---
Years of fighting impossible monstrosities in the Negative Realm had carved instincts into his bones.
He slid under the Revenant's claw, using the momentum to grab a jagged shard of corrupted crystal embedded in the ground.
[System Notification: Improvised Weapon Acquired - Shard of Fractured Time]
He slashed upward, catching the Revenant across its shoulder.
No blood, but time itself cracked along the wound, causing the creature to distort and freeze momentarily.
"So, you are vulnerable to timeline disruption," Eden noted, panting.
The Revenant retaliated, and Eden staggered, narrowly evading another swipe that tore through the ground like paper. He kept moving, weaving between the falling debris and grasping at more shards scattered around the clearing.
Every hit Eden landed tore open memories. Images flashed—the night he first woke up here, the monsters that hunted him, his screams, his desperate pleas for help that were never answered.
Yet every wound he inflicted on the Revenant didn't just weaken it—it weakened the memories burdening him.
The Revenant wasn't just an enemy.
It was the embodiment of his unresolved trauma.
---
[System Notification: Revelation - The Revenant is a manifestation of Host's Negative Insanity Curse]
[Optional Objective: Purge the Curse's First Fragment]
Eden gritted his teeth.
"You're part of it, huh? Then I know how to end this."
Instead of avoiding, he charged.
The Revenant, sensing desperation, mirrored him. The two collided in a clash that sent shockwaves rippling through the realm.
As their bodies connected, Eden allowed the Revenant's claws to pierce his shoulder.
In return, he drove every shard he had gathered straight into its chest.
Silver cracks erupted across its form.
[System Notification: Critical Strike!]
The Revenant's screech turned into a deep wail, echoing across the forest like a funeral bell.
Its body splintered into glowing fragments, dissolving into the vortex above. The oppressive atmosphere lifted slightly, and the weight on Eden's mind eased.
[System Notification: Optional Objective Completed]
[Status Effect Removed: Time Bleed]
[Status Effect Acquired: Partial Curse Purification]
[Curse Synchronization Reduced - Negative Realm Influence Temporarily Weakened]
Eden collapsed to one knee, gasping for air.
But he smiled.
"That's one piece… gone."
---
Around him, the dead forest seemed less hostile. The writhing trees stilled, the black moss slithered back into the earth, and the air no longer felt like knives against his skin.
The Tower of Fractured Time loomed quietly ahead, its door now ajar.
[System Notification: Quest Updated - Enter the Tower and Discover the Truth of the Negative Realm]
Eden wiped the blood from his mouth and stood.
He had taken the first step.
Not as a victim.
But as a warrior.
And somewhere, deep within the realm, something ancient stirred in response.
---
The Forgotten Staircase"
---
The Tower loomed, ancient and impossible, its fractured structure spiraling endlessly into a storm-choked sky. Each brick seemed to bleed faint, silver streams of corrupted energy, and the heavy, rusted door that now stood ajar beckoned Eden forward.
The ground beneath Eden's feet was no longer the chaotic, corrupted forest—it was smoother, resembling polished obsidian but veined with cracks that pulsed faintly, as if the tower itself was alive.
Eden, clutching his wounded shoulder, approached cautiously.
[System Notification: Tower of Fractured Time - Anomaly Confirmed]
[Warning: The Tower obeys no law of spatial dimensions]
[Advice: Abandon conventional logic]
Eden exhaled. "As if anything about this realm has ever been logical."
---
As he pushed open the door, it groaned, revealing a spiraling staircase that curved upward—but impossibly, it also spiraled downward at the same time. Gravity shifted unnaturally, making Eden sway as his perception bent.
With a single hesitant step inside, he felt it.
The pressure.
[Status Effect: Temporal Distortion]
It felt like he was both ascending and descending simultaneously, walking forward yet backward through his own life.
Images flickered along the cracked walls.
He saw himself—aged twelve, the day he first got cursed.
He saw his sister laughing with him under the fading sunset, a memory from when things were still "normal."
He saw his stepmother smiling gently, a smile that would later twist into neglect.
He saw the monsters.
The horrors.
The unending nights.
The blood on his hands.
---
But something was strange.
These images... were distorted.
The stepmother's face seemed like it had too many eyes. His sister's laughter occasionally reversed into distorted sobbing. The memory of his curse was fractured, like someone had deliberately erased parts of it.
[System Notification: Hidden Condition Unlocked]
[Incomplete Memory Detected]
[Optional Quest: Find the Truth Behind the Curse's Origin]
Eden clenched his fists. "This tower holds more than just pain."
He forced himself to ascend—or was it descend? The tower's internal space warped with every step.
He passed murals depicting gods, dragons, and the First Awakened—but many were defaced or missing entire sections. Others depicted scenes of the Negative Realm itself, not as a prison, but as a sacred trial ground.
"The Negative Realm wasn't always a curse," Eden whispered. "It was meant to be a rite."
---
The stairs spiraled into an enormous chamber where a giant hourglass floated, suspended upside-down, its sands flowing upward.
Around it stood three figures, clad in heavy robes, their faces hidden behind emotionless porcelain masks marked with old Awakener sigils.
They turned slowly.
The one in the center spoke with a hollow voice, "The Candidate steps beyond the gate. The Will of Fractured Time accepts."
Eden's body tensed. He could feel it. These were not simple projections. They were real, bound here by the laws of this twisted space.
[System Notification: First Gatekeeper Encounter - The Three Watchers of Fractured Time]
[Warning: Negotiation or Combat Required]
Eden could feel his instincts screaming.
One wrong word, and this might be his end.
But he wasn't the broken child from five years ago.
---
Eden stepped forward, summoning the shards he had used against the Revenant. "I didn't come here to beg. I came for answers. And I'll fight for them if I have to."
The masked figures tilted their heads in unison, unsettlingly synchronized.
The chamber grew darker.
The hourglass cracked slightly.
And Eden's trial truly began.
---
The Trial of the Three Watchers"
---
The chamber seemed to breathe.
The Watchers stood still, like monuments, but Eden could feel it—the tension, the weight of an unseen ritual already in motion.
[System Notification: Initiating Trial of the Three Watchers]
[Condition: Trial Type - Fractured Truth]
[Objective: Unearth the Real Memory of the Curse]
Without warning, the center Watcher raised its hand, and the space around Eden dissolved like melting glass. He found himself standing in his childhood room—but it was incomplete.
The walls bled into shifting shadows. Furniture floated half-formed, as if someone had tried to remember them but failed.
Eden's heart raced. "Is this supposed to be a memory?"
[System Notification: Caution - Memory Field Established]
A small version of himself sat on the bed.
His younger self.
The Eden from five years ago.
The younger Eden stared blankly ahead, as if unaware of the older Eden watching him.
Then came the sound.
A soft humming.
Eden turned and saw his sister, Mira, at the door, smiling.
But something was wrong.
Her smile was strained, her eyes filled with guilt.
---
"You have to wear it, Eden," Mira said, holding out a small pendant etched with symbols Eden could barely recognize.
The present Eden froze.
He had seen that pendant before—in distorted flashes during his cursed nights.
Younger Eden reached out without hesitation and wore it around his neck.
Instantly, the room shattered.
The present Eden tumbled backward into the void, watching fragments of this memory rain down like glass.
The Three Watchers watched without expression.
---
[System Notification: Fragmented Truth Acquired]
[Revelation: The Curse's Catalyst was a Guilt-ridden Gift]
Eden gritted his teeth.
"So... it wasn't an accident?"
The Watchers remained still.
[System Notification: Second Memory Sequence - Initiated]
This time, Eden stood in the stepmother's study.
She argued fiercely with a cloaked figure whose face was hidden beneath the shadows of a wide-brimmed hat.
"It's unstable," the stepmother hissed. "The Negative Insanity Ritual was meant for her, not him!"
The cloaked figure responded calmly, "The ritual has been completed. The vessel is sealed. Whether it was intended for the girl or the boy is irrelevant now."
Eden's pulse pounded in his ears.
He stepped closer, even knowing they couldn't see him.
[System Notification: Memory Boundary Reached - Observation Only]
---
The stepmother's voice trembled. "This wasn't part of the deal."
"Then you should've paid the full price."
The cloaked figure vanished into a cloud of black mist.
And the room darkened.
Eden staggered, struggling to process it.
It wasn't just fate.
He was meant to be cursed.
By his own family.
The Trial wasn't testing his strength.
It was making him see the truth.
---
The hourglass cracked further, spilling upward-flowing sands like escaping stars.
The Three Watchers moved for the first time, each raising a hand.
"The truth has been seen. The Candidate now chooses."
[System Notification: Choice Detected]
1. Accept the burden and continue the path of awakening.
2. Refuse and remain trapped within fractured time.
Eden clenched his fist.
There was no choice.
"I accept."
The Watchers nodded in eerie unison.
And the hourglass shattered completely, enveloping Eden in a vortex of light and shadow.
---
The Fractured Will"
---
The vortex spun Eden through a kaleidoscope of broken memories and fragments of the Negative Realm. The deeper he went, the more distorted the pieces became—laughter warped into screams, familiar faces melted into faceless shadows.
Then, silence.
Eden stumbled forward and found himself standing inside a ruined cathedral floating in the void. The gothic structure was battered, with broken pillars and shattered stained glass, yet a faint glow flickered from its altar.
[System Notification: The Trial of the Fractured Will begins]
Ahead, a figure waited.
It was himself—but not as he remembered.
It was Eden, five years older, but this version was twisted.
Long, disheveled hair. Hollow eyes. Malnourished, yet exuding monstrous energy that crackled like lightning. Chains wrapped around his arms and torso like cursed bindings, etched with unfamiliar runes.
The corrupted Eden opened his eyes, staring directly into the soul of the real Eden.
---
"So, you finally came," the older version said, voice heavy with exhaustion. "How many nights did you last? Five years? Ten? Or did you already forget that time here isn't counted in years?"
Eden's voice caught in his throat. "What… are you?"
"I am you—the broken you, molded by quintillions of nights, forged by endless despair, starved, hunted, and betrayed."
Chains rattled as he stepped forward. "You left me behind every time you woke up. Every sunrise bought you freedom. Every midnight left me to suffer."
The atmosphere thickened. Eden could barely breathe.
[System Notification: The Trial is more than a fight—it is acceptance.]
---
The corrupted Eden charged without hesitation, and Eden barely dodged as the ground cracked beneath monstrous strength.
Each strike wasn't just an attack—it was filled with every sleepless night, every beast consumed, every ounce of sanity lost.
This wasn't a duel. It was an accusation.
Eden retaliated, but each time he struck, the corrupted self regenerated, feeding off the fractured energy of the realm.
Worse yet, with every blow landed against him, Eden could feel his own despair creeping back.
The chains weren't holding the corrupted self back.
They were holding Eden's own memories.
---
He faltered. His mind replayed flashes of the past.
His uncle's weak smile.
His stepmother's indifference.
His sister's guilt.
The nights he cried, hoping for someone to pull him out of the dark.
All of it came flooding back.
The corrupted version screamed. "You CANNOT ignore us forever!"
[System Notification: Hidden Requirement - Emotional Breakthrough triggered.]
Eden realized.
He wasn't supposed to kill his corrupted self.
He was supposed to accept him.
---
Eden let go of his weapon, walking toward the monstrous version of himself, arms wide open.
The corrupted Eden howled and lunged, but Eden did not flinch.
Their bodies collided—not in violence—but in a painful, overwhelming embrace.
Chains shattered.
[System Notification: Trial Passed - Fractured Will Reforged.]
[Unique Trait Acquired: Negative Resonance]
[Bloodline Awakening Unlocked - Souldrake Lineage: ???]
The two versions merged into one.
Eden stood alone in the cathedral once more, but now the monstrous aura flowed through him as part of his very soul, balanced and controlled.
The Watchers reappeared silently.
"You have accepted the truth," they intoned. "The first step is complete."
---
[System Notification: Awakening System properly installed. Path of the Abyss is now available.]
A door of obsidian and gold opened behind him, revealing the final trial room.
Eden clenched his fist.
No longer running.
No longer alone.
He stepped forward.
The First True Awakening"
---
Eden stepped through the obsidian door, leaving behind the remnants of the ruined cathedral. The space beyond was unlike anything he had seen.
An inverted tower spiraled endlessly upward—or perhaps downward—with hundreds of floating platforms, each marked with runes and glyphs. The Watchers stood solemnly on distant ledges, watching.
In the center floated a black crystal, pulsing faintly. Its surface fractured with glowing veins of silver.
[System Notification: Final Trial - Complete the First Awakening]
Eden approached cautiously, each step echoing like thunder.
As he neared the crystal, it projected visions into the air—memories he had never seen.
A woman, tall and regal, with scales faintly shimmering beneath her skin, cradled a newborn.
A man, cloaked in shadows, marked the child's forehead with a sigil.
Their voices echoed.
"You carry the legacy of the Souldrakes. One day, you will either break the cycle or fall to it."
Eden trembled. "Souldrake…?"
The Watchers nodded. "Your bloodline is older than this world. Sealed. Forgotten. Feared."
The final trial wasn't just to survive.
It was to remember.
---
The crystal shattered without warning, sending shards flying.
Eden instinctively shielded himself—but the shards pierced into his skin, embedding like seeds.
[System Notification: Awakening Initiated]
[Bloodline Resonance: 1%]
Agony consumed him.
His veins lit up with the silver glow.
His senses exploded.
He could hear the heartbeat of the Watchers, feel the flow of time around the tower, and taste the bitter essence of the Negative Realm itself.
But along with power came the memories—the curse, the reason for his suffering.
The Watchers spoke in unison, "The Negative Insanity is no accident. It was branded upon you by the Awakeners who feared your lineage."
A vision of a younger version of one of the Great Ten Family patriarchs appeared, holding a fragment of Eden's infant soul, inscribing it with the Negative Realm's mark.
It wasn't fate.
It was betrayal.
---
Eden dropped to his knees, body trembling.
All those years.
All that suffering.
Engineered.
Deliberate.
He clenched his fists. His eyes burned with silver light.
[System Notification: New Trait Unlocked - Souldrake's Will]
[Bloodline Resonance: 10%]
[Unique Skill Obtained: Negative Dominion (Dormant)]
"You have awakened," the Watchers announced, "but this is only the first step."
"The cycle is broken only when you confront the ones who started it."
As the final glyph beneath Eden's feet lit up, the Watchers stepped back.
The door behind him reopened—not to another trial, but to the real world.
The sun was rising.
Eden stood alone at the edge of the forest, his body steaming from the residual magic.
Yet in his hand, the cursed Experimented Awakening Crystal, now inert, rested as if waiting.
[System Notification: First Awakening Complete - System Functions Online]
[Quest Unlocked: The Hunt for Truth]
---
Eden exhaled slowly, eyes glinting with determination.
No more running.
No more fear.
Only the path forward.
---