Birth of the Mask

CHAPTER 1

Beneath a starless sky, where the night weighed heavy over the earth, silence ruled along the edge of an old asphalt road cutting through the forest. Only the whisper of wind through the leaves and the distant call of an owl… nothing more.

Parked at the roadside was an old car. Its headlights flickered weakly before dying completely. The engine coughed one last time, then fell silent. The car sat motionless; like a shadow waiting to be swallowed by darkness.

The young man behind the wheel opened the door. In his eyes lay a deep exhaustion, as if carrying the darkness of years past. He pulled up the collar of his jacket, a flimsy shield against the cold. Pulling out his phone, he glanced at the screen. No signal. A frustrated murmur escaped his lips. Was this just another coincidence? Or was fate playing its next cruel trick? But then, he had never really made plans in his life. He'd only followed his instincts, his anger, and the suffocating weight of his past.

He walked toward the edge of the forest. A thin streak of moonlight slipped through the clouds. The trees loomed like giants; their branches entwined, almost sealing off the sky. The earth was damp; with every step, mud clung to his shoes, as if trying to pull him back.

As he went deeper, a flicker caught his eye. It wasn't natural… it was alive.

Crouching between the trees, he saw it.

Half-buried in the soil was something made of stone and bone.

At first glance, it looked like a mask. But as he moved closer, he realized it was no ordinary mask. This… was something else. A seal. Ancient symbols marked its surface, its cracks seemed to pulse faintly, like veins beating silently. It felt alive. Cold. Ancient. Yet living.

The moment his gaze locked onto the seal… a sound rose. There were no words, but it commanded.

He wanted to step back, but his body refused.

His hands moved on their own.

When his fingers touched the seal… the world stopped.

A low hum.

Then utter silence.

Darkness swallowed his sight.

And he collapsed.

When he woke, the first thing he felt… was cold.

But it wasn't a physical cold. It was deeper. A hollow emptiness seeping into his soul… a chill that froze his very bones.

When he lifted his head, there was no sky. No stars, no moon… only darkness stretching like a funeral shroud. Beneath his feet, the ground was dry like ash. Each step stirred fine dust that quietly fell back into place.

Where was this?

He felt something had changed. His body was light, but his mind was heavy with shadows. Just existing here felt like a sin.

This was the In-Between.

Neither heaven… nor hell… a trial caught between the two.

And he had arrived still as a good man. Somewhere in his heart lingered a spark of conscience, a faint glimmer of mercy from his past. But it wouldn't be enough to save him. To be chosen by Shadowseal, goodness alone wasn't enough. One had to accept the pain and face their own darkness.

Suddenly, shadows fell around him.

Silhouettes… were they human? Or demons? It was impossible to tell. They had no eyes, yet they whispered.

What they whispered… was his past.

His regrets. His buried anger. All the broken memories he had suppressed since childhood.

They didn't touch him, but they crushed his soul.

And one of them stepped forward.

It didn't speak. But when their gazes met… the young man saw his own childhood. A mother's absence. Years in an orphanage. Screams for justice that no one answered. A burning rage welled up inside him.

And at that moment… the silhouette lunged.

This wasn't a battle of swords.

It wasn't a war of screams.

This… was a battle of losing yourself.

He fell. Dropped to his knees. His breath caught in his throat. He didn't scream. But he was breaking. Everything he had held inside was shattering.

And just when he thought it was over…

There was no light.

But a voice echoed.

"You… are our chosen."

In an instant, the shadows withdrew. The ground split open. But what rose wasn't lava… it was a crimson seal. Ancient symbols curved and twisted like veins.

Shadowseal emerged.

He hadn't chosen it. Shadowseal had chosen him.

He was saved…

But he wasn't free.

Because passing the trial in the In-Between was never rewarded with heaven.

It was rewarded with hell.

Because Shadowseal always chose the good ones.

To break them.

The ground slipped away beneath his feet. Before he could even scream, he was pulled into a crimson void.

He fell.

And when he opened his eyes again… he was no longer the same.

When he woke again, he was lying on wet, rocky ground. His clothes were shredded. His body was covered in cuts and bruises; as if he had been dragged through barbed wire. But the strangest thing… was his head.

He felt weight on his face. As if something was attached to it.

It was like skin. Like a mask.

It was breathing.

It was thinking with him.

Shadowseal was now his. Or rather… he was now Shadowseal's.

He stood up. His legs trembled. He was alive, but something inside him had changed. It felt like a foreign presence beyond his body had entered his mind.

The surroundings were unfamiliar, but in the distance, the lights of a small town glimmered. Slowly, staggering, he began to walk. The sound of stones under his feet, the wind tearing through his tattered shirt… it was real. But his perception of time was broken. Everything felt like slow motion.

When he reached the edge of the town, the first people he saw were a couple. They were out for a night walk, carrying a lantern. They stopped when they saw him. His eyes were empty. His stare… frozen.

The woman smiled faintly at first, then recoiled in fear. The man lifted the lantern higher.

The carrier's eyes glowed in the light.

But this… wasn't a human gaze.

The man saw a monster.

The woman screamed.

And in an instant, the entire town woke in panic.

It was a small town. Everyone knew each other. Seeing a stranger, especially one in this state, was enough to spark terror. Doors opened. Guns were drawn. Phones didn't work, but whistles echoed through the night.

Hunters and townsfolk gathered to corner him.

The carrier didn't speak.

But the voice inside did:

"There is no escape now.

You are not defending.

You are a judge.

Judge them."

And at that moment… his gaze darkened.

The next thing he remembered… was the town drenched in blood.

His memories were shattered. Only fragments remained: hands tearing bodies apart, blood splattering walls, screams turning into silence…

When he came to, only the wind remained.

And the silence of death.

He fell to his knees. He couldn't understand what had happened. The control wasn't his.

But it was too late.

The town was gone.

The people were gone.

All that remained was a massacre.

And one more thing:

Even in Shadowseal's silence…

The first mission was complete.