The night was quiet.
Crickets chirped softly in the grass outside the house. The wind whispered through the pines behind the forge, the branches swaying gently as if exchanging secrets with the dark sky. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted, its call echoing through the silence.
Inside his small wooden room, Yamino lay stretched out on a futon, his hands folded behind his head, eyes fixed on the low ceiling above. The beams above him were worn, the wood aged from years of use. Dust motes drifted lazily in the moonlight that filtered through the window, casting soft shadows on the floor.
Sleep didn't come easy to him. It never had. Not since the city.
He sighed and turned onto his side, his thoughts like a persistent buzz in his mind. He reached for the old phone tucked beside his pillow. It was cracked at the corners, the screen sluggish and smeared with fingerprints, but it still worked—just barely. No signal out here in the village, of course. The nearest tower was miles away. But Wi-Fi? That was something his father had rigged up a few years ago, connecting to a nearby monastery's network with an old signal extender strapped to the roof. A weak signal, but it was enough for what Yamino used it for.
He unlocked the phone, dimming the brightness as his eyes adjusted to the light. The screen flickered for a second, but then it settled into the familiar grid of apps. Yamino's thumb lazily scrolled over them—social media, news apps, and games. He passed over each one as if they were meaningless, moving on to the next. It was a ritual now, this late-night scrolling.
Some nights, he'd dive into forums filled with conspiracy theories, strange sightings, or urban myths. Other nights, he'd find obscure indie horror games or roguelikes to pass the time. But tonight, his thumb kept moving aimlessly, flicking past one app after another, until he stumbled upon something he hadn't expected.
A post titled The Eidolon Pact Protocol: A Website That Offers You a Deal (And Doesn't Let Go) caught his eye.
The header image was low-resolution, blurry, like it had been taken from a grainy webcam. The black background of the webpage was marked by blood-red lettering. A sigil floated ominously at the center of the image, shifting, flickering in a way that made Yamino squint. It was familiar—almost… hauntingly familiar.
His thumb hovered for a moment, then he tapped the post, curiosity tugging at him.
> "This site only appears at midnight. You don't find it—it finds you. And when it does, it gives you a choice. A pact. No ads, no login, no downloads. Just a phrase: 'Make a pact, and be reborn.'"
Yamino frowned. The words struck a chord with him. He remembered hearing whispers of this before. In high school, back when his life had been full of noise—other students at the dorm, late-night discussions between bored teenagers about strange websites. The Eidolon Pact. Some of them swore it was real. Said it gave them weird dreams, made their computers glitch for days, or caused strange things to happen around them.
At the time, he had laughed it off. Urban legends. Bullshit.
But now? Now, the words on the screen felt different. There was something unnerving about them, a weight that pulled at his chest. He read on, his finger unconsciously tracing the cracked edge of the phone.
> "It asks for your name and desire. That's all. But if you go through with it, your world changes. You start seeing things—things normal people can't. Doors where there shouldn't be doors. Whispers in reflections. Symbols on skin."
Yamino's frown deepened. This was… ridiculous. A game. A hoax. But something about it… nagged at him.
He tapped the link at the bottom of the post.
The screen went black.
Then a loading bar flickered into existence.
> Connecting to the Eidolon Protocol...
Yamino's heart skipped a beat, a jolt of unease rushing through him. He sat up a little, his breath shallow. What the hell was going on? He hadn't expected this to actually load. He reached for the phone again, about to put it down, when the bar froze.
The screen flickered once more, then a message appeared.
> Connection timed out.
Yamino blinked. His brow furrowed.
"Huh."
Was it broken? A dead site, maybe? But as he looked at the screen again, something strange happened.
In the top corner of his phone, a glowing red symbol appeared. It was tiny, almost imperceptible at first. An eye, flickering faintly, like a recording light.
Yamino's thumb hovered over it, heart pounding slightly faster.
Then, without thinking, he locked the phone. Tossing it aside, he rolled over and lay back down, staring up at the ceiling. "Nope," he muttered to himself, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach.
His pulse was a little faster than usual. His mind raced, turning over what he'd just read.
Urban fantasy, huh? That was all it was, wasn't it? Stories. Just words on a screen.
But…
A slight chill crept down his spine as the wind outside howled against the trees, the sound carrying like a whisper through the walls of his room.
There was something about tonight. Something strange.
Yamino closed his eyes, trying to ignore the creeping sense of unease gnawing at him. But deep down, in the quiet of the night, one thought lingered: What if there was something more?
His breath slowed, and the darkness settled around him once more.
.
.
.
Yamino couldn't shake the strange feeling in his chest. His phone had gone dark after showing him that weird symbol—an eye flickering at the top corner like it had been watching him. For a moment, everything felt still. The faint hum of the world outside his room seemed to fade, leaving a heavy, suffocating silence. He swallowed hard, trying to push the unease aside, but the thought of that website—the strange words, the dark promises—lingered.
He had closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but his mind refused to settle. Was it all just a joke? A glitch in his phone? Maybe he had imagined it all. But then, a chill ran down his spine. His phone buzzed softly, startling him. He reached out with a shaky hand, unlocking the device again, his fingers hesitant.
The screen flickered back to life.
The red eye was still there, but now it was accompanied by a message.
> Are you ready to make a pact?
Before Yamino could process it, the screen flashed white. The air in the room seemed to grow thicker, as if reality itself was stretching, bending. He froze, staring at the glowing words, his pulse quickening.
Suddenly, a figure appeared on the screen. At first, it was like a trick of the light—a glitch. But the figure… it moved. It was a man, dressed in a sharply cut black suit, standing perfectly still, the darkness of the room seemingly shifting around him. His face was concealed by the dim light, but his posture was calm, almost unnervingly so.
The figure raised his right hand, and Yamino's heart skipped a beat as the man drew a revolver from beneath his coat. The gun gleamed in the dim glow of the phone screen, its barrel pointed directly at Yamino.
The air felt charged. Yamino's breath caught in his throat, the world narrowing to the sight of that cold, black gun.
The figure's lips didn't move, but somehow, Yamino could hear his voice, clear as day in his mind.
"Your pact begins now, whether you wish it or not."
Before Yamino could react, the man pulled the trigger.
The sharp crack of the gunshot rang out, breaking the stillness of the night. Time seemed to slow. Yamino's body tensed, his mind screaming, but the bullet never reached him. Instead, it dissolved into light, shattering like glass, leaving only a sparkling trail of particles in the air. His eyes widened in disbelief. The bullet… it was gone.
The screen on his phone flashed once more, and a new message appeared, its words pulsing with power.
> You have been granted the Solo King ability.
Yamino's breath hitched as his vision blurred, and a strange pressure began to build inside him. He felt… different—like something inside him had awakened. The sensation was overwhelming, both exhilarating and terrifying.
[Solo King]
The one who rules alone, bound by no one but himself.
Effect: A unique and powerful ability that allows the wielder to absorb the essence of defeated entities, converting them into loyal subordinates. The more powerful the entity, the greater the reward. Subordinates can be summoned, strengthened, and commanded at will.
Current Rank: Beginner
Sub-skills unlocked:
1. King of Nothing – Transform defeated entities into your army.
2. King's Tax – Absorb 100,000x the power of your followers and defeated enemies.
3. King's Aura – Dominate those weaker than you.
Yamino's mind reeled as the system's voice reverberated inside his skull. He could almost feel the words imprinted on his very soul, carving themselves into his being like the stinging mark of an ancient brand.
The eerie pressure continued to build as a dark presence seemed to press into the room. It felt wrong, unsettling. Like the weight of something far older, something far more powerful than anything he could comprehend.
The figure on the phone remained unmoving, the revolver still raised, but Yamino could sense something else—something shifting in the shadows. His heart raced, and he could almost hear the faintest whisper, like the rustling of unseen wings, calling to him from somewhere deep within the screen.
Then, with a sudden, sharp breath, the figure lowered the gun. His gaze—cold, calculating, and terrifying—locked onto Yamino's.
The presence in the room felt heavy—overbearing. The phone screen glitched, flickering violently before going black. The figure was gone.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Yamino was left staring at the darkened screen, his heart pounding. A cold sweat broke out on his brow, and his hands trembled. He didn't know what had just happened. He didn't know how it had happened. But the words, the power, the strange feeling that still lingered in his chest—it was real.
The system had chosen him. The Solo King was his now. And with it, the weight of a power he couldn't yet fully understand.
But deep inside, he felt something stir. A hunger. A pull toward the unknown.
Yamino closed his eyes, his hands gripping the phone tighter. What was this? What did it all mean?
Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the feeling of the presence vanished.
He was alone. Again.
But not really.
The shadows of his room seemed darker now, the corners deeper, the air heavier. Yamino felt different. He couldn't explain it, but something had changed. The world outside his door was no longer just ordinary. And neither was he.
Yamino lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind was a whirlpool of thoughts, spinning around the events of the past few hours—the mysterious figure, the gunshot that wasn't, the power that had claimed him. The strange sensation of something awakening deep within him.
He should have been exhausted. His body begged for rest, but his mind couldn't settle. Every time he closed his eyes, the strange, eerie presence of the phone screen loomed in the back of his mind, suffocating him. He wanted to sleep—needed to—but he couldn't.
And then, it started.
A howl.
It was faint at first, just a distant echo in the stillness of the night. But it wasn't like any animal sound he had ever heard before. It was primal—unnatural, filled with an eerie sense of otherness. It sent a chill straight to his bones, like the wind itself had sharpened into something dangerous. The howl was long, stretching, an unholy wail that seemed to resonate through the mountains, reaching deep into his very soul.
Yamino's brow furrowed. He had lived in this village his whole life. He knew the sounds of the wildlife—the wolves, the owls, the wind. But this... this was different. It was too unique, too wrong. It was a sound he had never heard before, not once in his entire life, despite all the years he had spent here.
He frowned, trying to push the thoughts out of his head. There was no reason to be afraid. He had always been safe in this village. The howling could be anything. Maybe an animal he'd never encountered before, maybe just the wind playing tricks.
But then, another howl pierced the silence, sharper than before. Yamino's eyes snapped open, wide with unease. His skin prickled. The sound wasn't just terrifying—it was familiar, in a way that unnerved him. As if the creature making the sound knew him, even if he had never encountered it.
He sat up, his heart racing, his pulse thundering in his ears. He could feel it, that strange connection, a pull in the pit of his stomach, urging him to go to the source of the howl. It was like an instinct he couldn't shake, a compulsion that tugged at him.
It felt... wrong, though.
He shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of the thought. No. He couldn't just go wandering out into the night, especially not with how unsettling the sound was. The fear clawing at his chest made him hesitate. It was instinct, yes, but it felt like something more—something darker.
Yamino lay back down, pulling the covers over his head. But the howling didn't stop. It continued to rise and fall, its eerie tone reverberating through the walls of his room. Every time it reached its peak, a strange unease tightened in his chest. It was as if the howl was calling to him.
He tossed and turned, trying to push the thoughts away. But the howling never stopped. Each one felt more desperate, more anguished than the last.
He couldn't take it anymore.
With a deep breath, Yamino sat up, his body rigid with the urge to go outside. The compulsion was almost overwhelming now, the need to know who—or what—was making that sound. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, his bare feet touching the cool wooden floor, ready to stand. But the moment he shifted his weight, a sudden, sharp thought cut through his mind.
No.
It was like an instinctive rejection, like some force in his mind that didn't want him to go. The urge to stand, to go into the night, suddenly felt… wrong. As if stepping outside could lead him to something he wasn't meant to find.
Yamino froze, his heart pounding in his chest, the thought of stepping outside suddenly terrifying. He couldn't explain it, but something inside him rejected the idea of facing whatever was out there.
He shuddered, sitting back down on the bed. The howling continued, filling the room with its mournful sound, echoing through his skull. It felt like it was inside him, vibrating deep within his soul.
Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the howling stopped.
Silence.
Yamino blinked, his head still spinning with the strange mix of fear and curiosity. He strained to listen, but the night outside was dead quiet. Not a single sound. It was like the entire world had held its breath and was waiting for something.
He waited for what felt like an eternity, listening for anything—another howl, a rustling in the distance. But there was nothing. The air felt still. The oppressive weight of the silence pressed down on him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something had just… changed.
Yamino exhaled slowly, his hands trembling slightly as he placed them on his knees. The silence was almost worse than the howling. It felt too still, too unnatural.
His mind raced. What had that been? What was out there?
For a long moment, Yamino sat there in the dark, alone in the quiet of his room, the unsettling emptiness of the night consuming him. He didn't know what had just happened, but deep down, he felt a creeping sense of dread that lingered in the back of his mind.
He tried to lie back down, but sleep was impossible now. The sound of the howling might have stopped, but the feeling—the strange, heavy presence—hadn't gone anywhere. It was like the air itself was holding its breath, waiting for something.
He couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't alone. Not in his room, not in the village. There was something out there in the mountains… something watching. And whatever it was, it wasn't done with him yet.