The silence of the palace felt heavier now. Joon stood alone in the training hall, his breath calm but his thoughts turbulent.
The Skill Creation Interface hovered before him, glowing faintly. It had just unlocked—without warning—moments after his Soul Sync hit 85%.
He stared at it like it was a loaded weapon.
[System Notification]Skill Creation Interface – Limited Mode: UNLOCKEDCapabilities:
– Imitate basic skills from host memory
– Fuse low-tier effects (e.g., movement + strike, concealment + perception)– Wolf Troop Enhancement Support
Advanced Creation: Locked (Requires 100% Sync)
World Editor Access: Locked
Warning: Incomplete soul-bond may cause instability if overloaded.
Joon didn't move. He was just still.
He had thought he was beginning to understand the system. The palace, the wolf soldiers, the troop commands—they felt game-like. Manageable. But this?
"Creating skills from scratch..." he muttered, voice low. "That's not just power. That's rewriting the laws of this world."
He hesitated before touching the floating interface. His hands felt cold.
In his mind, he reached back to something familiar—a skill from a game he used to play back on Earth. A simple dash. Quick. Efficient. Designed to close distance before an attack.
He carefully combined two concepts: movement + force.
[Skill Name: Phantom Dash]
Effect: Short-range blink with momentum burst
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Cost: 12 energy units
Compatible with wolf troops (elite unit)
[Skill Created Successfully.]
A strange sensation washed over him—like an invisible thread snapped and rewove itself inside his chest. The skill had formed, but it felt unnatural, like fire inside ice. He had crafted something real.
He stepped forward, whispered, "Activate: Phantom Dash."
And suddenly, the world shifted.
His body vanished for a breath. He blinked forward five meters, reappearing mid-step, heart pounding. The air behind him collapsed with a soundless ripple. His knees nearly buckled from the aftershock.
He caught his breath, eyes wide. "That... wasn't teleportation. It was something else."
Not just a movement skill. Not just a trick.
This was raw reality-bending. From thought to creation to use.
"If I can do this at 85% sync… what happens when I reach 100?"
He swallowed the thought. The possibilities were endless—but terrifying.
Outside the palace, the forest was quiet. Too quiet.
Joon stood at the palace gates, flanked by two elite wolf guards. The wind whispered through the trees, rustling branches like secrets being passed between ghosts.
He looked back at the glowing palace walls one last time.
"I can't stay in there forever," he said. "This body… Sujin's body… was killed for a reason. And I need to know why."
[System Notification: Quest Initiated – "The Truth in Blood"]Objective: Investigate the site of Sujin's final battleReward: Memory Fragment, Soul Sync +3%, ???
Pathfinding Activated – Distance: 3.2 km
He nodded once and stepped into the forest, shadows trailing behind him.
The site of Sujin's death wasn't hard to find.
The smell of old blood clung to the earth. Rusted weapons lay abandoned, and the ground was marked with deep cuts—as if a hundred blades had danced here in rage.
[Location Identified – Initiating Memory Trace]
Joon froze as spectral images formed in front of him—like ghosts from a memory replayed by the system.
He watched, breath held, as a silver-haired man—Sujin—stood surrounded by masked warriors. He was injured, his robes torn, blood pouring down his side. But his eyes held fire. Pride. Defiance.
"You came in numbers. But you won't leave unscathed," Sujin growled.
Then it happened.
One of the masked warriors moved behind him. A traitor. A clean strike to the back. Sujin stumbled, eyes wide, and fell.
The memory ended.
Joon stood in stunned silence, fists clenched. Rage wasn't the right word. What he felt was weight—a cold burden dropped on his shoulders.
"Whoever betrayed you… I'll find them."
Then a voice cut through the silence.
"Surprised someone like you didn't die here too."
He turned quickly.
A girl stood on a stone ledge, arms crossed. Her robes were violet and silver, her hair tied back, and her smirk sharp as glass.
She studied him with half-lidded eyes, like he was a strange animal. "You don't have a cultivation signature. No sect. No flow of Qi. You're either hiding something, or you're a worm that crawled into a battlefield and forgot how to die."
Joon didn't speak. Not yet. He was watching her just as carefully.
"Silent? How boring," she muttered. "Whatever. Stay out of my way."
She vanished with a single leap into the trees, leaving only her laughter behind.
[New Character Logged: ??? (Cloudsong Sect – Rank: Inner Disciple)]
He narrowed his eyes. He didn't know who she was or what she wanted—but he couldn't risk being found out yet. Not until he understood more.
Not until he decided what kind of weapon he wanted to become.
[Quest Progress Updated – Clue Discovered: Crimson Blade Traitor Mark]
Memory Fragment Stored. Palace Archive Accessible for Review.
Joon knelt where Sujin had fallen and whispered, "They think you're gone."
He stood, jaw tight. "Let's prove them wrong."