The System was still laughing when I stood.
It wasn't code. It wasn't clean. It was something alive, hiding in the wires of my soul.
[Quest Active: Eliminate the Red Fang Initiation Squad.]
Target: Five outer disciples en route to corpse pit.
Reward: Demon Technique – Vein Reversal.
Timer: 00:29:42]
I looked up the hill. Through the fog and ash, I saw them—five silhouettes, descending from the sect tower in crimson robes, carrying sabers. Laughing. Probably on cleanup duty like me.
Except they weren't here to clean.
They were here to check the bodies.
And maybe dump another one—mine.
"Are you ready to kill?" the demonic voice whispered.
My stomach growled. My pulse was slow.
I wasn't shaking.
"…I've been ready since they killed her."
My mother's face flashed in my mind—bloody, terrified, fingers crushed beneath Elder Tian's boot. That memory had no sound. Just her mouth moving.
I used to cry when I saw that face.
Now it sharpened me.
The first disciple arrived before the others, boots squelching in the mud. He was young—fifteen maybe. Cocky. Sword on his back. He stopped when he saw me kneeling beside the corpse pit.
"Hey. You. Who said you could touch a Red Fang elder's body?"
I didn't answer.
He stepped closer, annoyed. I saw his name stitched into his robe—Wen Hao. Outer disciple. No rank. Disposable.
"I asked you someth—"
I moved.
Blood Echo Step activated like instinct—my feet glided, knees snapped forward, and I was already in front of him.
His eyes widened.
I grabbed his throat and slammed him into the ground.
[Corpse Assimilation Protocol – Active.]
I didn't even wait for him to die.
His body began breaking down the moment my hand touched his skin—like he'd been waiting to be devoured.
He screamed for three seconds.
Then stopped.
[Bloodline: Minor Qi Flow detected.]
[Technique Fragment: Red Fang Saber Arts (15%) Acquired.]
[Strength +1. Reflex +2. Ki Nodes: 6/108 Open.]
I exhaled, slowly. That felt… easier than it should've.
"Tastes like wasted potential," the System whispered, amused. "More."
The other four heard his scream and came running. Too late.
The moment they appeared, I moved again—low stance, knees coiled, my body remembering movements I hadn't trained, only absorbed.
The second disciple slashed wild.
I ducked.
I felt his wind pass by—and I crushed his knee with my elbow, then drove my fist into his throat.
[2 down.]
The third one screamed and backed away.
The fourth charged me with a saber.
Better.
He spun. I caught the blade with my palm.
It sliced deep—but I didn't let go.
I looked into his eyes. He saw no fear in mine.
Only hunger.
[Corpse Assimilation x2 – Complete.]
[Red Fang Saber Arts (34%) — Upgrade Threshold Near.]
[Demon Threshold: Humanity -3%]
"You're losing pieces of yourself," the System murmured.
"Good," I said. "I was never meant to fit their world anyway."
The last one ran.
I chased him.
His footsteps pounded through the wet forest floor, but he didn't know what I'd just become.
To him, I was still the pit slave. The mud-crawler. The nameless boy.
"Stop!" he begged. "I won't tell anyone! I—"
I snapped his neck clean.
Then knelt beside his body.
One more.
[Quest Complete.]
[Reward Unlocked: Demon Technique – Vein Reversal.]
A forbidden method to forcibly reverse and mutate blocked Ki Veins. Painful. Permanent. Irreversible.
I felt it unlock in my spine.
And then…
Pain.
"Aaaaghh—!"
I collapsed, back arched, veins bulging. My blood boiled, my bones cracked from the inside. It felt like worms were burrowing through my nervous system, chewing through blockage like termites.
[Vein Reversal Activated.]
Ki Nodes: 24/108 Opened.]
New Trait: Bone-Hardened Vessel.]
When I finally stood, I could feel it.
Strength. Raw. Unstable. Mine.
I wasn't just some pit slave now. I wasn't prey.
I was evolving.
I looked toward the sect tower high on the hill—its red gates still glimmering with protective formation light.
Elder Tian was up there.
And now I was coming.