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Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
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"Let's see what's up next." Ren dismissed CPR back into puppy form with a thought, the chainsaw dissolving into light and reforming into the familiar tan and black body. He opened his system window, the blue interface appearing in his vision with its usual soft glow.
The familiar window appeared, displaying text that made his heart skip a beat.
Quest: Save Your 3 Comrades
Status: Success
Reward: System Power System Revise
Accept Reward: Yes or No
Ren stared at the notification, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What? I can see the reward now?"
"Something interesting?" Levi asked, setting his now empty teacup aside. The porcelain made a soft click against the saucer.
"Yeah, I've got a quest reward waiting." Ren read the text again, trying to make sense of it. His eyes traced over the words multiple times, as if repetition would make them clearer.
"But what the fuck is System Power System Revise?"
The wording was strange, almost redundant. System Power System. Like the system was describing itself. The awkward phrasing made him uneasy, suggesting something fundamental was about to change. Something big enough that even the system's language seemed to struggle with containing it.
"Well, there's no brainer. Just accept it." Ren reached out mentally and selected yes before he could second guess himself. His finger moved through the air, tapping the invisible button that only he could see.
The moment he confirmed, everything changed.
System Reconstruction Begin.
The blue interface shattered like glass, fragments of light exploding outward in all directions before being sucked back into a central point directly in front of Ren's chest. The sudden movement made him flinch, his body instinctively trying to protect itself from the incoming energy. The air grew cold, frost forming on the edges of the furniture with crackling sounds. Ice crystals spread across the leather of the couch, across the wooden armrests, even across the surface of Levi's abandoned teacup.
Levi sat up straighter, his casual demeanor vanishing as he sensed the shift in the room's energy. His eyes narrowed, focusing intently on the phenomenon occurring in front of Ren.
The central point of light began to expand, growing into a sphere of swirling darkness and radiance. Not the comfortable blue of the system interface, but something deeper, more primal. Crimson veins ran through the sphere like blood vessels, pulsing in rhythm with Ren's heartbeat. Each pulse sent ripples across the surface, distorting the light around it. Golden script began writing itself across the surface, words in languages that predated human civilization. The symbols twisted and reformed, never staying still long enough to be fully read.
CPR whimpered, the chainsaw teeth chattering nervously as he pressed against Ren's leg. The puppy body trembled, sensing something massive taking shape. His little paws dug into the carpet, trying to anchor himself against the pressure building in the room.
The sphere expanded further, growing from the size of a baseball to a basketball, then larger still, enveloping Ren completely. He gasped as icy tendrils of energy pierced through his skin, diving deep into his body. Not painful exactly, but profoundly uncomfortable. Like being unmade and remade simultaneously. His blood felt like it was freezing and boiling at the same time, ice and fire running through his veins in alternating waves. His bones vibrated at frequencies that shouldn't be possible, creating harmonics that made his teeth ache.
"Ren?" Levi stood up quickly, concern evident in his voice. His hand moved toward his pocket, where Ren suspected he kept some kind of emergency tool or artifact.
Ren couldn't answer. His throat had locked up, paralyzed by the sheer intensity of what was occurring. His mouth opened but no sound came out. The energy wasn't just changing the system. It was changing him. Rewriting the fundamental connection between his body and the cosmic horror power that fueled his abilities. He could feel each alteration, each adjustment, like someone was editing his source code one line at a time.
The crimson veins in the sphere began branching out, creating a network that looked disturbingly like a nervous system. Each branch point pulsed with dark light, and with each pulse, Ren felt something shift inside him. His understanding of his own power was being restructured, clarified, refined into something more precise and infinitely more dangerous. Knowledge he'd never possessed suddenly made sense. Connections he'd never seen became obvious.
The golden script appear, burning so bright it should have blinded him but didn't. The symbols seared themselves into his consciousness, each one carrying meaning that bypassed language entirely. The words began making sense, ancient knowledge flooding into his mind like water breaking through a dam. The true nature of the horror path. The contract he'd unknowingly signed when he'd chosen this power. The price and the potential, laid bare in crystalline clarity.
Reality rippled around him like disturbed water, concentric circles spreading outward from where he stood. For a brief moment that felt like eternity, Ren saw beyond the library, beyond the physical world, beyond the veil that separated the mundane from the cosmic. He saw the threads that connected every living being, silver strands that linked consciousness to consciousness in an incomprehensible web. He saw how fear traveled along those threads like electricity through wires, jumping from person to person, amplifying and echoing. Saw how his presence now resonated with those threads, how he could pluck them like strings on an instrument to create symphonies of terror.
Slowly, the world returned to normal. The frost melted, water droplets running down the furniture and soaking into the carpet. The air warmed, the oppressive cold fading to comfortable room temperature. The oppressive presence faded, leaving only the familiar atmosphere of Levi's study.
A new system window appeared, crisp and clear, with text that seemed more alive than before. The letters pulsed gently, as if breathing.
System Power System Reconstruction Complete.
Ren took several deep breaths, his hands still shaking from the intensity of the experience. His fingers trembled as he wiped sweat from his forehead, despite how cold he'd been moments ago. New text began appearing, line by line, as if the system was writing itself fresh for the first time.
Doctor of the Ruin Gospel System
"To heal the body, the soul must tremble."
For fear is the pulse of life unseen,
The echo that stirs beneath the skin.
When hearts quake and reason shatters,
The Gospel drinks, a hymn of ruin sung in terror.
Each scream, a seed of power.
Each shiver, a thread of grace.
The greater the dread, the brighter the cure;
For only through horror does salvation endure.
Thus, the Doctor of the Ruin Gospel heals through horror, performing surgeries that seem like blasphemies yet yield miraculous results.
Ren read the description slowly, his expression growing more serious with each word. "To heal the body, the soul must tremble." The phrase echoed in his mind, carrying weight that went beyond its simple meaning.
System Mechanics
Fear Points
Primary Currency. Earned whenever a patient, witness, or enemy experiences fear caused by Ren's presence, methods, or aura.
Used to:
Purchase skills and items from the Fear Store.Evolve abilities.Pay for system upgrades or body modifications.Rank upUntil Next Rank: 15,000/700,000
The more intense and prolonged the fear, the higher the reward multiplier.
Ren's eyes widened as he read the last line. "Rankl up?" he muttered. "I use Fear Points to level up now?"
That changed everything. Before, leveling had been a slow process tied to experience and combat. Now he had direct control over his progression. If he could generate enough fear, he could advance as fast as he wanted. The implications were staggering.
"What the fuck is this?" Ren's voice was quiet, but there was an edge to it.
"So now I can only get stronger by causing fear?"
A new voice echoed in his mind, clear and direct. Not the robotic system notifications he was used to, but an actual voice. Familiar yet different. The System, but more present, more real.
Yes, that is correct.
Ren's head snapped up, his eyes widening.
"What? You can speak to me directly now?"
Yes. I am complete now. The System's voice carried satisfaction, like someone who'd finally finished a long and difficult task.
"Care to explain?" Ren's tone was tight, controlled anger barely contained beneath the surface.
"Let me explain for him." Levi interrupted, stepping forward. His expression was serious, the casual amusement completely gone.
"When you received the Origin book, its core purpose was to fix the system to what it was meant to be in the first place."
Ren turned to face Levi fully, his body tense. He waited for the explanation he knew was coming, the truth he'd been dancing around since he'd first opened that iridescent book.
"That is what your system is supposed to be, Ren. To get stronger by spreading horror. The more they fear you, the more power you have." Levi's voice was matter of fact, stating a simple truth.
"The goddess made it bug. But the Origin book restored it to its original design."
"So that's it?" Ren's voice was flat.
"Huh?" Levi tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding the question.
What Mr. Levi said is correct. The System's voice was calm, almost gentle.
This is the true system. And this is your true power. You were always meant to harvest fear. The reconstruction simply made it official, optimized the process. You can now Rank up by using fear, converting terror directly into strength.
Ren stood there for a long moment, processing everything. His jaw worked, grinding his teeth as he thought through the implications. The library was silent except for CPR's soft vrzzing and the distant sound of pages turning somewhere in the endless shelves. Dust motes drifted through the air, caught in the warm light from the reading lamps.
He thought about every patient he'd healed. The screaming, the terror, the looks of horror when they saw what he truly was. He'd thought it was unfortunate side effects, necessary evils. But no. It had been the point all along. Their fear had been fueling him from the beginning, making him stronger with every nightmare he inflicted.
"How much do I have now?" Ren asked quietly.
Current Fear Points: 15,000
Ren did the math quickly in his head. "That's not enough to level up."
Correct. Would you like to spend them on the skill?
"No." Ren shook his head.
"Not yet. I need to understand this system first before I start burning through resources."
Finally, he looked down at his hands, turning them over slowly. The same hands that had performed surgeries, that had saved lives, that had also inspired countless nightmares. He'd been harvesting fear this entire time without even knowing it. Every scream had made him stronger. Every moment of terror had fed his power.
"Fine," he said quietly, his voice steady. "If this is what I have to be, then I'll be the best at it."
That's the spirit. The System's approval was obvious in its tone.
"Don't patronize me," Ren said without heat. "I'm accepting reality, not celebrating it."
CPR barked, or rather, made a vrzzing sound that approximated a bark, bouncing excitedly in the air. The chainsaw-headed puppy pressed against Ren's leg, offering wordless support. His tail wagged, the motion enthusiastic despite the heavy atmosphere.
Ren reached down and scratched behind where CPR's ears should be, his expression hardening into determination. The metal was warm under his fingers, vibrating gently with contained life.
"At least you don't judge me, boy."
Vrzzz!
"The question now," Levi said, settling back into his chair,
"Is what you'll do with this knowledge. You have a clear path to power. You could become incredibly strong very quickly if you're willing to pay the price."
"The price being traumatizing everyone I heal," Ren said.
"Yes."
Ren was quiet for another moment, then nodded slowly.
"Then I'll make sure every person I traumatize survives. If I'm going to be the monster that scares people into living, I'll be the most effective monster possible. No one dies on my table. Ever."
A noble goal, the System said. I'll help you achieve it.
"You better," Ren muttered.
"Because if I'm selling my soul to become the Doctor of the Ruin Gospel, I'm going to get results."
The Doctor of the Ruin Gospel. Healer through horror. Powered by fear itself. For better or worse, this was his path now. And he was going to walk it his way, no matter how terrifying it became.