The ground cracked beneath his feet.
The pressure was so immense that even the air seemed unwilling to enter his lungs.
Blood flowed from his nose first… then from his eyes.
The taste of iron flooded his throat.
His body trembled violently.
"You will die if you continue. You know that."
Her voice was close. Calm. Completely devoid of tension.
With great difficulty, he forced his mouth open.
"It doesn't… matter…"
He coughed blood.
"You can consider it… liberation."
Suddenly, the pressure vanished.
The pain stopped.
The bleeding ceased as if time itself had taken a step backward.
His body shrank… then reshaped.
When sensation returned — he was young.
In his late twenties.
Just as he had been when he first began his path.
He raised his gaze toward her. His vision was blurred.
He did not see the blade until it entered his chest.
Cold.
Black.
Without reflection.
Pain was not the worst part.
It was the realization.
A calculated betrayal.
He felt his power evaporate in an instant, as though the years that had obeyed him had suddenly come to collect their debt.
He looked at her.
He did not ask why.
He understood.
"So… this is how it ends."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"A single lapse… cost me my life."
Darkness crept in from the edges of his vision.
"If there is a second chance…"
His voice faltered.
"I will trust no one."
Then he fell into nothingness.
---
Shen awoke to a strange sensation.
No pain.
No pressure.
No blood.
Only a lightness… that felt wrong.
He slowly raised his hand.
Stopped.
This was not his hand.
The skin was deathly pale, blue veins visible beneath it, thin as though it had never known sunlight.
Not his skin.
So…
I didn't die.
He lowered his hand calmly. No panic. No confusion.
If he had not died… then the ability had worked.
The Carp Ability.
He swallowed the thought in silence and lifted his head.
The room was narrow, damp, its walls corroded as if they had been decaying for years. The air was thick with mold, sweat, and fear.
He was not alone.
Bodies lay or sat everywhere, all bearing the same pallor, the same empty expressions.
Eyes that did not beg for salvation.
Eyes that waited for the end.
A suffocating anticipation pressed down on the room.
Then—
A door creaked.
It burst open.
A massive man stepped inside, broad-shouldered, black-haired, his eyes devoid of hesitation.
Coldly, he announced:
"Time for execution."
He moved immediately, grabbing one of the prisoners and dragging him away.
The screams filled the room.
"No—! Please—!"
No one moved.
No one even looked.
The sound faded beyond the doorway.
Silence returned.
Shen observed everything with still eyes.
Regular executions.
No chaos.
No resistance.
A system.
He leaned slightly toward the man beside him.
"Why?"
The man did not look at him.
"You're new."
A pause.
"When you get close to awakening… they kill you."
Shen froze internally.
Awakening?
The man continued in a dry voice:
"The Soul System. Once you're ready… you become a threat."
A lifeless smile formed on his lips.
"And don't try to hide it. They have their ways."
Silence fell again.
Shen lowered his gaze to his pale hands.
A slave.
An age of kings.
And the awakened are slaughtered before they are complete.
He understood the situation quickly.
Survival would not come from strength.
But from timing.
---
One day passed.
Then another.
Each time the door opened… death entered, chose someone, and left.
Every time Shen survived, he calculated.
The guard always came alone.
No escorts.
Slow steps, but powerful.
Spoke only when necessary.
On the fourth day, the door stopped in front of him.
"You."
The guard hauled him up by his clothes and dragged him out.
Shen did not resist.
The corridor was long and dark, reeking of metal and old blood.
Forceful escape? Impossible.
Running? Suicide.
Screaming? Meaningless.
One option remained.
Break his loyalty.
Shen spoke calmly:
"Do they pay you well for this?"
The guard stopped.
"Silence."
But his grip did not tighten.
Shen continued:
"Dirty work. Dangerous. And you do it alone."
One step.
Two steps.
No reply.
He's listening.
"If I were you… I would demand at least double."
The man's shoulder twitched.
"This job could kill you. Yet they leave you by yourself."
The guard stopped slowly.
Turned.
His eyes narrowed.
"You talk too much… for a slave who will die in minutes."
Shen met his gaze.
No fear.
"The dead have no need to lie."
Heavy silence fell between them.
Then Shen spoke again, quieter, steadier:
"I am not trying to save myself."
A brief pause.
A faint, almost invisible smile appeared.
"I am offering you a way… to save yourself."