Yuto stirred beneath a layer of moss and dust, his new limbs twitching. His mind was buzzing—no, crowded.
[Passive Activated: Threadborn Mind]
"Your mind now weaves between the real and the unseen. Memory slots expanded. Cognitive resilience increased. Side effect: Whisperlink fluctuation."
Voices.
They weren't his.
They didn't belong to Nyx.
They came from the Thread.
"You must consume the gatekeeper."
"She watches from the seventh spiral."
"Break the ritual before it breaks you."
[Passive: Emotion Sink] – Suppressing 67% of fear. 32% of grief. 100% of shame.]
Yuto blinked.
He couldn't even feel the fear anymore.
Only focus. Hunger. And a cold clarity that scared even Nyx.
[New Evolution Tree Detected: VOID SOVEREIGN]
Current branch: Larval Nullspawn → ???
Requirements for next mutation:
– Devour 1 creature of higher intellect
– Trigger a mass fear event
– Survive in utter isolation for 7 days
"Well, that's ominous," Yuto muttered, skittering toward the darker parts of the cavern.
The system had changed.
The rules were no longer just level up and evolve.
Now it was about influence.
And he was being watched.
A faint glow pulsed deeper in the cave.
Yuto crept forward until he saw it:
A dying scholar, slumped beside a cracked stone monolith, muttering to himself.
Human. Alone. Weak.
But his mind radiated knowledge like heat.
[Target Scan: High-Intellect Creature: Archivist Class | LV 10]
Condition: Terminal Mana Starvation.
Threat Level: Minimal.
Mind Value: High.
Yuto approached slowly.
The scholar looked up. Eyes wide. Terrified.
"You… You're not supposed to be here. You're not from this dungeon."
Yuto tilted his head.
"No," he said. "I'm not."
The man choked on his own breath.
Yuto activated Whisperlink.
"Show me what you know."
A thread of darkness latched to the scholar's mind—and Yuto drank.
Screams. Memories. Spell matrices. Forbidden portals. The history of the Abyss.
And beneath it all, a name spoken like a curse:
"The Void Sovereign must never awaken."
Then Yuto crushed his throat.
[Target Consumed.]
[Evolution Progress +33%]
[Mind Fragments Absorbed: +1]
As the man's body slumped, the monolith cracked further—bleeding black mist.
A portal flickered to life.
[Dungeon Portal Detected: "Abyssal Spiral – Layer 2: Forgotten Sanctum"]
[Recommended Entry Level: 12+]
Enter anyway?
Yuto glanced back at the dying cavern.
He was no longer prey.
And if he was to become something greater, he needed to dive deeper.
He clicked once—then entered the spiral.