Blood dried on his face like cracked ink on ancient parchment.
Renji Kurobane hadn't moved from that spot since sunrise.
The world kept turning, the city kept breathing, but to him — it all felt distant, muffled, like he was watching reality through a wall of glass.
His ribs ached with every breath. His jaw throbbed where the blow had landed.
Pain. It had become his oldest friend.
A mechanical whisper echoed again in his mind:
> [Cursebound System: Passive Curse Active - "Pain Sharing"]
Pain Inflicted: 64 units.
Returned Pain: 640 units delivered.
Host Damage Sustained: 128 units.
Vital Status: 38% Stable.
He chuckled bitterly. "I almost killed myself... just by surviving."
---
That evening, while others returned home to warm food and families, Renji limped into the old train depot on the edge of Sector 13 — his new home.
No roof. No walls. Just shadows and rusted iron.
But at least the shadows didn't ask questions.
He collapsed against a pillar, groaning softly.
"Is this… all my life is going to be?" he whispered to the empty air.
"No future. No power. Just pain?"
The system responded.
> [Host has awakened Curse Tier 1. Eligible for First Trial.]
Trial of Will: Initiating in 3… 2… 1…
Before he could scream, the world shattered.
[TRIAL REALM: SHATTERED VEINS]
Renji stood in a void of white mist. He could feel... nothing. No floor. No air. No heartbeat.
Then—
A spear pierced his back.
He cried out — the pain sharp, hot, endless — before another tore through his leg. And another. And another.
> [Welcome to the Trial of Will.]
Survive five minutes in Pain Realm. No resistance. No healing. No escape.
Every second, your pain will double.
Scream if you must — no one will come.
He fell to his knees, breathing in agony.
"WHY?!" he roared.
> [Pain is your curse.]
[But also your weapon.]
To wield it, you must first break.
And then break again.
---
One minute in — his bones began to fracture.
Two minutes — his skin blistered and cracked open.
Three minutes — blood streamed from his ears, eyes, even his thoughts.
But Renji didn't scream.
He remembered every slap from the orphanage. Every stone thrown at him. Every time someone looked at him like he didn't belong.
"Is this it? Is this all you've got?!" he shouted into the void.
> Four minutes…
His knees gave in. Darkness danced at the edge of his vision.
> Four minutes, forty seconds…
His heart slowed. His lungs burned.
> Four minutes, fifty-nine seconds…
Renji smiled.
"You can't kill me."
---
And then… silence.
The spears vanished. The white mist faded.
He opened his eyes. Back in the depot.
The air smelled of rust… and something else.
Power.
> [Trial Complete.]
System Evolution: Curse Tier 1 Cleared.
Unlocked Skill: "Echo Pain" — transfer 50% of your pain to a chosen target within 10 meters.
Skill Cooldown: 6 hours.
Renji looked down at his hand, now glowing faint red.
A weapon forged from agony.
He stood, pain still anchoring every limb.
But now… he smiled.
That Night…
Three hunters from a gang called "Fang Bloods" entered the depot.
They'd heard about the cursed boy.
They wanted to sell him to the labs.
"Stay down, freak. We'll make it quick."
Renji didn't run.
He stood, barely able to breathe.
One hit to the stomach.
Pain surged through him — he smiled.
"Echo Pain."
The attacker screamed, clutching his gut, vomiting blood.
Another charged with a blade. Renji moved like a dying shadow — slow, but deliberate.
The blade sliced his shoulder.
Renji's eye twitched.
Then the attacker fell, his entire right arm breaking at six points.
"You think pain makes me weak?"
"Pain is my currency."
"And I'm getting rich."
that night, Renji carved a name into the wall of the depot using broken glass.
Not his own.
Not anyone else's.
Just a single word:
> "Begin."