The path outside the graveyard was overgrown with roots and cracked stones.
I walked slowly. Not because I was cautious—but because I didn't trust my own legs.
My body had been buried for who knew how long. Now it was carrying me forward like nothing happened.
It felt wrong.But it felt good.
The wind was cold and sharp. The trees were tall, twisted, and thick with age. Their branches clawed toward the sky like skeletal fingers. There were no birds. No distant wolves. Just silence.
And graves. Still more graves.
As far as I could see, the land was scarred with stone markers and crooked tombs. Like the whole forest had been built over a mass burial site.
'What kind of place is this?'
I stepped over a collapsed headstone. The inscription was weathered to nothing. Just deep gouges and unfamiliar runes.
Then I saw it.
Up ahead, tucked between trees and half-swallowed by ivy—a shrine.
Small. Abandoned. The stone roof had cracked in two, and a withered offering bowl sat beneath it, filled with bones and black feathers.
Something moved behind it.A shadow. Quick. Feral.
I froze.
'Please don't be what I think it is.'
Then it stepped out.
A creature. Thin. Pale. Crawling on all fours. Its eyes glowed faintly red. Its limbs were too long. Its spine curved unnaturally, as if it had once been human—but had forgotten how.
[System Notice: New Entity Detected – Graveborn Wretch (Feral)]Threat Level: Low – Unstable]
It sniffed the air. Then snapped its head toward me.
It hissed.
I stumbled back. My body screamed at me to run.But I didn't.
Because for the first time since I woke up in that coffin, I had a choice. And more importantly—I had strength.
Not much. But maybe… just enough.
"System," I muttered, "show me my current stats."
[STATUS SCREEN – Soulbound Host: Isaac]
Level: 1
Race: Unknown (Undead-Linked)
Class: None
Title: [Revenant]
HP: 35 / 110
MP: 10 / 55
Strength: 8
Agility: 3
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 6
Willpower: 5
Charisma: 1
Luck: ???
Recent Gains: +4 STR, +3 END (2 Corpses absorbed)
'Still not great… but this time, I'm not the one dying.'
The creature charged.
Its limbs skittered across the cracked path like a spider's—twitching and fast.
I ducked, barely avoiding a claw swipe. It tore a chunk of bark off a tree behind me.
It spun toward me again, shrieking.
I didn't think—I acted.
I grabbed a chunk of broken tombstone and smashed it into the side of its head.
Crack.
The Graveborn Wretch collapsed, twitching once—then fell still.
Silence returned.
I stood over it, panting. My knuckles bled. My breath was ragged. But I was alive.
And more importantly—it wasn't.
[Enemy Defeated – Graveborn Wretch]+22 EXP earned[Soul Echo Triggered]- Random Stat Gained- Skill Trace Absorbed
My body pulsed with sudden warmth.
[STAT INCREASED: Agility +1][Skill Fragment Acquired: Clawing Swipe Lv. 1]
Updated Status
HP: 30 / 110
MP: 10 / 55
Strength: 8
Agility: 4
Endurance: 5
Intelligence: 6
Willpower: 5
Charisma: 1
Luck: ???
Recent Gains: +1 AGI, Skill Gained: Clawing Swipe Lv. 1 (via Soul Echo)
I exhaled slowly. My arms were sore. My mind was reeling. But I'd done it.
My first kill.
And the system had rewarded me for it.
[Clawing Swipe Lv. 1]Slash forward with unnatural speed and precision. Damage scales with Strength and Agility.Cooldown: 8 seconds.
'Not amazing—but better than nothing.'
The Wretch's body disintegrated into black dust, scattered by the wind.
I looked toward the forest again.
Dark. Deep. Unknown.
But I wasn't the same as before.
"I survived the grave," I muttered. "Now I survive everything else."
And with that, I stepped into the trees.
The forest was wrong.
Not in a loud, obvious way. There were no screaming beasts or cursed winds.Just silence.
Unnatural silence.
No insects. No birdsong. Just the wind brushing the leaves, carrying with it the faint scent of iron and damp stone.
I moved slowly, brushing moss aside as I stepped through the undergrowth. The trees here grew too close together—warped, old, and heavy with hanging vines. Their trunks were twisted as if writhing mid-scream.
And then I saw it.
A path.
Stone. Broken. Overgrown.
Leading deeper into the woods, lined by toppled statues and cracked lanterns. Some of them bore inscriptions in a language I couldn't read.
[System Notice: Minor Path of Memory Detected]"Ancient roads remember those who tread them. Following may reveal echoes of history."
I crouched and ran my fingers across the stone. Faint scorch marks. As if fire had once swept through this place.
'Someone lived here. Or fought here.'
I followed the path.
As I walked, something stirred beneath the moss. A worn, half-buried plaque—too smooth for time to have damaged naturally.
I pulled it free.
[Fragment of Forgotten Text – "The Bound Flame"]"Let no grave rise unearned. Let no soul be bound twice."
'What the hell does that mean?'
Suddenly, the air thickened. Cold prickled my skin.And I wasn't alone anymore.
Something was watching me.
[Host Threat Level Rising – Passive Hostility Detected Nearby]
I turned slowly, eyes scanning the shadows.
Nothing.
Then—movement. Flickers between the trees. Pale shapes. Multiple. Fast.
They were circling.
[System Objective Updated: Survive the Hunter's Circle]"A gathering of the cursed is drawn to the soul that walked out of death. You must endure."
I clenched my fists.
'So it begins.'