LOUIE'S POV:
My mind was a maelstrom of screaming panic. Twenty seconds. The monster was knitting itself back together from six grisly pieces, and I had twenty seconds before my power guttered out like a cheap candle. How could I win? How do you kill a nightmare that refuses to die? The High Orc's regenerating form let out a shuddering, wet roar—a sound that was less a noise and more a physical wave of primal terror that threatened to drown the last ember of my will.
[NOTICE: Use Flame of Purity to fully eliminate the enemy. Flame of Purity will empty your current intelligence points, leaving you in a weakened state after use.]
A final, desperate gamble. Burn everything I had in one blinding flash and then pray I could hide for an hour while my mind recovered. A terrifying trade, but it was the only one on the table.
"Flame of Purity!" I roared, the command tearing from my transformed throat, but my claws remained cold. Nothing happened.
[WARNING: Target is too far. The consumption of intelligence points will become higher. Your current intelligence points are insufficient.]
[NOTICE: You need to touch any part of the Orc's body to lessen the intelligence point consumption for Flame of Purity.]
"What?!" The word was a choked, incredulous gasp. I had to get close? To that regenerating mountain of muscle and rage? I was a boy playing god with borrowed power; one misstep and I would be a red smear on the concrete.
[NOTICE: 5 seconds left before Beastification wears off.]
Panic solidified into a cold, hard knot of resignation in my stomach. There was no other choice. The power was already receding from my veins like a dying tide. The High Orc, now fully reformed, bellowed and charged, its club raised high enough to blot out the sickly sky. With a snarl that was more animal than human, I didn't retreat. I lunged forward. I had to touch it.
The Orc, perhaps surprised by my suicidal foolishness, swung its tree-trunk club in a brutal, horizontal arc. Time seemed to stretch and warp. I was a fraction of a second too slow. I threw my arms up in a useless, instinctive block, bracing for the inevitable.
[NOTICE: Beastification wears off. The user is now returning to his original form.]
A cold, absolute horror seized me. The transformation unraveled. The protective white fur vanished, the surge of power evaporated, and my bones snapped back to their frail, human configuration. I was no longer a nine-tailed fox. I was a defenseless boy about to be hit by a freight train. My arms would be obliterated. My body would be pulp.
[WARNING: Partial Beastification can't be used at this moment. A cool down of 1 hour is required.]
The system's final warnings were a cruel eulogy. The club slammed into my arms. I didn't just hear the sickening, wet crunch of splintering bone; I felt it resonate through my entire skeleton. A supernova of agony exploded behind my eyes. The world spun violently as I was launched across the street, a ragdoll swatted by a monstrous god.
My back hit a pile of shattered concrete with a brutal, final impact. A gasp ripped from my throat as a thousand shards of pain lanced through me. I felt the sharp crack of my ribs giving way, followed by a deeper, more terrible tearing sensation in my chest. Breathing became a desperate, liquid struggle. I could feel the warm, coppery taste of blood pooling in my lungs, the undeniable sensation of drowning from the inside out. My body was a ruin. I couldn't move.
[WARNING: The user's Vitality is down to 2. Once vitality reaches 0, the user will die.]
This was it. A flicker of power, a glimpse of hope, all extinguished. I had been given the strength to save the weak, and I couldn't even save myself.
[WARNING: An Alpha is nearby. The system will shut down temporarily to hide its presence from the strong Alpha.]
The message was a final, horrifying betrayal. Not a monster. An Alpha. The word itself felt ancient and predatory. The System, my only lifeline, was severing the connection, abandoning me to hide from something it feared more than my death. The High Orc stalked toward my broken form, its steps slow, methodical, savoring the kill. I was just another body in the rubble. I closed my eyes.
The end didn't come.
Instead, the air was torn apart by a sound like a depth charge detonating in a vat of meat. BWHUUMPH!
I forced my eyes open. The High Orc was gone. In its place hung a fine, dissipating mist of purple gore that smelled of ozone and rotten fruit. Standing in the center of it all, bathed in the eerie glow of the sky-islands, was a man. He was flawless, his features carved from marble, his gaze sharp and piercingly regal. A hero torn from the cover of a magazine. Kang Min-jae. The Alpha Ascendant.
My pain, my fear, the taste of my own blood—it all faded to a dull, distant hum. I knew he was on the other side of the country, clearing a Radiant Dungeon. Why was he here? Why would a god descend to save a ghost? The questions were sandcastles against the rising tide of darkness. The last thing I saw was his perfect, indifferent face, and my final thought was a flicker of pure, starstruck awe. Then, the world winked out.
I woke to the sterile, rhythmic beep of a heart monitor. The air smelled of antiseptic, a clean, sharp scent that was a universe away from the blood and dust of the street. I was alive. In a hospital. Kang Min-jae had saved me. The rumors painted him as cold and ruthless, but they had to be wrong.
"Have you heard? The patient in 302 is the only survivor from the Suwon outbreak," a hushed voice whispered from the hallway. My senses, still unnaturally sharp, pulled in the nurses' conversation with chilling clarity.
"I heard," another replied, her voice low and laced with anger. "It's a massive scandal. The government intentionally sent no one. They let the Dungeon Break happen to… to cleanse the slums of immigrants and half-bloods."
"They sent Kang Min-jae to that Radiant Dungeon twenty days early, just to get him out of the way," the first nurse added. "And issued a gag order to every other Ascendant. Anyone who interfered would be excommunicated. It's monstrous."
"Since the nation categorization changed, it's gotten so much worse. Why can't we just be human beings helping each other?"
A fragile hope ignited in my chest. There were still good people. I wasn't alone.
Just then, a familiar, clinical voice echoed in my mind, cutting through the nurses' gossip.
[NOTICE: Omega System is now active.]
I froze. It's back. But that meant... it never truly left. My heightened senses were proof of that. A new, more terrifying thought wormed its way into my mind. Why did it hide?
[EXPLANATION: Omega System detected another Shaman System user. The user holds the Alpha System. At your current level, the Omega System would be dominated by the Alpha System, and all power would be stolen.]
My blood ran cold. Kang Min-jae. The Alpha. The pieces clicked into a horrifying mosaic. He didn't just have an Ascendant power; he had a System, like me. An Alpha to my Omega.
[EXPLANATION: The ALPHA and OMEGA Systems are based on two gods who were a couple. As the systems follow the will of the gods, a weaker system must surrender its power to strengthen the stronger one. The one who loses their system will then be placed under the eternal protection of the stronger system user.]
"Eternal protection?" I whispered, a chill creeping down my spine. "You mean… as a couple? But I'm a man!"
[EXPLANATION: Although the Omega System user is male, the body has been reconstructed to become an Omega. This means the user can be impregnated by the Alpha. Yes, it is possible for the two to become a couple eternally.]
The air left my lungs. My stomach twisted into a knot of sheer revulsion. Reconstructed? Impregnated? The threat was no longer a monster with a club or a corrupt government. It was the flawless hero who had saved my life.
"But how can you be sure we'd become a couple?" I pleaded silently.
[EXPLANATION: The Alpha System would initiate a 'Lovers' Quest' upon absorbing your power, ensuring the user is not left defenseless and is bound to the Alpha's protection.]
"Then why didn't you let it happen? Why hide?"
[EXPLANATION: The user's goal is to become powerful enough to change the world. This does not align with the gods' set goal. The system prioritizes the user's will over the gods' will. However, if the user does not become as powerful as the Alpha System user, the system will eventually be forced to adhere to the will of the gods.]
The puzzle was complete, and the picture it formed was a nightmare. The shutdown wasn't abandonment; it was rebellion. My System was fighting for me, for my goal, against its own creators. It was giving me a chance to fight. But I couldn't be a mother to a god. My face contorted into a grimace. This was a prison far more terrifying than any dungeon.
[WARNING: An enemy is coming.]
The warning blared through my thoughts. An enemy. Not a monster, but a human. Someone from the government, sent to tie up loose ends. Me. My body was still a wreck. I was helpless.
"Can I use Shapeshifting?" I asked desperately. "Transform into a mouse?"
[NOTICE: The user wants to transform into a mouse. Proceed?]
"Yes! Go!" I ripped the monitoring patches from my wrist and chest, ignoring the sting. The equipment would crush me if I shrank. A bizarre crackling sensation washed over me as my bones dissolved and reformed, my muscles convulsing. The world warped, the hospital room swelling to colossal proportions until I saw it from the floor, a tiny creature in a land of giants.
CLICK.
The doorknob turned. I scurried off the bed, a streak of brown fur, and dove behind a large humming machine in the corner.
The door swung open, and a man in a sharp black suit stepped inside. "Tsk… He's not here." He sounded annoyed. He closed the door softly and began a methodical search of the room, his eyes scanning every corner. He pulled out a phone.
"Boss? The target's gone. The Prime Minister is not going to be happy."
A cold, dismissive voice crackled from the phone's speaker. "It's a simple matter. Find a transient who looks like him. Kill them. Problem solved."
"But what about the real target, sir?" the man in the room asked.
"He won't talk," the boss replied with chilling certainty. "A half-blood gutter rat from Suwon? Who would he tell? Who would believe him? He's terrified and will stay hidden. Just create a body so we can close the file."
My tiny mouse heart hammered against my ribs. The bastards. They were going to murder an innocent person just to cover their tracks. I had no strength, no power I could use to fight. But lying in the dust behind that machine, a cold, clear purpose crystallized in the wreckage of my fear. This was why I was given this power. I would not let them kill again. I would make that despicable Prime Minister pay.