[Karmic Evaluation Deferred]
[Instinct Assimilation Recorded.]
"What does that mean?" Arin asked.
No answer came.
"Why do you do this?" he cried, his voice breaking.
Karmic evaluation deferred…
Does that mean I'm being judged by something else?
By different rules?
His breath quickened.
"And… assimilation?" he muttered. "What exactly is being assimilated?"
A chill ran down his spine.
"…You're recording me, aren't you?"
He stiffened.
"Hey. System. You're not recording me, right?"
Silence.
He exhaled sharply and shook his head.
"Tch. That's stupid," he said, forcing the thought away.
"Even for you… that'd be too much."
A sudden birdcall shattered the momentum.
In the distance, several beasts scattered, fleeing into the tall grass.
Arin lifted his head.
Above him stretched a clear sky.
No pressure.
No hunger clawing at his gut.
No immediate threat.
It was… peaceful.
For a while, he simply lay there.
Doing nothing.
Then—
something stirred.
Arin gazed back.
There was nothing.
Then it hit him.
"…Nyss? What are you doing?"
No response.
Silence.
Uneven.
"Huh…" he let out a breath.
A thought surfaced.
What now?
[F***er. You could cultivate.]
He coiled tighter.
Cultivation resumed.
The qi here was strange—
Not dense.
Not pure.
But moving.
Time lost meaning.
He hunted.
He cultivated.
He restrained the children when instinct drove them wild.
The cycle repeated until it felt… natural.
He lay coiled beneath the trees, warmth soaking into his scales.
For once, there was no hunger.
No urgency.
Just… stillness.
Then—
A sudden pressure snapped his focus apart.
His eyes opened.
Silence.
Nothing had changed.
Then a voice reached him.
Not sound.
Not thought.
Something in between.
"You're still alive."
Arin stiffened.
"…Who are you?"
The presence didn't answer immediately.
"A year has passed."
His chest tightened.
Memories stirred — blurry, distant, painful.
"I shouldn't be talking to you," the voice continued.
"And I won't do it again."
Arin swallowed.
"Then why now?"
A pause.
"Because you endured."
Silence followed.
The warmth remained.
But the voice was gone.
Then—
a system window appeared.
[What the fk was that.]
Arin froze.
"How would I know?" he hissed back.
Silence followed.
Something clicked.
"…Wait," he muttered. "Don't I have that thing? The Battle Archive?"
[You do.]
His heart picked up speed.
"Then how do I activate it?"
[Battle Archive — Level 1]
[Specify target.]
A smile crept onto his face.
"That fire cultivator."
—
[Battle Archive — Level 1]
Target: Unregistered Human Cultivator (Fire Affinity)
• Subject discharged unstable fire techniques multiple times.
• Meridian pathways showed signs of overload.
• Target ignored internal damage.
• Cause of death: Meridian burnout.
—
Arin stared.
"…That's it?"
[That's all you get at Level 1.]
He closed his eyes.
"Oh my god…"
He exhaled, then remembered something else.
"Hey. What were my quests?"
[Active Objectives:
1.Reach the next realm.
2.Perform 1,000 push-ups.
3.Perform 1,000 sit-ups.]
Arin snapped his eyes open.
"I'm not even human!"
A pause.
[…Correction applied.]
[Active Objective:
Reach the next realm.]
"Tch," he muttered, smashing his head against the stone.
Crack.
The surface split.
No response came.
Time passed.
Arin remained coiled atop the stone, breathing slowly, cultivating.
Then—
something moved.
A presence slid upward, its weight shifting against the rock.
A body pressed close.
—
Snap.
Pain flared.
Arin's eyes shot open.
He glanced down.
Nothing.
He twisted his head back.
Kael.
"…What?" Arin hissed.
Kael's tongue flicked sharply in response.
"Oh my god," Arin groaned.
"If only you could speak."
He exhaled.
Then paused.
Something clicked.
"…What if you could?"
His tone shifted, excitement creeping in.
"What if I taught you how to speak?"
Kael stared at him.
Then shook his head once.
Slowly.
As if dismissing the thought entirely.
He slid away, retreating into the grass.
Arin watched him go, bewildered.
"…What was that about?"
But his mind was already made up.
He didn't notice the way Kael had bitten him.
Or why.
—
He didn't understand the warning.