章節 1: Prologue.
Chaos, life, and darkness. The three words that have always fascinated me for some reason.
Since I was sixteen, I kept having the same strange dream—the dream of being in a foreign body, or a fictional world while fighting with all my soul to survive
In these dreams, I felt like I was someone else, belonging to a universe different from this one, in a world only real in webtoons.
But every time I woke up, I laughed. Oh man, you have a virus that strikes almost all young people your age—schizophrenia; so, pull yourself together.
Chaos, Life, and Darkness.
These three fundamental laws among many others, are perhaps the ones that govern nothingness.
At school, I learned that everything is composed of matter. But what is composed of this matter that creates everything?
Darkness is everywhere, sometimes even taking root in the light.
Chaos is capable of destroying everything, even a vacuum.
The seed called 'life' is the most tenacious among them, budding even in the darkness like a fragile flower of hope.
How do I know that? It's crazy, but even I, don't comprehend what I'm saying.
If I had to explain my life's journey, I would say two things—a seed that killed its tree before taking over everything that belonged to its origin.
A young teenager who received all the love a doting father could offer.
My father is like those hard workers you encounter in every alley in Z-city.
The world has no heroes, otherwise, my father would be among them.
Finally, a son who, since he was little, had never lacked anything despite his very common roots.
Everything seemed easy to me as soon as I knew how to differentiate good and bad.
At school, I was always top of my class until university. In sports clubs, no one could dominate me on the field.
Fame is stifling and boring, for those who know what I'm talking about.
However, I don't remember having made any significant effort to have this athlete's body or this genius' brain.
This ease may seem like a blessing before others' eyes, but a curse for me.
When was the time my heart really beat with excitement for something? - When did I get angry? - When was the time I felt torn apart by grief?
Even when that tumor took my father last year, I didn't cry. Let alone shed tears, I didn't even feel sad.
I was there, looking at his pale corpse as if he were a stranger. That's when I understood how fake my emotions were. I pretended to be cheerful, to value those around me, and to feel the joy of living in a community.
Twenty years of a gloomy life. But now, this life that seemed too difficult for me is finally about to come to an end.
The tumor that had previously taken both of my parents, finally came back to take me too.
And for the first time, I finally understood what living meant. Yes, living is dying and finally going out in the matrix.
I know that some will start saying that I don't only have a hereditary tumor, but also a strong schizophrenia.
Pff, I don't give a damn about that.
Unlike my parents, I'm going to die young, without even having been able to go a little further.
I said to myself as I stared at the dark ceiling. The only regret I had was not having finished my higher schooling.
Out of curiosity, I had experienced everything that an average young man would want, friends, fame, and everything that goes with the path of a high school student. But in the end, none of them had any taste for me, because of their facilities.
Okay, let's cut this crap, twenty years ago, a young man named Devon Cradle was found next to the gates of an orphanage.
Not to mention being famous, he had to trade his studies for odd jobs in order not to starve to death.
He had to find a balance between survival and the daily struggle.
He had never met his parents, so naturally, he took Cradle, which is actually the name of the orphanage he grew up in, as a surname.
Despite his efforts to not end up as a homeless person, fate did not give him the chance to enjoy this thing called health.
In the end, overwork and lack of sleep led him to stay bedridden.
Guess which of these two is real…?
Regardless, there is indeed a man at the gates of death who is lying on his deathbed.
{By the authority of the long-forgotten ruler of the afterlife, oh wandering soul lost in the depths of the underworld, respond to my summons and be my eternal companion.}
As the young man teetered on the brink of death, a gentle yet chilling voice echoed in his mind.
But instead of being surprised, he smiled, mimicking himself. 'Seems like my schizophrenia has reached a more refined level than I deemed.' He thought to himself, not really caring.
'At least that voice isn't that unpleasant. I never imagined my mind would conceive some odd like this.
Is it my fear of dying alone that gives me such hallucinations for some form of spiritual comfort? How miserable.' He continued in his as his lips curled up.
'I had a good life, a life filled with delusions as well.'
His consciousness, barely holding on, kept him from completing his words before he closed his eyes to what he thought was the last time.
[DING! ALL CONDITIONS ARE MET. BOUNDLESS EVOLVING'S SYSTEM WILL BE ACTIVATED AFTER FINDING A SUITABLE HOST.]
'Ugh, it's starting to get annoying. Even a quiet death seems too much to ask.' He made a face before opening his eyes just to see if there was a third with him.
To his bummer, as far as his eyes could see, he could only gaze at the infinite darkness.
Despite this shocking scene, his was peaceful, not showing the slightest ripple.
Instead of being afraid or feeling anxious, the boy stared into the abyss with dispassion.
Although it was his first time, he gave the impression that he had always lived in this environment.
'The darkness does not scare me, I have always coexisted with it since my birth.
But something new made him frown.
A holographic screen that floated in front of him with texts.
He looked at this screen like an intruder in his comfort zone.
'What the...?' He stopped halfway as he saw the texts change.
[CONGRATULATION! THE HOST IS SUITABLE TO USE BOUNDLESS EVOLVING'S SYSTEM!]
[Wait until the end to learn more.]
"...Since when did I start having such a perverted imagination?" Although he mumbled, he couldn't help but smile slightly in the dark as his adrenaline spiked in overexcitement.
Though too good to be true, Devon begins to imagine himself in something more ironic than even his wildest imaginations had previously concocted.
After those words disappeared before his eyes, his surroundings gradually changed as well.
As time passed by with chameleon steps-like seconds, he found himself lying in a grave with a demon queen-like maiden standing nearby.
It was still dark, but nothing like the previous darkness he was.
Instinctively, he sits up on the butt, without breaking eye contact with that gal above the whole he was.
'How did I get here?' He firstly whispered.
But when he gaped at the mysterious young girl for a second time, he saw the same faceline. 'She's not...human.'
Just like him, the girl was also staring at him with the same daze.
She had short black hair down her collarbones, two black crowned-shape-like horns curved upward, and crimson-red eyes.
Her complexion was ashed and she had a tattoo resembling a blood crucifix on her forehead, running down between her eyebrows.
So many contradictions forced Devon's mind to forget the previous scene and focus on her with wonder.
'…What world did I end up in?' He couldn't help but get puzzled about this sight.
Even though he didn't feel any threat coming from this creature that seemed to come straight out of the abyss, something scared him more.
His tranquility.
Instead of feeling fear or something similar, he felt safe.
It was the most alarming thing for him to feel safe in the presence of this 'girl' he was seeing for the first time.
Besides, the girl's eyes also widened when she saw this scene in front of her.
Her surprise was such that the red-brown grimoire she had in her hand fell.
It wasn't fear that Devon read in her eyes, but hope and another emotion that he didn't dare describe with words.
"It... it worked...? It really worked!!" She didn't bother to pick up her grimoire.
She reached out to Devon, doing her best to smile warmly at him.
Driven by his instinct, Devon tried to grab the girl's hand.
However,
"???"
Waves of chill ran down his spine When he saw his so-called hand.
Instead of a dream, he realized that it was a nightmare he was living right now.
The sight of that hand moving in his direction was like a hammer of despair. Worse yet, the other parts of his body also had the same characteristics as his hand.
'Bones? Piles of bones?! What the f*ck are these...!? What am I reincarnated!?' Even though he no longer had the heart to frantically beat according to his panic, his hands trembling before his eyes were more than enough of a sign of horror.
"What are you waiting for, get out of here."
She didn't consider Devon's body signs.
Fearlessly, the mysterious girl pulled him out of the grave with a face boiling out of excitement.
Devon who thought he had enough of a surprise dose, was shocked again as soon as he left the grave.
-!!
Yet, the two small balls-like spherical red neon in his eye sockets tremble with fear as he sees the small mountain of corpses piled up behind the girl.
Regardless of the feeling of security he had felt before, …was somehow now vanished when goggled at the girl smiling in such a dreadful situation.
With a careful look, he could now notice details that had escaped him at first.
Because the girl was dressed in a black priestess gown, the blood stains on her were not too visible.
At this moment, Devon could not only see these blood stains on her clothes but also along her limbs and hair.
She reeked of blood like a butcher straight out of the slaughterhouse.
But she was smiling.
'What the hell...
Before he could finish his sentence, the girl finally released him.
She picks up her red-brown book that was also stained with blood and walks a little further towards the corpse closest to them.
All the corpses were humans, without exception.
This made Devon believe that he was reincarnated in a similar world that he sees all the time in crappy webtoons.
However, what he didn't expect, was that the girl he takes for a demon was a human.
Although all her features make her pass for a demon queen, she is very human.
章節 2: In the grip of despair.
On the same night,
While intimidating growls of wild nature residents sometimes resound in the vicinity, two creatures were near a clear lake in which, one contemplated the reflection of the starry sky to keep the clarity of his mind in the grip of madness.
He sometimes picks up a random pebble that he sends skimming across the water's surface, counting the peaceful bounces it made before sinking.
After each sinking, he quietly observed the mesmerizing undulations on the surface until they gradually faded away.
It was his way of entertaining himself to forget the cruel reality in which he had found himself just after his death.
'If hell exists, it'll undoubtedly be my situation; I'm in hell.'
Sitting next to him one meter away, was a young woman reading a relic-stuff-like book whose cover seemed to have been made with the skin of a human face.
'She gives the impression of reading her father's will.'
The other thought, praising the level of concentration shown by the girl.
Sometimes Devon glanced at the girl next to him but said nothing.
However, the guy was just unable to speak; one of the many disadvantages of his current body. He didn't need a mirror to guess what he looked like.
The parts of his body that he could see with his eyes were mere enough for him to understand the situation.
'As crazy as it seems, I got reincarnated into a skeleton.'
Reality may be terrifying, but it is reality. Reality which similar to a nightmare but real as well. Devon's new reality.
I am relieved to see her finally shut up for a while. This enthusiasm she showed despite the countless corpses that surrounded us was somehow frightening.
At least, thanks to these endless and annoying squealing, I was able to learn two or three things.
She is Mystic Forette Shadow, my so-called master, and also responsible for my hell.
I had thought about killing her, but what's the point? If I act imprudently without knowing her strength, I could make my situation worse.
And even if I manage to kill her, it won't change my situation. For now, I have to keep my goal in sight.
Since she is the one who somehow brought me back to life, she must necessarily know how to send me back from where I came from.
For this, I must first communicate with her.
Of course, the fastest way is to communicate with her in writing. But although I can understand what she says, she was unable to understand my texts.
Contrary to what I had supposed, she's not a demon, but a kind of human called dragonoids. Her clan rooms in one of the largest strongholds a little further south, Forette.
It was by going there that her bodyguard and she to holiday they were stormed by robbers. The previous bloody scene was the result.
If she is the only survivor, it is not thanks to her strength, but to the man she buried. It was her bodyguard.
As expected, this world obeys different laws from where I come from.
The book she reads with such hunger is what they call a 'Grimoire' as in the novels.
It was partly thanks to this cursed book that she brought me back here.
Since all of these are new, I obviously can't know how she did it.
While she was talking non-stop, I was able to learn another piece of information about these... grimoires.
Yes, there seem to be more than a thousand, or maybe even more.
Each individual possessing it and having managed to pass a kind of contract with… would see his status ennobled.
Where you find a human community, you will find the hierarchy. Human community and hierarchy are like Adan and Eve, one can't live without the other.
Furthermore, it also seems to have different types of grimoires that are classified by rank. I don't yet know the rank of the other grimoires or what they might look like.
But according to her sayings, this one she currently reads with such excitation is the weakest among them.
Goodness…she's just being trash as well.
Anyway, to hell with her strength; it's her pieces of stuff, not mine.
What upset me the most, is the last information I heard from her.
You see guys, there's a problem, a big one even.
I agree that I reincarnated in another world.
I'd even be ready to accept living in this sh*t till I find a solution to have a real body.
But jokes must have limits.
But why did I have to be with a newbie who, plus being inexperienced, is also a complete pain in the ass?!
No matter where you are, even if it's hell, there are certain types of people I can't stand—those who settle for crumbs.
Those people who stop under an apple tree with their hands outstretched, waiting for a gust of wind to blow so that an apple falls into their hands, are the most annoying.
Instead of going to get their own apples by climbing the apple tree, they naively stay on the ground, waiting for their fate to change.
It's annoying, I find that she resembles those types of people seeing her get so excited with a grimoire and a weaker skeleton.
His skull boiled with rage as he thought about the depth of hell that awaited him.
After a moment, the girl closes her grimoire and looks at her pet with a proud face.
"Now, I've not only managed to make a contract with a grimoire, but I have even obtained my guardian beast! I can't wait to see their faces, to all those who have looked at me like shit until now."
'...' At these words, Devon looks at her with sore eyes.
'Above all, my contractor is a talentless piece of sh*t and seems satisfied with that. What a hell.'
It was lucky for Mystic, her inability to communicate with Devon.
If only she could hear his thoughts...Alas.
Her eyes seemed to contain all the stars in the night sky as she continued to look at Devon with naive pride.
"Now that I have managed to contract a grimoire, even if my soul beast is weak, and the rank of my grimoire is still below average, all that might change soon."
'...That girl...
Devon remained puzzled, still unable to understand the source of her excitement despite the situation.
Meanwhile, Mystic gets up from the ground and starts stretching her body.
"Ah ha... by spending so much time on my grimoire, my butts are all numb. Maybe I should take a bath and get rid of all this blood...?"
As she talked alone, she walked ahead to the lake.
Devon glares at her momentarily as she undresses and enters the lake. Then, he focuses on the grimoire right next to Mystic's dress.
Driven by curiosity, he gets up and approaches the grimoire.
'So here it is, the source of all my woes.' He thought for a second, his eyes mixed up and his heart filled with soreness.
He first glances at Mystic who is lounging in the lake to make sure she isn't keeping an eye on him.
'I don't know if she's confident in her strength or if she's just a zany who doesn't sense the danger.' He couldn't help but shake his head in irony at her recklessness.
He was somehow too lazy to warn her, and deems the issue as not his—He picks up the grimoire and sits down near the lake.
The first matter he noticed when he opened the grimoire was a blank-red page.
Then, he flipped it.
--INFORMATION--
[Contraction Grimoire.]
[Rank: Copper.]
[Owner: Mystic Shadow.]
[Level: 01.]
[EXP: 10%.]
[Contracted beasts: 0]
[Guardian beast: 01]
[Skills: Taming, Storage, pets garden.]
-Taming: helps the owner to tame three basic and average-tier beats.
-Storage: Ten-meters-square independent dimension which can stock inanimate items.
-Pets garden:
..
These were the only words he could read on this page. 'Oh, how pathetic. This grimoire really has a shitty rank.'
Peeved by what he just read, he quickly turned the page again to go to the next page.
There, his interest was piqued when he saw that the third page contained information about Mystic.
-Information-
[Master: Mystic Shadow.]
[Lifespan: 16/249years.]
[Species: Dragonoid.]
[Profession: Tamer.]
[Spiritual energy: 15.]
[Body strength: 49.]
[Combat power: 64.]
-
-Other characteristics.
[Innate talent.]
1- [Shadow Necromancer.]
Skills:
-Arise(Active): Wakes corpses from their slumber. The higher the level of a corpse, the less chance the skill will work on it.
-Shadow blessing (passive): Your overall power will increase significantly by twofold once night falls.
2- [Spiritual body.] (Not yet awakened.)
'...Unfortunately, I have no reference to know if this information is reliable or not.'
After a moment of deliberation, Devon concluded.
'However, these points helped me to confirm something I was almost sure of. It's nice of you to indirectly call me 'weak'.' He wanted to expel a breath, but he didn't have the necessary organs for that.
The grimoire made it clear that Mystic's skill could not work on high-level corpses.
So what did his presence in this world mean, being awakened by a weak necromancer? Hence these words.
'Anyway, why is this book written in my language? Do I have a translator stuck in my head?'
Finally, he switches to the next page.
At this moment, his eyes tremble slightly, finally seeing something useful in the grimoire.
--Information--
[Soul beast: -- (Lvl01).]
[Lifespan: none.]
[Race: Undead skeleton]
[Class: none.]
[Spiritual energy: 50.]
[Body strength: 15.]
[Combat power: 65.]
--
Skills:
Energy blast (Lvl01): your soul beast can gather and reshape huge amounts (50) of the dark beam to create a dark energy blast that can steal others' lifespans to restore yours.
[Innate characteristics]
-Immortality: As long as the master is alive, her soul beast is eternal. After being killed, you can summon it again after twenty-four hours.
--
After such information, Devon didn't know what to think anymore.
From the beginning to now, everything he read seemed insane to him.
The girl he seemed to hate turned out to be more important to him than his own life. Not only would he die if she died, but he could no longer dream of freedom.
'Even my only skill serves as a buff for her. I can't die as long as she's alive, huh? In other words, I have to find common ground with her and help her become strong if I want to survive.'
He wanted to laugh out loud at this ridiculous reality that was becoming more and more unshakable in front of him.
'Is that luck? Or a fucking curse? Pfff, the answer is so obvious that this question seems ridiculous to me.' He thought as he looked up at the sky with an inward sigh.
Suddenly, as his mind began to sink into despair, Mystic's shaky and doubtful voice echoed near him.
"You, how…how did you do that?"
Looking ahead, Devon realized that Mystic had noticed his actions.
His ruby-red eyes were on hers, staring at her unsettled expression with disregard.
'She didn't seem to care about being naked in front of someone. Does she have exhibitionist tastes?'
Realizing that his hypothesis is very unlikely, he smiles inwardly with satire after hitting upon a pretty valid hypothesis.
Furthermore, firstly, Mystic didn't even consider him as a human fellow, let alone his gender.
'Who would care about being naked before a cat? That's probably what she thinks of me; I'm nothing more or less than a pet.
Anyway, look seems that the books they call grimoires are actually some kind of daycare for beasts.' Devon thought for a moment.
Ironically, he became one of those beasts who no longer had the right to demand anything.
How could one remain enthusiastic in such a situation?
Seeing Devon remain coy, she smiled, while her doubtful expression faded away.
"Can you please pass me my gown? I've to rinse it too." She then asked politely.
'...' Devon said nothing but picked up the dirty gown before throwing it towards her.
"?!?!" Mystic's eyes widen, showing her shock through'em.
"You...you really can understand me!?"
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