The gate to Sector 19 pulsed with a sickly red glow, the mist swirling around it like fingers dragging them inward. Kim Suho stood at the threshold, his eyes locked onto the strange stone archway. This wasn't a dungeon—it was a relic, a ruin from before the Gate Era, wrapped in silence and forgotten by time.
[Gate Confirmed: Sector 19 – Memory Tomb]
[Special Designation: Forgotten Sanctuary of the Undying]
Mirae stepped closer, her fire dancing nervously along her palm. "This place doesn't feel like any dungeon we've ever entered."
Hojin nodded, sensing the heaviness in the air. "It's ancient. Even the mana here feels... old. Cold. Like it remembers things."
Minho set his shield with a quiet thud. "Doesn't matter. We're going in. Together."
Suho looked down at his hand—Areum's soul fragment pulsed faintly, guiding him like a compass. The pulsing matched his heartbeat. It was time. He stepped into the mist. One by one, Team DEATH followed.
Within the Tomb
The inside was nothing like what they expected.
They stood within a ruined cathedral, its vast stone pillars cracked and blackened by time. Murals once vibrant now flaked from the walls, showing ancient necromancers raising armies of gold-armored revenants. The stained-glass windows glowed faintly with trapped souls, flickering like dying candles.
Faint whispers echoed from unseen lips, and for a moment, it felt like someone—or something—was watching from the shadows.
Then, the doors slammed shut behind them.
[Trial Initiated: Walk the Path of the Undying]
Spectral chains burst from the ground, latching onto Suho's wrists. His eyes glowed green, and the voices of the dead echoed in his mind.
"Heir of the Undying Throne..."
"Prove your will. Prove your memory."
Suho was yanked forward, vanishing through a wall of soulflame.
The Trials Begin
Team DEATH was split.
Mirae landed in a chamber filled with burning mirrors—each one reflected her greatest failures. Spells miscast, teammates injured, flames that consumed allies instead of enemies. Her breaths came quick, ragged. Her legs trembled.
She screamed. But a whisper echoed: "Burn brighter than your fear."
She closed her eyes. Then opened them—and ignited. Her flame became blue, pure, unwavering. The mirrors shattered.
Minho found himself in an arena of blood, echoes of his past mistakes taunting him. A ghost of his former comrade approached—the one he failed to save.
"You let me die."
Minho dropped to his knees, haunted by guilt. But then he rose, shield-first. "Not again. I carry you with me now."
The arena shook—and accepted his resolve.
Hojin was trapped in a twisting labyrinth of shadow, the walls pulsing with dread. A voice—his own—mocked him for always hiding, always running.
He clenched his daggers. "Then I'll be the shadow that hunts back."
He walked forward through the doubt, through the dark, and emerged.
The Sanctuary's Warden
Suho awakened in the central sanctum, kneeling before a massive throne of bones and soulstone.
Seated on it was a figure robed in memory-stained silk—The Warden of Echoes. Its face was hollow, its voice like crumbling paper.
"You seek the memory of one beloved? You, who binds the dead and speaks to ghosts?"
Suho stood, the soul of Areum glowing like a star at his side.
"I will walk any path, pay any price."
"Then face the wrath of those who came before you."
The ground split open. Ancient necromancers rose—ghosts of those who wielded the Undying Throne before him. Each had a title: The Bone Shepherd. The Soul Arsonist. The Monarch of Quiet Flame. Their power was immeasurable.
A battle of the dead began.
Suho's army met theirs—fifty undead clashing with armies bound by ages past. The air became a storm of ash and screams.
Steel clashed. Fire erupted. Shadows screamed.
But Suho had more than command—he had conviction.
He shattered the Soul Arsonist with a blade forged from Areum's fragment. He outmaneuvered the Bone Shepherd with [Command Chain], directing his units like living thoughts. He knelt at the Monarch's side and offered peace, recognizing sorrow in his eyes.
The Monarch vanished, at peace.
The throne pulsed.
[Final Test Complete]
[Memory Unlocked]
The Fourth Fragment
Areum's soul appeared in full for a moment—transparent, radiant. She stood barefoot on a floor of mist, smiling.
"You're not just surviving anymore, Oppa... you're leading. They trust you. And you haven't forgotten me."
Tears welled in Suho's eyes. "I'm not done. Not until you're whole. I'll break every chain. I promise."
She reached for his hand—and vanished into his chest in a pulse of light.
[Fragment Acquired: 4 / 7]
[Suho has unlocked Trait: Necrolineage]
Return from the Tomb
The gate shattered behind them as Team DEATH emerged, exhausted but victorious.
Mirae's flames glowed brighter. Minho's shield felt lighter. Hojin's steps no longer wavered.
And Suho—
He turned to them, eyes glowing with new power. His aura crackled with authority. They looked at him, not just as a friend, but as something more.
A leader. A king among the dead.
And for the first time… the ghosts fell silent.
But the wind carried a whisper:
"Sector 21... is watching."
To Be Continued…
Kim Suho
Level: 36
Undead: 50 / 50
Soul Fragments: 4 / 7
New Trait: Necrolineage – You have inherited the line of ancient necromancers. Your control radius and soul absorption speed increase. You may bind Legendary-tier undead.
Team DEATH
Mirae – Level 25 (Fireflow Core stabilized, Flame Vision enhanced)
Minho – Level 24 (Shield Resonance Awakened)
Hojin – Level 26 (Silent Step evolved, Echo Veil active)