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Echoes of the Souls – Chapter 1
This world runs on Souls.
When someone falls ill or is on the brink of death,
their Soul sacrifices itself to keep them alive.
Everyone possesses a single Soul.
Some have more—but that only means
they've absorbed Souls from others.
If even a fragment of a Soul remains,
it may bring the person back.
This has been tested many times.
Yet only the high-ranking elite
have the right to restore Souls.
The rest must steal or beg…
unless the Soul belongs to the Special Ones.
And there are only three of them.
…Yes, you guessed it—
it feels a bit like Undertale.
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A man collapses, slashed open.
"Why…?"
he mutters weakly,
surrounded by fallen comrades.
The madman before him just grins,
and that grin is the last thing the man sees
before his life is snuffed out.
"Perhaps I enjoy this…"
the madman whispers,
turning to a control panel.
Inside,
a white Soul rests within a glass chamber.
Without hesitation,
he slams the button.
An alarm blares—
but there's no one left to hear it.
Riding the wind,
the madman vanishes into the ruins.
The machine begins to spin,
and the Soul glows
with an unnatural, fractured light.
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In the city,
nearly abandoned,
twisting roots devour buildings.
They pierce through human chests,
draining Souls
until only lifeless husks
collapse to the ground.
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