A faint sound echoed in the emptiness.
[Ding…]
Doku's eyes snapped open, but there was no ground, no sky, nothing to make out where he was.
He stood in a vast nothingness, an endless ocean of darkness stretching in every direction. There was no wind, no warmth, no sound. Even his own body felt weightless, as if it wasn't really there.
Then… a light.
It appeared without warning, hanging before him like a ghostly hologram window. Its glow is the only thing keeping the darkness at bay.
[System installing…]
The words etched themselves onto the light as if carved by an invisible hand. Doku could only watch. He tried to move, but his limbs refused.
[Installation complete.]
The letters shifted, becoming sharper and brighter.
[Welcome, Wielder of Chaos.]
One by one, more lines burnt into existence.
[Abilities unlocked:]
[Can gain any skill used against you.]
[ Passive charm aura. ]
[Can rewind death once every 7 days, but lose one memory each time.]
[ Can absorb relics and creatures to level up without limit. ]
The final words faded, leaving only the sound of his own heartbeat… and a thousand questions clawing at his mind.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but something was immediately wrong. This wasn't paradise. Maybe it was hell.
As his sight cleared, the truth hit him. He was chained at the wrists and ankles. His skin was covered in scars. His body trembling from exhaustion, each shiver making the pain in his lower back spike sharply. Hunger gnawed at him, so deep it felt like his stomach was eating itself.
One emotion stood out above all the pain — rage. He'd always been familiar with anger, but this was different. Stronger and wilder. And there was something missing… fear. It was as if something inside him had erased the very ability to be afraid.
Yet the body he now occupied… it carried a strange resistance. Not against pain, but against harming others. Whoever had lived in this flesh before him had been sealed — forbidden to fight back, even when pushed to the edge of death. But unlike Doku, the seal wasn't working on him.
"Boss, he's still alive," a voice called out.
Doku turned his head slowly. A prisoner, also bound in heavy chains, was staring at him. The chains rattled as the man shifted, and they were long enough to let him move around.
"That's not possible. He took all the poison at once," another prisoner said.
"More merry for me," the one they called Boss said with a smug grin. Scum like him don't die easily. Even if he wants to have a quick death and escape being beheaded like his parents, the universe is against him, and he is bound to be beheaded.
The Boss was massive, more muscular, with scars crisscrossing his chest and arms. He was chained like the rest of them, but the iron links looked small against his size.
Doku blinked, taking in the rest of his surroundings. The prison was a rotting tomb. The walls were black with mould, the air thick with the stench of urine and rust. The floor was damp, littered with bones of rats and scraps of rotten bread. The other two prisoners were smaller than the boss but carried the same predatory eyes, like the kind that measured people as prey.
"What… are they talking about?" Doku muttered, his voice hoarse.
But his body wasn't giving him space to think. The pain. The hunger. The cold. It all pressed in—in a suffocating manner.
Then, a memory hit him, not his own, but that of the previous owner of his body.
A life of abuse. Beatings. Humiliation. Night after night, the other prisoners had used him like an object. While others were sold off into slavery, he had been condemned to death. His execution was set for tomorrow.
The memory twisted, showing the boss handing him a vial of poison. A deal to help him die before his execution. He swallowed it without resistance, and in return, the Boss would have his way with him one last time. The memory was thick with disgust and shame.
Doku's blood boiled. The anger was no longer just in his chest. It burnt in every vein. He promised to make everyone who inflicted pain on this body pay dearly with their life. They will plead for death after he's done with them.
Just then two prisoners walked straight toward him, hands already reaching for the chains.
And then.
A translucent screen flashed into existence in front of his eyes, glowing like a ghostly flame. No one else seemed to see it.
[Ding. ]
[Your rage has unlocked a new ability.]
[Cursed Speech: Your words can affect any creature within range.]
A slow, smug smirk tugged at Doku's lips. He knew exactly what the prisoners were about to do to him. But they don't know what he is about to do to them.
The spirit of fear was gone, erased from his soul. Whatever part of him that trembles in moments like this has been erased.
He lifted his hands slightly, as if surrendering, letting them believe they were about to drag him up.
But in his mind, he had already activated his new ability and was about to give a command.
[Ding…. ]
[You have activated Cursed Speech.]
A window appeared again, glowing above him.
His voice was low and deliberate, each word sharp enough to cut through action.
"KNEEL."
The two prisoners froze. Their eyes widened as a strange numbness rippled through them. Without warning, their knees slammed into the damp stone floor with a painful crack. Their bodies bowed against their will, muscles straining, their faces twisted in confusion and rage.
It was as if their own flesh had betrayed them.
Doku forced himself to his feet. His legs trembling, his body swayed, but he stood. One unsteady step after another, he walked past the kneeling men.
They grunted, their bodies jerking as they tried to rise, but their wills and their muscles were locked in a silent war.
The Boss was watching now. His wide frame stiffened, his scarred face tightening. The damp air carried the faint sound of chains scraping the floor as Doku staggered toward him.
Shock flickered in the Boss's eyes. Magic. That had to be it. Slave traders were always wary of magic users. But if Doku had such power all along, why has he not done anything since?
The Boss's jaw tightened. He knew letting this moment pass would end badly.
With a snarl, he lunged forward to attack Doku.
Just as Doku took another step, a sharp pain bloomed behind his eyes. Another memory surged up, but this time it was his, from his own timeline.