The morning sun cut through the mist hanging over the Nightreign estate.
Down below, in the old training hall where time itself seemed frozen, I stood quietly.
This place once echoed with my father's sword slashes, his voice commanding the air itself.
Now it was silent.
Only my breath filled the space — uneven, shallow.
I glanced at my hands. They were larger now, scarred, and definitely not mine.
Even after a day, it still felt strange… like I was wearing someone else's skin.
No — I was.
> "System," I murmured, half expecting nothing. "Show me my status."
Blue light flickered in front of me, forming faint words in the air.
[SYSTEM]
Character Info
────────────────────────────
Name: Selgor Nightreign
Age: 55
Ability: Locked
────────────────────────────
[STAT UPDATE]
Level: —
Strength: —
Agility: —
Intelligence: —
────────────────────────────
Status: Awaiting Unlock
Still the same.
No change.
> "Locked… What's the point of showing me this if I can't use anything?"
I bit my lip and stared at the floating text until it glitched, the light pulsing faintly like it was alive.
[System Notice]
Condition detected: Incomplete Soul Synchronization.
Perform Synchronization Test to unlock base access.
"Synchronization…?"
So this body still doesn't accept me, huh.
Figures. It's not every day you wake up in the corpse of a family head.
Fine then. Let's see what happens if I push it a little.
---
I closed my eyes and focused.
Mana—something I could only sense faintly before—flowed through my veins like liquid fire.
It was dense. Heavy. Angry.
My entire body screamed in resistance.
"Ghhh—" I gritted my teeth as pain ripped through my chest.
The air around me twisted; faint ripples formed on the ground. A dark mist crawled out of my arms, coiling like snakes.
And then—
A voice echoed inside my head.
Cold. Distant. Too familiar.
> "Who dares touch my power?"
The hall trembled for a moment.
I stumbled backward, clutching my head as flashes of memory — or maybe someone else's memories — tore through my mind.
A burning battlefield.
Demons. Screams. Blood.
And at the center of it all — this very body, cutting them down like they were nothing.
Then everything shattered.
The mist scattered and I fell to one knee, gasping for air. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
> "That… wasn't me," I muttered under my breath.
The system appeared again, calm as ever.
[SYSTEM]
Synchronization: 12% Complete
Warning: Soul Instability Detected.
Recommendation: Continue Integration to Unlock Core Abilities.
"Twelve percent…" I repeated.
So, even now, this body still rejects me.
I looked at my hands again, still faintly trembling. There was power here—unimaginable power—but it wasn't mine. Not yet.
---
A breeze slipped through the cracked window, cold and sharp.
Outside, faint sounds of soldiers training echoed through the mist. The world was moving on, preparing for something big… something I didn't yet understand.
> "Demon invasion… conflict between magicians and aura users… and now this system," I whispered, staring at the empty hall. "This world's really a mess."
The faint light of dawn brushed across my face.
If this power truly belonged to Selgor Nightreign, then I'll make it mine — even if I have to burn through this curse myself.
Because if this body wants to reject me,
then I'll force it to remember who's inside.