The alley was silent.
Not the ordinary silence of an empty street—but the absolute kind, where even the city of Seoul seemed afraid to breathe.
Kang Seung-ho stood slowly.
Moments ago, he had been broken on the ground, bones shattered, lungs drowning in blood. Now, he rose on steady legs, his body humming with an unfamiliar strength. The rain-soaked concrete cracked faintly beneath his feet.
He looked down at his hands.
They were clean.
No fractures. No tremors. Not even the lingering ache of pain.
Only power.
Behind him, Lee Do-hyun had frozen mid-step, his face pale, eyes wide with a terror he had never once felt in his life.
"What… what did you do?" Do-hyun stammered.
Seung-ho turned.
For the first time, he looked at his tormentor from above.
A neon-blue interface slid into existence before his eyes.
[Messenger Status: Initiated] [Contract Holder: Kang Seung-ho] [Authority: Death's Messenger – Rank F]
Rank F.
Even now, he was at the bottom.
Another window forced itself open.
[New Quest Generated] Objective: Reap 1 Soul Target: Lee Do-hyun Time Limit: 00:59 Failure Condition: Contract Termination]
Seung-ho's breath caught.
One soul.
And the target was standing right in front of him.
Behind him, Park Jin-woo—Death—watched in silence. His presence pressed against Seung-ho's spine like an executioner's blade.
"This is your first step," Jin-woo said calmly. "Hesitation is betrayal."
Do-hyun laughed nervously. "Y-you think you can scare me with cheap tricks? You're still the same trash—"
He lunged.
Seung-ho moved without thinking.
His body vanished from where he stood.
A heartbeat later, Do-hyun's vision spun violently as the world flipped upside down. His back slammed into the alley wall with a sound like shattering stone.
Impossible.
Seung-ho stared at his own fist, shocked.
He hadn't meant to hit that hard.
Do-hyun slid down the wall, coughing blood. "M-monster…"
The system pulsed.
[Warning: Time Remaining – 00:20]
Seung-ho's mind raced.
This wasn't self-defense anymore.
This was execution.
His gaze drifted to Jin-woo.
Death said nothing.
He didn't need to.
The system's words echoed again:
Refusal will result in termination.
Seung-ho clenched his teeth.
All those days of kneeling.
All those nights of swallowing rage.
If he stopped now—he would return to being nothing.
He stepped forward.
Blue light gathered around his right hand, condensing into a jagged, spectral blade—half data, half shadow.
Do-hyun screamed. "W-wait! I'll apologize! I'll do anything!"
The timer hit zero.
Seung-ho thrust his hand forward.
The scream was cut short.
Silence followed.
The blue blade shattered into particles that dissolved into the air.
A final system window appeared.
[Soul Reaped: Successful] [Experience Gained] [Rank Advancement: F → E] [New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Step]
Seung-ho staggered back, breathing hard.
He felt it then.
Something tearing away.
And something else taking its place.
Jin-woo finally moved.
He stepped past the lifeless body on the ground, eyes fixed on Seung-ho.
"You have crossed the line," Death said quietly. "From this moment on, you are no longer human."
Seung-ho looked at his trembling hands.
Then he lifted his head.
"…Then teach me," he said.
Jin-woo smiled.
It was the coldest thing Seung-ho had ever seen.
"Very well," Death replied. "Your ascension has begun."