[Reincarnation Process Initiated…]
[Source: Curse of the Demon King – "Cycle of Agony"]
[Subject: Noir Valenhardt – Verified]
[Classification: Monster – Skeleton Lv.1]
[Location: Darkness Dungeon – Floor 9]
[Status: Reawakened]
"Argh…"
A faint voice escaped from the dull white skull lying in the middle of a dark, damp chamber. Noir opened his eyes—or rather, his consciousness returned. But all he saw were bones. His hands? Bones. His legs? Also bones.
He sat up slowly, looking around. Hundreds, maybe thousands of bones scattered across the area. He was still processing what had happened; the last thing he remembered was being killed. He raised his hand, staring at the bony fingers.
"I've actually become a skeleton."
He looked around again. No sound. Only a chilling silence. The air was stagnant, filled with the scent of dried, ancient blood. Bones of fighters lay all around. Judging by their armor, swords, shields, and other gear, this was clearly a battlefield. One skeleton even held a glowing blue sword.
"This must be a dungeon, but I have no idea exactly where."
[Welcome to a new cycle: "Cycle of Agony"]
[For slaying the Demon King, the highest curse has been implanted in your soul.]
[To make you experience the Demon King's suffering, you will be reborn as a monster… starting from the lowest tier.]
[Primary objective: Survive and evolve.]
Noir's eyes—now only blue flames within his hollow sockets—trembled. Now he understood why he suddenly ended up like this, but instead of sadness or despair, Noir smiled wide.
"A curse...? So this is… your revenge, huh?" he said as he stood. "Demon King… so you left something like this behind." Noir chuckled softly.
[You have obtained the evolution system: "Dominion of the Fallen"]
[Functions: Observe – Absorb – Evolve]
[Note: Evolution will only occur once you reach a certain level.]
Noir looked again at his skeletal hand. He slowly balanced his new body, making a few movements.
He then walked toward the glowing blue sword. As he grasped it, a status window appeared, showing the weapon's details.
[Luminblade of the Dragon (Legendary item)]
[Description: A sword forged from the fang of an ancient dragon lost to time. It can unleash powerful light-based attacks.]
When Noir tried to swing the sword, he suddenly felt immense pain. His body was thrown back. He hit the ground hard, and when he checked his status, his HP had dropped.
[Name: Noir Valenhardt]
[Race: Undead]
[Class: Normal Skeleton]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 90/120]
[MP: 30/35]
[STR (Strength): 14]
[AGI (Agility): 9]
[VIT (Vitality): 10]
[DEX (Dexterity): 7]
[LUK (Luck): 1]
[Starting Skills]
[Rusty Slash] – A slow sword attack. Deals small damage.
[Bone Rattle] – Produces a rattling bone sound. Useless in battle but can attract weak enemies.
[Passive]
[Undead Body] – No need to sleep or eat. Immune to poison and disease.
[Low Presence] – Difficult to detect by high-level enemies.
Noir stood up again and tried picking up the sword once more. But as he swung it again, his body was thrown back again, and his HP dropped. Noir tilted his head, puzzled. He tried another sword and got a different result.
He could swing the other sword repeatedly with no side effects. When Noir looked back at the glowing blue sword and reread its description, he nodded in understanding.
"Ah, I forgot that light and darkness are opposites."
Undead like him were darkness-type monsters. They're extremely weak to light magic. The damage could be doubled.
Noir felt relieved the sword hadn't killed him outright. It only drained a few dozen HP.
"I almost died like an idiot," Noir muttered.
But he wouldn't let that sword go to waste. He picked it up again and stored it in his item box—a dimensional space used to store objects. Very useful and probably only available to monsters.
Noir scanned his surroundings. He noticed a large, towering door with strange patterns on it. In its center was a spinning black orb. Noir recognized it. He had seen something similar before. Not exactly the same, but close. Only the door pattern differed.
"Just as I thought. This is a dungeon." He turned behind. "And those skeletons are adventurers who tried to conquer it."
One thing bothered him—one of the adventurers had a legendary weapon. That meant a high-ranking adventurer had entered this dungeon, and yet… died. Noir had a bad feeling about it.
At that same moment, he sensed something moving slowly behind him. He turned around—and froze.
"That explains everything."
A massive wolf stood before Noir. Drool dripped onto the floor. Its body was larger than a full-grown horse, with midnight-black fur that seemed to absorb light. Along its spine were jagged spikes, and its eyes glowed with burning red light.
Its growl made Noir's entire body shiver. He knew this opponent was an S-rank monster—impossible for a mere skeleton like him to defeat.
"Damn. Am I going to die here?" Noir muttered.
The wolf stepped closer.
[Monster Identified]
[Hound of the Abyss lv. 35]
[Element: Darkness, Corruption]
After seeing the description, turns out it wasn't as Noir feared. The monster was only B+ rank, but that didn't mean he could win. Obviously, a level-one skeleton versus a level-thirty-five wolf would result in the wolf's victory.
The wolf approached, letting out a thunderous howl that pushed Noir slightly backward.
Noir took a stance, ready to fight. He would try to escape, but for now, he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
"Can I really win?"
Tring!
A notification sound rang. A system window popped up in front of Noir.
[Passive Skill Activated: "Memory of the Hero"]
[You retain combat techniques and instincts from your previous life.]
[Base Stats Increased: +10% Agility, +10% Reflex]
"Good. This will be a valuable asset," said Noir.
The wolf raised a paw and launched an attack. Noir was already in position, gripping his sword tightly. He was dead serious.
"Please…!"