Peeking over the temple entrance, I froze.
All around the cracked bronze floor, monsters lay sprawled in uneasy slumber—their twisted bodies curled like grotesque statues, their breaths rattling in the silence.
My pulse quickened.
"I need to identify the boss quickly… before the others wake up."
Carefully, I raised my smartband, lens trembling as it focused on the hulking shape at the temple's heart. With a hesitant tap, I activated the scan.
[Identifying…]
The system hummed, and then the result appeared across my vision.
___
Name: Memory Eater
Rank: High Overlord (AAA+)
Description: A predator that consumes the very memory of its prey's existence. Its presence alone erases it from recollection, deceiving even the world's most advanced systems. Legends speak of entire cities vanishing overnight, leaving not a single survivor—or a single record.
___
My throat tightened.
"What an ominous monster… now that I've finally met one in real life."
I have once fought this monster in game, but it was at the point where I can even rivals world strongest hero and win with ease.
and I quickly forgot about ever fighting them because of that.
["Why dost thou tarry, little pawn? The beasts lie helpless at thy feet. Why not paint the floor red with their ruin?"]
The voice seeped into my skull, smooth and sharp, like honey laced with glass.
I froze. "Barbatos? How the hell are you talking to me?" I whispered, glancing around nervously.
["Didst thou forget so swiftly? A pact was struck, a hand clasped. Through that bond, mine whispers may ride thy thoughts. Call it telepathy, if thy mortal tongue demands a name."]
My stomach knotted. "So… you're just going to live inside my head now?"
["Hah. Think not of it so grimly. I do not dwell, I linger. A guest in thy mind's hall, offering counsel when shadows close in."]
I gritted my teeth, eyes flicking back to the Memory Eater. Its jagged body twitched even in slumber, a tendril dragging across the bronze floor with a nails-on-glass screech.
"Yeah, well," I muttered under my breath, "some guest you are. Creepy tuxedo ball-head haunting me like a damn parasite."
["Heh. A parasite feeds and leaves thee hollow. I am no parasite. I am the feast… and thou art the vessel that shall carry me to it."]
I pressed a trembling hand against my ribs, trying to stop the blood leaking from the wound left by the last fight.
"Hea—"
["Stay thy hand. Before thou seal the wound and staunch the flow, why not offer that blood unto me?"]
I froze. "My blood… can be used as a sacrifice?"
["Indeed,"] Barbatos's voice curled through my mind, smooth and heavy like velvet soaked in wine. ["It counteth as part of thy mortal vessel. And know this—constellations such as I delight greatly in the blood of mortals."]
I swallowed hard. "…Okay. If you say so. I'll sacrifice my blood."
The air trembled. All the blood leaking from my wound lifted off my skin, swirling upward in a stream before vanishing into the sky.
Barbatos let out a low hum, almost like a purr. ["Ah… what a fine blood thou carriest. Very well—here is thy due payment."]
A system prompt flared before my eyes.
____
Your stats have increased:
Strength +15%
Speed +20%
Defense +10%
Duration: 30 minutes.
____
I quickly pulled up my status window, heart hammering.
____
[Status Window – Cadet: Kylen Noor]
Class: Commander
Talent: [Endless Adaptation] — expand to see more.
Level: 21
~~~
Stats:
Strength → 7.0 → 19.4 → 22.3 (after buff)
Speed (Dexterity) → 5.2 → 18.6 → 22.3 (after buff)
Defense (Endurance) → 5.3 → 17.9 → 19.7 (after buff)
Vitality → 6.1 → 20.4
Intelligence → 15.6 → 27.2
Willpower → 10.2 → 21.1
Perception → 10.6 → 21.5
Luck → 57 (Karma – Immutable)
[Total Stat Allocation: 165.9]
____
A rush of heat coursed through my body the moment the numbers shifted. My muscles tightened like coiled steel, breath surging faster, sharper. The spear in my hand suddenly felt lighter—almost like it was an extension of my arm. Even the pain in my ribs dulled, replaced by raw power coursing through me.
I clenched my fist, marveling at the strength pulsing through my veins.
"…This… this might actually work."
And so, I crept closer, one slow step at a time, forcing my breath to steady. Every shift of rubble beneath my boots felt loud enough to wake the entire nest.
My grip tightened on the spear. "If I remember correctly… their weak point is—here!"
With all the strength I could muster, I drove the spear down into the Face Crawler's back.
The creature let out a grotesque spasm before going limp, its twisted face locked in a final, frozen grimace.
Face Crawlers always revealed the stolen faces on their twisted visages, a grotesque display meant to terrify enemies. But that same vanity was their flaw—the exposed face was a distraction from where their true weakness lay, the back.
That was why they were called Face Crawlers.
[You have killed a High Elite tier monster]
---
Remaining monsters:
15 / 17
---
"Nice…" I muttered, lips twitching into the faintest grin.
I repeated the same plan again, slipping through the shadows, waiting for moments of stillness, and striking precisely where it hurt most. One by one, they fell. Luck, stealth, and memory were all I had—but somehow, it worked.
Honestly… how lucky do I have to be to meet with such convenience?
◆
[You have killed a High Elite tier monster]
---
Remaining monsters:
8 / 17
---
[Level Up]
Level 27 → 29
"Hah… I forgot to allocate my stat points."
In Atlas Online, leveling was simple enough. Every time you leveled, you gained 5 points. You could distribute them however you wanted.
But now? It felt less like numbers and more like rewriting the limits of my body.
"…I don't really like explaining this. Anyone with half a brain would know how it works," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck.
I glanced up at the ruined ceiling above the temple's hall. All I saw was moss clinging to cracked bronze and webs drooping like curtains.
"Gross…" I sighed.
A hollow chuckle slipped from my throat. "…I think staying in this Gate too long is finally breaking my mind. Who am I even talking to?"
The silence didn't answer back.
But I could almost feel someone watching.
___
Strength → 19.4 → 25.7
Speed (Dexterity) → 18.6 → 25.1
Defense (Endurance) → 17.9 → 23.2
Vitality → 20.4 → 24.6
Intelligence → 27.2 → 40.3
Willpower → 21.1 → 25.6
Perception → 21.5 → 23.5
___
"That should be good."
[The duration for "Selfless Will" has ended. Please sacrifice more to continue using the buff.]
"It's only been 30 minutes…?"
I grit my teeth. I thought killing all these monsters would take an entire day, but now—look at me. Slaughtering them so fast it almost felt… easy.
"Honestly, I could do this all da—"
My spear plunged down, but too shallow. Too far off the mark.
Stab.
The monster let out a guttural shriek.
"ROOOAAAR!!!"
My eyes widened. "Fuc—"
The blow came before I could finish the word. A clawed fist smashed into my chest, hurling me across the temple like a ragdoll. My back slammed against the bronze wall, ribs screaming in protest.
Air fled my lungs. I collapsed to my knees, clutching my chest.
"I… think I broke a few bones…"
The sound of shifting claws scraped against the floor.
All around, the other monsters stirred—eyes glowing faintly in the dark as they rose one by one.
And from the deepest shadow of the temple… it stirred.
The Memory Eater.
Its elongated limbs dragged across the bronze floor, a grotesque silhouette framed by writhing tendrils. It didn't move to attack. It didn't need to.
It simply watched.
Cold, unblinking.
A low, hoarse laugh slipped past my lips despite the pain.
"So… the father wants to join the party too, huh? Hahahah…"
And then—
The horde fell upon me.
Eight Face Crawlers lunged all at once, claws and fangs slashing as their distorted, stolen faces snarled inches from mine. I barely had time to raise my weapon before the first tore into my arm, another crashing into my side.
The bronze tiles rang with the sounds of chaos. My spear slipped in my hands, blood spraying across the temple floor as I was buried beneath them—mawed, clawed, crushed.
Above it all, the Memory Eater loomed silently, its grotesque head tilted ever so slightly. Watching. Waiting.
Like a puppeteer letting its toys do the work.
As one of the Face Crawlers lunged, its jagged maw clamping down on my forearm—
And I lost my consciousness.
◈ Third Person Point of View ◈
___
[The One Who Devours Fate has forcefully sacrificed your forearm.]
"No one shall touch what is mine."
___
[Buff Applied: Barbatos will possess your body for the next 1 minute.]
Kylen's broken, bloodied body began to change.
The torn muscle fibers wove themselves back together, regenerating at a grotesquely rapid pace. Shredded skin sealed as though rewound by invisible hands. The blood that had pooled across the temple floor vanished into nothing.
All of it restored—
except the forearm.
That was gone. Consumed.
And then he moved.
With a lazy snap of his fingers, Barbatos—now wearing Kylen's body like a suit—reduced the swarm to dust.
The eight Face Crawlers that had been ripping and tearing at him convulsed in unison. Their bodies twisted violently, bones snapping, skulls collapsing inward as though crushed by invisible jaws. Within seconds, they were nothing but broken carcasses littering the floor.
"Thou should not have laid hands upon what was not thine," Barbatos' voice rumbled, layered and inhuman.
His faceless gaze turned to the Memory Eater.
The boss shrieked, lunging forward, its endless rows of teeth gnashing. But before its maw could even close—
something took it.
A chunk of its head vanished. Simply gone, as though reality itself had taken a bite. Shattered fangs and torn flesh dripped ichor across the bronze tiles.
The monster reeled back, bellowing in pain.
Barbatos did not flinch. He raised his hand to the sky. His fingers curled—grasping something unseen.
An invisible object shimmered into view, caught in his grip. A drone. Its lens blinked weakly, struggling to broadcast.
Barbatos smirked through Kylen's lips.
"Architect… I know thou art watching. So heed my words—send aid. Quickly."
His fist closed.
The drone crumpled like fragile paper, sparks scattering into the temple's darkness.
To Be Continued....