The sewers beneath the Forgotten District stank of rotting sin.
Jiwoon walked alone, the flickering light from his palm barely pushing back the darkness. The child form clung to him still, but his presence — his aura — was anything but innocent.
Every step echoed like a heartbeat.
Every shadow whispered his name.
[System Warning]
Location: Buried Depths – Contaminated Zone
Threat Level: Critical
Manifestation Detected: "Hollow Fang"
Caution: Entity feeds on suppressed emotions and forgotten regrets.
Behind him, the others waited above. Kravein had wanted to follow — but Jiwoon had stopped him with a glance.
"This is mine," he had said. "It remembers me. I need to remember it."
The Chamber of Rot
He reached a cavern of twisted bone and rusted rebar.
At its center stood a massive pulsating cocoon — like a lung carved from guilt and stitched with screams.
And then it spoke.
"Jiwoon… Jiwoon… Jiwoon…"
The voice came from inside his head — like something that had always been there, waiting.
"You left me here… to rot."
Jiwoon stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly.
"I didn't forget you. I buried you."
The cocoon cracked.
From it burst a creature made of fused masks — each mask screaming. Its body writhed with mouths that whispered the sins Jiwoon had purged long ago.
"I am your shadow. The part you never paid for."
[System Alert]
Hostile Engaged: "Hollow Fang"
Emotion Spike Detected: Guilt / Vengeance / Protection
Child vs. Monster
The beast lunged. Jiwoon didn't dodge.
Instead, he raised his hand — and flame erupted from his fingertips, forming an ancient sigil midair.
"You want a piece of me?"
"Then burn with the rest."
He triggered [Half-Sin Manifestation] — and the crimson flame burst outward, igniting the darkness with divine heat.
The creature screamed, but it didn't die.
It fed.
It grew.
Jiwoon gasped — his body too small, too fragile to channel full power. But his memories… his will… they didn't shrink.
Suddenly — the seal on his arm cracked.
His body surged. For a moment, he wasn't a child anymore.
He was something else.
His hair turned black as night, his eyes burned gold.
"This flame remembers everything you did to me."
He released [Sin Skill: Phoenix Devour] — a torrent of fire that wasn't just heat, but judgment.
It consumed every mask.
Every whisper.
Every regret.
And when the dust settled, Jiwoon stood — smoke rising from his form — now back in his child body… swaying.
Kravein rushed down moments later, grabbing him before he fell.
"Damn it, Jiwoon…"
But Jiwoon's voice was faint — like wind on ashes.
"…Did you see that?"
Kravein stared, speechless.
Jiwoon smiled weakly.
"That flame… still remembers who I am."