"Not all echoes are dead. Some still scream."
The village lay silent, blanketed by unnatural mist.
At the center stood the Stone Bell Tower — cracked, leaning, and humming with a sound only Jiwoon could hear.
"It's calling," he whispered.
Kaelya held her blade. "What is?"
"The thing that remembers me."
Midnight Descent
The group gathered their gear. Vera lit a divine lantern, its flame blue — reacting to something unholy beneath.
Kravein muttered, "Why do I feel like we're walking into a coffin?"
Jiwoon, still small in stature but not in presence, stepped ahead.
He reached the door.
The bell rang — without wind.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
Below the Tower
They descended into stone stairs spiraling downwards, into a forgotten crypt. Carvings on the walls spoke of an old sin — one not recorded in the current System.
"Before judgment," Qilin murmured, reading the runes,
"there was… betrayal?"
At the bottom stood a sealed arch — covered in red vines made of dried blood.
[System Alert: Sealed Sin Detected]
Classification: "Warden-Class Sin"
Status: Dormant
Time in Containment: 432 Years
Jiwoon stepped forward.
The vines receded… like they recognized him.
Then — the creature stirred.
Bones snapped.
Flesh reformed.
A beast the size of a house, with ten thousand eyes, all blind — but crying.
"Debt Hunter…" it moaned.
"You weren't supposed to be born again…"
Combat Initiated – Restricted Zone
Kaelya swung first — her blade bounced.
Vera summoned divine chains — the beast devoured them.
Jiwoon stood still.
His shadow warped.
His hand glowed faintly.
"Let me try."
[Memory Surge – Fragment Accessed]
For just a second — just one breath — Jiwoon's divine presence returned.
His eyes turned gold. His voice changed.
"Sin Sentence: Cradle Seal."
The beast shrieked — vines erupted from the ground, pulling it down.
Then — Jiwoon fainted again.
System Update
Memory Sync: 12%
Divine State: Inaccessible
Backlash Damage: Internal Bleeding
Sin Echo: Temporarily Stabilized
Kaelya picked him up, frowning.
"You okay with being our god… if it means dying every time you try?"
Jiwoon didn't answer.
He was already dreaming of a place with no echoes.