Chapter 74: Truth and Knowledge
Seo-jin drifted toward the door, tension twitching through his shoulders. Soul-sense spread thin across the area, straining for any bastard too curious to keep distance. Nothing. Min had kept her word, no souls lurked near.
His gaze snapped back to the panel hovering in front of him. Up close, the details shifted sharper, the system's cold readout laying bare what had changed.
[Broodling (Snare) // Class Acquisition....Complete]
[Gloom Stalker // Rank D]
[Stat Gains // +2 STR // +4 VIT // +6 AGI // +8 INT]
[New Resource // Broodlink Charges Installed]
[Skill Unlocked // Shadow Relay]
[Skill Unlocked // Mark of Dread]
[Skill Unlocked // Dusk Sight]
[Skill Unlocked // Predator's Patience]
[Integration Complete]
"Not bad. Panic only got three."
The second-born's grin faltered, face twisting before twitching back into manic glee. His tongue found something new to lick.
System light bled away, leaving Snare crouched in its dying glow. His body looked nearly the same, maybe a touch heavier from the stat shift, but his aura told the truth. His stare carried a weight that hadn't been there before.
"How do you feel? Describe it. Now."
Seo-jin cut straight in, not letting the moment dull.
Snare blinked, thoughts stuttering as he clawed for words.
"Like… every piece of me was carved on. Fibers, nerves, bones. It hurt, and it thrilled. Words burned into me, meanings hammered into me until I thought I'd split from it all."
"Vague..."
Seo-jin's eyes narrowed.
"Did you hear a voice? Female, metallic?"
Snare shook his head.
"No voice. Just a heartbeat. Pounding. Like war drums."
Seo-jin's jaw tightened. Curiosity gnawed anyway the cold shoulder he was giving the system.
'So? You involved in any of this?'
[Negative. Broodlings are lifeforms born of the User. System link ends at creation. Independent growth is their nature.]
'Then they don't need me. Meaning they could outgrow me.'
[Affirmative. Recommendation: do not allow this. High chance of losing dominance.]
The thought dug deep...opportunity and threat in equal measure. They could thrive without him, but if he fell behind, they could turn. A blade with both edges sharp.
'Maybe I should shelve them for a while. Build my lead.'
Snare stepped forward, breaking the quiet. His hand slipped into his throat, pulling free the quarterstaff Seo-jin had given him for the Wire Dogs raid.
"Broodfather?"
He bowed his head.
"Thank you. Without this, the raid wouldn't of been so successful."
Seo-jin's eyes dropped to the staff in Snare's hands. A length of black, knotted wood capped with a crooked head, scars etched deep in its grain. It looked more like driftwood pulled from a grave tide than a weapon, but the weight in it was steady. Even at a glance, it carried purpose.
The panel opened.
[Weapon Profile // Shepherd's Staff]
[Type // Melee]
[Rank // D]
[Description]
[A tall, scarred staff capped with a crooked head. Its grain holds old wounds, each strike remembered. Crude, but steady—its hum pulls toward unseen threats.]
[Damage // 14–17 Bludgeoning]
[Durability // 66 / 66]
[Weapon Skill]
[Name // Danger Pulse]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Uses // 3]
[Uses Recharge // 24Hrs]
[Effect]
[Slam the base into the ground to emit a pulse in a 100-meter radius. Reveals the location and relative strength of any being harboring hostile intent.]
["Not a shepherd's crook for guiding sheep, but for driving wolves into the dirt."]
A solid weapon. But redundant. His own senses outstripped it. Snare, though...he could make it howl.
"Keep it. Until I find you something better."
The broodling's eyes widened, fever-bright.
"Thank you, Broodfather!"
His voice cracked with joy. Pain and Panic pressed close, sniffing, pawing at the staff, their hunger obvious. Pain's stare clung to it, fiery and jealous, his claws twitching with want.
Seo-jin ignored it, dragging open Snare's new class profile.
[Class Profile // Gloom Stalker]
[Rank // D]
[Critical Stat // INT]
[Core Class Mechanic // Broodlink Charges]
[Charges gained from Broodling kills (1–3 per rank). Charges fuel skills. At 0, nearby Broodlings suffer -5% STR / AGI until replenished.]
[Max Charges // 20 (D-Rank)]
[Name // Shadow Relay]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 30 seconds]
[Cost // 5 Charges]
[Duration // 12 seconds]
[Effect]
[Allies within 20m gain +10% AGI and +10% hit chance when targeting the same enemy as you]
[Name // Mark of Dread]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // 1 second]
[Cooldown // 40 seconds]
[Cost // 7 Charges]
[Duration // 15 seconds]
[Effect]
[Target suffers -10% DEF and -5% AGI // Broodlings attacking the marked enemy gain +10% Crit Chance]
[Name // Dusk Sight]
[Type // Active]
[Rank // D]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Cooldown // 25 seconds]
[Cost // 3 Charges]
[Duration // 20 seconds]
[Effect]
[Reveals hidden or cloaked enemies within 30m // First strike against revealed enemies ignores 5% DEF // Broodlings gain tracking bonus: +10% pursuit speed toward revealed targets]
[Name // Predator's Patience]
[Type // Passive]
[Rank // D]
[Effect]
[Staying out of combat for 10+ seconds grants you 2 bonus charges on the next Broodling kill // Broodlings attacking enemies you have not yet revealed yourself to gain +5% AGI]
["It bleeds through the brood. Each corpse tightens it's grip, each command culls the weak."]
He thought the broodlings made a tidy balance, heal fast, bleed more, keep the engine running. Practical, efficient.
'I can use them to farm lower rank dungeons. I'll just sit back and—'
[Negative. Broodlings are invisible to the Network. They may gain EXP in dungeons but any loot will vanish.]
'Even after your update?'
[Unknown. Probability low.]
He shrugged and folded the thought away. Workarounds existed. Run newer broodlings through boring shit, let the trio power-level the brood. By the time it mattered, losing dungeon loot would sting less...maybe.
With their report done, the brood's eyes burned with something new. Fire, blade, and eyes of the Broodfather. Each of them swelling with hunger, each of them carrying more than instinct now. They breathed it.
The Twinback Growths split open. Flesh mouths dragged them down into storage. No laughter this time, no squirming joy. Only murder rode their spines as they vanished inside.
Seo-jin pulled on a shirt, the last one the old Seo-jin had. The fabric clung damp against his skin as a knock rattled the door. Expected.
"Enter."
John stepped in like a man who always looked like he'd been cobbled together badly. Shifty, small, bald. He carried a battered tablet, patched and duct-taped. Seo-jin let him put it on the desk.
"I brought what you asked for. Do you know how to use it?"
Seo-jin took the device, thumbed its cracked edge. Memory filled the gaps the hardware couldn't—maps, schematics, a crude interface. He set it on the desk and looked up.
"What do you want, human? There's no need to pretend anymore. You know what I am. Say it."
John went pale under the warehouse grime. He was small, all lumps and old scars, a man stitched together by luck and bad breaks. Even his shard had the smell of second-hand trash. When a real offer dangled in front of him, his posture betrayed him.
"Boss—Broodfather—I want you to make me stronger. I'll—"
"Lies."
The single word snapped through the room. John went pale enough to hurt.
Seo-jin sat, thumb scrolling the screen while he talked. He let the human squirm. This was how you learned someone's bones.
"Everyone wants power. That's not interesting. The real question is why. Revenge? Money? To feel heavy enough to crush someone else under your boot? Why trade your soul for strength? What's the ugly, private thing that makes you risk everything?"
He let the silence sit, heavy and cold, then leaned forward and finished without mercy.
"And if you lie again, I'll eat you where you stand. You'll be shit out by morning."
A loud gulp was the immediate response, but John nodded, his skin dripping buckets as he barely kept on his feet.
"I want power… I want it so I can find a woman!"
Seo-jin froze, then coughed hard.
'That's it? He wants to get laid? Wait—is he—well, technically I still am—fuck it, doesn't matter.'
"You're telling me you'd sell your soul for some ass?"
The words hit, and for the first time, the pathetic little man straightened. His eyes locked with Seo-jin's, spine stiff where it had always bent.
"No. I'd sell my soul for someone to actually see me. I want to matter. To be noticed. You don't get it...I know it sounds pathetic to you, but you can't understand the pain of being invisible your whole life."
Seo-jin studied him, expression flat. Even with the flood of Seo-jin's old memories, even with his sharpened mind, empathy wouldn't come. But he caught the meaning beneath the words.
'A mate wouldn't give him a second glance. Even for a human, he's ugly as shit.'
[Procreation is a primary driver of human behavior. For their species, breeding equates to purpose.]
Seo-jin's view was widened, but not his care. All he heard was leverage, a hook to drag John where he needed.
"You may leave. And John—take this as your last warning. Don't ever presume you understand me."
The man held his gaze a second longer, stubborn pride flickering, then bent at the waist.
"Yes, Broodfather."
He left without another word.
"He craves affection. Another vengeance. I wonder what Lynn—"
Memories flashed. The dungeon. Her breath hitching when his clothes came off, her eyes lingering, glances taken. Seo-jin's stolen memories churned, fitting pieces together.
"If she looked better, might have given it a try. Shame."
He turned back to the tablet, thumb dragging the cracked screen. John had brought just what he asked, pages of scavenged files, half-broken archives. Earlier, he'd ordered him to gather everything on demons. Contracts especially. Human scraps of knowledge, probably riddled with holes, but still better than nothing.
His time was bleeding out. He could stall if he had to, twist the deadline, but he needed to look like he knew what he was doing. That meant learning how to bind a contract, and fast.
Then a tab stopped him cold. It itched in the back of his skull until he tapped it open.
"The Seven Hells: From the Maw to the Black Verge."
He read the title slow, like weighing a cut of meat. His eyes caught the glow of the screen, red reflecting back, burning brighter as he sank into the words. The office dissolved around him, thought sinking to the depths.
He didn't look up until light bled over the horizon.
The sun cracked his window.
His first sunrise.