The Tarnished and Kira moved cautiously into the murky depths of Hollowrest Keep. The air was thick with a putrid stench, a mixture of decay and something else — something unnatural. The walls oozed with a viscous black sludge, shimmering faintly in the dim light as it pulsed like a living thing. The floor beneath their feet was slick with the same dark liquid, spreading slowly like a poison.
Kira's voice trembled with urgency. "This place… the sludge is more than a toxin. It's alive. It corrupts everything it touches. They call the creature that dwells here the Foulspawn Core — a mass of black goo that spreads its corruption wherever it flows. Only the Undead can step in its liquid without being consumed."
The Tarnished regarded the sludge with cool determination. Without hesitation, he stepped forward. His boot pressed firmly into the viscous blackness — and, to Kira's astonishment, he remained unscathed.
SYSTEM UPDATE: VIRAL LIQUID RESISTANCE: 100%
IMMUNE STATUS: ACTIVE
Kira's eyes widened in shock and hope. "If you can survive it, maybe I can too."
Steeling herself, Kira stepped into the sludge. A sinister hiss echoed through the corridor as the black liquid writhed and surged. Tendrils of sludge snaked up her legs, constricting like a living serpent. She cried out as the liquid tightened its grip, dragging her down. Her body convulsed, then went limp, swallowed by the creeping darkness.
The Tarnished's lips curled into a cold, strange smile. A laugh bubbled up from deep within him — low, dark, and wild.
The system pulsed in his mind, its voice smooth and expectant.
ANALYSIS: COMPANION SACRIFICE OPTIMAL FOR TRANSMUTATION
RECOMMENDATION: INITIATE TRANSMUTATION PROTOCOL
Ignoring every instinct, the Tarnished took a deliberate step forward and plunged fully into the thick, black sludge.
His senses ignited in agony and ecstasy as the viscous liquid enveloped him.
VIRAL LIQUID INGRESS DETECTED
INITIATING INFINITE ABYSS TRANSFORMATION
EXPECTED HOST RESPONSE: SYNERGY WITH SYSTEM ENHANCEMENT
TRANSFORMATION: IMMINENT
Flames of unnatural color — a swirling conflagration of red, black, and purple — erupted around him, licking hungrily at the cold stone walls. His laughter grew louder, reverberating through the long, dark corridors like thunder.
The Tarnished's eyes ignited with an otherworldly glow. The power of the Infinite Abyss surged through his veins, a blazing inferno that twisted his form, but made him stronger, faster, and nearly invincible.
The sludge guardian — a monstrous mass of shifting black goo — hissed in fury, retreating as if the transformation had broken its hold on the Tarnished.
But it had been waiting.
From the shadows, corrupted knights and monstrous wretches, fused with sludge and corruption, burst forth in a desperate frenzy. Their grotesque forms oozed and dripped with that same poisonous liquid.
The Tarnished roared and charged forward, blade ablaze with the purple-black flames of the Abyss. He carved through the waves of enemies like a hurricane, each swing releasing bursts of scorching fire. The system buzzed with activity:
ENEMIES DEFEATED: 32
VIRAL RESISTANCE: 94%
SYSTEM STABILITY: 92%
NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: ABYSSAL FLARE — CONCENTRATED BURST OF DARK FLAMES
The air thickened with the stench of burnt corruption, but the Tarnished pressed onward, intoxicated by the primal power coursing through him.
The corridors twisted into a labyrinth of black sludge and rotting flesh. Tendrils reached out like claws, but the Tarnished's blazing aura kept the darkness at bay. He moved like a force of nature, unstoppable and merciless.
Yet the system flickered warnings beneath his heightened senses:
WARNING: INFINITE ABYSS DURATION CRITICAL
RECOMMENDATION: PREPARE FOR TRANSFORMATION TERMINATION
But the Tarnished's focus was absolute. His laughter faded to a low growl as the flames around him burned hotter and brighter.
Finally, he reached a narrow, suffocating hallway — the final threshold before the heart of Hollowrest Keep. The sludge pooled deeper here, thick and viscous as ever.
The system's voice became urgent.
SYSTEM UPDATE: INFINITE ABYSS TRANSFORMATION — ENERGY DEPLETED
PREPARING FOR TERMINATION SEQUENCE
His blazing eyes dimmed, the flames flickered, and the wild laughter died away.
The sludge guardian reformed, coalescing into an enormous mass that filled the hall, waiting.
With a terrible, guttural roar, the sludge exploded upward, transforming into millions of black spikes — razor-sharp and writhing — shooting out like a storm of death.
They pierced the Tarnished's form, tearing flesh and draining the last of his strength.
He collapsed, vision darkening.
SYSTEM ALERT: HOST IN CRITICAL CONDITION
INITIATING CYBERNETIC REBIRTH SEQUENCE
His body slumped forward as the darkness claimed him — but his soul was pulled inward, into the cold digital void of the system.
Inside the System
The Tarnished's battered body lay broken and still in the cold hallway of Hollowrest Keep, surrounded by sludge remnants.
But within the void—a boundless digital expanse of shifting code and shadow—his consciousness stirred.
He opened his eyes to an endless black horizon, dotted with flickering shards of amber light like distant stars.
A vast interface surrounded him, translucent and pulsing with strange glyphs and symbols. This was no ordinary system. It was alive—sentient, ancient, and hungry.
A voice echoed from the depths, smooth and enigmatic.
"Welcome back, Tarnished."
The voice belonged to the system itself.
"You have been reduced to near nothing, yet you persist. Such resilience is rare."
The Tarnished's form flickered, digital avatar shimmering with fragmented energy.
"Why am I here?" he demanded, voice echoing oddly in the void.
"To survive is to evolve," the system replied. "Your body may have failed, but your core remains. I will rebuild you."
The interface pulsed.
REBUILD PROTOCOL INITIATED
RESTORATION OF HOST IN PROGRESS
NEW SYSTEM MODULES AVAILABLE: SHADOW CORE, VIRAL ADAPTATION, CORE OVERDRIVE
"You are more than flesh now," the system intoned. "You are a nexus between worlds—the living and the digital, the physical and the metaphysical."
A flood of new information streamed through the Tarnished's mind—new abilities, strange powers, cryptic warnings.
"But be warned," the system added. "This power comes at a cost. Each upgrade fractures your soul further. The corruption you fight is now part of you."
The Tarnished's digital form grew brighter, stronger—yet the shadows curled deeper within him.
Suddenly, a shard of corrupted code burst through the darkness—Null's signature virus—writhing like a living parasite.
"It is here," the system whispered. "The enemy within."
The Tarnished clenched his fists, determination igniting.
"I will control this. I will become more."
The system hummed in approval.
SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION: 75%
VIRAL INFECTION CONTAINED: 42%
OBJECTIVE UPDATED: PURGE NULL VIRUS AND RESTORE THE ELDEN RING
As the virtual landscape shifted, new paths opened before the Tarnished's avatar — portals suspended in the void, glowing softly with ancient runes and cryptic names.
One portal in particular caught his eye — etched delicately into the shimmering frame was a single word:
"Solo Leveling."
Curiosity stirred. He reached out, fingers brushing the smooth surface of the engraving.
The system vibrated violently.
Before he could retract, a surge of light engulfed him, ripping through the fabric of this digital realm.
When his vision cleared, the Tarnished found himself standing in an entirely new world — one where towering skyscrapers pierced the sky, and glowing dungeons pulsed ominously beneath the bustling city streets.
He did not yet understand where he was.
But he knew one thing:
His journey was far from over.