Liam sat alone in the center of a stone chamber deep beneath his castle.
No guards.
No generals.
No sword.
Just him… and the vial.
The Essence of Dread swirled in his hand, alive with something that didn't feel entirely magical. Or safe.
He took a breath. "Okay, Liam. Time to become a proper cultivation monster."
[System Reminder]⚠️ You are about to accelerate your Sin Vein Codex⚠️ This path feeds on emotion: Fear, Chaos, Hatred
Note: Suppressing your human thoughts may… help
"Reassuring," Liam muttered—and drank.
The world shattered.
It wasn't pain.
It was hunger.
Raw, insatiable, impossible hunger.
His soul screamed, but not in fear—in longing. Memories of who he had been tried to hold him down. Earth. His apartment. That cursed book. All of it blurred.
And then came the whispers.
"What is a king… without fear?"
"What is a villain… without sin?"
"You are not him. You were never him."
Liam fell through the dark.
He saw shadows crawling over cities, oceans boiling with divine blood, stars falling like glass. He saw the Hero, standing atop a pile of corpses, blade raised high—and behind him, someone else. Someone not in the book. Watching.
"You were supposed to be fiction."
"But something brought you here."
A flash of silver eyes in the dark.
Then silence.
Liam woke with a gasp—back in the chamber, drenched in sweat, breathing smoke.
He felt... stronger. But not in the muscle-flexing, spell-slinging kind of way. It was deeper. He could feel the room. The heartbeat of stone. The whispers of ghosts that hadn't been summoned.
[Cultivation Progress – Stage 1 Complete]✦ Sin Vein Codex – Stage 2 Unlocked: Crown of Hollow Reign
Bonus Skill Gained:🩸 Sovereign's Presence – Lv.1➤ Passive aura that compels fear in weaker beings➤ Grows stronger near conflict and chaos
[System Message]⚠️ Cultivation Path Detected: AnomalousWarning: You are not supposed to exist
Liam froze.
"…Excuse me?"
The system didn't reply.
But something else did.
A low chuckle echoed from the chamber walls. Not from the system. Not from any voice he knew.
"Now this is interesting."
The shadows at the edge of the room shifted—and for a moment, Liam thought he saw someone standing in the dark.
Tall. Hooded. Watching him.
But when he blinked, it was gone.
He stood slowly, chest rising and falling.
Something had changed.
And he had a terrible feeling the story was changing with him.
Meanwhile, far across the continent…
A girl in white robes opened her eyes from a trance, her vision full of static and blood.
She was not in the book either.
But she had just seen the Demon King awaken something that did not belong.
She whispered, "He's not bound by the pages."
And for the first time in recorded prophecy history, the Oracle was afraid.