Chapter 1: The First Light in the Shadow
We are not defined by the life we were given...
but by the life we choose to build anew from the wreckage of the old...
For within every end... two paths are always hidden...
One, towards extinction... and the other... towards a new battle.
— From "The Philosophy of the Forked Path"
My consciousness drifted in the empty darkness... until...
[...Processing Complete...]
That text flashed before my eyes, then faded away. Life in the body of an infant began quietly, coldly. I spent most of my time sleeping... or perhaps, just pretending to sleep... to escape from everything.
But this body never cooperated. The familiar feeling of breathlessness from an allergy I knew well bothered me constantly. Until one night... true disaster struck. I jolted awake to the warm, sticky sensation pouring from my nose. The metallic scent of blood I had loathed my entire life...
[...Effect of 'Fragile Blood Vessels' activated...]
[...HP decreasing slowly...]
A cry of alarm sounded beside me, and the form of a woman with light brown hair rushed to hold me. She and another man, likely my father, were busy stopping the bleeding and taking care of me throughout the night. I perceived everything through a curtain of pain... both the heat of a raging fever and the icy chill in my soul, which was sinking to its lowest point.
I don't know when I lost consciousness...
...
I opened my eyes once more... The first thing I felt was the warm sunlight on my eyelids. The burning heat of the fever was gone, leaving only a slight weakness.
As my eyes adjusted to the light... I saw her... My mother in this world... She was sitting beside the crib, watching me quietly, having neither slept nor rested. Her eyes looked weary... but when she saw that I was awake... a smile slowly appeared on her face.
I had never understood a "smile" like this before.
It wasn't a smile of delight at something I had accomplished... not a smile of expectation...
It was a smile of "relief"... to see that I was still here... still alive.
In those green eyes... I saw not even a shadow of disappointment in this sickly child... Only a pure, unconditional love that asked for nothing in return.
In that very moment... something within me that had long been dead... trembled violently.
[...You have received the effect of 'Unconditional Love'...]
The translucent window appeared before me for the first time in its entirety...
[ Status ]
Name: (Not yet recognized)
Race: Human
Title: (Not yet awakened)
Level: 1
HP: 9/10 (Recovering)
MP (Mental Points): 7/1000 (CRITICAL)
[ Physical Traits ]
• Imperfect Breath: Reduces natural Stamina regeneration by 30% during rest.
• Fragile Blood Vessels: Chance of internal bleeding when the body is under heavy strain.
[ Abnormal Status (Curse) ]
• The Devouring Shadow [Irremovable]: Continuously drains MP. The effect is amplified by weak physical and mental states.
I stared at the number 7/1000... it was the state of my mind, on the very verge of shattering...
But then... another line appeared...
[...Resisted the [Emptiness] status effect...]
[...MP restored by 1 point...]
My eyes widened...
The number on the screen changed from 7... to 8/1000.
I didn't know what MP was... but I could "feel" it...
The icy sensation that had clung to my chest... for the first time, a tiny warmth seeped into it.
It was a minuscule change... but for me, who had been drowning in darkness for so long... it was a miracle.
The wall I had built to protect myself... it didn't just crack... it was crumbling down.
All the feelings I had suppressed in my old life... regret... self-disappointment... loneliness... and the craving for this kind of love... it all burst forth at once.
I opened my mouth... and for the first time in this new life, I let out a cry.
It wasn't the feeble whimper of an infant... but a loud, wailing sob... a release of everything from the deepest parts of my soul.
Warm tears streamed down my cheeks, washing away the pain that had accumulated for so long.
My mother, startled for a moment... quickly scooped me up and held me against her chest.
She gently rubbed my back... never knowing... that my tears now... no longer came from physical illness.
They were the tears... of a defeated and broken human being... who had just found a "reason"... to try and stand up to fight, one more time.