Prologue: The Color of Entropy
Red.
It is strange—I no longer feel fear.
Just… a magnetic pull.
It clung to my fingers, viscous and warm, as if it refused to be separated from me.
I used to think there was a difference between humans—
But no.
They are all the same inside.
This place…
The pipes, the damp walls, the metallic stench—it was all repulsive.
But now? Now, I am indifferent.
I simply crave balance.
The pieces were scattered—incomplete.
The ratios were all wrong.
And that is my problem with this world—
Nothing is ever whole.
If a boy and a girl…
If both were merged into the void…
Perhaps something 'correct' could be created.
Interesting.
This power…
Is it truly mine?
That red-haired man…
Who was he?
It is odd—
I want to forget him, yet I feel a compulsion to peer inside his soul.
As if he, too… is incomplete.
No.
Not yet.
I must erase everything before the sun rises.
No traces.
No witnesses.
Everything must be returned to its rightful place.
To the void.
---
Chapter 1: The Entropy Lord
The Day Before
I am tired of this world.
No, not just tired… I am exhausted.
It is the same lifeless, boring world spinning on its axis without purpose. In one corner, people are beheaded in the name of religion; in another, intestines shrivel from starvation.
"Are you blind?! Watch where you're walking!"
Cars tear down the asphalt as if they own the road. Even in this crushing crowd, no one stops. Everyone is a machine.
Near the temple steps, beggars stretch out their hands. "Give something in the name of God."
People stream out of the temple, fresh marks of prayer on their foreheads, yet they step over the beggars as if they were insects.
I sat down in front of an old man. I opened my wallet.
It wasn't much. Just some loose change.
I leaned down and dropped the coins into his bowl.
"Why do you always sit right in front of the temple?" I asked.
His wrinkled eyes crinkled into a faint smile. "Son, where else would we sit? Why do people come here?"
"To see God. To seek blessings," I replied.
He let out a hollow, raspy laugh. "…They come to wash away their sins. Everyone carries their own greed in their pockets."
I whispered, "if God fixed everything, perhaps this world wouldn't be so dark."
I got no answer. Just the noise of the city.
---
Walking home, a group of girls laughed nearby. Their voices felt like thorns pricking my skin—paranoia whispered they were laughing at me.
Ignore it. Just ignore it.
The moment I entered the house, the screaming voice of the news anchor assaulted my ears.
The same war. The same charade of victory.
"Our nation has conquered another continent!"
The anchor's voice was manic with hysteria. Genocide had been committed, bodies were rotting in fields, yet here, they celebrated. If I spoke the truth, I'd be branded a traitor.
Silence is the only survival mechanism.
To be honest? If I had power, I wouldn't try to 'fix' this world.
I would just hit the Reset button.
Drowning this world in darkness is perhaps the only true justice.
My father cheered the moment he saw me. "Listen! Our lion has arrived! He will contribute to the nation's development!"
My mother stepped out of the kitchen, drenched in sweat but wearing a mask of false pride. "Yes, yes. He has raised our status in the whole society. The neighbors can't stop talking about him."
Tomorrow is my army joining date.
I have no desire to be part of a herd of blind patriots. But dreams die before the stubbornness of the middle class.
Whatever. Maybe I'll catch a bullet on the border. At least that will bring silence from this noise.
---
I couldn't sleep all night.
One question kept looping in my brain— *What is the point of these wars?*
Then, another thought struck. If life has no purpose, people wander aimlessly.
Perhaps conflict is the only thing keeping humanity together.
I wasn't going to sleep tonight.
I quietly slipped out of the house.
The night was deep. The road was completely empty… like someone had laid out the skin of a corpse.
Even the sky looked lifeless—as if it were holding its breath.
A sharp, deafening ringing sound began to echo in my ears.
I sat on a bench in the park. The streetlights flickered.
Once. Twice.
The third time, the darkness lingered too long.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Someone was watching me. Close. Too close.
Then, a hand rested on my shoulder. Soft, yet cold as ice.
I turned around.
No one was there.
Am I overthinking? Am I going insane?
Just then, a dry leaf floated past my face. It froze in mid-air.
Time had stopped.
The colors of the world began to bleed away. Grey.Black. And… Red.
I was no longer alone on the bench.
Beside me sat a figure. Tall frame. Hair the color of fresh blood. He wore an aura of regality, like a King from a forgotten era.
"W-Who… are you?"
He smiled. "Who I am is not important, Sunny. What *you* want—that is what matters."
"My desire?"
"Come," he said. "Let me show you something."
He snapped his fingers.
Everything before my eyes shifted. Thousands of frames, like a reel of film, flashed past at breakneck speed.
And then—
I fell.
I landed in a pool of liquid.
It was red.
It was viscous.
It was blood.
---
The red-haired man stood before me.
He wore a smile that defied definition—neither entirely kind nor entirely cruel.
"What do you want from me?" I asked, trembling.
He chuckled softly. "Ah… Me? I want nothing."
He leaned in closer. "I simply fulfill the buried desires of people."
"Desires," I scoffed. "What a fake concept. Society sets standards, and we run after them without thinking."
"You are very interesting, Sunny."
He stared straight into my eyes. "I am not talking about the standards the world forced upon you," he said.
"I am talking about the emotion that is solely yours. The one you sculpted."
"You're saying… what's inside me—I created that darkness?"
"Precisely." He extended his hand. "I will merely accompany you. I will give you the power… through which this world will take its final breaths."
"Are you ready to make a deal with me?"
I swallowed hard.
"Can… can I really do this?"
He smiled. "Yes. But everything has a price."
"Price?" I laughed dryly. "Take whatever you want. I don't care."
"As you wish."
Suddenly, the man vanished.
In his place, a Neon Blue Interface
materialized in the air.
`[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]`
[ENTER YOUR NAME]
Name? What identity do I even have?
I typed the only truth I knew:
"A Useless Player Whose Goal is Destruction"
The screen flashed.
`[NAME CONFIRMED]`
A new panel opened, rewriting my reality:
================================
STATUS WINDOW
================================
NAME : A Useless Player Whose Goal is Destruction
RACE : Human (Awakened)
CLASS : ENTROPY LORD (Level 1)
TITLE : The First Awakened
[STATISTICS]
-----------------------------------------
STRENGTH : 12 (Normal Human: 5)
AGILITY : 15 (Normal Human: 5)
[UNIQUE SKILLS]
-----------------------------------------
>> SKILL 1: [DECAY TOUCH] (Level 1)
- Effect: Physical contact causes organic matter to rot instantly.
>> SKILL 2: [TIME BARRIER] (LOCKED 🔒)
- Requirement: Reach Level 10 & Kill 100 Sinners.
================================
"Entropy Lord..." I whispered. The Lord of Ruin.
Just then, a red warning popped up.
`[MISSION TARGET: 20 METERS NORTH]`
A navigation compass overlaid my vision.
Is this a game? Or is this reality?
---
**[The Mission]**
I followed the marker. It led me to a high wall.
From the other side, sounds drifted over. Men laughing… and a muffled, desperate whimper.
*How do I climb this?*
I jumped.
My body soared a full meter above the wall. The effect of `AGILITY: 15` was undeniable.
I grabbed the edge and looked down.
The scene was straight out of a nightmare.
Several men stood with flashlights. In the center was a girl… her clothes torn, her body marked with bruises.
One man was tightening his belt. "The Minister really made an amazing arrangement today."
Another man stepped forward. "Now, it's my turn."
"If I could keep her," he leered, "I'd make her my personal toy."
I should have felt anger.
I should have felt righteous fury.
But I felt… **nothing.**
No excitement to kill them. No sympathy to save her.
Everything was zero. A void.
Suddenly, a dog growled from the bushes. The men looked up.
"Hey! Who the fuck is up there? Get down!"
`[DANGER DETECTED]`
`[ACTIVATE AUTONOMOUS MODE? Y/N]`
I had no motivation to move my own limbs.
*Yes,* I thought.
---
**[Autonomous Slaughter]**
The world shifted into fast-forward.
My body was no longer under my control. I was just a passenger.
The wind roared.
My hand plunged into soft flesh.
*Squelch.*
The sound of snapping bones sounded like music.
The blood was hot, but my body felt cold.
When my vision refocused, the noise had stopped.
The dog was silent. The men… they were no longer men. They were just meat.
I held something warm and sticky in my hand.
I looked down.
A **Heart**.
It was still twitching faintly. Red, deep, and whole.
The System beeped.
`[MISSION INCOMPLETE]`
`[TARGET REMAINS]`
Target?
The compass was still pointing.
Toward the girl.
She was huddled in the corner, trembling violently. Her eyes were wide with terror.
She looked more afraid of *me* than she had been of the rapists.
Her body was covered in marks. Her soul was already dead; only the biology was breathing.
The System says *she* is the target?
Why?
Ah… I understand.
Living in this world is hell.
To be alive is a punishment.
Death… **Death is liberation.**
I felt pity for her. Genuine pity.
I picked up a knife from the ground.
I looked into her eyes. There was no plea for 'rescue' there—only the silent begging for 'the end.'
"Look," I said, my voice incredibly soft. "Forgive me. But this world is not worthy of you."
I stepped forward.
"I have freed you… from this eternal torture."
Slash.
Drops of blood splattered across my face.
Warm.
It is strange…
For the first time, I felt Peace.