The wind didn't howl here; it screamed.
Kaelen Vance felt the sensation of weightlessness before the pain. His back slammed against a protruding ridge of obsidian rock, shattering ribs, before he tumbled further down into the darkness. He didn't scream. The betrayal had stolen the air from his lungs long before the fall did.
"I'm sorry, Kaelen," Elara's voice echoed in his mind, sweet and poisonous. "But Rian… Rian has the S-Rank Talent. You're just… you."
He hit the ground with a wet crunch.
Pain, white-hot and blinding, exploded through his legs. Kaelen lay in the damp, rotting soil of the Fissure, the darkness pressing against his eyes like a physical weight. The smell of sulfur and ancient, coagulated blood filled his nose. He tried to move, but his lower body refused to respond.
He was going to die here. Just like the trash they said he was.
Snap.
A sound from the shadows. Not the wind. Footsteps.
Kaelen forced his eyes open, his vision swimming. A creature, hunched and vaguely humanoid, shuffled into the dim bioluminescent light of the cave fungi. It had no eyes, only a mouth filled with needle-like teeth, dripping with caustic saliva. An Abyssal Scavenger.
It chittered, sensing the fresh meat. Sensing the weakness.
'Think,' Kaelen's mind raced, the panic suppressed by a cold wave of adrenaline. 'Legs broken. Mana core empty. Weapon... gone.'
The Scavenger lunged.
Kaelen didn't try to dodge; he couldn't. Instead, he did the only thing a desperate rat could do. As the beast's jaws opened to tear out his throat, Kaelen thrust his shattered left arm directly into the creature's maw.
The teeth shredded his skin, biting into bone. The pain was absolute, a symphony of agony. But Kaelen didn't pull back. He shoved his arm deeper, choking the beast, while his right hand found a jagged shard of obsidian on the ground.
"Die," he gargled, blood frothing on his lips.
He drove the stone into the creature's soft neck. Once. Twice. Three times.
The Scavenger thrashed, its claws raking across his chest, shredding his uniform. Kaelen didn't stop. He stabbed until the creature went limp, its hot, foul blood coating his face.
He lay there, panting, his arm ruined, trapped inside the dead monster's throat. He had survived, but for how long? The scent of blood would attract more.
'Is this it?' Kaelen thought, a bitter laugh bubbling in his chest. 'I die covered in filth, while they celebrate their engagement up in the sunlight?'
Rage. It wasn't a flicker; it was a supernova. It wasn't the heroic anger of a protagonist in a storybook; it was the ugly, festering hate of a man wronged. He wanted them to hurt. He wanted to drag them down here and make them feel every broken bone.
As his consciousness began to fade, a cold, mechanical chime rang in his skull. It wasn't an auditory sound; it vibrated against his very soul.
[Conditions Met.]
[Host possesses overwhelming Hatred and minimal Morality.]
[The 'Hero System' has rejected the Host.]
[Searching for alternative compatibility...]
[Compatibility found: 100%]
[System Initialization: The Sin Eater.]
A screen of crimson light, sharp and distinct against the darkness, manifested before his eyes.
[Welcome, User Kaelen Vance.]
[You have unlocked the Hidden Trait: Depravity.]
[Current Status: Dying.]
[Triggering Emergency Quest: First Sin.]
[Objective: Consume the essence of the fallen Scavenger.]
[Reward: Regeneration of fatal wounds. Unlock Status Screen.]
Kaelen stared at the floating text. A System? But only the Awakened nobility had Systems. And "Sin Eater"? It sounded blasphemous.
It sounded perfect.
"Consume..." Kaelen whispered. He looked at the corpse weighing him down. He didn't have the strength to cook it. He didn't have the time to be human.
He dragged his face toward the Scavenger's open wound. The pragmatism that had always been suppressed by his desire to be "good" finally broke free. Survival was the only truth.
He drank.
The blood was vile, burning like acid, but as it hit his stomach, a rush of energy exploded through his veins. It wasn't just nutrition; it was power. He felt the creature's final moments—its hunger, its instinct, its gluttony.
[gluttony Essence Absorbed.]
[CON +2]
[STR +1]
[Regeneration Initiated.]
The bones in his legs snapped audibly as they realigned. The flesh on his arm knit together with agonizing speed. Kaelen gasped, arching his back as the System forced life back into his broken shell.
He pushed the corpse off him and stood up. He was covered in gore, naked from the waist up, standing in the darkest pit of the world. But he was standing.
[Status Screen Unlocked]
Name: Kaelen Vance
Class: Sin Eater (Tier 0)
Sins Collected: Gluttony (Trace)
Active Quest: Survive the Abyss (0/100 Days)
Kaelen looked up at the jagged crack of light miles above him. He wiped the blood from his mouth, a cold, humorless smile touching his lips.
"Enjoy the sunlight while you can, Rian. Elara," he whispered to the silence. "Because I'm going to eat the world you love, piece by piece."
A roar echoed from deeper in the cave. Louder. Bigger.
Kaelen picked up the obsidian shard. He didn't feel fear anymore.
He just felt hungry.