Lucien—Lucien Mordren—collapsed onto the floor, his breath coming in ragged gasps as cold sweat soaked his body.
What he had just experienced felt like nothing more than a series of disjointed visions, with no explanation attached, so it took a few moments before the meaning behind each memory began to surface.
Those explanations included the name of this body, the life it had lived, his mother's death from a plague, recruitment into an assassin organization called the Twilight Covenant, years spent killing for money, and finally… the Eclipse.
The day the sky tore apart and humanity stood on the brink of extinction. Maybe extinction wasn't quite the right word, considering humans still existed—just no longer as humans. They had turned into monsters. Hollow, his memories called them. They reduced a significant amount of this city to ruins in a matter of weeks.
'This might be the same world…'
Lucien realized bitterly it as he slowly pushed himself upright.
The memories included everything he knew about the sky. The sun, the number of moons, their appearance, even their cycles. The calculations of months, years, hours, minutes, seconds, all identical. Humanity still existed.
'The only differences are the races. Elves, dwarves, drakonids, inferni, nephilim… maybe even more. There's also magic, and access to strange places that don't belong to this world, though I've never been to any of them.'
'What kind of version of the world did I end up in… and how did I even get here?'
Lucien couldn't help but question it.
Something that resembled the "system" from the fantasy stories he used to read almost made him fall into the same mindset as their typical protagonists, brushing off its origin as if it didn't matter.
Which, of course, wouldn't make sense.
This world didn't have a system, so how did he end up with one? And why did it seem like the system existed in his original world too? Why him, out of everyone, to be brought here?
The fact that he had no idea makes it frustrating.
"Lucien…?"
The voice behind him made him turn in confusion.
At some point, the woman on the bed had sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes. The blanket had slipped, leaving her upper body uncovered, something Lucien caught a glimpse of before quickly forcing his gaze back to her face, silently cursing himself for having completely forgotten about her until now.
'I hope she didn't see whatever nonsense I was doing…'
The woman looked at him, puzzled.
"What are you doing over there?"
'Right… what kind of answer would Lucien give here?'
Overthinking it would only make things worse, so he reached down for his pants and began dressing, smiling lightly while he did. "I was just admiring the view. The town's got a strangely artistic vibe today, don't you think?"
He said it in a light, sarcastic tone. From what he could tell, this Lucien's personality wasn't all that different from his own, so slipping into the role came naturally enough.
However, the way the woman stared at him, as if he had just grown a second head, made him start to second-guess that assumption.
"You're definitely still drunk," she said, getting out of bed and grabbing her wrinkled dress. "Or it's the Corruption acting up again. What did you just say? Artistic? Lucien, you don't even know what that word means."
His lips twitched.]
Thinking about it, the real Lucien Mordren did, in fact, know nothing about art.
'For someone whose work revolves around art… adjusting might be a problem.'
Letting out a quiet sigh, he fastened his pants and replied, "Maybe I just learned. People change, you know."
"Overnight?" The woman—Lyla, his memories supplied, a local tavern worker who occasionally slept with him for money or goods—rolled her eyes. "Whatever. As long as the payment's the same, right? Three loaves of bread and a piece of smoked meat?"
'Three loaves of bread, huh?'
'Post-apocalypse economics sure is brutal.'
"Of course," he replied, walking over to a small wooden chest at the foot of the bed. He flipped it open, rummaged briefly, then pulled out the bread and smoked meat before handing them to her. "Here."
Lyla let out a relieved sigh as she took them, slipping the food into a cloth wrap she had brought with her, tying it securely at her side. She finished adjusting her tattered dress, then stepped closer to him. Rising onto her toes—she couldn't have been more than a hundred and fifty centimeters tall—she pinched his cheek with a playful grin.
"You're weird this morning, but you're still cute regardless," she said. "I'll head back before Gartha wakes up and realizes I'm not in my room. Take care of yourself, okay?"
And with that, she left, closing the wooden door behind her with a soft click.
Lucien lingered for a moment, then let out a long sigh. "Well, guess I'll have to get along with my situation."
If he didn't adapt quickly, he wouldn't get anywhere.
With a small shake of his head, Lucien refocused his thoughts on the one thing every protagonist in all the novels he had read always did.
'System. Status. Menu. Interface. Anything.'
He needed to check if he had some kind of cheat.
As if responding to his call, a transparent window appeared before his eyes.
[Devourer's Covenant — Active]
Lucien stared at the floating panel. Whether it hovered in the air or existed only in his mind, he couldn't quite tell.
The panel flickered, expanding and displaying more detailed information.
[Status]
Name: Lucien Mordren
Age: 22
Race: Half-Inferni (Abyssally Infected)
Level: 2
Experience Points (XP): 87 / 200
Corruption Points (CP): 73 / 200
Skill Points (SP): 0
Attributes:
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Endurance: 12
Perception: 15
Charisma: 12
Passive Skills:
[Corruption Detection (Lvl 1)] – Allows detection of corruption levels in living beings within a 5-meter radius. Accuracy: 100%
[Enhanced Physiology] – Body adapted through Covenant training. +20% Regeneration Speed, +15% Stamina
Active Skills: None unlocked
Lucien stared at the screen with a visible frown. The first thing he noticed was that both his XP and CP, whatever the latter meant, were already partially filled.
'Did Lucien Mordren get the System before me?'
He tried to recall anything unusual leading up to his transmigration. A few things came to mind.
To start with, this world had a variety of races. The Inferni were known to be the most resistant to Corruption, along with other Abyss-aligned races like dark elves and deep dwarves. On the opposite end, races aligned against the Abyss suffered the worst effects, with the Nephilim being the most notable example. Even so, the Inferni weren't completely immune.
Lucien had inherited Inferni blood from his mother. Since he was only half, his resistance should have been lower than that of a full-blooded Inferni.
'Instead, Lucien's Corruption level never crossed into anything dangerous…'
It seemed the original Lucien had noticed that as well. He had even tried spending time in areas thick with miasma, but after a few days of rest in low-exposure zones, his condition would return to safe levels.
Not just that, but according to his memories, the ability to perceive Corruption had already existed since the Eclipse. He had never told anyone about it.
'Did the System already exist back then? But it's dormant and only awakened when I transmigrated? Considering it was still only level two, the idea wasn't far-fetched. If XP and CP were gained by killing Hollow creatures, the byproducts of the Eclipse, then it made sense, especially since Lucien had killed quite a number of them.'
His focus shifted to the Corruption Points section.
"But what is that feature supposed to be?" he muttered, frowning. "An XP is one thing, but a CP? How am I also supposed to gain it consistently?"
As if responding, the panel shifted. New lines of text appeared, forming slowly.
[Corruption Point Acquisition Method]
Purification Through Intimacy (Primary)
The Host can absorb Corruption from infected individuals through prolonged intimate contact, especially physical intimacy. This process can:
- Reduce the target's Corruption level (effectiveness depends on duration, current relationship, and intensity)
- Converts absorbed Corruption into Corruption Points (CP) for the Host, which can then be refined into Skill Points (SP) by digesting 100 CP. Any unprocessed CP will gradually be purged from the body over time, preventing buildup, though it can also be deliberately expended to avoid adverse side effects.
- Leave a "Mark" on the purified target (effect: binds the target from revealing your abilities as a base skill; allows partial stat sharing as the relationship deepens; enables skill and thought sharing at higher levels; etc.)
Note: The higher the target's Corruption level, the greater the CP gained. However, targets with Corruption above 50% tend to be unstable and dangerous.
Warning: Excessive accumulation of CP without conversion may cause Corruption overload in the Host. It is recommended to use or digest CP periodically to avoid that.
Lucien read it again, just to make sure he had not misunderstood.
"Purification through intimacy? Seriously?" He let out a short, incredulous laugh. "Out of everything… I end up with a sex system?"
***
A/N: Pretty slow, right?
By the way, he still won't even leave the room by Chapter 4. But don't worry, he'll finally touch some grass after that.