Stayed Dead
Rain poured like the sky itself was grieving.
Sebastian didn't care.
Barefoot.
Hungry.
Filthy.
Seventeen years old, and the world had already decided he wasn't worth anything.
He walked along the roadside, stomach twisting in pain.
No home.
No family.
No future.
Just another invisible life in a loud world.
A pair of headlights cut through the rain.
Too fast.
Too close.
SCREECH—
Pain.
Then nothing.
Sebastian expected darkness.
Silence.
The end.
But instead—
He heard whispers.
"…another one…"
"…low compatibility…"
"…discard?"
"…no… wait…"
His body felt wrong.
Heavy. Weak.
Cold chains pressed against his wrists.
Sebastian's eyes snapped open.
Stone ceiling.
Rotten smell.
Iron bars.
And voices speaking a language he somehow understood.
"Oi. The new one's awake."
"Doesn't matter. He'll be dead in a week."
Sebastian tried to move.
Pain shot through his entire body.
He looked down.
Thin arms.
Bruised skin.
Shackles.
"…What…?"
His voice wasn't his.
Smaller.
Younger.
A memory hit him-
Not his own.
A boy.
Beaten.
Starved.
Owned.
"…a slave…"
Sebastian frozen
"I… died…"
And then—
A burning sensation erupted in his chest.
Something formed inside him.
Not physical.
Not visible.
But real.
A voice echoed in his mind:
[Divine Relic Acquisition…]
[Probability Override Detected]
[Error… Error…]
[Classifying Relic…]
Sebastian's breathing stopped.
[Relic Type: ???]
[Status: Broken]
[Name: "Void Echo"]
Silence.
Then—
A whisper.
Not from outside.
From within.
"…hungry…"
Sebastian's eyes widened.
From the corner of his vision—
Something moved.
A shadow.
No—
A shape.
Humanoid.
Watching him.
No one else reacted.
"…you can see me…" the thing whispered.
Sebastian's heart started pounding.
"…good…"
"…then you won't die boring…"
The chains around his wrist suddenly felt… weaker.
And for the first time—
Since his death—
Sebastian smiled.
"Then I guess…"
His voice trembled.
But not from fear.
"…I'm not done yet."
End of Chapter 1