Ficool

evolution

Throes of Mystery

In a Victorian-Era world where two moons drift silently in the sky, casting pale light over industrial cities and shadowed streets, a young man finds himself inexplicably transmigrated into the body of a beggar in Kargoth, a bustling industrial city of the Iron Crown Territories. Filthy, starving, and almost invisible to the people around him, he drags himself from the roadside and steals a set of oversized clothes, slipping them on over his ragged form. Each little step feels like a victory: avoiding the jeers of market-goers, dodging city guards, finding his way through the crowded streets without drawing too much attention. To survive, he takes on menial jobs, hauling loads for middle-class merchants in the market. Every Dosh he earns feels like a lifeline, every shilling a fragile foothold in a city that would swallow him whole if he let his guard down. Weeks pass, and he finally manages to save enough to leave Kargoth, boarding public transport and then smuggling himself inside a freight bound for Ironhold. From there, he prepares for the long, hard journey to Frostgate, the northern border town, hoping to escape the oppressive grind of the city. Along the way, he notices small, strange things—shadows that don’t quite match the light, coincidences that are too perfect, the twin moons shining in a way that feels… deliberate, almost too aligned. He doesn’t think much of them, chalking them up to chance or his imagination, unaware that the world around him is far stranger than he could ever guess—a world where hidden forces are quietly shaping lives. Still oblivious to Veils, Archetypes, and the secret Continuists and Intervener organizations manipulating the hidden rules of the world, he is just a beggar, a hustler, a fugitive scraping by on the fringes of Victorian-era industrial life. His journey is slow, harsh, messy, and human—the perfect crucible for someone about to awaken into a secret world of power, intrigue, and dangerous ambition.
Shins_ · 1.3k Views

Hollow Ascending

HOLLOW ASCENDING The Peeling Seven years ago, reality fractured in an event known as The Peeling. Vertical rifts tore open across the world, exposing a lightless underlayer of existence called the Hollows, where human fear manifests as living entities. When the rifts appeared, entire cities were erased in minutes. Conventional weapons failed. Survival depended on those who could enter the Hollows and return alive. --- Betrayal Shin Jiwoo, an E-rank Descender, is betrayed during a routine Hollow expedition by Park Minho, the only person he trusted. Minho seals Jiwoo and other low-ranks inside a collapsing Hollow to erase evidence of his illegal operations. One by one, the others are consumed. Jiwoo is left to rot as the dimension destabilizes, realizing he was never a friend—only expendable labor. As his body dissolves, Jiwoo falls through a fracture in reality into The Womb, the deepest layer of the Hollows. --- The Void Seed Within The Womb, Jiwoo encounters the Mother of Hollows, an ancient consciousness at the core of the dimension. She offers him survival through the Void Seed, a crystallized fragment of her essence. Accepting it binds Jiwoo to the Hollows permanently. The Seed merges with his heart, halting his death and rewriting his existence. --- His Ability Jiwoo awakens with a power unique to him alone: The Hollow Warrior System. Unlike ordinary Descenders, Jiwoo can deliberately absorb, analyze, and integrate Hollow essences, shaping his evolution instead of relying on chance. Each absorbed essence grants specific abilities and advances him through Layers, a measure of how far he has descended into Hollow nature. Power comes with clarity. Progress comes with loss. His strength is not a blessing. It is a descent born from betrayal.
BigBrainBox · 4.3k Views