The ground beneath me cracked, brittle bones snapping under my weight. The air was thick—too thick—as if the very atmosphere wanted to suffocate me.
I took a slow breath, my senses sharpening. The Abyssal Rift. A place that shouldn't exist, yet here I was.
And I wasn't alone.
Something was watching.
The weight of unseen eyes pressed against my back. I turned slowly, every instinct screaming danger. The twisted black towers in the distance loomed like shattered fangs of a dead god, their jagged spires stabbing into the sky. The air was silent. Too silent.
Then—a whisper.
"He has returned."
"He does not remember."
"Shall we remind him?"
My heart pounded. The voices came from nowhere and everywhere, slithering into my mind like oily tendrils. I clenched my fists. "Who's there?"
No answer. Just more whispers, growing louder.
"The Forgotten King walks again."
"Shall we feast?"
The temperature dropped instantly. Frost spread beneath my feet, creeping up the bones like living veins. My breath came out in visible wisps.
I wasn't imagining it. Something was here.
Then—movement.
From the darkness between the bone piles, they emerged.
Cloaked figures, their forms shifting like shadows, gliding soundlessly across the ground. Their faces—if they had any—were obscured by deep hoods, but I could feel their gazes drilling into me.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
☠ New Entities Detected ☠
[Designation: Abyssal Wraiths]
[Threat Level: Unknown]
"Unknown," huh? I swallowed hard. Not a great sign.
One of them stepped forward, its cloak rustling as if it were made of living smoke. A skeletal hand stretched out from the darkness beneath the hood, its bony fingers twitching.
"Your existence is incomplete."
"Your throne is abandoned."
"You must choose."
I didn't move. "Choose what?"
The wraith cocked its head, and for a moment, the whispers stopped.
Then—it attacked.
A shadow tendril shot toward me. Instinct kicked in—I dodged, rolling across the bone-covered ground. The moment I landed, another tendril lashed out. Faster.
I barely had time to react.
☠ [WARNING: Soul Degradation Detected] ☠
Pain exploded through me—a searing, unnatural cold sinking into my very essence. Not my body—my soul.
I gritted my teeth. No way I was dying here.
The system flashed again—
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: Activating Forced Rebirth Protocol]
Heat surged through my veins. The pain vanished, replaced by power. My muscles tightened, my vision sharpened. I could feel it—something unlocking.
My fingers curled. A name surfaced in my mind, unbidden. A word of power.
"Come forth."
The air trembled. The shadows recoiled. The wraiths froze.
And then—it appeared.
A sword. Blacker than the abyss itself, its blade humming with raw energy. The moment my fingers wrapped around its hilt, memories flashed.
A battlefield. A throne. A name.
My name.
The wraiths screamed.
"He remembers!"
"He must not awaken!"
Too late.
I swung. Reality itself trembled. The blade cut through the nearest wraith—no resistance, no weight—just pure annihilation. It shrieked as its form unraveled, dissolving into the void.
The others hesitated.
Good. They should be afraid.
The whispers turned to frantic murmurs, the remaining wraiths shifting backward. I leveled the blade at them, the weight of forgotten power settling into my grasp.
"Try me."
Silence.
Then—they vanished.
The abyss returned to its eerie stillness. No more whispers. No more wraiths. Just me… and the blade in my hand.
I exhaled sharply. What the hell just happened?
My grip tightened around the sword. There was no denying it now—I was more than just a lost soul in this realm.
And the whispers weren't just fear-mongering.
They called me the Forgotten King.
Which meant… I had a throne to reclaim.
And someone out there wanted me dead before I could remember why.
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
☠ New Quest Activated ☠
[Reclaim Your Throne]
[???]
I looked up at the twisted horizon. The game had just begun.
[[END CHAPTER 2]]
What, you thought I'd just roll over and die?
Nah. That was just the tutorial.
Now, let's get serious.