??? AM – Awakening in Darkness
A chilling numbness seeped into his bones.
It was unlike any pain he had ever known—not the searing agony of wounds, nor the dull ache of exhaustion.
This was something deeper.
Something wrong.
Kyung-min's fingers clawed against cold, jagged stone as he forced himself upright. His breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving like he had just surfaced from drowning.
The moment his body moved—
His stomach twisted.
Violently.
He lurched forward, his palms barely catching him against the cavern floor before vomiting onto the cold stone. His body convulsed, shuddering as he coughed out the last remnants of whatever had just happened to him.
His insides felt wrong.
Like something had burrowed into his soul and taken root.
It was a sickness beyond the body—a rejection of existence itself.
Then—
A notification flickered in the dark.
🔹 [You Have Survived the Abyss.]
🔹 [Evolution Complete.]
🔹 [New Class Acquired – Revenant Necromancer.]
Kyung-min's breath hitched.
His fingers trembled as he forced himself to speak.
"Status."
The translucent blue screen materialized, illuminating the cavern in an eerie glow.
And when he saw it—
His blood ran cold.
________________________________
🔹 [STATUS WINDOW – HAN KYUNG-MIN]
[General Info]
🔹 Level: 1 (0/100 XP)
🔹 Class: Revenant Necromancer (???-Rank, Growth)
🔹 Title: ???
🔹 Profession: None
[Attributes]
🔹 HP: 250/250
🔹 MP: 600/600
🔹 Fatigue: 10/100
🔹 Gold: 0G
🔹 Strength: 8
🔹 Agility: 12
🔹 Stamina: 20
🔹 Intelligence: 60
🔹 Perception: 25
🔹 Free Stat Points: 0
🔹 [New System Achievements Unlocked]
Title: Abysswalker Reborn – (You have returned from the depths where none should have survived. The abyss no longer rejects you.)
🔹 Bonus: Grants the passive [Phantom Shroud] – Move freely within shadows (A-Rank, Level 1).
Title: Gaze of the Forsaken – (You have seen something beyond the system. And it has seen you in return.)
🔹 Bonus: Grants the passive [Veil of the Abyss] – Blend into darkness, making detection harder (A-Rank, Level 1).
Kyung-min froze.
The rank was hidden.
The system refused to reveal it.
His fingers trembled. His class had changed, but unlike his previous resets—this one felt irreversible.
And then—
🔹 [All Previous Skills Have Been Replaced.]
🔹 [New Skills Unlocked.]
His gaze snapped to the skill list.
[Active Skills]
🔹 Revenant's Command (???) – (The undead have no master—until they recognize one.)
Effect:
Grants full control over enemy undead upon successful domination.
Controlled undead regenerate over time and gain +30% Strength, +20% Durability.
Scales with Number of undead controlled.
No time limit—undead remain under control unless destroyed or released.
Mana Cost: Scales per undead controlled.
Cooldown: None (Requires manual release of excess summons).
🔹 Phantom Legion (A-Rank) – (Summons spectral undead permanently bound to the caster.)
Effect:
Summons 3 Phantom Wraiths (Scales with level).
Wraiths are intangible for 3 seconds upon summoning.
Automatically attack marked targets.
Mana Cost: 100 MP per summon.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.
🔹 Abyss Step (A-Rank) – (Teleport between connected shadows.)
Effect:
Allows instant movement between shadows within a 15-meter range.
Can be chained up to 3 times in succession.
Mana Cost: 50 MP per step.
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
🔹 Gravewalker's Frenzy (A-Rank) – (Necrotic energy surges through the caster, drastically increasing speed.)
Effect:
+40% movement speed boost for 15 seconds.
All physical strikes during this time leave afterimages.
Undead minions receive +20% attack speed in the effect's range.
Mana Cost: 80 MP.
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
🔹 Dread Manifestation (A-Rank) – (The presence of the necromancer induces primal fear.)
Effect:
Enemies below Willpower stat automatically enter a Fear State for 5 seconds.
Stronger enemies suffer -30% movement speed, -20% reaction time.
Mana Cost: 150 MP.
Cooldown: 3 minutes.
[Passive Skills]
🔹 Phantom Shroud (A-Rank) – (Move freely within shadows.)
Effect:
Can phase into darkness, reducing presence.
Grants silent movement while in the dark.
🔹 Veil of the Abyss (A-Rank) – (Blend into darkness, making detection harder.)
Effect:
Enemies have reduced perception of the user while in shadows.
Opponents with high perception stats may still detect distortions.
🔹 Death's Tether (A-Rank) – (When an undead summon is destroyed, Kyung-min regains MP.)
Effect:
Regenerates 10% of the destroyed undead's remaining MP.
________________________________
Kyung-min's breath slowed.
This wasn't necromancy in the way he'd known before.
It wasn't just about raising the dead.
It was dominating them.
His summons were permanent now.
And his core ability—Revenant's Command—wasn't just a summoning skill.
It was absolute control.
The realization settled in like a cold weight.
And then—
His fingers lifted.
🔹 [Phantom Legion Activated.]
??? AM – The Abyss Stirs
The cavern shifted.
Not physically—but fundamentally.
Kyung-min could feel it. A weight pressing against reality itself. His breath curled in the cold, stagnant air, the sensation of something unseen coiling around him like a predator that had just marked its prey.
The aftershocks of his evolution still pulsed through his limbs, his body adapting to something beyond mortality.
Then—
🔹 [Phantom Legion Has Been Summoned.]
A pulse of darkness rippled across the cavern floor.
Three wraith-like forms emerged, their hollow, glowing eyes piercing through the dim light. Their bodies flickered between existence and oblivion, mere silhouettes against the abyss.
These were different from the mindless undead he had raised before. They stood silent. Waiting. Watching.
They did not groan. They did not shuffle mindlessly.
They simply existed.
As if they had always been there.
Kyung-min exhaled.
Not puppets. Not mindless corpses.
Something else.
Something new.
A message flickered.
🔹 [Your Influence Has Deepened.]
🔹 [Your Undead Are No Longer Bound By Simple Reanimation.]
His grip tightened.
That meant one thing.
These weren't just summons.
They were part of him now.
??? AM – New Presence, New Power
Then—
A sound.
Low. Wet. Guttural.
Kyung-min froze.
His head slowly turned toward the darkness beyond the cavern.
Something was coming.
Something big.
The ground trembled beneath him, faint at first, then stronger.
A deep, resonating thud.
Then another.
Kyung-min's eyes narrowed.
It wasn't one thing.
It was many.
And then—
The shadows shifted.
And the monsters arrived.
🔹 [Enemies Detected.]
🔹 [Hostile Entities Approaching.]
First—The Abyss Crushers.
Massive, hulking creatures, their bodies composed of twisted muscle and exposed bones. Their arms were grotesquely overgrown, dragging against the cavern floor as they stomped forward.
Level 35.
Second—The Carrion Maulers.
Sickly, emaciated forms that slithered low against the stone, their elongated limbs ending in jagged talons. Their flesh pulsed with necrotic energy, half-alive, half-decayed.
Level 28.
Third—The Riftborn Stalkers.
Silent. Unseen. Their shifting, spectral bodies flickered between reality and nothingness. They moved without sound, without weight—only the gleam of their hollow eyes revealing their presence.
Level 32.
And they were hunting him.
Kyung-min exhaled.
He was alone.
No gear. No weapons. No armor.
Only his summons.
Only his necromancy.
And for the first time—
That was enough.
His fingers twitched.
"Go."
The wraiths moved.
They vanished into the darkness like living shadows.
Kyung-min's heart pounded.
This was his first real test.
Could he command them like a true necromancer?
Or was he still just fighting to survive?