Chapter 1: Dreams of a Forgotten Life
A sharp wind howled through the desolate mountain range. Snow fell in thick sheets, blanketing the jagged peaks in an endless sea of white. Amid the storm's fury, a lone figure stirred beneath the cold embrace of winter.
His fingers twitched first, then his eyelids fluttered open. Pain surged through his body—a bone-deep ache, as if he had been broken and pieced back together. He struggled to sit up, breath fogging in the freezing air.
"Where... am I?"
His voice was hoarse, unfamiliar. He couldn't remember anything—his name, his past, how he had ended up in this frozen wasteland. Panic surged, but a strange calm followed—an instinctive feeling that something far greater lingered just beyond his grasp.
A glint of silver caught his eye. Embedded in the snow beside him was a jade-like pendant, smooth and cold. Without knowing why, he reached for it. The moment his fingers brushed the surface—
Ding!
A mechanical voice echoed within his mind.
> [Blessing System Activating…]
[Initializing Host Identity…]
[Error. Incomplete Memory Detected.]
[Reconstructing Data Fragments…]
His vision blurred as waves of information surged into his mind. Images flickered—strange lands, celestial palaces, and… faces. Some tender, some fierce. Yet, one stood out—a woman with long silver hair and eyes colder than the snow around him. Her gaze pierced through the fog of his memory, awakening something forgotten.
"Who… is she?" he whispered, the ache in his chest tightening.
> [Fragment Identified: First Wife – Frostmoon Empress]
His heart pounded. Wife? He didn't even know who he was, yet this system claimed he had a wife—no, the first of many.
Before he could process it further, a cold killing intent swept over him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. From the blizzard, shadowy figures emerged—clad in bone-white robes, their faces obscured by eerie masks.
"Bone Serpent Sect…" the system's voice echoed, now laced with urgency. "Host's identity poses a cosmic threat. Target confirmed—terminate on sight."
His body moved before his mind caught up. He barely dodged a spear of black ice hurtling toward his chest, stumbling back into the snow. Fear gnawed at the edges of his thoughts.
Why are they after me?
> [Activating Emergency Protocols.]
[Blessing of the Firstborn – Frostmoon Domain.]
The pendant pulsed, releasing a wave of silver energy. Snow and ice swirled violently around him, forming an impenetrable barrier. The masked figures froze—both in shock and quite literally as the air around them plummeted to sub-zero temperatures.
For a breathless moment, silence reigned. Then—
Boom!
The ice shattered under the pressure of a terrifying aura. From the blizzard stepped a woman, her silver hair flowing like moonlight. Her cold gaze swept over the attackers, and in the next instant—ice spears pierced their hearts, leaving no room for resistance.
She turned to him, her expression unreadable. "You truly forgot everything…"
He couldn't speak. Her presence overwhelmed every sense—a beauty so ethereal it felt unreal, yet her anger was anything but.
"I waited," she continued softly, though her voice trembled with restrained fury. "I waited through the rise and fall of entire realms. And now, you return… like this?"
"Who… are you?" The words felt like a betrayal the moment they left his lips.
Her eyes darkened with pain. Without another word, she turned away, the air around her growing colder.
> [New Quest Triggered – "Reclaim the Forgotten Bonds"]
The system's voice echoed faintly, but his heart pounded louder. Something had been lost—something precious. And if he wanted to survive, and perhaps reclaim the truth of who he was, he would have to find it again.
As the storm raged on, one truth became clear—this was only the beginning.