Chapter Two: First Step into Darkness
The system window burned itself into Crow's vision.
[ LEVEL UP: 1 → 2 ]
[ REWARD: Divine Rank Trait Acquired! ]
[ SSS-Rank Class: NECROMANCER unlocked! ]
Crow froze on the empty stairwell, the cold concrete under his boots, the city silent around him.
A cold, electric shiver ran up his spine.
Necromancer.
In his last life, the players who picked Necromancer classes were feared.
Controllers of death, commanders of armies made from the fallen — but none of them had an SSS version. Those were myths. Rumors whispered between desperate survivors.
And now, it was his.
He opened the full Class window:
[Class: Death Sovereign - Necromancer (SSS)]
Raise Dead: Animate corpses into loyal undead. Death Command: Dominate lower undead at will. Boneforge: Create armor and weapons from fallen enemies. Soul Archive: Absorb a portion of experience from slain foes.
[Hidden Effect: No Summon Limit.]
Crow's lips curled into a rare smile. No summon limit.
No one could stop him now.
Not if he moved fast.
He closed the window and stepped into the shadowed streets.
Already, the cracks in the world were beginning to show: creatures that looked half-real, half-data shimmered in the alleys — thin at first, like echoes, but growing stronger by the hour.
At the end of the block, a low growl sounded.
A mangy dog, or at least something that used to be a dog, stood there. Its flesh was half-rotted, eyes glowing faint red.
The first of the monsters.
Crow didn't hesitate.
He summoned the system panel again, selecting Raise Dead.
The air around him turned frigid. His shadow stretched long and sharp under the blood-red sunset.
First, he needed a corpse.
Crow pulled the rusted knife from his belt — stolen earlier from an abandoned market — and advanced.
The dog lunged. Fast.
Faster than it should have been.
But Crow had fought monsters before. Bigger, uglier, meaner. His body moved on its own, ducking low, sliding forward. The knife flashed.
One clean strike to the throat.
The dog crumpled, twitching once, then lay still.
[ 5 XP Gained. ]
Crow didn't waste time admiring it. He raised his hand, and black threads of energy spun from his palm, sinking into the corpse.
The transformation was instant.
The dog's body jerked upright, steam hissing from its open wounds. Its eyes, once red with malice, now shone a cold blue.
[ Summoned Unit: Undead Hound ]
[ Loyalty: Absolute ]
Crow grinned wider.
One minion. Dozens more to come.
He could already feel it — the tug of potential, the dark symphony of death waiting to be conducted.
This world was ending.
And Crow?
Crow was just getting started.
END OF CHAPTER TWO