Reed awoke in the dead of night, sweat clinging to his skin like rot. His body still buzzed with the aftershocks of the transformation—the runes beneath his skin now faded, but not gone. They pulsed when he breathed.
His dreams had been worse than nightmares. They were… instructions. Shapes. Symbols. A voice not his own, whispering rules in a language older than anything he'd ever heard.
He rose from the stone slab he now called a bed and stepped into the war-cave. The bone key left by the masked thing burned faintly where he'd hidden it under his cloak.
He clenched his fist around it.
Then the world changed.A shimmer rippled across his vision.
Then, as if the air itself responded, glowing green text appeared before his eyes:
[DOMAIN STATUS: GOBLIN'S HOLLOW - RANK F]
Territory Control: 100%
Population: 87 Goblins
Productivity: Low
Morale: Fearful
Hunger Level: Critical
Defense Rating: Pathetic
[LORD: REED VARN / STATUS: ALTERED-HUMAN]
Level: 3
EXP: 45 / 100
Hero Bound: 1 (SHIA – F-RANK)
Trait: Bloodmarked (Active)
Perk: None
Title: Goblin Lord
Loyalty Rating: 100% (Shia), 42%-68% (General Goblins)
Alignment: Unknown
"...It's like a game," Reed muttered.
But this wasn't play. This was real.
Shia entered the cave and froze as she saw the glow in his eyes.
"You see it now," she said. "The interface."
Reed turned to her. "You knew?"
"I guessed. You changed after Drek'mar. All Lords eventually awaken their access. But you… you triggered it early. The blood changed your connection."
"Explain."
Shia sat cross-legged, cleaning one of her blades. "Every lord is connected to the System. It governs domains, growth, power, even death. Heroes are extensions of the System—tools created to serve."
"And you?" Reed asked.
"I was born from it," she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "But I'm broken. Rank F. A mistake."
"No," Reed said. "You're loyal. That's what matters."
Her eyes flicked to him. A silent nod of gratitude.
Reed navigated the System screen with a thought. Each blinking icon responded like a living thing. He found tabs: Construction, Upgrades, Missions, Skill Allocation, and Population Control.
Most of it was locked behind EXP.
"How do I gain experience?" he asked.
"Killing," Shia answered. "Commanding. Dominating. The System rewards progress… but not mercy."
Reed smirked. "Perfect."
He opened the Construction tab. Only three options were available at his level:
Pit Fortifications – 50 EXP
Basic Training Arena – 75 EXP
Smokehouse – 30 EXP
He had 45.
"Smokehouse it is," he muttered, selecting it.
The moment he did, the earth groaned. Goblins outside began moving—driven not by orders, but instinct. The System compelled them.
Stone was stacked. Bones became scaffolding. In an hour, smoke curled from a pit-ringed structure.
The first preserved meat was ready by dawn.
Reed was restless. He needed more power. More options.
He led a group of ten goblins into the dead woods to hunt beasts—feral dogs, twisted deer, anything that bled.
Each kill gave him a flicker of green light, a +1 EXP, and with each drop of blood, his grin widened.
He experimented: had goblins kill under his command, let Shia kill, killed himself. Only his blade gave the most EXP.
Control and personal violence—that was the key.
He reached Level 4 before dusk.
New Trait Unlocked: HUNGERBORN
Your body consumes pain as fuel. The lower your health, the stronger your physical attacks.
Passive bonus: +10% physical resistance at critical HP.
He stood over the twitching corpse of a spike-backed boar and laughed, dripping with its blood.
"Keep sending me monsters," he hissed to the trees. "I'll eat them all."
Back at the Hollow, Reed and Shia sat in the war-cave again, reviewing System data scratched onto a hide.
Shia spoke first. "You should know—Heroes have levels too."
"I saw," Reed said. "You're still Rank F."
She smiled grimly. "I can grow. But not like you."
"Why?"
"Because I'm bound. I reflect your will. If you're weak, I'm weak. If you rise, so do I."
Reed leaned back. "Then you'll become a god with me."
She didn't laugh. "That path ends in blood."
"So be it."
Not every goblin adapted well.
Two workers tried to steal from the meat stores. Reed made an example.
They were dragged to the center of the Hollow. Reed gave each a rusted knife and told them to fight.
One refused.
Reed crushed his windpipe with a boot and fed his corpse to the dogs.
The other fought. Lost. Bled.
Reed promoted the victor.
"Everything has a price," he told the tribe. "Obedience buys life. Rebellion buys death."
The goblins cheered.
Not from joy. From fear.
That night, Reed noticed something glowing in the cave wall—a rock, pulsing with faint crimson light.
System Interface pinged:
[Rare Material Detected: Bloodstone]
Effects unknown. Extraction requires Rank D structure: Arcane Forge.
"Can't use it yet," Reed muttered.
Shia frowned. "Bloodstone's not native. Someone placed it here. Recently."
"Then someone knows I'm here."
Her blades slid silently from her sides.
"Then we find them."
In the dead of night, Reed checked his interface one last time before sleeping.
But something was wrong.
The screen flickered.
Then new text appeared—harsh, jagged, blood-red:
[ERROR: ILLEGAL USER CONFIGURATION DETECTED]
[HOST BODY: NOT FULLY HUMAN]
[ACCESS GRANTED TO RESTRICTED SUBSYSTEM…]
Suddenly, a new menu unlocked:
[BLOODCODE: 1/7 ACTIVE]
Abilities: UNKNOWN
Restrictions: NONE
Side Effects: UNSTABLE
Then a voice—not Shia's, not his own—whispered from the screen:
"You are no longer bound by their rules, Reed. But freedom has a price. Will you burn the world to escape your leash?"
Reed's body seized.
Blood began pouring from his eyes.