Graywood Basin lived up to its name.
Twisted, leafless trees rose like skeletal hands across the horizon. A thick mist hugged the forest floor, muffling every footstep and stealing the warmth from the air.
The further they walked, the less it felt like a place of nature—and more like a place the world had abandoned.
Min, the bowman, knelt beside a crooked root.
"Tracks. Light. Hooved. Could be a horned hare. Maybe something worse."
Han Do cracked his knuckles. "I vote for worse. Makes things interesting."
Tae-hyun kept his senses sharp. He couldn't see more than ten feet ahead, but he felt something.
> [Warning: Qi Field Distortion Detected]
[Passive Alert: The local aura is unstable. Expect spiritual interference.]
The System's alert only confirmed what his instincts screamed: this forest was wrong.
---
They reached a ruined shrine by midday. Moss-covered stone, broken statues, and claw marks on the altar.
Yul, the quiet one, traced his fingers across a half-buried inscription.
"The shrine's been corrupted," he whispered. "The Qi flow here's been twisted. Something's been feeding off it."
Soo-yeon circled the perimeter.
"Tracks lead in, but not out. Could be a beast den."
Han Do grinned. "Then let's knock."
Tae-hyun raised a hand. "No. Let's bait it."
They all looked at him.
He knelt, dug into his pouch, and pulled out a raw spirit bait crystal—basic, low-grade, but strong enough to draw minor beasts.
He crushed it on the altar.
The mist rippled.
The silence deepened.
Then—a low growl.
---
A shadow burst from the tree line—a beast covered in chitinous plates, with three red eyes glowing from its lupine skull.
Its claws dug into stone as it skidded to a halt. Spines bristled along its back.
> [Species Identified: Void-Touched Ravager Wolf – Rank: F+]
[Ability: Qi Drain Bite, Mist Camouflage, Frenzied Regeneration]
[Threat Level: Moderate-High]
[Note: Weak point located at spine-base; regeneration disables if severed.]
"Fan out!" Tae-hyun shouted.
---
The wolf lunged for Min.
An arrow thudded into its eye socket, making it shriek—but not fall.
Han Do intercepted the beast with a body slam, knocking it off balance, while Soo-yeon slashed at its legs with twin sabers.
Tae-hyun dashed in behind.
He activated Phantom Step, blinked beneath the beast's guard, and drove his dagger straight for the glowing ridges along its back.
It bucked hard, tail whipping around to slam him into the altar.
> [Damage: -5 HP]
[Status: Bruised Ribs]
[Qi Remaining: 14/24]
Yul's voice rang out, soft but clear.
"It's building up for a burst—watch the mist!"
The ground vibrated.
Then—boom.
A shockwave of dark Qi exploded outward, throwing everyone off their feet.
---
Tae-hyun coughed, vision blurry.
The System flashed.
> [New Option: Activate Stat Compression – Focus available Qi into a single stat for 10 seconds.]
> Confirm?
His fingers twitched. "Yes. Compress: Agility."
> [Agility boosted: +120% for 10 seconds.]
Time slowed.
The beast lunged.
Tae-hyun danced between its claws, each movement impossibly sharp. He climbed up its side, dagger flashing like lightning.
Then—he struck.
Straight into the base of the spine.
> [Critical Hit – Weak Point Penetrated]
[Target Regeneration Disabled]
[Squad Coordination Bonus Triggered – Beast Defense Broken]
Soo-yeon launched herself forward, blades spinning in an arc.
Han Do tackled the beast from the side.
Min's next arrow found its heart.
With a final howl, the creature collapsed into the mist.
---
Silence.
Then:
> [Beast Slain: Void-Touched Ravager Wolf]
[+22 Merit Points | +1 Skill Fragment | Loot: Beast Core (Corrupted F-Class)]
[Skill Progress: Fangsteel Dagger Mastery – 37%]
[Qi Gained: +6]
Tae-hyun dropped to one knee, panting.
Han Do chuckled as he wiped blood from his knuckles. "Not bad, rookie."
Min simply nodded. "That was clean."
Soo-yeon raised a brow. "Where'd you learn to move like that?"
Tae-hyun stood, sheathing his dagger.
"Earth."
---
Yul crouched beside the corpse.
"This thing… wasn't alone. It was a scout."
Everyone froze.
He pointed deeper into the mist.
"There's something bigger in there. Something ancient."
---
Tae-hyun looked ahead—into the shrouded woods pulsing with corrupted Qi.
His pulse was steady. His grip tight.
The System whispered its silent hunger in the back of his mind.
> [Optional Quest Available: Investigate the Core of the Graywood Disturbance – Estimated Threat Rank: E+ to D.]
[Reward: Unknown]
He didn't hesitate.
"Squad Nine. We're going deeper."
The trees grew taller as they moved deeper.
But they weren't alive.
Each trunk was blackened, twisted, and covered in pulsing red veins. Occasionally, one of them would breathe—a sick rhythm of expansion and contraction that stirred the mist.
"This Qi…" Yul muttered. "It's not just corrupted. It's sentient."
Soo-yeon looked around warily. "You mean it's watching us?"
He nodded. "And it remembers."
> [System Alert: You have entered a Domain Zone – Fragmented Will Detected.]
[Status: You are now being observed.]
Tae-hyun's breath slowed.
He'd felt eyes on him before—on Earth, in alleyways, in the slums.
But this?
This was different.
It wasn't hate.
It was hunger.
---
At the basin's heart lay a dead tree, wide as a tower and black as pitch.
Dozens of beast bones were piled around it—skulls split, Qi cores shattered.
The fog thickened here, flowing like liquid around the roots.
At its base, a hollow opened like a mouth.
Han Do grimaced. "We going in?"
Tae-hyun stepped forward without answering.
Because he already knew.
The System pulsed.
> [Main Quest Triggered: Root of Corruption]
[Objective: Cleanse or destroy the Fragmented Will.]
[Reward: Trait Upgrade + ???]
"Yeah," Tae-hyun said. "We are."
---
Inside, the walls pulsed with reddish light.
The deeper they went, the more they felt it—whispers in their minds, laced with temptation.
Soo-yeon winced. "It's trying to talk."
Yul's voice was strained. "Not talk. Bargain."
> [System Override Engaged – Psychic Interference Neutralized.]
Tae-hyun alone felt the whispers cut off.
But not before he caught a sliver of meaning.
A voice, like silk and ash:
Give me your pain. I will give you strength.
He clenched his fists.
> "I make my own strength."
---
They entered a chamber at the heart of the roots.
A figure sat there.
Or what used to be a person.
Draped in black robes, now fused with bark and stone, its face was half-bone, half-wood, and Qi bled from its mouth like smoke.
Its eyes snapped open.
The corrupted cultivator rose.
> [Entity Identified: Fallen Outer Disciple – Devourer Seed Host]
[Rank: E+]
[Warning: Possesses Domain Influence – Mental Fortitude Required.]
With a shriek, it raised one wooden arm—and vines lashed out from the walls like whips.
---
Han Do blocked one with his forearms, roaring as bark tore into flesh.
Soo-yeon spun through another, slicing it in two.
Min loosed arrow after arrow at the creature's chest—but the wounds closed fast.
Tae-hyun charged, activating Phantom Step mid-dash.
But as he closed in—
—it spoke.
"You don't belong here, cursed one. You reek of another world."
Tae-hyun's eyes narrowed.
"You reek of failure."
---
He slid beneath a vine and slashed at the creature's thigh.
His blade glanced off hardened bark.
It swung a wooden fist down, cracking the floor beside him.
> [Health: -7 | Qi: 11/24]
[Status: Fractured Shoulder – Movement Penalty 10%]
> [System Advice: Target the Qi Node – located in chest cavity.]
"Yul!" Tae-hyun shouted. "Can you disrupt its flow?"
The boy's eyes gleamed faintly. "Yes—but I need ten seconds."
"Do it!"
---
Soo-yeon and Han Do leapt in, battering the creature with coordinated attacks.
Vines lashed. Qi hissed in the air.
But they held.
At the edge of the chamber, Yul's hand touched the bark. He whispered.
A pulse echoed through the root walls.
The creature screamed—its chest core flickering with crimson light.
> [Core Exposed – Weakness Revealed]
Tae-hyun surged forward.
He compressed his Qi into a single point.
> [Qi Infusion: Fangsteel Dagger – 100%]
[Strike: Piercing Heaven – Active]
With a roar, he drove the dagger into the core.
Crack.
Snap.
Shatter.
The creature convulsed—and crumbled to ash.
---
> [Fallen Host Eliminated – Root Core Purged]
[+55 Merit Points | Loot: Devourer Seed (Dormant)]
[New Trait Gained: Mindlock Resistance I – +15% Resistance to Mental Interference]
[Qi Core Absorption: +12 Qi]
[Skill Progress: Fangsteel Dagger Mastery – 52%]
> [Optional Quest Completed – ??? Reward Unlocked]
[You have acquired: Fragment of Will (Unbound)]
---
The mist faded.
Light returned.
And for the first time in hours, the air felt clean.
Han Do whistled. "You break everything you touch, don't you?"
Tae-hyun wiped blood from his cheek.
"Only the things that try to break me first."
---
Outside, the basin was still.
But something had changed.
A tremor rippled through the ground, almost imperceptible.
Far to the north, in a mountain temple carved into clouds, an old man opened his eyes.
"So… another heir walks the path."
---