00:10:07
The moment I said "yes," I felt something crack inside me.
Not physically.
Not magically.
Existentially.
Like a hidden switch flipped, not in the System... but in me.
[SOUL WEAVER PROTOCOL: ACTIVE]Classification: Chaos Subclass – Echo Tier Initiated.Primary Trait: Soulbinding – Fragments of the dead cling to you, shaping your path.Warning: Emotional overload possible. Memories may bleed. Identity drift: 2%**
The sky pulsed faintly overhead—just once, like the world blinked.
And then I heard it.
Faint. Like radio static in my spine.
"Ren...?"
Jonah's voice.
Not screaming. Not corrupted.
Just present.
I staggered. Elya grabbed my shoulder. "What's happening?"
I clenched my eyes shut. "He's here. Jonah. His echo is... in me."
She went still. "You accessed the Fragment."
I nodded. "I don't know how to separate him. I don't know what he wants."
"Then ask."
I focused inward.On the scarf.On the weight in my chest.
And I cast:
[Soul Ping – Tier 0]Send a psychic signal into a bound fragment. Duration: 20 seconds.Risk: Temporary emotional mirroring.Cooldown: 2 hours.
The world fell away.
I was standing in a dim version of my old college library. But the lights flickered. Books floated in the air like broken dreams. The floor glitched beneath my feet.
Jonah sat on a bench, staring at his hands.
He looked up.
His eyes were tired. "You cast me."
I nodded. "I needed your power. I needed to survive."
He didn't speak for a moment.
Then he smiled. "I'm glad you didn't let me disappear."
I choked on the answer. "I'm sorry it came to this."
Jonah looked at the glitching bookshelves. "This is all that's left of me. You're the only person who remembers who I was."
He placed his hand on mine.
"Let me help."
[ECHO ACCEPTED: Jonah Park]Trait Gained: Memory Link – Access to Echo Skill: Guilt Spike Lv.1Description: Spike of fragmented energy tied to sorrow. Bonus damage against corrupted entities and illusions.Side Effect: Brief surge of emotional disorientation.
Echo Affinity: +5%Next Threshold: 25% – Unlock Echo Dialogue
The library began to collapse as the ping ended.
Jonah looked back at me one last time.
"There are others like me… echoes, trapped… some don't want to help. Some want revenge."
"You're not the only Soul Weaver now."
I snapped back into my body with a jolt.
Blood ran from my nose.
Elya had drawn a rune ward around me, ready to shock me awake.
"You were under for sixty seconds," she said. "It looked like years."
I wiped the blood away. "He gave me a skill."
"Echo spells are dangerous," she warned. "They hit harder—but if your emotions slip, they can turn on you. They aren't loyal. They're haunted."
"I know," I said, rising. "But I think that's the point."
That night, as the city groaned in the distance and the countdown ticked under 10 hours, I sat in silence.
Listening.
And I heard more than Jonah.
Whispers. Names I didn't know. Feelings I didn't recognize.
Echoes.
The price of power… was becoming the graveyard it grew from.
And I was already their crypt.