"He prayed to the gods for mercy. They gave him silence. Now he returns with malice."
---
The sun above was blinding. Too golden. Too divine.
It streamed through the clouds like the gentle hands of some merciful deity, bathing the marble city in soft warmth, igniting halos around the towers that pierced the sky. The crowd gathered in silence, thousands of hopefuls kneeling in rows across the massive plaza at the Tower's base.
It was a beautiful day.
The kind of day where dreams bloomed and gods smiled.
The kind of day Jin Black had died on—fifteen years ago.
> No. Not this time.
Jin stood at the far edge of the ceremonial platform, his black uniform pressed, his hands loose at his sides, his face unreadable. He was fifteen again. On the outside.
Inside, he was thirty. And something else entirely.
Each heartbeat felt like ash sliding down his veins. The kind of ash that once came from burning cities. From the corpses of comrades who spat on him as they died. From the Tower, collapsing in divine fire, screaming its fury at the world it had failed to save.
> They called me worthless. No blessing. No use. A waste of breath.
They were right.
Until I became something worse.
---
"Next."
A robed priest lifted his voice, a scroll in hand. His tone was casual—almost bored.
"Jin Black."
A ripple went through the crowd. A few laughed under their breath. Some whispered. Jin could hear every word.
> "That guy again?"
"Didn't he get rejected last time?"
"What a freak. He should just give up."
The priest didn't look at him as he stepped forward. No one ever did.
Jin knelt on the circle of white stone, where divine light shimmered in intricate glyphs beneath his knees. The other children had cried here. Begged. Worshipped.
Jin only closed his eyes.
A memory flashed—blood soaking his hands. A child torn apart by monsters because Jin had no power to help. A man sobbing as divine flames consumed him. His own voice screaming—
> "WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME?!"
Now, there was only silence. Stillness.
> I don't need your answer anymore.
---
The glyphs glowed. The priest raised his hand.
"Divine Selection... begin."
The Tower stirred. Golden light poured down from the heavens, warm and beautiful. All eyes turned to the altar.
Except Jin's.
> [Blessing Assessment in Progress…]
[Analyzing soul signature...]
[Searching divine match…]
[None found.]
The light dimmed. The silence grew.
Then:
> [Suppression Protocol Active...]
[Anomaly Detected.]
[Blessing Masked – Classified: Forbidden]
[Status: Null]
---
The priest cleared his throat. "...No blessing."
Laughter broke out like wildfire.
Someone in the crowd clapped mockingly.
Another threw a stone. It bounced harmlessly at Jin's feet.
"A failure! Again!"
"What did he expect?! The gods don't bless garbage."
> Funny.
You mock me for being empty.
But I was the only one who saw what was inside the Tower when it fell.
Jin rose slowly, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeve. He did not flinch. Did not speak.
His eyes, dull and coal-black, scanned the crowd without expression.
For a brief moment—just a heartbeat—those nearby felt something. A pressure. A chill. Like the breath of something ancient coiling just beneath the surface of a frozen lake.
But it was gone just as fast.
The crowd lost interest. Another name was called.
Jin walked away.
---
Later That Night
The ceremony ended at sunset. Fireworks filled the sky. Joy erupted across the city.
Children screamed in excitement as divine symbols carved themselves into their skin. Parents wept tears of pride. The newly Blessed celebrated.
Jin stood alone on the rooftop of a crumbling tower just beyond the city's edge.
The mask lay in his hand—black, beaked, cracked at the mouth. A relic of the plague ages, they once said. But to him, it was something more.
A warning.
He raised it to his face. The world blurred. The sky dimmed.
And then… the voice returned.
A whisper, slow and cruel, vibrating in his skull like coiling smoke.
> "You wear it well, my vessel."
"Soon… they will understand."
---
📜 Hidden System Activation
> [Hidden Blessing Activated]
[Black Malice – The Hollow God]
[Class: Apostate of the Hollow]
[Title Gained: False Chosen]
[Title Gained: Host of the Hollow]
[Skill Unlocked – Anti-Divine Field Lv. 1]
– Weakens nearby blessings (10%)
[Corruption Detected – 134 Units]
– Malice Saturation: Stable
Jin's lips curled behind the porcelain.
Not a smile. Not exactly.
A dead thing, wearing the shape of one.
They had left him in the dark.
And now, he would become the darkness in which they drowned.
---