A Boy's Memory
The boy had a dream. A grand dream of becoming a great knight. Though he was born with a frail body, the boy never gave up.
I'm going to be a knight! And protect people!
Like any boy his age, his dream was ambitious. He would defeat the evil lords who plagued the world and slay all manner of dangerous monsters, becoming a great knight. The boy worked tirelessly. He rolled in the dirt countless times, enduring the agony of his muscles tearing over and over, until that seemingly impossible wish finally became reality.
"Congratulations, Vigoor! I never thought the blacksmith's son would actually become a knight!"
The boy became a knight. In a humble rural village, a glorious knight was born from a family that had forged iron for generations.
"I'm proud of you, my son."
Amid everyone's cheers, the boy set off on a long journey. He hunted the monsters that tormented people. A title was added before his name: Immortal Knight Vigoor. It suited the boy perfectly—he had never once been defeated.
After that, the boy wandered the world. And finally, he arrived at the Flaik Empire.
"I appoint you as an Imperial Knight."
Thanks to the fame he had amassed, Vigoor joined the most honorable order of knights, one that only the elite could attain. The boy believed his days of glory would last forever.
But disaster struck without warning one day.
"Now the world will sleep in eternal darkness forever!"
An eternal night descended. The great sun of glorious morning was devoured by the Witch of Silence, and a hush fell over the land. Faced with an unprecedentedly powerful enemy, people banded together against the evil. But there were no victories. The witch's power was a catastrophe in itself.
In the end, they turned to their last remaining hope: the great god said to protect humanity, Remideus.
All who received the god bowed their heads.
"Offer a sacrifice."
"What sacrifice do you desire?!"
"I crave the heart of a newborn child."
It was an absurd demand. But the situation was that dire.
"Please accept our sacrifice!"
In the end, people chose to offer the life of a child who couldn't even open its eyes yet, rather than their own.
They were all mad. And the boy was no different.
"Rachel! No!"
The wailing of the child's mother pierced the air. The boy fell silent in despair. If we just sacrifice that one child, peace will come. Just one sacrifice, and everyone can be happy. He forced himself to believe it and turned away.
But was that the price of ignoring the weak? Retribution came faster than expected.
"Not very tasty."
Just one sentence. The atmosphere shifted in an instant. The god, who had seemed benevolent toward humanity moments ago, transformed into a monstrous form. Horns sprouted from his head, and massive wings unfurled from his back.
A dragon. Why had the god taken the form of a dragon? No—had the god we believed in ever truly been divine? Had we been deceived by the devil's sweet whispers from the start, harboring false faith?
No one knew. The truth was not for lowly beings like the boy to comprehend. So once again, he remained silent.
"Still, as payment for the amusement you've provided me all this time, I'll grant you a blessing."
Taking pity on humanity, the god bestowed the blessing of immortality. People rejoiced. Even if his form has changed, the god still cares for us! No matter how grave the wounds, they would never die. Humanity charged at the witch relentlessly until they claimed victory. The world regained the sun's light. Everyone's bodies were broken, but no one died.
But it didn't take long to realize this was no true blessing.
"Aaaargh!! Please, just kill me!"
"Oh god! Why have you cast us into this hell?!"
Those who should have died long ago went mad from being unable to. They writhed in endless, unresting agony. They aged with time. Wounds deepened, blood flowed without cease. Yet they couldn't die—a hellish fate. How could this be called a blessing? Humanity had been toyed with.
Realizing too late that the dragon had deceived them, humans decided to seal themselves away to reclaim death.
"Knight Vigoor! I give you your final order. Guard this place so no intruders can enter."
He couldn't refuse. If only he hadn't allowed that child's sacrifice back then, he might have at least upheld his honor as a knight. So once more, the boy silently accepted his fate.
Those of the great bloodline slumbered deep in the tomb. And the boy, tasked with guarding the entrance, quietly awaited the end of time. As years passed, his body rotted, but he did not die. Thus, the knight became a skeleton.
A body of bare bones, eternally guarding a tomb filled with death. A fitting punishment for a false knight who protected nothing.
In that brief instant, a flood of memories poured into me. It felt like watching a movie. Having viewed the skeleton knight's entire life, my impression wasn't a bright one.
It's dark! Way too dark! What is this, some dark fantasy knockoff? Is it okay to be this brutal? No matter how I thought about it, the story was miles from anything ordinary—I found myself shaking my head in disbelief.
What? Sacrificing a newborn as an offering? The god you'd believed in your whole life turns out not to be a god? Each revelation was a gut punch. Even from a skeleton's perspective, it was impossible to swallow.
I didn't like it. Amid an inexplicable irritation, I recalled what I needed to do.
The moment I inherited the power, my body had creaked and begun changing. I looked down at myself.
First off, my field of vision felt much higher than before. Had my body grown larger? And the bones seemed a deeper shade somehow.
The changes didn't stop there.
My arm's back!
"Clack!"
My half-destroyed arm had returned to normal. Recovered during the reconstruction? Anyway, good news.
Status window!
Something was off. Last time I checked, my level was up by 10. Why had it dropped? I rubbed my eyes and checked again and again—no change.
Unable to accept reality at first, I soon grasped the situation.
No way... did inheriting the power reset my level? That's...! I didn't want to believe it, but that was the only explanation. What kind of logic is this—levels resetting just from a class change?! Unfair. All my efforts felt wasted, making it sting even more. Even though it'd taken less than a day to level up.
Anyway, unfair! Give me my levels back!
After fuming for a while to cool off, a ominous thought crossed my mind.
What if the skills reset too?
That can't happen!
"Clack!"
My level 100 Slash skill!! I hurriedly summoned the skill window.
Skill window!
◇ Soul's Eye lv. 1
◇ Craving lv. 1
◇ Slash lv. 100
◇ re:bone lv. 1
◇ Dodge lv. 1
◇ Cry of Despair lv. 1
◇ Charge of Hatred lv. 1
Thank goodness—the skill levels were intact. As I sighed in relief, I noticed a change and looked closer. New skills. Two of them! Eager to check, I tried reading their descriptions.
But...
Access denied due to insufficient user level.
...Damn it! Just when things were looking up. My mood soured again. Guess I need to level up first. Irritated, I scratched my smooth skull and stood.
The clearing was silent now that its original owner was gone.
I scanned for hidden items, but my eyes caught a massive door.
Thud!
But the firmly shut door showed no sign of opening.
Bam!
Won't even budge.
Not even a scratch from my level 100 Slash. No way to open it now. I'd have to find a key later. A classic game trope to pad playtime—devious. Having concluded this was a game world, I turned away in resignation.
Where to now? This was just the first floor. Deeper levels might have more, but fresh off my transformation, I wasn't keen. I just wanted some fresh air after so long.
...Let's head out.
Too gloomy here. Plus, the level reset had me down, and not being able to check my new skills due to low level made it worse. I retraced my steps to the surface for some wind.
The moment I exited the dungeon, intense sunlight bathed the ground. So fierce it felt like my bones would cook.
Sizzle!
Ow! Hot!
"Clack! Clack clack!"
Not my imagination. My bones glowed red-hot in real time, taking massive damage. I dove under a tree's shade and peeked out through the bushes.
What the hell? Why this reaction now? Sunlight used to just feel unpleasant before.
Did inheriting the power change that...?
Makes sense. My constitution shifted. A side effect of becoming a higher-grade monster—I couldn't even enjoy sunlight anymore.
Do I have to live in shadows forever now...?
"Clack clack...?"
As my gloom deepened, a rustle sounded.
"You sure we don't need to worry?"
"I told you, yeah? It's just the entrance—what could pop out?"
Voices nearby. Dodging sunlight, I followed the sound. Two figures approached: a cocky guy and a nervous girl trailing him. Total noobs. Nothing like the veterans from before.
Spotting the newbie couple, my eyes gleamed.
Levels reset to one? Then level up again. Wrapping myself in tattered cloth scraps from around, I rose from the shadows.
Alright, time to hunt.