Taking a slow breath, Aiden closed his eyes and focused.
According to the memories of his previous life, a person’s God-given Class was bound to the soul from birth.
He had always thought it would only awaken when Eclipse Online merges with reality, but he was able to perceive traces of its existence...
This made him wonder if the classes were awakened but not awakened fully till when Eclipse Online merges with reality...
Wanting to test out his theory, he reached inward. The next instant, a dark crimson interface silently unfolded within his consciousness.
Its design was ancient and mysterious, its edges engraved with blood-red patterns that seemed to pulse like living veins. A faint abyssal aura seeped from every corner, carrying an indescribable pressure.
It looked nothing like the standard Class interfaces he remembered. This one felt... alive.
At the center of the screen, several blood-colored words slowly materialized.
[Class: Sovereign of Souls]
[Rank: SSS (Unique)]
[Status: Dormant (Automatically awakens after Eclipse Online merges with reality.)]
[Partial Soul Absorption]
[By partially absorbing the soul essence of every slain target you have a chance to permanently gain one of the following:]
[Attribute Points]
[Skill Proficiency/Trait Of The Soul]
[Unbound Equipment]
[Currency]
[Soul Devour]
[Allows the user to forcibly seize another player’s God-given Class as the Soul Sovereign and make it their own.]
[Restrictions: Extremely long cooldown. Requires special activation conditions.]
[Mask of the Faceless]
[Perfectly conceals the user’s Class, level, attributes, skills, and all related information.]
[Authority IV]
[Locked.]
For a long moment, Aiden simply stared. Even with the composure forged through three years of surviving the apocalypse, his heartbeat quickened.
An SSS-Rank! A Unique Class! Sovereign of Souls!
His previous life’s Class, Dragon Sovereign’s Guard, had been powerful, but it had never truly belonged to him.
Its greatest strength had been amplifying the Dragon Sovereign’s authority while granting overwhelming combat bonuses to those who served him.
In exchange, its bearer became little more than another piece on Damien Bale’s chessboard, a guardian, a shield, a sacrifice. He was immensely strong, but such strength with such deadly weakness is a huge drawback...
Aiden was relieved he didn’t awaken thesame class as his past life before regression...
Why wouldn’t he be glad, after all this Class belonged to no one. It consumed souls. It stole destinies. It evolved. It transformed every fallen enemy into nourishment.
And the most terrifying ability of all... Soul Devour.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. ’If I could seize another person’s Class... Then even Damien Bale’s Sovereign of Fate could become mine!’
A slow smile spread across his face. "Souls... How fitting."
His voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"This life, I’ll climb to the top by standing on the corpses of those who sought to use me."
Moving to the kitchen, his gaze shifted toward the window.
A praying mantis had leaped in from the overgrown lawn outside, landing on the kitchen floor.
Aiden watched it for a moment before his eyes narrowed.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
’Could a dormant Class still function?’ He focused his will on the mantis.
The dark crimson icon within his consciousness flickered almost imperceptibly.
A faint force stirred within him.
Aiden’s expression hardened upon noticing this, a bit of excitement coursed through him... The next instant, he crushed the mantis beneath his foot.
He waited but nothing happened. Yet his gaze remained fixed on the motionless insect.
Then, almost experimentally, he directed the power of his dormant Class toward it.
The crimson icon flickered again. A notification quietly appeared.
[Soul Essence Absorbed.]
[Obtained Target Trait: Slightly Sharp.]
The message vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Aiden stared at the notification’s fading afterimage, then glanced down at the dead mantis.
’It actually works!’
The fact that a dormant Class could function at all was surprising. But after thinking about it, the result itself wasn’t particularly strange.
’All living things should possess a soul.’
His gaze lingered on the mantis. ’So theoretically, it’s only natural that I could obtain something from it.’
What surprised him was not that the mantis had a trait he could absorb.
It was that his dormant Class could already reach into reality and extract soul essence before it had even awakened.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’Then what happens after I awaken?’
Taking a deep breath, His gaze shifted toward the kitchen knife resting beside the sink.
’If I can extract a trait... can I apply it as well?’
He focused his will on the knife. The dark crimson icon within his consciousness flickered.
A faint sensation passed through his mind.
Then...
[Trait Selected: Slightly Sharp.]
[Trait Applied: Slightly Sharp.]
The notification vanished. Aiden looked down at the knife.
At first, nothing seemed to have changed. But when he picked it up and tilted the blade beneath the bathroom light, a faint gleam ran along its edge.
It was subtle. Almost imperceptible. Yet the blade looked noticeably cleaner and sharper than before.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. ’It really can be transferred.’
His grip tightened slightly around the handle.
So his Class wasn’t limited to simply absorbing traits. It could also apply them to other targets. This is not what’s surprising to Aiden, what’s surprising was that he could do all this when Eclipse Online was yet to merge with reality...
Ignoring it, the message vanished as quickly as it appeared. Aiden looked down. Nothing seemed different. Yet when he lifted the knife, the blade reflected a colder, cleaner gleam beneath the bathroom light.
The change was almost imperceptible... But it was real.
His pupils contracted. "So even before awakening... I can already absorb soul essence from reality."
The corners of his lips slowly curved upward. "Sovereign of Souls... You really don’t let me down. You’re exactly what I need, You’re exactly what I need to teach that bastard a lesson..."
Even a mundane beast possessed something worth absorbing. What, then, could he obtain from the countless monsters, champions, and Chosen who would soon descend upon the world?
Just thinking about it made his blood stir.
’No. Calm down, Aiden.’
Aiden closed his eyes once more and slowly exhaled. Excitement was a luxury he could not afford.
Twenty-four hours remained before the apocalypse. Every second from now until then was worth more than gold.
Time was running out. He had only twenty-four hours before Eclipse Online descended upon reality.
Every second he wasted was another opportunity slipping through his fingers.
He moved quickly, his mind already racing through the countless memories of his previous life.
Damien Bale’s meteoric rise had never been due to the Sovereign of Fate alone.
More than once, his so-called "destiny" had simply been a matter of arriving first.
He had seized hidden quests, unique opportunities, and countless treasures that had appeared during the earliest stages of the apocalypse.
And among them, one treasure stood above the rest.
[Boundless Maw]
A growth-type spatial relic which, at first glance, seemed to be nothing more than a storage artifact with a capacity far beyond anything available during the early stages of the apocalypse.
But that was only the beginning.
It was far more than a simple storage artifact.
As its owner grew stronger, the relic would grow alongside them. In time, it could evolve into a pocket world capable of nurturing resources, storing armies, and even sustaining entire civilizations.
It had been one of the greatest foundations behind Damien Bale’s rise.
And today... It had yet to find an owner.
According to Aiden’s memories, it would appear this afternoon in the southern district of the city.
His eyes narrowed.
"The first thing I’ll take... is your future."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Thank you for preparing my starting capital."
His plans rapidly rearranged themselves.
’I have to get the Boundless Maw. There’re still hidden quests and early-game resources to claim... I also have to be wary of potential enemies. Every decision from this moment onward will reshape my future. There’s no room for hesitation.’
Smiling, Aiden slipped the subtly enhanced fruit knife into his pocket, changed into lightweight casual clothes, and strode out of the dormitory.
The moment he stepped outside, warm sunlight washed over his face.
The campus was alive. Students laughed together beneath rows of trees. Some hurried toward class, while others gathered in small groups, arguing over games, exams, and relationships.
Their carefree conversations drifted through the air, completely untouched by fear.
None of them knew... That in twenty-four hours, the world they took for granted would cease to exist.
Aiden slowed for only a moment. His gaze lingered over the familiar campus.
It was peaceful, beautiful and fragile. Soon... It would become a battlefield.
The breeze ruffled his black hair as he continued forward. It carried warmth, yet it could not melt the frost buried within his eyes.
Nor could it extinguish the vengeance burning beneath it.
As he crossed the central square, a massive holographic billboard played the latest promotional trailer for Eclipse Online.
Magnificent cities, legendary dragons and Godlike heroes. A perfect fantasy world.
Countless students stopped to admire it. Some even discussed which Class they planned to choose after the servers opened, while others excitedly speculated about which hidden Classes might exist within the game.
Aiden merely glanced at the billboard before looking away.
They still believed it was only a game.
Twenty-four hours from now... They would learn the truth.
Lowering the brim of his cap, Aiden disappeared into the flow of people.
No one noticed the young man quietly walking through the crowd.
No one knew... That the greatest variable of the coming apocalypse had already returned.
This time... The hunter had entered the board before the game had even begun.