Revenant’s Throne: The Rise of the Undead King

Seoul, South Korea – 10:42 PM

The world was quiet.

Han Kyung-min leaned back in his chair, lazily twirling his chopsticks between his fingers. The faint hum of the convenience store's refrigerators buzzed in the background, blending with the occasional rustling of plastic as another late-night customer wandered the aisles. Outside, the city was alive with the usual sounds—car horns, distant laughter, the murmur of students walking past in groups.

It was… peaceful.

And it made his skin crawl.

He wasn't sure why, but something about tonight felt wrong. Like an itch at the back of his mind that he couldn't scratch.

Maybe it was just exhaustion. It had been a long day at school, and he was mentally drained from dodging his homeroom teacher's nagging about university applications. He wasn't an idiot—his grades were fine, his family was well off, and he could live comfortably even if he slacked off a little. But deep down, he knew that wasn't what really bothered him.

He wanted something different. Something more.

A sigh escaped his lips as he turned his attention back to his food. The steaming cup of instant ramen was waiting patiently, the broth dark and rich, the scent of artificial spice hitting his nose in waves. He snapped apart his chopsticks and was about to take his first bite when his phone vibrated.

Glancing at the screen, he saw a new message pop up.

🔹 Seok-hoon: Yo, Kye. Still up?

🔹 Min-jun: We're meeting at the PC café. Join us.

🔹 Seok-hoon: Don't be lame, man. Bring snacks.

Kyung-min scoffed, shaking his head. Those two never changed.

He was about to type out a sarcastic reply when—

CRACK.

The sky outside split.

Not in a metaphorical way. Not a trick of the eyes.

The actual sky fractured—a massive, jagged wound forming across the night, glowing with an unnatural, pulsating light. Buildings flickered, their outlines shifting like static on a broken TV screen.

Then—

The screams began.

10:44 PM – The Fall of Seoul

Kyung-min barely registered the moment when the windows exploded inward.

Shards of glass rained over him, cutting into his arms as he instinctively threw himself to the ground. The air pressure inside the convenience store shifted violently, as if something had sucked all the oxygen out in a single breath.

"W-What the hell?!"

The store clerk, a guy in his mid-twenties, stumbled back in terror, his hands trembling as he pulled out his phone. His fingers barely brushed the screen before something pulled him backward.

No—something grabbed him.

A blackened hand burst through the shattered window, fingers unnaturally long, its flesh rotting and peeling like burnt leather. The clerk let out a strangled shriek as the hand latched onto his throat and yanked him into the darkness outside.

His scream was cut short.

A second later, something heavy splattered against the sidewalk.

Kyung-min's pulse pounded in his ears. His breathing was shallow, rapid. He slowly turned his head toward the gaping hole where the convenience store's window used to be—

And saw it.

A figure stood in the street.

It was humanoid… almost.

Its limbs were too thin, its bones jutting out unnaturally beneath its shredded clothing. Its face was stretched, its mouth pulled into a grotesque, endless grin. Empty sockets leaked thick, black ichor as it twitched, its fingers flexing—clawed, unnatural.

A notification flickered in the corner of his vision.

[Dungeon Break – Initiated.]

"A merging event has begun. Earth is no longer stable."

"Survive, adapt, and overcome. Failure means extinction."

Kyung-min barely had time to process those words before the creature lurched forward.

It was fast. Too fast.

His instincts screamed at him to move, but his body refused to obey. His feet felt rooted to the floor, his mind overwhelmed with the sheer wrongness of what was happening. He had seen horror movies before—zombies, ghosts, demons—but nothing in fiction had ever captured the sheer malice radiating from this thing.

Then, just as it reached him—

BANG!

A flash of light. A deafening gunshot.

The creature's head snapped to the side, a mist of black liquid spraying through the air. Its body twisted unnaturally, limbs twitching as it stumbled backward.

"Get up, idiot!"

A hand grabbed Kyung-min's collar and yanked him to his feet.

The girl standing beside him was bleeding from a cut above her eyebrow, her silver hair streaked with dirt and blood. She held a sleek, black pistol in one hand, the barrel smoking. Her expression was calm—too calm for someone who had just shot a monster in the face.

The creature shrieked, its wound already closing.

"Move," she ordered. "Unless you want to die."

Kyung-min's body finally responded.

He ran.

11:10 PM – First Contact

The city was unrecognizable.

The roads had changed. Some buildings were still standing, but others had morphed—their structures twisted, reshaped into something ancient, impossible. The air was thick with the smell of blood, smoke, and something foul, like rotting wood left in the sun.

Distant explosions shook the skyline. The screams had faded, replaced by the roars of something much larger.

Kyung-min and the girl had taken shelter in an abandoned storefront, crouched behind overturned shelves. He was still struggling to catch his breath when she finally spoke.

"What's your name?"

"...Han Kyung-min," he managed, his voice hoarse. "You?"

She studied him for a moment before responding.

"Doesn't matter."

He scowled. "You literally just asked for mine."

"You looked like you were about to pass out. I needed to keep you awake."

Kyung-min clicked his tongue but said nothing. He wasn't in the mood to argue. Not after what he had just seen.

His vision flickered. Another notification.

[You have awakened.]

[Starting Class Assigned: Soul Archivist (E-Rank, Support-Type)]

His breath caught in his throat.

"…You have got to be kidding me."

The girl glanced at him. "What?"

Kyung-min swallowed hard, his fingers trembling. He hesitated before showing her his status screen. The words E-Rank, Support-Type practically glowed with mockery.

She scanned it, then shrugged. "Unfortunate."

"Unfortunate?!" Kyung-min hissed, barely keeping his voice down. "I'm supposed to fight in this nightmare with a non-combat class?!"

She stared at him for a moment. Then—

She smirked.

"I guess you'll just have to survive, then."

Kyung-min clenched his jaw.

Somehow, he had a feeling this was only the beginning.

End of Chapter 1

(This moment is locked. The story has begun. The world has fractured. The countdown to betrayal has already started.)