The city never stopped moving. Neon lights bled through the streets, blending with smoke, noise, and the artificial hum of mana reactors lining the highrises. Above it all, the sky remained heavy—clouds like bruises, thunder waiting to strike.
Gabriel stood still in the storm.
His shadow rippled behind him, unnaturally quiet.
Two shadows now. Two bodies turned into eternal soldiers, bound to him and him alone.
And it was only the beginning.
He crouched low beneath a rotting overpass on the city's eastern fringe. Just beyond the concrete wall, a temporary security post manned by two low-rank Awakeners blocked the entrance to a known E-Class rift.
Low danger. Low profit.
But not for him.
Inside this dungeon wasn't treasure or recognition. It was a man. A character Gabriel remembered from the book—a minor background figure who would one day rise to become the continent's wealthiest tycoon.
Unless someone killed him first.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed. That future belongs to me now.
He waited for nightfall.
The guards rotated lazily, tired and underpaid. E-rank dungeons rarely caused problems.
That would be their mistake.
When the moment came, Gabriel slipped through the shadows like smoke.
His trait did the rest.
Just the sense of his presence was enough to unsettle minds. The guards flinched, glancing around, suddenly uneasy.
Gabriel didn't even need to strike. He passed through unseen.
The rift inside pulsed weakly, like a dying flame. A worn-out dungeon close to collapsing.
Perfect.
Gabriel stepped into the distortion.
The world twisted.
When his vision cleared, he stood in a collapsed underground metro station, dimly lit by sickly green torches embedded in stone. Tracks led into deeper tunnels filled with half-formed monsters that crawled along the walls.
He wasn't here for them.
He remembered the story well. A scavenger team of four would come here tonight. One of them—Aedan Lark—would be the one to survive.
Barely. Injured. Lucky. He would sell the right ore at the right time, get noticed, and slowly snowball his influence.
But in Gabriel's new version of the story…
Aedan wasn't getting out.
He waited in silence, crouched atop a rusted beam above the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Muffled laughter. Four men entered, weapons drawn, alert but confident. One carried a short staff embedded with a crystal—a cheap mana detector. The others had scavenged swords and shields.
Gabriel studied them.
The third from the left. Aedan. Short, wiry, black gloves. Same as the book.
Minutes passed as the team began clearing low-level beasts. Gabriel stayed hidden.
He waited until they reached the chamber where a mana node pulsed in the wall—a rare vein of elemental ore.
That was the trigger in the book. The boss would appear, kill two, injure one, and leave Aedan alive by accident.
Gabriel dropped silently behind them before it could begin.
His katana whispered through the air.
One man fell before he could scream.
Panic erupted.
The others whirled around—blades raised, yelling, confused.
Gabriel moved like death.
He struck the second in the throat and used his falling body as a shield against a mana bolt from the caster.
Aedan backed away, trembling.
"W-Wait—!"
Gabriel's gaze turned to him.
The False Monarch's aura activated.
Fear. Submission.
Aedan collapsed to his knees, paralyzed by the illusion of power.
Gabriel didn't hesitate.
The katana's edge gleamed——then silence.
The boss never got a chance to spawn.
Gabriel stood alone in the blood-slick chamber, shadows dancing across the flickering torchlight.
He extended his hand.
The system responded.
[Shadow Acquired: Aedan Lark][Special Class: Merchant-Type][Abilities: Economic Insight, Market Prediction, Resource Appraisal][Shadow Count: 3/10]
Aedan's form reformed from the corpse—humanoid, now clad in ethereal black.
Gabriel stared at him coldly.
"You'll build me an empire."
The shadow bowed.
He left the dungeon without being seen.
The guards never noticed him leave.
Back in the city, Gabriel sat in an unlit room above a pawnshop run by an old woman too poor to ask questions. A single window looked over the slums. Rain patted gently against the glass.
Aedan's shadow stood before him, silent and waiting.
"I want front businesses," Gabriel ordered. "I want hidden channels. I want to move dungeon cores and artifacts without drawing attention."
The shadow nodded. As if he'd been born to obey.
The next few days blurred with motion.
Under Gabriel's direction, Aedan secured shell companies using unregistered credits from dungeon sales. The system's synchronization with Gabriel increased slowly. Each transaction, each lie, pushed him deeper into the world.
[System Update][Credits: 47,300][Domain Radius: 6.5 meters][Sword Art: Domain Edge – Level 4/10][Shadow Count: 3/10][System Sync: 29%]
But Gabriel wasn't content.
He needed more power. Stronger shadows. He needed to train his body, refine his sword art, and expand his Domain.
He ventured into a mid-tier F-Class dungeon the next morning—this time alone, without relying on his shadows.
The creatures inside were smarter. Stronger.
He welcomed it.
Every fight, every dodge, every near-death moment was a lesson. His muscles ached. His ribs cracked. Blood painted his knuckles red.
But Eclipse learned with him.
Midway through the dungeon, Gabriel was ambushed by a horned reptilian beast—nearly B-Class by strength, far too strong for a new Awakened.
Its roar shook the stone walls. Its tail shattered the ground where he'd stood a heartbeat before.
Gabriel grinned.
"Finally."
The battle was long.
Brutal.
At one point, the beast pinned him to a wall, cracking bone. Blood dripped from his mouth.
But he did not panic.
He calculated.
Its left eye is slower to blink. Its rear foot slips slightly when it pivots. Use that—
He twisted, kicked off the wall, flipped over the beast's shoulders, and drove Eclipse through its spine.
With a final shriek, it collapsed.
He stood over the body, breathing heavily.
A fourth shadow rose.
[Shadow Acquired: Ravyr][Type: Warrior][Abilities: Brutal Strength, Defensive Focus, Close-Range Combat Expert][Shadow Count: 4/10]
Gabriel looked down at his bloodied hands, then at the black figure kneeling before him.
He smiled.
Power wasn't a blessing.
It was the reward for suffering more than anyone else was willing to.
And Gabriel?
He was just getting started.