Chrono Genesis – Blood Layer 01: The Flesh Catacombs
The staircase beneath the throne room spiraled downward, narrowing with every step.
Walls pulsed like living skin. Veins ran across the ceiling, glowing faintly red. It smelled of rust, sweat, and something worse—old code rotting under centuries of silence.
Jin gripped his Chain Fang sword tighter.
Every few steps, he could feel the weapon breathing — like it was alive and hungry.
A new message appeared in the corner of his vision:
> Blood Code Notice:
"The Blood Arsenal responds to instinct. Let it feed, and it will evolve. Hold it back, and it will turn on you."
"Great," Jin muttered. "My sword wants to eat me."
---
Suddenly — a scream.
Not a monster.
A girl.
He broke into a run, boots splashing through patches of sticky red fluid. The hallway opened into a cavern carved from bone. At its center stood a figure — cloaked in gray rags, back to him, holding a thin blade dripping with black blood.
Around her lay a pile of dismembered monsters — or whatever used to be monsters. They were twisted, mutated, like failed creations abandoned by the system.
The girl turned.
Her face was hidden behind a cracked bone-white mask.
She spoke with a quiet voice. Cold. Precise.
> "You're not from here."
Jin raised his sword. "Neither are you."
The girl studied him. "You accessed the Blood Code recently. I can tell by the way your weapon trembles. It's still young."
Jin frowned. "Who are you?"
> "...Call me Rei."
> "You're the second player I've seen in this place. The first one went mad. His blood still sings in these walls."
---
They stood in silence.
Then—movement.
The flesh under the ground began to ripple.
A hole tore open, and from it rose a creature stitched together from several player avatars — limbs of different sizes, glitching faces, system tags still flickering.
Its name floated in corrupted code above its head:
> [Abomination: Failed Merge – Lv. ???]
Rei didn't hesitate.
> "Run and it'll hunt you for hours. Stand and bleed, and it dies faster."
Jin nodded.
> "I choose bleed."
---
⚔️ Boss Fight: Abomination
The thing lunged with all four arms. Rei darted to the left, blade flashing in a silver arc. Jin moved right, his Chain Fang wrapping around one of the creature's limbs and yanking it backward.
Screams echoed from its mouths — different voices. Players. NPCs. Corrupted code.
Jin's heart pounded. He felt it again — the same pressure as when he fought his brother's avatar.
> Blood Arsenal Sync: 9%… 10%…
Mutation Chance: 31%
He screamed and pulled harder — Chain Fang shifted in his hand, reshaping mid-fight into a dual-bladed whip.
> Weapon Mutation: [Chain Fang → Twin Viper Lv.1]
New Skill: Viper Rend unlocked.
Jin activated it.
Twin blades tore into the Abomination's spine — while Rei plunged her sword directly into its eye. The creature convulsed, twisted, and collapsed, its data shattering into red mist.
---
After the fight, silence.
Rei didn't say thank you. She simply wiped her blade and stared into the distance.
> "More are coming. The deeper you go, the more the Blood Code remembers."
Jin sat down, breathing hard. "Why are you helping me?"
Rei hesitated. Then said:
> "Because you remind me of someone I failed to protect."
She started walking again — deeper into the catacombs.
> "If you want to survive, follow me. If not… die here with pride."
Jin stood slowly.
> "I didn't come here to die."
And he followed.
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