Chapter 1
The stench of blood was so thick it made it impossible to think straight.
"P-Please… spare me. I—I beg you. I don't want to d—!"
Slash—!
Thud.
Roll… roll…
The blade flashed coldly, and a man's head tumbled across the ground like a discarded ball.
The man who had been begging for his life died exactly as he was—his face frozen in raw terror.
Inside the cavern, where severed heads rolled about like roadside trash, the scene resembled a literal sea of blood.
"Do not tremble in fear, sacrifices," a deep voice intoned. "Your deaths are sacred and sublime."
A towering man clad in a blood-red robe swung his massive greatsword, continuing the slaughter without pause.
Those labeled as "sacrifices" were bound tightly by heavy iron chains around both arms and legs. Unable to resist, they were helplessly beheaded one after another.
'Fuck…'
The problem was—
I was one of those sacrifices.
The whole situation was absurd in more ways than one.
Just minutes ago, I'd been sitting in front of my computer. And now, I'd been kidnapped into a fantasy world.
As if that weren't enough, the moment I opened my eyes, I was about to get my head chopped off.
And worst of all…
Name: Ruth Fried
Level: 1
Class: Blood Mage
Strength: 15
Vitality: 15
Charisma: 15
Wisdom: 15
Agility: 15
Blood Qi Absorption
Blood Blade Summon
Iron-Blooded Heart
"…Why the hell does it have to be a Blood Mage? Goddamn it."
The information appeared the instant I muttered "status window" under my breath.
I couldn't stop the curse from slipping out.
A medieval fantasy RPG about the journey of six heroes destined to defeat the Demon Emperor—
Stella of Dungeon.
To put it nicely, I was a veteran of that game.
To put it honestly, I was a hopeless addict.
I'd poured over nine thousand hours of my real life into Stella of Dungeon—or SOD for short.
I could proudly call myself a hardcore player because I was the first user to max out every single class—something most players struggled to do even once.
After reaching max level with the final class, the Holy Knight, I yawned and muttered to myself,
"Man… this trash game has nothing left to do. There's no content."
Calling it "lacking content" was half a joke.
Calling it a trash game?
That part was sincere.
Objectively speaking, it deserved the label.
Who in their right mind would play a game where you lose levels on death and the class balance is completely busted?
'That idiot would be me.'
Maybe because I'd sacrificed my real life for it, I felt a strange affection for SOD. Still, I figured it was time to let go.
That was when—
[Announcement]
– New Class Release: Blood Mage
"…Oh?"
The first update in two whole years.
And not just any update—a brand-new class.
Starved for content, I couldn't help but get excited.
This was a game where I was literally the only person online. It wouldn't have been surprising if they announced server shutdown the next minute.
Had the devs lost their minds?
Didn't matter.
"Let's go!"
With the enthusiasm of a traveler finding an oasis in the desert, I started leveling a Blood Mage.
Ten days later, I was seriously contemplating deleting the character.
"Two years… and this is the garbage you release?"
The Blood Mage.
A mage who grew stronger by manipulating Blood Qi instead of mana.
The concept itself was familiar, edgy in that classic chuuni way—and honestly pretty cool.
Since it was newly released, its raw performance far surpassed other classes.
To start with, Blood Qi—the class's unique resource—was absurdly versatile.
You could condense blood to form not only magic, but swords, spears, gauntlets, bows… even firearms.
By default, Blood Mages possessed talent equivalent to a Weapon Master, excelling in every form of weapon combat.
Calling it a "mage" was misleading.
It was basically an all-purpose, overpowered hybrid.
So why was I considering deleting it?
Because of this—
[Insufficient Blood Qi! Skill activation impossible!]
[Insufficient Blood Qi! HP rapidly decreasing!]
[Extract blood from the human race to refine Blood Qi!]
[Attacking humans accumulates 'Sin'!]
[Your Sin has been exposed to the continent!]
[You have become a public enemy of all humans, including NPCs!]
In short—
To obtain Blood Qi, the source of its power, a Blood Mage had to drain blood from humans—NPCs or other players (which didn't exist).
The problem was that attacking innocent humans was deemed an immoral action by the system, accumulating something called Sin.
And Sin worked like a permanent brand.
Once it stacked up, a bounty was placed on your head. Hunters, mercenaries, and knights would relentlessly pursue you.
Was this a joke?
"Do these developers even play their own damn game?"
There was no way anyone sane would design a character like this.
What was the point of being overpowered? Of being an all-rounder? A Weapon Master?
You'd get hunted down before you could even grind monsters.
On top of that, Blood Qi consumption was atrocious.
You had to constantly replenish it.
It wasn't calories, but it sure felt like it—Blood Qi drained even when you were just standing there breathing.
Eventually, you'd be forced to attack humans to survive.
And sooner or later, you'd become a continent-wide enemy with nowhere safe to go.
Just running. Forever. Until the end.
"…Even I think this is too much."
There had to be a line.
At this point, I genuinely wondered if the devs had abandoned the game entirely just because I was the only one playing.
That betrayal hurt even more because I'd loved the game.
"…Maybe they'll patch it later. I'll hold off on deleting it for now."
I moved the cursor away from the Delete Character button.
And then—
– Deleting character.
"…Huh?"
What?
Without any confirmation, the Blood Mage character standing in the selection screen vanished.
Shattering into particles of pure white light.
I froze, dumbfounded, then scratched my cheek.
"Did the admins delete it themselves?"
Did they realize how ridiculous it was and remove it in a panic?
Wouldn't it make more sense to just fix the Blood Qi system instead…?
Deleting it outright, without warning, was beyond baffling.
"Maybe there was an announcement I missed—"
I looked away from the monitor to grab my phone and check the official site.
That was when—
Fwoooosh—!
The scattered particles of light suddenly burst out of the screen and swallowed me whole.
[Unique-Grade Achievement Acquired:
'The First and the Last Blood Mage']
[Loading achievement effects…]
…and when I came to my senses, I was here.
At first, I thought I'd been kidnapped by some lunatic in the real world.
But the floating holographic status window in front of me, and this massive cavern carved with unknown ancient runes—
I was certain.
'I've possessed a character inside Stella of Dungeon.'
This is insane. Seriously.
Slash—!
"Ghk—!"
Even as my thoughts spiraled, the man in the red robe continued his methodical killing.
And my turn was rapidly approaching.
People screamed in panic.
"Please! Spare me!"
"Mom! Moooom!!"
"Ugh… sob…!"
"AAAAAH—!!"
Yet somehow, in the middle of this hellscape, I felt strangely calm.
'It must be because of Iron-Blooded Heart.'
A passive skill that granted an unyielding will like steel and an icy rationality like blood—
Iron-Blooded Heart (鐵血心).
One of the reasons the Blood Mage was considered absurdly overpowered was this very skill—a mental barrier that prevented fear and panic.
And now that I was experiencing it firsthand…
I understood why.
Slash—!
Blood splattered, people died, and screams echoed everywhere—yet my mind remained eerily calm.
Back in reality, I'd shudder even at killing a single bug.
"You have been chosen as sacrifices for the descent of the Great God. Accept your deaths with joy."
Whether I was calm or not didn't change the fact that the situation itself was on a knife's edge.
There were only two people left in front of me now.
I needed to think faster.
'This place is a Star Hall.'
The black altar set at the center of the cavern, along with the robed figures bowing their heads before it, made the location obvious.
In Stella of Dungeon, there existed beings known as Constellations—entities that were gods in all but name.
A Star Hall was a place where sacrifices were offered to temporarily summon one of those Constellations into reality.
'This was never the Blood Mage's starting point…'
Originally, this place belonged to a different class entirely.
So why had I, reincarnated as a Blood Mage, woken up here of all places?
One thing was certain.
I was meant to be an offering to whatever Constellation that brute was trying to summon.
'And the purpose of the descent… probably a contract.'
Those who formed contracts with Constellations could receive mysterious powers in return.
I had a rough idea which Constellation they were aiming for, but regardless—
I had zero intention of dying quietly.
Slash—!!
The old man standing beside me finally lost his head.
Sticky blood splashed across my face, and moments later, the brute's looming shadow fell over me.
His entire body was drenched in blood as he stared down at me with mild surprise.
"You're different from the other sacrifices. You're not crying. Not begging for your life."
"Why should I fear people who are about to die?"
The brute froze.
His sword stopped midair.
"About to die? That's some cheap bravado for someone trying to buy time."
"When the paladins of the Kanleon Order storm in here soon, you can decide then whether my bluff was cheap."
"..."
The brute narrowed his eyes.
His expression grew complicated.
Understandable. Those weren't words he could simply brush off.
The Kanleon Order was the largest religious faction on the continent, founded on the doctrine of eradicating all evil.
And in SOD, the playable Paladin character—Bismarck—came from Kanleon.
Most importantly—
Bismarck's starting point was this very place: the Star Hall.
The Paladin's first main quest was to slaughter every single one of these lunatics.
'In the game, Bismarck appears once about half the captives are dead.'
I glanced sideways.
I was positioned almost exactly in the middle of the line.
Which meant—
What I'd just said wasn't bravado at all.
These idiots were putting on a massacre, completely unaware of their impending doom.
"The Kanleon Order? Never heard of it. Some trash mob's name?"
"…?"
What?
Is this guy an idiot?
"Kanleon. The Kanleon Order. The largest faction on the continent. Ruthless toward evil—"
"I thought you were special. Turns out you're just a madman spouting nonsense."
"No, that's not—"
The one talking nonsense is you, you thick-skulled bastard.
In SOD, even newborns knew the name Kanleon. There was no way he'd never heard of it.
Hell, right before getting wiped by Bismarck, these guys even screamed lines like,
"Eek! How did the Kanleon Order find this place?!"
'Pretending not to know? …No. There's no reason for that.'
Which led to a terrifying conclusion.
In this world—
The Kanleon Order didn't exist.
And if Kanleon didn't exist, then neither did Bismarck—the one person who was supposed to save me.
…Without Iron-Blooded Heart, I would've gone insane on the spot.
'Wait.'
The possibility that Bismarck didn't exist sparked another suspicion.
The other five playable characters were all deeply connected to Bismarck by lore.
Especially the Martial Artist and the Hunter—without Bismarck, their very existence collapsed.
In other words—
If Bismarck didn't exist in this world…
'Then the other five heroes probably don't exist either.'
Those six heroes were the ones destined to kill the Demon Emperor and save the continent.
Which meant—
I was completely, utterly screwed.
That was when—
Shing—.
The sharp sound of steel rang by my ear.
"I wasted enough time listening to a lunatic. Die already."
The brute clicked his tongue and raised his sword high.
I'd hoped to stall until Bismarck arrived.
But no matter how long I waited, there were no footsteps outside the entrance.
The hypothesis that none of the playable characters existed in this world was rapidly becoming reality.
Still—
I wasn't about to let that sword fall on my neck.
I hadn't been buying time while relying on Bismarck alone.
[Blood Qi absorption complete!]
[Physical abilities have increased!]
The old man's blood on my face seeped into my skin like ink soaking into paper.
A terrifying power surged through my body.
So this was Blood Qi.
The moment I accepted the Blood Mage's unique energy, a new self awakened and seized control.
As if I wasn't Lee Seong-hun from Earth anymore—
As if I'd been Ruth Fried, a Blood Mage, from the moment I was born.
[Activating skill: Blood Blade Summon!]
Patzzt—!
A crimson aura poured forth over my bound hands, forming a blood-red dagger.
Crunch—!
With a slight twist of my wrist, the Blood Blade sliced through the iron chains like paper.
"What the—?!"
The brute recoiled in shock—
Too late.
Thud—!
With my hands freed, I plunged the Blood Blade straight into his abdomen.
Blood gushed out, turning into red mist as it was absorbed into my body.
A rush of exhilaration surged through me, like adrenaline on overdrive.
My muscles swelled with power.
"Whether the Kanleon Order exists or not… doesn't change the fact that you're the ones about to die."
"Ghk—!"
The brute collapsed, eyes rolling back, unable even to scream.
No message about accumulated Sin appeared.
He was human—but not innocent.
Even in the game, villains like him could be hunted for Blood Qi.
The problem had always been that Blood Qi drained faster than you could find people like this.
"P-Priest!"
"You bastard! How did you hide a weapon?!"
"Kill him!"
The moment the brute fell, the cultists at the altar panicked, drawing their weapons and charging.
'First things first—put out the fire in front of me.'
Crunch!
I cut through the chains around my ankles and met their gazes.
A Blood Mage grew stronger endlessly, the more Blood Qi they absorbed.
And this place—
Was drenched in blood from every direction.
There was no way I'd lose here.
"Alright then. Let's see what you've got, you human trash—"
Ding!
[Unique-Grade Achievement: 'The First and the Last Blood Mage' has been fully granted!]
[Blood Mage–exclusive system
"…?"
The sudden system messages made my battle-ready body loosen for a split second.
'Blood Link? Unique-grade achievement?'
Even I—someone who'd sunk 9,000 hours into SOD—had never seen these.
As confusion filled my mind, another system window appeared.
And the moment I saw it—
I was rendered speechless.
[Blood Link Skill List]
Swordsman: Black Radiant Divine Sword, ??, ?? …
Mage: Formless Shadow Spear, ??, ?? …
Hunter: Ki Arrow Creation, ??, ?? …
Martial Artist: Indomitable Will, ??, ?? …
Shaman: Barrier Dispel, ??, ?? …
Paladin: Blessing of the Adversary, ?? …
All linked skills consume Blood Qi.
Accumulate Blood Points (BP) to unlock skills.
"..."
…Had I possessed a Blood Mage—
Or some kind of monstrous hybrid abomination?