Yuan Wu felt a bone-chilling cold creeping from his fingertips toward the very depths of his soul. It was the unmistakable sign of total spiritual depletion. His vision began to blur, and his once-solid body was turning transparent and thin at a rate visible to the naked eye. He felt like a fragile bubble—one sharp breeze away from popping into nothingness. This sensation of the soul being torn apart and life being drained was heavier than any physical pain he had ever endured.
Below the stage, the sea of mocking, playful eyes had become the sharpest of blades. To these "chosen ones," he was nothing more than a "defective product"—a waste of a rare pity-break guarantee who had rolled the most useless stats imaginable.
Lin Yue was the worst of them. She stood at the very front of the crowd, arms crossed, her once-exquisite face twisted into a mask of spiteful pleasure. She felt a twisted sense of relief seeing the source of her humiliation finally fading away.
"Look at that! This is the price of wasting 180 of my Soul Gold pulls!" Lin Yue raised her voice, making sure everyone within a hundred yards could hear her. "A mere R-rank human dreg actually dared to look at me with such eyes? If you crawled over and begged me right now, maybe I'd show some mercy and hand you over to the academy's recycling station. They'd let you live a few more minutes while they sliced you up for research. Too bad you don't even have the strength to kneel anymore, do you? Just die already and stop wasting the air!"
"Haha, Sis Yue, why even talk to trash like that? Watching him turn into ash is the best entertainment we've had all year!" a sycophant nearby chimed in, pointing and laughing as Yuan Wu's legs began to flicker out of existence.
Yuan Wu listened to the piercing ridicule, a wave of nausea rolling through his gut. He wanted to fight back, to roar, to show them the power of a transmigrator, but the collapse of his physical form had robbed him of even the strength to part his lips.
Damn it... he thought, his consciousness slipping. After finally getting a second chance at life, am I really going to 'spawn and die' like this? Is this where it ends?
The Fragrance of Salvation
Just as Yuan Wu's consciousness was about to slip into eternal darkness, a strange fragrance suddenly drifted into his nostrils. It was a faint, cold scent, reminiscent of a lotus blooming atop a snowy peak, cutting through the dusty air of the arena.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The crisp, hurried sound of footsteps shattered the noisy mockery. The crowd gasped and parted like a retreating tide as a white silhouette blurred past the long stairs, charging toward the collapsing summoning dais with an urgency that defied her usual noble composure.
Fang Yuqing's figure appeared in Yuan Wu's dilated, dying pupils.
She arrived breathless, a faint rose-colored flush on her normally frost-cold face from the sudden exertion. She stood before Yuan Wu and, under the collective gaze of the entire academy, she shed all her pride. She didn't look at him with pity; she looked at him with an intense, burning curiosity and a strange kind of reverence. She bowed with a solemnity that was almost sacred, her hands trembling slightly.
As her Spirit-Master robes fluttered with her movement, a tantalizing glimpse of her ivory-smooth neck and a streak of breathtaking white skin flashed. She extended a slender, jade-white hand—a hand as perfect as a work of art—palm upward. Her voice carried a slight tremor that even she didn't seem to notice:
"A contract... is it possible?"
She took a deep breath, as if making a monumental decision that would change the course of her life, and spoke each word with immense weight: "My name is Fang Yuqing. It would be my honor to forge a soul bond with you and fight by your side. I can feel it... you are not what they say you are. May I ask... are you willing to be mine?"
At that moment, the entire plaza of the Magic Cube Academy seemed to hit the pause button. Silence. Absolute, deathly silence. Everyone, including Lin Yue, who had been ready to enjoy the "show," froze in place. Mouths hung open wide enough to swallow fists.
"Is that... Fang Yuqing? The daughter of the Fang family, the 'Spirit-Pressure Monster' of our generation?" "What is she doing? She's bowing to that R-rank trash? She even used a respectful honorific?" "Crazy... the world has gone insane! Why would she throw her future away for a dud?"
A Miraculous Rebirth
Yuan Wu stared at the hand suspended before him. It was the only color in his fading world, the only piece of driftwood for a drowning man. He didn't care about her status or her beauty at that moment; he only cared about the warmth she offered.
Using every last ounce of his fading will, he forced his near-transparent fingers to move, firmly grasping that warm, soft, and moist palm.
BOOM—!
A terrifying ripple of spiritual energy exploded outward, centered on the two of them. The shockwave was so powerful that it sent the nearest students stumbling backward.
The air around the dais seemed to ignite instantly. The once-dim array lines on the floor now erupted with a light more brilliant than the sun, turning from a dull grey to a blinding, crystalline violet. The spiritual power within Fang Yuqing—vast, pure, and ancient—poured into Yuan Wu like a dam breaking. It was a torrent of life, yet it was surprisingly gentle and orderly, weaving itself into his very marrow.
This was the top-tier spiritual reserve of a Great Clan! It was countless times more abundant and refined than anything someone like Lin Yue could ever offer.
Under the nourishment of this "water of life," Yuan Wu's breaking body solidified instantly. His skin regained its hue, his muscles tightened, and his heart began to beat with a drum-like intensity. Furthermore, a series of soul-shaking prompts echoed in his mind, louder than ever:
[Ding! Contract Successful! Host has obtained a long-term spiritual energy supply of the highest grade!] [Detected Contractor Potential: EX-Rank! Newbie Starter Pack multiplier increasing by 500%...] [Starter Pack opened successfully! Congratulations, Host! You have acquired the Legendary Template!] [Character Template: One-Eyed King · Ken Kaneki (Divine UR Version) — Origin: Tokyo Ghoul] [Due to the high purity of the Contractor's spiritual energy, the template has achieved Perfect Integration!]
"From this day forward, you are my Spirit," Fang Yuqing let out a long breath of relief, her chest heaving as she revealed a smile beautiful enough to make a thousand flowers wither in envy. She looked at their joined hands and whispered, "Please, look after me."
Yuan Wu felt the warmth in his palm, his heart a whirlwind of emotions. He stood up, no longer a flickering ghost, but a pillar of power. He looked at the girl who had saved him and felt a deep sense of gratitude. So this is what it feels like to have a Master... No, a partner.
"Fang Yuqing! Have you lost your damn mind?!"
Lin Yue's shrill, piercing voice shattered the sacred atmosphere. She stormed to the foot of the stage, her face red with fury and disbelief. She pointed a shaking finger at Fang Yuqing and screamed: "You are publicly insulting the dignity of the noble families! Do you have any idea what you're doing? You contracted an R-rank piece of garbage! This is a disgrace to the Fang name! You're making yourself the laughingstock of the entire Spirit-Master world! Do you want to be expelled?!"
The onlookers snapped out of their trance, and the murmurs rose like a tide, fueled by jealousy and confusion:
"What a waste. Goddess Fang must have had a cultivation deviation. She's destroyed her potential." "Contracting that trash... who would ever want to party with her now? Her career is over before it started." "Tsk, I thought the Fang family was going to produce a UR-level genius today. I guess even geniuses have bad taste."
Fang Yuqing didn't even turn her head. She didn't care about the labels or the social suicide. She only looked at Yuan Wu. Her shoulder-bound A-rank Blood-Eyed White Cat, however, was now in a state of extreme distress. Its fur stood on end, its claws dug into her robes, and it let out a terrified, guttural hiss at Yuan Wu, its instincts screaming at it to run.
"So noisy," Yuan Wu said, his voice now carrying a strange, metallic resonance.
He patted Fang Yuqing's shoulder, a playful, dangerous arc curling on his lips. "People with vision are always misunderstood, aren't they? Since they want to see a UR so badly, and since they're so worried about your reputation... I suppose I'll have to give them an eyeful."
"Your name is Fang Yuqing, right? I said I'd carry you. I don't break my word. Now, the first step in fulfilling that promise—"
Yuan Wu's voice grew cold, dropping several octaves. A hair-raising aura, thick with the scent of iron and shadow, began to spread from beneath his feet, cracking the stone of the dais.
Advent of the One-Eyed King
DONG—!
A heavy, ancient bell toll echoed without warning from the academy's central clock tower. The sound was so massive it felt like a physical weight pressing down on everyone's chests.
Everyone froze.
That was the "Emperor's Bell." It was a relic that rang only when a rare SSR appeared, or when a legendary UR manifested, triggering the resonance of the Induction Stones hidden within the academy's foundation.
DONG—! DONG—!
Two more rings followed in rapid succession! The tolls were fierce, urgent, and authoritative, causing the very windows of the Magic Cube Academy to rattle in their frames.
"This... the Emperor's Bell? This frequency... it's not an SSR... it's a UR! A Divine-tier UR has descended!" "Look at the stage! The light... it's turning black!"
On the dais, the brilliant gold light of the contract was suddenly swallowed by a surge of eerie, pitch-black energy laced with streaks of glowing crimson. Yuan Wu's silhouette distorted and stretched within the darkness. The sound of bones restructuring—a sickening, rhythmic cr-crack—echoed through the silent arena, making the skin of the students crawl.
When the darkness finally dissipated, the boy in the plain, dusty T-shirt was gone.
In his place stood a man radiating the chilling aesthetic of a beautiful apocalypse.
His striking white hair whipped in the gale like shards of frozen moonlight. His left eye was shut tight, but his right eye slowly flickered open—a chilling Kakugan. The sclera was pitch black, housing a glowing crimson pupil that radiated a predatory, beast-like glint.
He wore a black leather mask of gothic design, featuring a mechanical, toothy grin that covered his lower face, leaving only his cold, isolated eyes visible. He was clad in a sleek, jet-black combat suit that emphasized his lean, explosive physique.
Most terrifying of all, four thick, writhing, centipede-like Kagune erupted from his lower back. They were a deep, bloody red, pulsing with their own internal light. They thrashed in the air with violent hunger, each swing breaking the sound barrier with a sharp crack that sounded like a gunshot.
The Silence of the Grave
At that moment, the greyish "R" tag that had been hovering above Yuan Wu's head began to emit a piercing sound, like shattering glass. Under the terrified, wide-eyed gaze of the masses, the "R" disintegrated into dust.
In its place, two letters emerged, flickering with a blinding, prismatic rainbow light that swept across the plaza with the absolute authority of a god:
UR!
The crowd was silenced as if a hand had been placed over every throat. The laughter, the jeers, the insults—all of it vanished, replaced by a suffocating pressure.
Lin Yue's smug smile was gone, replaced by a pale mask of pure horror. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the hard stone, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "No... impossible... this has to be an illusion! How can a piece of R-rank trash become a UR! This violates the laws of the world!"
The transformed Yuan Wu—now the One-Eyed King—looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers. He felt a sick, nearly intoxicating level of power. He felt the hunger, the strength, and the absolute clarity of a king.
He suddenly leaned down. Under the heartbroken, envious, and terrified stares of the crowd, he pressed his masked face close to Fang Yuqing's ear. He could smell her shock, her racing heart, and her growing awe.
"The title 'Master' is a bit too formal for someone like you," his voice was deep, raspy, and carried a magnetic chill that sent shivers down her spine. "Since you were the one who reached into the abyss to pull me out... I've memorized your face. It's the only thing in this world I care to look at right now."
He extended a long, slender finger and gently brushed Fang Yuqing's stunned, blushing cheek. The contrast between his sharp, dangerous claw and her soft skin was striking.
"From now on, I'll just call you Yuqing. Don't worry about those people. This group of trash... won't even have the chance to look at your back anymore. I'll make sure of it."
Yuan Wu stood straight, pressing a hand against his mask in a classic, haunting gesture. The crimson light in his eye flared with murderous intent as he looked down at the teachers and students who now looked like mere ants. He cracked his finger with a loud snap and spoke in a voice as cold as a burial shroud:
"Now then... who wants to go first? Tell me... what's 1,000 minus 7?"