Chapter 1: I Have Descended as the Iron-Blooded All-Master
The smell of blood was so thick I couldn’t come to my senses at all.
“S-save me, p-please… I-I don’t want to die…!”
Schlick—!
Thud! Roll, roll……
The moment the blade flashed ominously, a human head tumbled across the floor like a ball.
The man who had been begging for his life died with his neck severed, his face still frozen in stark terror.
Inside the cavern, human heads rolled across the ground like roadside trash—it was quite literally a sea of blood.
“Do not tremble in fear, oh offerings. Your deaths are sacred and noble.”
A hulking man in a blood-red robe continued the massacre, swinging his massive longsword down.
The people called “offerings” had both hands and feet bound tightly in iron chains, leaving them helpless to be beheaded.
“Fuck…….”
The problem was that I was one of those offerings.
The whole situation was absurd in every way.
Just a few minutes ago I had been sitting in front of my computer, and now I’d been abducted into a fantasy world.
On top of that, the moment I opened my eyes I was facing the threat of having my head chopped off.
And above all else……
<Player Information>
Name: Ruth Fried
Level: 1
Class: Blood Mage
Strength: 15 Stamina: 15 Charm: 15 Wisdom: 15 Agility: 15
<Held Skills>
Blood Absorption, Blood Sword Summon, Iron-Blood Heart
“Why the hell did it have to be Blood Mage, of all things. Shit.”
The status window appeared the instant I muttered “status window” as a test.
There was no way I could hold back the curse that flew out of my mouth.
***
《Stella of Dungeon》—a medieval-style fantasy RPG about the journey of six heroes to defeat the Demon King.
To put it nicely, I was a veteran of this game; to put it bluntly, I was a shut-in addict.
I had poured over 9,000 hours of real life into 《Stella of Dungeon》… or “Stellar Dungeon,” as we called it—“Soden” for short.
I could proudly call myself a veteran because I was the first player in the game’s history to reach max level on every single class.
After finally maxing out the last class, “Paladin,” and running out of things to do, I yawned hugely and muttered,
“Ah… there’s seriously fuck-all to do in this dead game. Content’s way too lacking.”
Of course, complaining about content was half a joke—but calling it a dead game was completely serious.
It was an objective fact.
Who the hell would play a game where you lose levels on death and the class balance is pure garbage?
“That ‘who’ was me.”
I had a special attachment to “Soden” because I’d practically abandoned real life for it.
But I had finally decided it was time to let go and quit the game.
That was the day the notice appeared.
[Notice]
- New class: “Blood Mage” will be released.
“Oh?”
An update after a full two years.
And with a brand-new class on top of it—how could I, starving for content, not get excited?
The game barely had any concurrent players left—me being the only one online most of the time—so even if they announced service termination in one minute it wouldn’t have been strange!
I wondered if the developers had collectively lost their minds, but who cared?
“Let’s go!”
I started leveling the Blood Mage with the same excitement as a traveler who’d finally found an oasis in the desert.
And exactly ten days later, I seriously considered deleting the character.
“After two whole years… this is the trash class they release?”
Blood Mage.
A mage who grows stronger by manipulating “blood ki” (血氣)—in other words, blood—instead of mana.
The concept was familiar enough and had that perfect chuunibyou vibe I liked.
Since it was brand new, its performance was incomparably better than every other class.
First of all, the unique gauge exclusive to Blood Mages—“blood ki”—was completely broken and versatile.
You could clump blood together to create not only magic but also swords, spears, gauntlets, bows… even firearms.
So by design, a Blood Mage was born with the talent of a “Weapon Master” who excelled at every weapon art.
They called it a “mage,” but it was really just an all-rounder hybrid monster.
So why was I seriously thinking of deleting this supposed trash character?
[‘Blood ki’ is insufficient—skill usage is impossible!]
[‘Blood ki’ is insufficient—health is rapidly decreasing!]
[Extract blood from the human race to refine blood ki!]
[Attacking members of the human race accumulates ‘sin’!]
[Your sin has been exposed across the continent! You have become a public enemy of all human races, including NPCs!]
That was why.
As you can see.
For a Blood Mage to gather their power source, “blood ki,” they have to attack NPCs or other players (of which there are none) — in other words, humans — and steal their blood.
The problem is that when you attack innocent humans, the system deems it an inappropriate action and starts accumulating something called “sin.”
And this “sin” acts like a brand: once it builds up, your character gets a bounty placed on their head and ends up being hunted by bounty hunters, mercenaries, knights, and so on…
Are you kidding me?
“The developers must not play their own damn game.”
There’s no other explanation for releasing such an illogical character.
So what if the performance is good? All-rounder, weapon master — what’s the point of any of that?
Before I can even hunt monsters to level up, I’m the one getting hunted first.
On top of that, the efficiency is absolute garbage; I have to constantly replenish blood ki at all times.
It’s not calories — just sitting still and breathing slowly drains my blood ki.
Eventually I’m forced to attack humans and steal their blood.
In the end, I become a continent-wide public enemy with nowhere safe to go.
Just running from pursuers until I inevitably meet a miserable end.
“Even I can see this is a bit…”
There has to be at least some common sense.
At this point, I even started suspecting the developers had straight-up abandoned the game because I was the only concurrent player left.
That’s why, as someone who genuinely loved “Soden,” I felt even more betrayed and pissed off.
“…There’s still a chance they’ll patch it later, so I’ll hold off on deleting for now.”
I moved the mouse cursor — which had been hovering over “Delete Character” — to the side.
But then.
- Deleting character.
“Huh?”
What the hell.
I hadn’t even clicked anything, yet the Blood Mage character standing idly in the selection window vanished.
It shattered into pure white particles.
For a moment I was stunned, then scratched my cheek and tried to reason it out.
“Did the devs delete it themselves?”
Maybe even they thought it was too much and hurriedly got rid of it.
No, if you’re going to do that, wouldn’t it be better to just overhaul the damn blood ki recovery system…?
Deleting it without any grace period or warning was incredibly jarring.
“Maybe there’s already a notice up and I just didn’t see it…”
I looked away from the monitor to grab my phone and check the official “Soden” homepage.
That was when I still had no idea.
Hwaaaak—!
The fragments of the Blood Mage, broken into particles of light, suddenly burst through the monitor and swallowed me whole…
***
[You have acquired the unique achievement: “The First and Last Blood Mage.”]
[Retrieving achievement effects…]
***
……And when I came to my senses, I was in exactly this situation.
At first I thought I’d been kidnapped by some lunatics in the real world.
But the floating holographic status window in front of me, the format of it, and this vast cavern covered in densely carved ancient unknown script…
I became certain.
‘I’ve possessed into Soden.’
I’m going insane, seriously.
Schlick—!
“Kgh… khek…!”
Even while lost in thought, the red-robed bastard kept diligently carrying out the slaughter, and my turn was rapidly approaching.
It was bewildering.
“Save me! Please save me!”
“Mom!! Mooooom!!”
“Hic, khh…!”
“Uwaaaaaah—!!”
In the middle of this literal hellscape, I found it strangely odd how calm I myself remained.
‘It must be because of <Iron-Blood Heart>.’
The passive skill <Iron-Blood Heart (鐵血心)> — it grants unyielding steel-like resolve and ice-cold rationality no matter the crisis.
One of the main reasons the Blood Mage is so ridiculously overpowered in terms of performance is precisely this mental barrier provided by <Iron-Blood Heart>.
And now that I was experiencing it firsthand… yeah, it really was something else.
Schlick—!
Blood sprayed, people died, screams filled the air — yet I could keep my mind perfectly serene.
In real life I used to feel sick just killing a single bug.
“You have been chosen as sacrifices for the descent of the great god. Accept death with joy.”
Well, regardless of how calm I personally felt, the situation itself was still on the brink of exploding.
There were only two people left in front of me now.
I needed to start thinking a little faster.
‘This must be the Star Hall (성당).’
Through the black altar placed at the center of the cavern and the strange figures bowing their heads before it, I roughly figured out where this place was.
In 《Stella of Dungeon》, there exist beings called “Constellations (星座)” — god-like entities.
The Star Hall is the location where offerings are sacrificed on the altar to briefly summon those Constellations into reality.
‘Originally, this wasn’t the starting point for a Blood Mage character…….’
Normally, the Star Hall is the starting point for other characters, not the Blood Mage.
So why the hell had I, possessed as a Blood Mage, suddenly woken up here of all places?
Regardless, one thing was certain: I had become an offering to be sacrificed to whatever Constellation that giant bastard was trying to summon.
‘And the purpose of the summoning is… probably a contract.’
Those who contract with a Constellation receive mysterious power sponsored by them.
I had a rough guess as to which Constellation these guys were trying to summon by sacrificing humans, but either way.
I had absolutely zero intention of obediently dying like this.
Schlick—!!
Finally, the neck of the old man right next to me fell.
The fishy smell of blood splashed across my face, and soon after, the giant’s oppressive shadow loomed over me.
Covered head to toe in gore, he looked down at me with a surprised expression and sneered.
“You’re not crying or begging for your life like the other offerings.”
“What reason is there to feel fear toward people who are about to die?”
Flinch.
At my single remark, the giant’s hand — which had been about to swing the sword down — froze in midair.
“People about to die, huh? That’s pretty cheap bravado for someone trying to buy time.”
“Think again whether my bravado seems so cheap — even in front of the Paladins of the Kanreon Order who are about to burst in here any moment.”
“…….”
The giant narrowed his eyes.
His expression looked quite complicated.
Well, of course it would sour after hearing words he couldn’t simply ignore.
‘Kanreon’ was the largest religious order on the continent, founded under the ideology of eradicating all evil.
‘And Bismarck, the playable Paladin character in Soden, hails from the Kanreon Order.’
And crucially—
Bismarck’s starting point was exactly here: the “Star Hall.”
The very first main quest for the Paladin character was to slaughter every single one of these psycho bastards right here.
‘In the game, Bismarck appears around the time about half of the captured humans here have been killed.’
A sidelong glance confirmed that the spot where I was bound was roughly in the middle of the line.
In other words—
The statement I’d just made about the Order’s Paladins arriving soon wasn’t bravado at all.
These idiots were putting on a grand massacre show without even knowing their own fate—
“Kanreon Order? What kind of trashy nobodies are those?”
“……?”
What the hell is with this guy?
Is he brain-dead?
“Kanreon. The Kanreon Order. The largest organization on the continent, utterly merciless toward evil beings…….”
“I thought you might be a little out of the ordinary compared to the other offerings, but you’re just a lunatic spouting nonsense.”
“No…….”
The one spouting nonsense is you, you thick-headed bastard.
In the world of 《Soden》, the name value of the Kanreon Order was so immense that even a newborn baby would flinch upon hearing it. There was no way this guy had never heard of it.
To begin with, these very cultists — right before getting wrecked by Bismarck — even spit lines like “Hiiik! How did the Kanreon Order find this place!”
‘He actually knows but is pretending not to… No, there’s no real reason for that.’
Which led to the conclusion that he genuinely didn’t know.
In turn, that meant a new conclusion: in the world I’d been possessed into, the “Kanreon” Order didn’t exist at all.
And if “Kanreon” didn’t exist, that led to the utterly despairing conclusion that Bismarck — one of the six heroes of 《Soden》 who was supposed to save me right now — also didn’t exist.
……If it weren’t for Iron-Blood Heart, I’d have lost my mind.
‘Wait a second.’
The moment the possibility that Bismarck might not exist crossed my mind, a new suspicion bloomed.
The other five playable characters were all, by setting, deeply connected to Bismarck from birth.
Especially classes like the “Martial Artist” and “Hunter” — without Bismarck, their very existence wouldn’t even make sense in the lore.
In other words, if there was no character named Bismarck in this world?
‘Doesn’t that mean the other five characters are highly likely not to exist either?’
But those guys were the heroes who were supposed to kill the Demon King and save the continent from destruction?
This is seriously fucked.
At that moment.
Sring—.
A razor-sharp sound rang in my ears.
“I wasted time humoring a madman’s nonsense. Die already.”
The giant clicked his tongue and raised his sword high.
……If possible, my plan had been to buy time until Bismarck arrived.
But no matter how long I waited, not even the sound of a single footstep came from the entrance.
This was the moment when the damned hypothesis—that none of the original playable characters existed in this world—was becoming more and more certain.
Of course, I had no intention of just letting that sword fall toward my neck.
I hadn’t been stalling for time relying solely on Bismarck, after all.
[Blood Absorption has been completed!]
[Physical abilities have been enhanced!]
The old man’s blood that had splashed onto my face seeped in like ink absorbed by paper, and an overwhelming power surged up from within my body.
So this is blood ki.
The instant I accepted the unique energy of the Blood Mage, a new sense of self awakened and took complete control of my entire being.
As if I had never been “Lee Seong-hoon” from Earth,
But had been the Blood Mage—“Ruth Fried”—from the moment I was born.
[Activating skill: “Blood Sword Summon”!]
Pssshht!
A blood-red dagger materialized above my bound hands, pouring out a crimson aura.
Crack—!
With just a light flex of my wrist, the Blood Sword sliced through the sturdy iron chains like they were sheets of paper.
“What the…!”
The giant, momentarily stunned, hesitated mid-swing—
Shunk—!
With both hands now free, I drove the Blood Sword straight into his abdomen.
The blood gushing from the deep wound in his stomach turned into red mist and was absorbed into my body.
A thrilling rush like adrenaline surged through me; power flooded in, and every muscle in my body swelled.
“Whether the Kanreon Order exists or not, the fact that you bastards are the ones about to die doesn’t change.”
“Guh… gahk…!”
The giant collapsed, eyes rolled back, unable even to let out a final scream.
No message about accumulating sin appeared.
Though he was human, he was hardly “innocent.”
In the original game too, villains like this giant occasionally ran rampant, and it was possible to replenish blood ki by hunting them.
The problem had always been that blood ki drained far faster than you could track down and eliminate the scattered scum across the continent.
“P-Priest!”
“You bastard! How were you hiding a blade?!”
“Kill him!”
As soon as the giant fell, the strange figures who had been prostrating themselves before the altar hurriedly drew their weapons and charged.
‘First, I need to put out the fire right in front of me.’
Crack!
I severed the chains binding my ankles with the Blood Sword as well, then fixed my gaze on them.
A Blood Mage grows stronger the more blood ki they absorb. Endlessly.
And looking around—this place was drenched in blood in every direction.
There was no way I could lose.
“Come on then. Let’s see what you human trash can do—”
Ding!
[Issuance of the unique achievement: “The First and Last Blood Mage” has been completed!]
[As an achievement effect, the Blood Mage exclusive system <Blood Link> has been unlocked!]
“…?”
At the sudden system message, my battle-ready, tensed body momentarily loosened.
‘<Blood Link>? Unique achievement?’
Even I—a veteran who had poured 9,000 hours into Soden—had never seen these before.
Wondering what the hell they were, question marks floated in my mind—
—and then I saw the next system window and was rendered utterly speechless.
[Blood Link Skill List]
Swordsman: Black Radiance Divine Sword, ??, ?? ……
Mage: Shadowless Chant, ??, ?? ……
Hunter: Ki Bullet Creation, ??, ?? ……
Martial Artist: Invincible Spirit, ??, ?? ……
Shaman: Barrier Destruction, ??, ?? ……
Paladin: Adversary’s Blessing, ?? ……
• All linked skills consume ‘blood ki.’
• Collect Blood Points (BP) to unlock the skills.
“…….”
……Had I not possessed into a Blood Mage…
…but into some horrifying hybrid monstrosity of a character?