Chapter 6: High Risk, Higher Stakes

"Who on earth is that woman...?" Ren thought, his dark eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits as his gaze locked onto hers across the dim expanse of the yard.

"Hey, what are you staring at?"

The woman’s crisp voice shattered his concentration. Ren blinked, breaking away from the icy stare to glance back at his companion.

"Nothing..." he replied casually, his tone unbothered.

When he stole another quick glance back toward the shadows near the broken wagon, the mysterious woman in the purple gown was already gone. She had vanished into thin air, leaving not so much as a footprint behind.

"Well then, I’ll be taking my leave first," the woman in green said, smoothing down the folds of her attire before turning on her heel. "Meet me tomorrow morning at the public garden near the royal castle gates."

"Wait—" Ren called out, halting her in her tracks.

She paused, glancing back over her slender shoulder. "Yes?"

"My name is Ren," he said, introducing himself clearly. "Ren Celestia."

A faint, subtle smile touched her lips. "I am Elysia. Elysia Grace."

With their brief introductions concluded, Elysia stepped out from the towering perimeter of the scrapyard and disappeared into the quiet, cobblestone streets, leaving Ren standing entirely alone amidst the piles of discarded metal and wood.

The moment her footsteps faded into the night, Ren’s relaxed demeanor vanished. Hyper-vigilant and tense, he sprinted across the yard toward the exact spot near the broken wagon where the mysterious woman had been watching him. He swept his eyes over the damp soil and rotting timber, but there was nothing. No footprints, no lingering trace of magic, no sign that anyone had been standing there at all.

An uncomfortable weight settled deep in Ren’s chest—an unexplainable sense of dread.

Did she know the original owner of this body? raising a hand to rest his thumb against his chin, his brows furrowing in deep contemplation.

No... that doesn’t make sense. Searching through what little memory this body left behind, there’s no trace of her face anywhere.

Determined to dig deeper, Ren began pacing back and forth across the clearing, massaging his temples as he forced his brain to dig through the forgotten corners of the previous host’s mind. He pushed harder, demanding answers from a brain that wasn’t originally his own.

Suddenly, a searing spike of pain shot through the center of his skull.

"Agh...!" Ren let out a sharp gasp, clutching his head with both hands as his knees nearly buckled.

A violent, overwhelming wave of suppressed memories flooded his consciousness like a burst dam.

In every single fragment of memory that flashed before his eyes, *she* was there.

He saw memories of his former life as a low-ranking porter—moving through dark forests, carrying supply crates for mercenary guilds, navigating treacherous mountain paths. And in every single scene, standing silently in the deep shadows of the background, was that exact same woman in the purple gown, watching his every move.

More horrifyingly, the memories revealed a chilling pattern: whenever the mercenary squads or royal expeditions he accompanied were ambushed and slaughtered to the last man by ferocious monsters, Ren—and Ren alone—had somehow miraculously survived. And every single time he stumbled out of the blood-soaked battlefield as the sole survivor, that purple-haired woman was always there, gazing down at him from the darkness with those unreadable, piercing eyes.

The memories struck his mind mercilessly, pounding against his brain until the surge finally subsided.

"Haah... haah..."

Ren’s eyes dilated in shock, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air, cold sweat dripping down his temples.

She was following him long before I took over this body...! But why? Why was she constantly stalking a nameless, low-tier porter?!

The sheer unknown terrified him. Not knowing her motives, not knowing whether she was a silent guardian or an ominous predator waiting for the right moment to strike—it was unnerving. And now that he had taken over this body, she was still doing the exact same thing, lingering in his shadows like an inescapable phantom. A cold shiver ran straight down his spine.

Ren shook his head vigorously, slapping his own cheeks to regain his focus.

"Get a grip, Ren. Focus on what’s in front of you."

He turned away from the shadowed alley and walked back toward the mountain of scrap metal in the center of the yard.

The task at hand was clear: he needed to deconstruct every last piece of trash in this place to build his foundation.

"System," Ren murmured, his dark eyes sharpening into a deadly focus as he stared up at the massive, three-meter-tall pile of twisted iron, rusted pipes, broken machinery, and discarded armor before him. To any ordinary citizen, this was nothing more than worthless garbage. To Ren, it was a mountain of raw potential.

He had no intention of deconstructing these items one by one. That was far too slow, far too inefficient.

"Target the entire perimeter. Execute Mass Deconstruction."

Instantly, the holographic System panel before his eyes began flashing a violent, panicked crimson red.

[CRITICAL WARNING: DECONSTRUCTION SCALE IS EXTREMELY LARGE]

[DETECTED TARGETS: 450+ METALLIC OBJECTS & COMPONENTS]

[IMPACT ANALYSIS:]

ESTIMATED REWARDS: +2,500 CM | +800 CP

ESTIMATED LEVEL INCREASE: LV. 1 -> LV. 20

IMPACT ON NYX SEAL: ⚠️ DRAMATICALLY INCREASING ⚠️

[SYSTEM ADVISORY: PERFORM DECONSTRUCTION IN STAGES TO AVOID CELESTIAL DETECTION.]

[DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?]

[YES / NO]

A cold, arrogant smile curved onto Ren’s lips—a look he rarely displayed.

"Celestial detection? Let them detect whatever they want. I need power right now, not later."

In his past life as a structural architect, Ren knew better than anyone that high returns required high risks. Fortune favored the bold, and he had never been one to play it safe when everything was on the line.

Without a second thought, he slammed his thumb onto **[YES]**.

[COMMAND CONFIRMED. INITIATING MASS DECONSTRUCTION...]

In an instant, the world around him seemed to freeze.

The massive pile of metal did not simply break apart; in the span of a single heartbeat, the entire mountain of rusted iron disintegrated into a dense, pitch-black mist of swirling particles. The particles spun rapidly like a miniature dark tornado, emitting a deafening, high-pitched hiss of raw energy, as if the very fabric of reality surrounding Ren was being violently torn open.

The swirling black particles did not dissipate into the night sky. Instead, they reversed direction and violently surged directly into Ren’s chest.

[CHAOS MATTER ABSORBED: +2,500 CM]

[CHAOS POINTS ABSORBED: +800 CP]

[LEVEL UP!]

[LV. 2 -> ... LV. 5 ... LV. 10 ... LV. 15 ... LV. 20]

[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: MONSTER FORGE IS NOW ACCESSIBLE]

[HOST’S BASE STATISTICAL CAPACITY INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY]

[RESOURCE BALANCE: CP: 815 | CM: 2,505]

Ren let out a breathless laugh of pure exhilaration. An intoxicating, overwhelming warmth surged through every vein and nerve in his body. He felt immensely powerful—nearly unstoppable. He could feel the very atomic structure of the environment around him, feeling as though he could tear down stone buildings with his bare hands if he wished.

However, before the triumphant laugh could fully leave his throat, it froze solid.

Thump.

His heart gave a single, violent, unnatural shudder.

A suffocating, agonizing pressure slammed into his chest like an iron sledgehammer. Fresh, dark blood spurted uncontrollably from Ren’s nose, staining his shirt. His glowing eyes widened in pure, unadulterated agony as his entire body began to tremble violently. It felt as though an invisible, monstrous hand had reached into his ribcage and was squeezing his internal organs into pulp.

In the upper corner of his field of vision, the percentage counter for the Nyx Seal began skyrocketing at a terrifying speed.

[EMERGENCY WARNING: NYX SEAL HAS REACHED 80%]

[NYX SEAL: 80% (RESETS EVERY 48 HOURS)]

[⚠️ FATAL DANGER DETECTED ⚠️]

The holographic interface flickered into a deep, blood-red hue, flashing wildly accompanied by a piercing, agonizing alarm echoing directly inside his mind.

[PROTOCOL ERROR EXPLANATION:]

If the Nyx Seal reaches 100%:

1. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN: The Chaos Architect System will experience a Fatal Error and completely shut down for 7 consecutive days. You will lose all access to skills, inventory, and status panels.

2. POSSESSION PROTOCOL: The spiritual void caused by energy instability will create an open rift for the DARK GOD (NYX) to enter.

3. CONSEQUENCE: Ren’s consciousness will be completely devoured. Your physical body will be permanently hijacked by the ancient entity. You will become an avatar of destruction, slaughtering everything you love before your body ultimately collapses and disintegrates.

Ren collapsed hard onto his knees, his hands clutching his chest as if his lungs were about to burst from the inside out. He gasped desperately for air, his vision swimming in red.

Only now did he realize the horrifying truth: this "instant power" came with a price far more devastating than mere physical pain.

I almost... lost myself entirely...? cold sweat drenching his entire body as he trembled on the dirt ground.

Above his head, the blood-red numbers flashed wildly in his vision: **80%**.

Damn it...! This System... has a hidden drawback this terrifying?! Ren cursed internally, his consciousness fading. This isn’t like those cozy fantasy novels I read in my past life at all... This thing is a lethal double-edged sword!

An unbearable, searing shock of raw energy tore through his nervous system, completely paralyzing his muscles. Air refused to enter his lungs. As the suffocating darkness closed in around him, Ren’s body froze completely before a final, violent jolt of electrical energy surged through his frame.

His vision cut to black, and Ren collapsed face-first onto the empty, dirt ground—unconscious, leaving behind a completely barren scrapyard, utterly wiped clean of a single piece of junk.