There was a smile. It was gentle and warm. She felt connected to it. The person stood tall, stalwart, and shoulders steady. She turned towards her with eyes like emerald. Soft whispers left those lips like soothing rain. She was told to wake up.

Rana opened her eyes. The smile she dreamt about faded as reality surfaced into her mind. She stared at a ceiling weathered by rain and time. The logs were soaked in rot and the clay barely covered the cracks. It was a familiar sight, the memory of warmth and home, but she wondered what purposed would shelter serve for an undead.

She surveyed the room. The only furnishing was the bed she was sleeping on and toppled chairs among scattered pots. A table lay broken in half to the side of the door, no doubt destroyed when whoever forced their entry through the door of this beaten abode.

Other than the signs of a futile struggle Rana was alone.

Alone and alive.

Stats — Health: 100/100

Rana’s supposedly decaying health was full. The hooded woman must’ve done something yet she was nowhere to be seen. Rana pushed herself up. Her mind was clear and her joints were rusted and heavy but not locked. Something pulsated between her chest and she found a jewelled necklace dangling from her neck.

Curious, she cupped it with her palm to take a better look.

Darkness enveloped the world and within was a familiar voice.

“This will be my parting gift to you. Whether it is a curse or a blessing only you shall decide.”

[System (Notification): Soul data rediscovered. Incompatible with current data. Error detected. Sub-protocol detected. Deleting action terminated. Attempting fusion. Acquiring applicable data. Discarding corrupted data. Fusion successful. Rana (marked) updated. Attempting activation. Activation failed. Codex required.]

The world returned. She knew of the voice. She heard it long ago somewhere buried deep within her memory. It was the voice of the System and it could only be heard when an Altar was activated.

Altars were sacred sites under the protection of the Church. It was a terminal that tapped into the System and gave the people an audience with the One Deity. The people stepped forward and heard the voice that determined their destiny. It gave them power and was not something any mortal could approach. Only those permitted by the Church would receive the blessings within and it required a priest to ensure the safety of the marked one.

That was why the Church maintained its power. They protected the Altars and without their priests, no one was able to receive a Class or even level up. Voices of dissent rose in the past and some even dared kidnap priests or attempted to seize Altars. However, the base stat of a single Class cannot be reached even with a lifetime of effort and a single level up was able to match years of training. What threat would a group of dissident be against an army of marked Paladins and Inquisitors? The answers were single footnotes of failed insurgencies in history books.

The Altars were powerful and ancient and required the utmost care in how they were used. Who better than the scions of the One Hero, the Church, to shoulder the responsibility? They lead humanity and never once turned them astray. Their authority was given by to them by the one Deity and they would lead humanity to salvation.

They held the line against monsters and they repelled the evil men looking for personal gains. Those who challenged the Church deserved destruction.

Yet those words sounded like lies. Rana knew it was true so why was she so against it? Did becoming an undead, an existence tainted by evil also altered her morality? That was why she needed to search for the truth of who she was.

Rana looked back at the jewel within her palm. The hooded woman said it was a parting gift. There was one thing she could try.

Rana closed her eyes and channelled mana into to jewel. It was risky to have the body constantly be in a state of mana influxes but she had to try. Her venture was rewarded with a voice as soft as the wind but as clear as a whisper in her ears.

“Heed these words. Knowledge is dangerous and the truth once ascertained can no longer be denied. Recognize who you are and what you will become. Do you wish to proceed?”

There was no hesitation.

“Yes,” said Rana.

Her Status appeared yet something was different. It was as if some part of her mind she was unaware of awakened.

[Status Page]

Level: 1 / Class: Magician / Race: Zombie

Health: 100 / Mana: 200 / Focus: 100

STR: 100 / MGI: 200 / SKL: 100 / VIT: 100 / AGI: 150 / PER: 150

[Damage and Resistance]

N/A (error)

[Talent]

N/A (error)

[Abilities]

N/A (error)

[Innate]

Undead Physiology (Zombie)

— gain permanent status effect [Decaying] and [Monster Kind]

— minus 200% light resistance; can lose but cannot gain light resistance

— plus 200% darkness resistance; can gain but cannot lose darkness resistance

[Skills and Spells]

N/A (error)

[Status Effects]

Decaying (permanent)

— health degeneration (2)% after (24) hours outside of combat

— health regeneration disabled

— health restoration and duration refresh through consuming life essences

— duration (24) hours until degeneration*

— *unknown blessing: effects stalled until blessing wears off

Monster Kind

— steel resistance +20%

— silver resistance -20%

— maturation enabled*

— *unknown error: effects locked

Unknown Blessing

— *unknown effects: description hidden

— duration expires in 3 days and 12 hours

Rana frowned. The depth of the mystery just became deeper and the questions only piled up. Status inspection without the Altar was never this detailed. However, more information was never a bane and despite the warning, she was certain her choice was correct.

Eliminate the inconsequential and the insoluble.

Rana already confirmed her basic Status so there was little reason to go over them again. There were questions that needed answering but acquiring further information seemed unlikely. There was also the problem of unable to view some of several details including the most important Talents and Abilities section but she had no idea how to proceed. Monster maturation piqued her interest as that was how monsters gained powers compared to humans but if it was disabled then there was little she could do.

Consider the critical.

The effects of Decaying was the issue. Rana knew that zombies decayed but the study of the phenomenon was rare even among academics. Zombies were fleeting beings and seldom did they pose a threat. To humanity, all they needed to know was how they were killed and to necromancers, zombies existed only to buy time for more horrible abominations.

There were no attempts made in understanding zombies aside from recording what they read in an inspection crystal in the monster log. Zombies decayed but why would it be important when killing them was faster? She was glad she had gotten the details. Walking as an undead and not knowing that she was on a time limit would be dangerous.

Rana didn’t know why she was unable to know about the Decaying status effect until now. Status effects were information anyone could call upon in their Status but when she checked during her fight with the bandit and afterwards there was no indication of such. They wouldn’t be as detailed but she would’ve at least had gotten a notification. It must've been because of the hooded woman.

Rana tried to remember what was said. She chuckled. Even though for only a short while Rana knew the hooded woman enjoyed being frustratingly cryptic. Still, examining those words would not be a terrible idea. That was when she remembered something.

“This is my voice,” Rana whispered. It soothed her mind. “Time to think. What do I need to do?”

There were one immediate objective and two essential ones. Rana first had to deal with the Decay status effect. Thanks to the unknown blessing she had around four and half a day before her body started to decay. It was safe to believe the hooded woman did something but a part of her refused to feel any gratitude. It felt like she was being kept alive and for what purpose she didn’t know. Still, if it extended the time she was able to think of a solution she was glad to take it.

The other objectives were to claim the gift from the hooded woman and to also clear the errors in her Status. To do both she required an Altar and a priest to access start the ritual. The System voice informed Rana that something changed in her Status once she touched the necklace. That must’ve been the gift the hooded woman mentioned and it required the codex to activate.

The codex was the language underneath the System. They were rules and commands that governed the interaction between the System and the world. The codex was a library that recorded what was and what would be within the System. It should be able to fix the errors. Statuses would not update unless they were connected with the codex. Yet here she was with an updated and constantly changing Status.

This, however, begged many more questions and the most prominent of all was why it affected Rana differently? The only hypothesis she made was that her rebirth process created a System anomaly and that meant a mystery far complex than any other was on her hand.

“There will be a time for answers. For now, however, I have to survive.”

Her cry before was filled with anguish but she was glad her voice brought something other than torment.

Rana closed her Status and stood up. Her path was clear. The hooded woman managed to delay Rana’s demise but the aid wouldn’t hold forever. She needed to find a way to deal with the Decaying status effect and then reach an Altar. Why the hooded woman helped Rana she didn’t know but it was more than she deserved. If Rana squandered this opportunity then she truly deserved an eternity of torment.

Before she began her journey however there was something that needed to be done.

Rana opened the door and even though she braced herself the sight still haunted her. The young girl whom she killed laid on the ground. Rana’s only solace was someone closed the girl’s eyes and crossed her arms. The body would’ve seemed to sleep so peacefully if not for the ghastly wound.

It was Rana’s responsibility.

The hooded woman disparaged Rana but she knew she herself killed the girl. The one who delivered the sentence paid the penance. Rana wasn’t able to channel mana for the Holy Rite but she was still able to say a prayer.

Rana knelt beside the body of the young girl and began to hum the song of the One Deity. She put a hand on the deceased’s cheek and the cold chilled her fingertips. She shuddered but refused to let go of the touch until she was done.

The prayer ended and Rana stood up. It was an empty gesture. The Holy Rite did not grant peace in death. There was no peace in death. Still, she had to give her a grave. She went inside the houses and found a shovel.

Rana began digging for the girl.

[System (Notification): Lunar Sanctuary gauge increased. Humanity gained. Lunar Sanctuary effect extended.]