Michael dragged a hand across his face, then ran it through his hair, visibly trying to process what he was reading.
The words werenât dramatic. They werenât over-explained.
But they sent a chill down his spine anyway.
It wasnât just the idea of being watched or noticedâit was the
label
. He was now an
Outliner
. Someoneâor somethingâthat didnât belong in the normal structure of the universe.
And that wasnât just noted.
It was
punished
.
50% less EXP might not seem like much, but in a system where progress slowed drastically with each stage, that was a serious penalty. A compounding one.
But then again...
His eyes moved to the second line.
"Resistance and partial immunity to certain world rules."
Michael didnât understand everything, but he forced himself not to overthink it.
Still... it made him acknowledge one thing clearly.
This was serious.
The first part of the
Outliner
titleâs effect was terrifying. The second part sounded usefulâ
resistance and partial immunity to universal rules
âbut that didnât change the uncomfortable truth. Everything else painted the
Origin Will
in a deeply unsettling light.
And worst of allâMichael could do nothing about it.
With a deep breath, he shook those thoughts away and turned his focus to something else.
Something exciting.
The final two rewards from his advancement quest.
A
Skill Mastery Ticket
and a
Random Epic Grade Item
.
The first, he only had a vague understanding of. The name gave some idea, but heâd never seen one before. Still, if it could enhance a skillâs mastery, then it was undoubtedly valuable.
But it was the second that really caught his attention.
A
Random Epic Grade Item
.
Just thinking about it made Michaelâs heartbeat quicken.
His strongest undead so far were at
Extraordinary
gradeâand even they felt overwhelmingly powerful.
Epic
grade was an entire tier above that.
While it wasnât exactly fair to compare undead to itemsâdifferent scales, different purposesâit didnât lessen his anticipation.
He reached into his storage space.
From the moment heâd woken up after advancing, heâd felt something unfamiliar tucked inside.
His hand closed around something.
Michael pulled out six glowing orbs.
Five of them shimmered with bright white lightâsmooth and pulsing softly like skill drops in the Land of Origin. The sixth was brighter. More intense. It glowed with a deep violet hue, almost alive with power.
Just at a glance, he could tell the difference.
The five white orbs were undoubtedly the Skill Mastery Tickets.
Which meant the last one...
Michael held it up slowly, eyes narrowed.
The
Epic Grade Item
.
It looked just like a loot orb that dropped from killing monsters, though aside from spirit crystals, he had never received anything else before from slain creatures in the Land of Origin.
This was different.
His lips curled slightly.
"...Come on. Show me what you are."
Without hesitation, he crushed the violet orb in his palm.
A rush of wind pulsed outward, and in the next instant, the light coalesced, taking form.
Michaelâs eyes widened as the light fadedârevealing what looked like a... black coffin?
It was a etched with eerie runes and inlaid with silver
A prompt appeared.
[Three Star Class-Based Epic-grade Item Acquired: Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten]
Bound Item
Effect 1 â Eternal Call:
Summon an Undead from the netherworld. The summoned creature will be one Rank lower than the userâs highest contracted undead and will remain for 24 hours or until destroyed. Requires massive energy consumption depending on the summoned creature level.
Effect 2 â Gate of Death:
Laying within the coffin allows the user to transfer their consciousness to the Netherworld.
Effect 3 â Gravekeeperâs Claim (Passive):
If the user is killed, the coffin anchors their soul, allowing resurrection after 10 years in a random location in the Netherworld. Usable once every 100 years and after the second resurrection, the item will be destroyed.
Michael stared.
Then stared some more.
His heart thumped heavily in his chest.
"...This is broken."
Eternal call.
Gate of death.
Gravekeeperâs claim.
Michaelâs excitement surged again.
And then, it hit him.
A pulse.
Faint.
But familiar.
Michael blinked and instinctively reached for the feeling.
There it was again.
"...No way."
He closed his eyes and focused. Reaching not with his hands, but with his soul.
Thatâs when it confirmed itself.
A soul connection.
A true connection. Like the ones he had with Lucky and Prince. The kind required to evolve something through his talent.
Michaelâs breath caught in his throat.
[Eligible for Evolution]
Item: Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten (insufficient points to evolve.)
The notification glowed gently in the corner of his panel.
Michaelâs eyes widened.
"...Youâve got to be kidding me."
He stared at the coffin in his hands like it had just turned into a living thing.
It was only now he truly confirmed something âhis talent, Infinite Evolution, wasnât limited to the living.
The requirement was a soul connection.
And this coffin... met it.
His mind reeled.
"If I can evolve this..."
Noâwhen he evolved it.
He didnât even need to ask what the result might be.
An Epic-grade class-bound coffin, already broken in its current state, with the power to summon undead from the Netherworld and grant resurrection...
What would it become after evolution?
Legendary?
Divine?
His pulse raced. His fingers trembled.
Heâd always known Infinite Evolution was powerful.
And with a soft laughâhalf-shocked, half-exhilaratedâMichael whispered, "maybe an epic grade stick is possible to create after all."
Unfortunately, he didnât have enough Evolution Points to evolve it right now.
Michael let out a slow breath, the moment of thrill giving way to a calm, simmering anticipation.
Not now.
But soon.
That coffin would evolveâhe would make sure of it. And when it did?
He couldnât even imagine what it might become.
For now, though, his attention shifted back.
******
A/N: Mass Release tomorrow. Thanks for reading todayâs Chapters!
Also there were some inconsistency in the previous Chapters that have been corrected. High human grants 6 attribute points per level up and MC class grants 4 per level up.
This is why I had to slow updates for a while to reread old Chapters. Numbers can get pretty confusing when youâre writing them.