“They said I was too weak to survive. So they left me to die.”

In a world scarred by dimensional rifts, humanity’s only hope lies in Veilwalkers—elite hunters gifted with power by ancient relics. But not everyone is chosen.
Kael Verin wasn’t.

Labeled a failure. Mocked. Dragged through every dungeon as nothing more than bait.

Until one day, his own team—people he trusted—left him bleeding on the floor of a cursed ruin.

That should have been the end.

But something buried deep in the darkness heard him. And it offered a choice.

Not salvation.

Rebirth.

Now bound to an ancient and forbidden relic, Kael rises—not as a hero, not as a savior—but as the first Shadow Ranker, walking a path carved by pain, vengeance, and a power no human was ever meant to wield.

They took everything from him.

Now, he’ll take everything back.

Even if he becomes the monster they always feared he would.

The city of Vireholm was silent beneath the overcast sky. Crows perched on broken chimneys, the wind whispering secrets only the dying understood.


Inside the stone halls of the Guild of Thorns, candles flickered against blood-red banners. This was no ordinary guild. They didn't rescue. They didn't protect. They hunted.


And now, they had a name on their board.


Master Sereva's voice sliced through the thick silence. She wore a red blindfold, though her senses were sharper than any man's.


"And the Shadow Crystal?" asked one of her lieutenants, a silver-haired woman named Roan.


"Gone," Sereva said. "Absorbed into him. He's marked."


"Shadow rank?" Roan's brows furrowed. "That's not possible. That class was destroyed in the Last Purge."


Sereva tilted her head slightly. "Then explain the black mark over Vess's corpse. Or the fact that her memories were eaten."


Sereva stood, her heels clicking against stone. The long cloak she wore shimmered faintly with runes of binding and banishment.


> "And I want it burned under the Guild's sun."


Kael walked slowly through a forest path. His coat, once torn, now stitched itself with every step—a passive ability he hadn't even known he'd unlocked. Shadow fibers. Living thread.


It wasn't just about vengeance anymore. His instincts whispered of something larger. A system far older than dungeons and guilds.


Something below it all. Something that had chosen him.


A message suddenly appeared before his eyes, sharp and gold:


[Main Quest Activated – Rise of the Forgotten Ranker]


Secondary: Uncover the source of your Shadow Affinity.


Reward: Shadow Domain Authority (Legendary)


If they wanted a monster, he'd give them one.


He'd drag the Thorns into the dark with him.


Chapter 4 - "Guild of Thorns"