The Castle of Shadows

The Castle of Shadows

Wenalin’s POV

The first thing I noticed was the cold.

It wasn’t the sterile chill of an air-conditioned room, or the draft slipping under my bedroom door at night. This was different—raw, natural, the kind of cold that seeped through stone walls and lingered in your bones.

I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the dim light.

This wasn’t my room.

The ceiling stretched impossibly high above me, supported by massive stone pillars that disappeared into shadow. The floor beneath me was black marble, cracked in places, and a long carpet led to a grand throne at the far end of the hall. Dust floated through the air like tiny ghosts. The castle was silent. Empty.

And yet… it felt alive.

I pushed myself up, my heart pounding—not in pain, but in disbelief. I looked around again, slowly this time, my mouth falling open.

“This is… real,” I whispered. My voice echoed faintly against the cavernous walls.

I stumbled toward the throne, my footsteps soft against the carpet. My hands brushed the stone banisters, cold and rough under my fingers. Every detail was sharp, too sharp for a dream.

I reached the throne and sat down, my legs dangling awkwardly over the edge. Even here, I was short—still 4’9, still the girl who had to look up at everyone. My hair fell around my face the same way it always had. My reflection in a cracked mirror nearby confirmed it: the same delicate features, the same round face people once called beautiful.

Nothing had changed. Not my face. Not my body. Not even my cursed height.

For a moment, I laughed bitterly. “So much for a fantasy makeover.”

But then my laughter softened. Because… maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe for the first time, I didn’t want to be someone else. This was me. And this was my world now.

I stood and walked across the vast hall, my footsteps echoing. Empty. Everything was empty—no guards, no servants, no voices. Just me.

And strangely, that made me happy.

I had wished for this, hadn’t I? A life far away, in the forest, in a dark castle where I could be alone. No parents to ignore me. No siblings to judge me. No cold dining tables. Just silence. Just freedom.

I stopped in the center of the hall, closed my eyes, and spread my arms. The emptiness wrapped around me like a cloak, and for the first time in years, I felt like I could breathe without waiting for something—or someone—to crush me again.

Then, suddenly, a faint ding echoed in my ears.

I opened my eyes. A glowing rectangle hovered in front of me, translucent and shimmering like glass.

[ SYSTEM STATUS SCREEN ]

My breath caught. This… this was straight out of my favorite games. Carefully, almost afraid, I reached out and touched the floating screen. It shifted, opening fully like it had been waiting for me.

🌟 [SYSTEM STATUS SCREEN]

Player Profile

Name: Wenalin

Race: Human (Reincarnator)

Age: 14 (Soon eligible for Royal Academy at 15)

Class: Unchosen (Potential paths: Knight, Mage, Rogue, Scholar, Hybrid)

Title(s): “Reincarnator,” “Unknown Variable”

Level: 1

Exp: 0 / 100

 Vital Stats

HP (Health): 100 / 100

MP (Mana): 50 / 50

SP (Stamina): 80 / 80

 Attributes

STR (Strength): 8

AGI (Agility): 10

DEX (Dexterity): 9

END (Endurance): 7

INT (Intelligence): 12

WIS (Wisdom): 11 → Good judgment, slightly above average insight

CHA (Charisma): 6 → Blunt, hard to connect with strangers

LUK (Luck): 15 → Unusually high, fate bends around you

 Skills

• Beginner Swordsmanship (Lv. 1) → Basic sword handling.

• Blackball (Lv. 1) → Summons a small dark orb, weak damage but grows stronger with INT.

• Unique Skill: “Second Chance” → Revive once upon death with partial HP & MP restored.

 Inventory

Slot 1: Worn Traveler’s Cloak (Common)

Slot 2: Rusty Short Sword (Common)

Slot 3: Bread x2 (Consumable – restores 10 HP)

Slot 4: Empty

Currency: 0 Gold

 Quests

Main Quest: Survive in this world.

Side Quest: Register at the Adventurer’s Guild.

Hidden Quest (Locked): Register at the Royal Academy upon turning 15.

 Reputation

Global: Unknown

Local: Stranger

Royal Academy: Not Yet Eligible

Adventurer’s Guild: Not Registered

System Notes

• Your high LUK may unlock secret opportunities, rare drops, or encounters others never see.

• Your Title: Reincarnator makes you a wild card in this world’s fate. Some NPCs may sense it.

• Second Chance makes you more valuable than most adventurers — but you only get one revival per day.

I stared at the glowing text, my mouth hanging open.

“This is insane…” I whispered. My hand hovered over the screen, scrolling through the stats. “It’s like… I’m inside the game.”

I touched my chest. My heart wasn’t hurting. Not anymore. For once, it felt steady, calm.

My eyes drifted back to the “LUK: 15.” High luck. Of course. I almost laughed. Maybe for once, luck was actually on my side.

I closed the screen and looked around the empty castle again. The silence felt different now—not just emptiness, but possibility.

A smile tugged at my lips.

“This time,” I said softly, my voice echoing in the grand hall, “I’m going to play my life the way I want to.”

And for the first time ever… it didn’t feel like an escape. It felt like the start of the

real game.

...----------------...

When I woke up the next morning, I was still in the same oversized bed with silky sheets that looked way too expensive for someone like me. My brain hadn’t caught up yet. For a moment, I actually thought it was just another dream—the kind I sometimes got after gaming too long. But then I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and saw the massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the cracked black walls, the long shadowed windows.

Right. The big dark castle in the middle of nowhere. My request. My “isekai starter pack.”

Honestly? Still couldn’t believe this was real.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet touched the cold stone floor, and I nearly shivered. My height didn’t change—still 4’9. Great. Even in another world, I’m snack-sized. Lucky monsters.

But my face? I had checked in the mirror last night. Same features, same dark hair falling over my shoulders, same big eyes everyone used to call “pretty but wasted on her attitude.” Yeah, no glow-up. The only difference was the weird blue-ish aura that flickered faintly whenever I touched my chest, where my “system” seemed to sit.

And speaking of the system—

“System. Open status.”

The familiar screen blinked to life before me. Lines of text glowed midair, floating like a hologram. Just seeing my Level 1 stats made me want to sigh.

Weak. Absolutely weak.

“STR 8, END 7. Basically, I’ll faint if a bunny kicks me,” I muttered.

Still, I couldn’t just stay locked up in the castle forever. I had spent eighteen years cooped up in my room back in the real world. This was my second chance, my real game. And games don’t play themselves.

So today’s plan was simple: Level up.

---

I tied the thin traveler’s cloak around my shoulders, grabbed the rusty short sword from my inventory (it looked like it had seen better centuries), and stuffed the two pieces of bread into the side pocket. My great adventure would start with carbs.

The front gate of the castle groaned as I pushed it open, sunlight slicing through the shadows. Outside was the forest—massive trees with twisting roots, thick branches blocking chunks of the sky. Birds chirped somewhere far away. The air smelled cleaner than anything back home.

It was… beautiful.

Also terrifying.

Because if there were trees, there were animals. And if there were animals, there were probably monsters.

I swallowed. “Okay Wenalin, you wanted this. Let’s start easy. Slimes. Rabbits. No dragons. No demons.”

The path leading away from the castle was half overgrown, grass reaching up to my knees. I held the sword tight in my hand. It felt heavy, awkward, like I had no idea what I was doing (which, let’s be honest, I didn’t).

---

My first encounter didn’t take long.

A bush rustled to my left. I froze. Something squishy and wet-looking bounced out—green, jiggly, the size of a basketball. A slime.

“Perfect!” I whispered, my heart racing. “Tutorial mob!”

The slime blinked—wait, did it even have eyes?—and made a strange blorp sound before wobbling toward me.

Alright, Wenalin. Time to test your sword skills.

I raised the rusty short sword and swung.

Swish.

…Missed.

The slime hopped to the side, leaving me stumbling forward like an idiot.

“Oh come on, even a slime can dodge me?!” I hissed, spinning around.

It wobbled again, then launched itself at my leg. I yelped, almost falling backward, but managed to smack it with the flat side of the blade. It squealed—or maybe that was me—and flopped onto the ground.

–5 HP popped above its head.

I blinked. “Oh. That… actually worked?”

The slime quivered angrily and lunged again. This time, I gritted my teeth, focused, and stabbed downward.

Schlick.

The sword sank into its gooey body. A small burst of light scattered. The slime collapsed into a puddle before vanishing completely, leaving behind…

[Loot Acquired: Slime Core x1]

My hands shook, both from excitement and adrenaline. I had actually killed something. All on my own.

The system chimed:

[Exp +20]

[Level 1 → Level 2]

I stared at the glowing notification. “Oh my god. That was easier than grinding in Fantasy Realm Online.”

Still, my arms ached from just two swings. My END really was trash.

---

For the next hour, I wandered deeper into the forest, testing myself on small monsters.

A horned rabbit bit me once (ow, sharp little teeth), but after panicking and smacking it repeatedly with the sword, I managed to win. Another slime nearly made me trip, but I found out my “Blackball” skill actually worked—though the tiny dark orb I summoned looked more like a sad smoke bubble than a spell.

It did the job though.

By the time I slumped down against a tree trunk to catch my breath, I had leveled up twice more. My HP was low, my stamina bar nearly empty, but my hands trembled with excitement.

I wasn’t just surviving. I was playing.

“Ha…” I let out a shaky laugh, holding up the slime core in my hand. “Take that, real world. I can actually fight here.”

I leaned back against the tree, staring up at the canopy. The sunlight peeked through the leaves, painting the forest gold.

For once, I felt like I could actually keep going.

...----------------...

My brain kept telling me, Go back to the castle, Wenalin. Eat bread. Nap. Be safe.

But my feet? They had other plans.

Because even though my arms ached and my stamina bar was crying for mercy, I just couldn’t stop. The forest was alive with danger, sure, but it also had that spark—the thrill of stepping into the unknown. It felt… freeing.

Like for once, I wasn’t just some fragile kid stuck inside her room.

I was an adventurer.

Well, a Level 3 adventurer with trash stats and a sword that looked like it belonged in the bargain bin, but still—progress.

---

The trees grew denser as I went further in. Sunlight barely reached the forest floor here, leaving long patches of shadow. The air was thicker, damp, almost sticky. And it was quiet.

Too quiet.

I stopped, clutching the sword tighter. “...Yeah, this feels like the part in a horror game where you either find treasure or get eaten.”

A bush rustled ahead. I stiffened, crouching slightly, my heart racing.

From the shadows, two glowing eyes appeared.

Not green like slimes. Not white like rabbits.

Red.

“Oh no. No, no, no…” I whispered, taking a step back.

The wolf emerged—sleek, black fur glistening, teeth bared. It looked bigger than me. Its claws dug into the dirt as it growled low, the sound vibrating straight into my bones.

“Oh great. I’m the appetizer,” I muttered, trying to steady my breathing.

It lunged.

---

Instinct screamed louder than logic. I swung the sword wildly, and by some miracle, it grazed the wolf’s shoulder.

–10 HP

The wolf snarled but didn’t stop. Its weight slammed into me, knocking me onto my back. My sword almost flew out of my hands. I shoved against its neck, feeling its hot breath on my face.

“GET—OFF!” I yelled, kicking at its stomach.

It staggered back, but not before its claws raked across my arm.

–15 HP

“Ow ow ow—!” The pain was so real, I wanted to cry. But crying wouldn’t help. I forced myself up, shaking.

The wolf circled, eyes gleaming with hunger. My own HP bar blinked dangerously yellow.

This was not a beginner mob.

---

“Blackball!” I shouted, thrusting out my hand.

The small dark orb appeared and shot forward, smacking the wolf in the face. It snarled, shaking its head, buying me seconds. I used that moment to stab forward, the rusty sword sinking into its side.

–25 HP

It howled, then retaliated with a swipe of its claws.

–20 HP

My HP plummeted into the red. 10/100. My vision blurred at the edges.

“Not good, not good—” I stumbled back, tripping over a root. The wolf loomed above me, lips curled back, ready for the final bite.

Panic froze me.

Then—

[Unique Skill Activated: Second Chance]

Light exploded from my chest. Warmth surged through me, filling my veins. My HP bar shot up to 40/100. The wolf yelped, thrown back by the burst.

I gasped for air, clutching my chest. “...I just died. I literally died!”

My hands shook, but adrenaline drowned out the fear. I stood, raising the sword again.

“Okay, no more playing nice.”

---

The wolf lunged again, but this time I sidestepped, swinging with all my strength. The blade sliced deep into its shoulder.

Critical Hit! –40 HP

The wolf stumbled, whined, then lunged weaker than before. My heart hammered in my chest as I dodged again, channeling another Blackball.

The orb hit its head square on.

It collapsed into light, leaving only silence and a glowing notification.

[Exp +60]

[Level Up → 4]

I collapsed to my knees, panting. My sword trembled in my grip. Sweat dripped down my forehead.

“Okay…” I wheezed. “So… note to self: don’t fight wolves. Ever. Again.”

I leaned back against a tree, pressing a shaky hand to my side where the wounds had been. They weren’t bleeding anymore—thank you, revival skill—but the phantom pain lingered.

I had actually died. On my first real adventure outside the castle.

And yet, weirdly enough… I felt alive.

Like I had finally tasted what it meant to fight for survival.

---

After resting, I checked my system again.

[New Passive Skill Unlocked: Survivor’s Instinct Lv.1]

Grants a small boost to Agility and Awareness when HP falls below 30%.

I blinked. “...Oh. That’s actually useful.”

So almost dying came with rewards, huh?

I chuckled weakly. “Still not worth the trauma.”

The forest was still around me, dark and full of secrets. Part of me wanted to keep pushing further, but my common sense—what little of it I had left—finally screamed at me to go back.

So I staggered to my feet, sword dragging slightly, and started walking toward the distant silhouette of the castle.

The adventure had only just started, and I’d already used my get-out-of-death-free card.

“Next time,” I muttered, “I’m bringing snacks. And maybe a shield. .”

Still, despite the fear, despite the pain… a smile crept across my face.

I wasn’t just surviving.

I was living.

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