Alexander Bakhin: From Soldier to Summoner

Prologue.

Darkness...

Darkness...

It covers my surroundings—my chest—gushing with the blood of my own body.

How?

They lied to us.

They deceived us all!

My vision blurred as death crept closer. I could see those bastards smiling—laughing—at the murder they had just committed.

They brought us low-rankers down here just to steal the points for themselves, to rank up...

To them, we were nothing but objects. Tools. Disposable.

They took everything from my friends—valuables, gold, jewelry, even the gems we had collected from the dungeon.

To them, the act of adventure was nothing but a sick joke.

That bitch—and her bastard of a boyfriend...

"Fucking rats!"

"AH—"

"FUCKING BASTARDS!" I shouted... Yet they didn't even glance back at us.

I watched my friends—killed like monsters—while our blood began to glow faintly around us.

I knew what was happening.

We had entered the Tomb of the Undead. Our unfortunate bodies... would be converted into the blood of the Gadiam.

Sixteen years of life, wasted.

Born into poverty, raised by a single mother, clawing through hardship just to die like this. For nothing.

I tried everything. I fought with everything I had...

But in the end, I lost it all.

In this moment of darkness, I wondered—who was I?

A nobody. A forgotten soul. Homeless once, then lifted by a fleeting glimpse of hope... only to be drowned again in cold blood. My friends. The monsters.

The last of my strength...I used it to turn to face the statue behind me.

A stone maiden, kneeling, hands clasped in prayer.

Something about it felt familiar.

Nostalgic.

Yet... foreign.

Then, I saw someone approaching.

A man dressed in some kind of uniform. Not like an adventurer. He didn't even look like he belonged here.

A soldier?

His gear... his presence... it was different. His steps grew louder, closer.

My vision was blurred. My body is numb. I raised my hand toward him—

But he didn't take it.

The man was silent. I couldn't see his face clearly, but as he knelt beside me, I got a better look.

An unknown man, but something about him... felt familiar.

Then, he muttered something.

To me.

"Remember who you are..."


His face and voice... I began to remember...

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In the distance, constant flashes of artillery bombardment lit up what was once a proud Ukrainian city. Explosions hammered the earth, shaking the very air.