One piece: Without a system, I have to survive!

"You should not be here."

The words echoed in my mind, not spoken aloud but seeping directly into my thoughts like a whisper from something far older than any of us.

The shadowy figure stood motionless in the mist, its form flickering like a dying flame. Its eyes—empty voids—seemed to peer through me, as if stripping away every layer of my existence.

Shira tightened her grip on her sword. "Who the hell are you?"

Smoker exhaled slowly, his jitte raised, his muscles tense.

The figure tilted its head, the movement slow, almost unnatural.

"Turn back."

The whispers grew louder.

The mist curled around our feet, creeping up our legs like unseen hands. The ruins seemed to pulse, as if the island itself was breathing.

I took a step forward.

Something inside me knew—if we left now, we might never get another chance.

"What is this place?" I asked, my voice steady despite the unease crawling under my skin. "Why does it feel like I've been here before?"

The figure remained silent for a moment.

Then—

It raised a hand.

Its fingers were long, skeletal, shifting between shadow and reality.

It pointed to the carvings on the wall.

I turned, my gaze falling on the ancient symbols.

And then—

They changed.

Before my eyes, the symbols moved, rearranging themselves into a pattern that suddenly made sense.

Words.

A name.

A name I had never heard before—

Yet somehow, I knew it.

"The Lost Kingdom of Asmora."

My heart pounded.

Asmora.

That name…

It felt like a key to something buried in the deepest part of my mind.

Something I had forgotten.

Or maybe—

Something that had been taken from me.

A Warning from the Past

I turned back to the figure, but before I could speak, it took a step forward.

The air shuddered.

The jungle around us darkened, the mist growing denser.

"The truth is not yours to claim," the whispers hissed.

And then—

The ground cracked beneath us.

A surge of black energy erupted from the ruins, slamming into us like a tidal wave.

I barely had time to react before the world exploded into darkness.