I Was Reborn in Another World, But I Awoke Inside a Corpse

Chapter 155: Stupid choice

Isaac stood in front of the writhing dream-parasite, one eye glowing faintly from [Soulpiercer Sight – Rank A]. Lira and Sylvalen stood behind him, weapons ready, but he'd already raised a hand.

"Hold," Isaac said. "Let me see what we're actually dealing with."

The writhing mist solidified briefly.

A status window flickered into existence—and immediately made him raise an eyebrow.

Name: Andrealphus

Title: Former Great Demon (Pride)

Level: 298

Race: Abyssborn Parasite (Dream-entangled)

Current Power Rank: Weaker than Beelzebub

Stats:

STR: 3,921 AGI: 3,844 END: 3,987

INT: 4,010 WIL: 3,903 CHA: 3,766

LUCK: ???

Status Conditions: Banished, Fragmented Consciousness, Mentally Unstable, Stuck in Someone Else's Dream

System Note: Also weaker than most caffeinated squirrels.

Isaac blinked.

"…That's impressive. And still pathetic."

The dream-entity pulsed indignantly. A face formed in the smoke—vaguely goatlike, vaguely dramatic, like a villain auditioning for a forgotten opera.

"How dare you mock me! I am Andrealphus! Keeper of Forbidden Insight! Master of Memory!"

"You're a sentient bedbug," Isaac replied.

"I will possess your mind and rewrite your soul!"

"Sure, you can try."

The smoke screamed and lunged forward.

Isaac didn't resist.

He was curious, after all.

Inside Isaac's Mind.

Andrealphus materialized in a dream version of Isaac's inner soulspace.

It was… weirdly clean.

Bookshelves. Organized status panels. A punching bag labeled "Stress Relief – Use Daily." One sign that said "Please knock before soul intrusion."

Andrealphus floated forward dramatically.

"Behold, mortal! I will rewrite your identity from the inside! Witness the infinite arrogance of—"

He stopped.

Something was standing in front of him.

A… slightly shorter version of Isaac, wearing a bathrobe and sipping tea from a mug that read: "Soulbound Host: Do Not Disturb."

"Oh," said Soul-Isaac. "You're here. Took you long enough."

"Wha—how are you lucid?"

"I installed locks."

Andrealphus raised a clawed hand, trying to summon a spell.

Nothing happened.

"Where are my powers?!"

Isaac sipped calmly. "Yeah, sorry. System Override negates unauthorized reality edits. You're inside my operating system now."

Andrealphus panicked.

"I—I'll twist your dreams! Fill them with doubt! With temptation! With visions of failure!"

"Sure. Here's my nightmare drawer." Isaac opened a cabinet and pulled out a folder labeled "Already Been Through Worse" and tossed it on the floor.

Andrealphus picked it up. Flipped through it. Blinked.

"…You died inside a coffin and came back through system glitching?!"

"Twice."

"You fused an EX-ranked Sin to buff an E-ranked efficiency skill?!"

"Mmhm."

"You killed Beelzebub?!"

"With a smile."

"You made Satan lose a tenth of his power?!"

"That was a Tuesday."

Andrealphus dropped the file and began backing away.

"No. No no no. This soul is cursed. This soul is... worse than pride."

He tripped over the punching bag.

Isaac reached down and offered a hand.

"Want to leave now, or do I install you in the 'Joke Skill' slot permanently?"

Andrealphus screamed and tried to flee.

Only to bounce off a firewall labeled "Soul Devourer Matrix – Ω Rank: Passive Soul Trap ENABLED."

"Oops," Isaac said. "Guess I forgot to mention. Once you're in…"

"NOOOOOOOOO—!"

Andrealphus exploded into a puff of sparkly mist, which the soulspace immediately absorbed with a cheerful ding sound.

A notification appeared in glowing script:

[New Passive Trait Acquired: Demon of False Pride – Rank S+]

Effect: Immune to all soul-possession, dream corruption, and arrogance-based illusions.

Auto-redirects spiritual parasites into internal "trash system."

Bonus: Automatically mocks any entity that tries to invade your mind.

Isaac blinked once at the floating message.

"…Huh. Neat, but kinda useless for me."

He opened his interface, calling forth [Skill Fusion Protocol – Rank EX].

Select skill to upgrade: [Dimensional Vault – Rank A]

Select sacrifice skill: [Demon of False Pride – Rank S+]

Confirm fusion?

He tapped yes without hesitation.

Fusion complete.

[Dimensional Vault – Rank S+] acquired.

[Dimensional Vault – Rank S+]

Store up to 1,000 items (non-living) in a personalized subspace tethered to your soul.

– Max volume per item: 25m³

– Can store semi-sentient weapons and artifact cores.

– Vault auto-categorizes inventory by affinity, enchantment, and usefulness.

– "Equipped state" items now respond to thought in under 0.01 seconds.

– Vault can now manifest items mid-combat via flicker-gate projection.

Isaac smiled. "Much better."

Back in the Abyss.

He opened his eyes calmly.

The parasite was gone. His storage was upgraded. His soul was insult-proof.

Lira blinked. "What just happened?"

"He tried to possess me," Isaac said.

"And?"

"He left. Spiritually traumatized."

Sylvalen tilted her head. "You broke a demon's ego?"

"I let him look inside."

They both stared.

Isaac adjusted his coat and pointed forward. The bridge to Belphegor's core pulsed softly.

"Come on. Let's go wake up the god who sleeps too hard."