Hell Descended, and the Starving Ghost Ate My Family

"No! Dad, Mom! Let Ryan have that S-rank evil spirit! I've already stolen his life for all these years—I can't steal his future too!"

The moment I heard that self-righteous voice, my eyes flew open.

Outside the window, the sky was a sickly crimson, and the sharp stink of sulfur filled the air.

This was the first day hell descended on earth!

I was reborn?!

I looked at Josh, the adopted son putting on a show of being generous. The instant I caught the greed in his eyes as he stared at the B-rank Starving Ghost, I understood.

He had been reborn too!

Hell had fallen to earth. Evil spirits slaughtered people, monsters ran wild, and among humanity, a small number awakened as spirit tamers, able to forge master-servant contracts with evil spirits and command them in battle.

In my previous life, both Josh and I awakened as spirit tamers, and we summoned one S-rank and one B-rank evil spirit.

Our parents didn't hesitate for even a second before letting Josh choose the S-rank spirit.

After all, S-rank evil spirits were unimaginably rare—hardly anyone among humans had one.

But this time, Josh didn't listen to our parents. Instead, he strode straight toward the B-rank Starving Ghost and signed the contract without the slightest hesitation, only then letting out a long breath of relief.

The scrawny Starving Ghost rubbed against him like a little dog.

"Oh my God! Josh, my precious boy! You're so kind! I don't even know what to say!"

My mother, Mary, pulled him into her arms, her eyes brimming with tears.

My father, David, turned to me with an arrogant look. "Ryan, do you see this? Josh willingly chose the weaker B-rank spirit for your sake! A biological son like you, dragged back from the slums, is already lucky enough to be allowed into the Lynch family. Why are you still standing there? Go thank your brother properly!"

My sister, Susan, crossed her arms and chimed in with open disgust. "Exactly! If it weren't for your pathetic little pride, Josh would never have given up an S-rank spirit. You'd better spend the rest of your life repaying him."

I looked calmly at the three people who were my blood family in name.

The year I was born, Mary took me shopping in a luxury store and got so busy chatting that she lost me on the street.

To fill the so-called emotional wound that left behind, David adopted Josh.

Fifteen years later, the police finally found me because David needed a kidney transplant.

But when I was brought out of the slums, covered in mud, and delivered to this luxurious villa, the only thing in their eyes was undisguised disgust.

In their eyes, Josh was polite, got good grades, and played the piano. He was the perfect son of the Lynch family.

As for me, I was just some crude bastard who didn't even know how to use fine silverware.

I had been back in this house for three years. As long as Josh frowned even a little, I was the one at fault.

To them, my return had been nothing but a mistake, an intrusion on their happy family of four.

In my previous life, it had happened in this same room.

Josh contracted an ordinary S-rank ghost, while I contracted the B-rank Starving Ghost.

In the end, his S-rank spirit was completely useless and could only hide behind other people, while my Starving Ghost could devour evil spirits and evolve without limit, making it terrifyingly powerful.

To fit into this family, I fought like a dog through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, doing everything I could to protect them.

And what did I get in return?

Right before the most horrifying ghost tide descended, when the base needed me most to stay behind and defend everyone, my whole family drove their blades into my heart.

All because Josh wanted to steal my Starving Ghost so he could live a little more comfortably on the road.

"What are you standing around for? Go contract that S-rank spirit already! Are you too stupid to even do something this simple?" David barked impatiently, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"As you wish." Expressionless, I stepped forward and pressed my hand against the phantom form of the S-rank evil spirit.

The contract was formed.

Josh lowered his head, a smug, satisfied sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

He had gotten exactly what he wanted—the Starving Ghost that could level up without limit.

As David and Mary gathered around Josh with relieved smiles, praising him as if he were some true savior, I said nothing. I simply walked to the side and began packing my things in silence.

Josh thought he had stolen the greatest advantage my rebirth had given me.

But what he didn't know was that as the Starving Ghost grew stronger, its hunger would become more and more frenzied.

And once it was starving enough to lose control, it would never care whether what it crushed between its teeth was a ghost or... human flesh.