Chapter One: When the Lights Went Out
Lucian Vale had always been blinded by lights.
Camera flashes, spotlights, stage strobes—each one more dazzling than the last. On Earth, his name echoed in fashion circles like a sacred chant. "Lucian Vale" was elegance carved into flesh. No scandal touched him, no flaw marred his steps. He was the unreachable icon in a world addicted to appearances.
Then came the light that ended it all.
It wasn't poetic. There was no tragic orchestral crescendo. Just the dull creak of metal, a shout too late, and the sharp, nauseating crack of glass and bone. A camera light fell from a rig during a rehearsal—nothing more than a freak accident.
And then there was nothing.
No pain. No fear.Just darkness.
Until breath returned.
Lucian gasped like a man dragged from drowning, his lungs burning with unfamiliar air. He sat up, fingers clutching dirt—real, cold, and raw. The sharp scent of pine hit his senses. The distant cries of creatures he had no names for echoed across a midnight forest sky, speckled with stars brighter than any he'd seen.
His heart thundered as he looked at his hands.
They were… the same. Pale, slender, perfect. His skin, his nails, even the faint scar behind his left thumb from childhood—intact. No wounds, no blood, no bandages. Only the strange, foreign chill of a world that shouldn't exist.
He stood, staggered, then steadied himself. Around him, ancient trees loomed like silent judges. The wind whispered in a tongue he couldn't understand. Something rustled nearby—too quick for a rabbit, too soft for a bear.
Lucian took a step back. His bare feet sank into the moss.
"I'm… not dead?" he whispered.
And as if in answer, something flickered in the air.
A glowing pane, translucent and unreadable at first, shimmered into view in front of him. Words shaped themselves from light.
[Status Screen Activated]
Name: Lucian Vale
Race: Human (?)
Level: 1
Condition: Stable
Location: Northern Verge – Central Continent
Status: Alive
His breath caught.
A… game screen? A dream? Some VR project? But no—he could feel everything. The cold air, the damp earth, the growing sting of fear in his chest.
This wasn't virtual.
It was real.
And he had no idea where he was.
A low growl broke the silence.
Lucian spun around—and there it was. A creature with glowing yellow eyes, crouched low in the underbrush. Its body was lean like a wolf's, but plated with something bone-like. Its mouth split too wide, lined with teeth like broken glass.
It snarled and leapt.
Lucian didn't scream. He couldn't. His body froze.
A blur passed by him.
Then silence.
The beast's head hit the ground before the rest of its body realized it was dead. A figure stood beyond it, sheathing a long, gleaming blade without ceremony. The man's back was to him, but even in that moment, Lucian felt something heavy—like gravity itself had just shifted toward this stranger.
The man turned.
His hair was sun-gold. His eyes shimmered like molten steel. He looked barely older than Lucian, maybe 18 at most. Yet the aura around him was ancient, as if the world itself bowed in his presence.
"You shouldn't be here," he said simply.
Lucian opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
The stranger took a step closer, studying him.
"You're not from here, are you?"
Lucian managed to whisper, "...Who are you?"
The man smiled—kind, patient, terrifying in its quiet certainty.
"Michael," he said. "Michael Kaiser."
To be continued...