CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO RIFT WORLD
That day, no one could have expected it.
No one could have imagined, not even for a single moment, that what was supposed to be just a simple school trip would end up turning into a descent into hell and change our lives forever.
Fire
In certain beliefs, this element is a symbol of life. It illuminates, warms, protects, purifies.
But in an instant, it can change and devour everything, reducing the world to ashes.
But that day, it showed only its cruelest face.
Everywhere one laid their eyes, it was there.
In every corner, every hallway, every compartment of that cursed train.
Devouring everything in its path, like an uncontrollable plague.
Those merciless flames were the only silent witnesses of a ferocious battle.
The more time passed, the more unbearable the heat became…
The air in the compartment was heavy, saturated with a hideous smell of rot, burned flesh, and smoke.
Breathing inside had become a trial.
Monstrous sounds of agony, mixed with violent explosions, echoed fiercely from the other compartments of the train.
The flames grew, crackling, screaming.
That night… it was as if hell itself had descended on Earth.
Yet, in the middle of all that chaos, of that hell, right there, in the heart of the flames, in the furnace, one could distinguish the silhouette of a young man.
He stood in the center of the wagon, motionless, imposing and dark.
At his feet lay the corpse of a gigantic, deformed and terrifying monster.
The kind of monster one only sees in their worst nightmares.
The creature was charred, the flames devouring its entire body.
An iron bar pierced its chest from side to side.
Its twisted limbs were frozen in a final breath.
From its burned flesh, a black mist escaped, evaporating like a curse refusing to die.
Suddenly, a translucent blue screen appeared abruptly in front of the young man's face.
But he paid it little attention, still panting, his mind dizzy from the brutal fight he had just gone through.
blink
[You have just accomplished an impossible feat!!!]
blink
[A mysterious Divinity is watching you, eyes wide open in shock.]
blink
[Congratulations, you have just defeated the Class S Corpse King.]
[Level: 1]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
....
[System Update!]
blink
[The Divinity wonders if you are truly human!]
"Shut up, damn broken system… Can't you stop blinking in front of my eyes?" thought the young man, breathless, breathing hard.
blink
[The mysterious Divinity smiles at you.]
[Update complete!]
[Name: Ken Jinheon]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 5]
[Strength: 19]
[Endurance: 22]
[Agility: 27]
[Rank: Mortal]
[Free Points: 30]
[Skills: ???]
[Title: Demon King]
blink
[You have obtained 2 new titles]
---
[Title acquired: Scourge of the Dead]
You have defeated a high-ranked undead creature.
The curse could not reach you.
The dead now recognize you as their predator.
Effects:
Total immunity to the Black Plague (100%)
High resistance to necromantic curses (+85%)
Increased damage against undead (+30%)
Increased critical hit rate against undead (+40%)
Fear aura: the dead hesitate to approach you
Spiritual perception of dead creatures
Subjugation of the dead: allows you to enslave and dominate undead creatures whose mana or will is lower than yours
Passive necrotic regeneration (+0.5 pt/sec)
The more dead there are around, the more regeneration, vitality, mana, and all stats increase temporarily for 1 minute.
A rare title.
An anomaly in the balance between life and death.
---
[Title acquired: Slayer of the Abyss]
You have hunted and slain a creature from the dark depths.
Your name is now whispered in fear by the shadows.
Effects:
Greatly improved sensitivity in darkness (+50%)
Affinity with dark-type energies (+60%)
Increased damage against Abyss creatures (+30%)
Critical hit rate against abyssal creatures (+15%)
High resistance to corrupted mana
Immunity to all mental attacks from abyssal creatures
Hunter's instinct: you can sense nearby abyssal presences
Black Hand of the Abyss: you can extract and absorb surrounding mana, pure or impure, and convert it into your own energy.
A rare title.
A predator who dares face what others flee.
---
blink
[System Update…]
Cough… cough
"What is happening? I don't understand anything.
Can someone explain? It was only supposed to be a simple school trip to Busan, nothing more!"
He repeated those words over and over in his mind, but unfortunately never found an answer.
His breathing was heavy and burning, his breath ragged.
His gaze wandered endlessly through the chaos, unable to focus on a single thing.
All around him, the world collapsed, catching fire.
"None of this makes any sense!"
That young man was named Ken Jinheon.
In the eyes of others, he was what one commonly called a "genius."
But for him… that word was not an honor.
It was nothing other than a damn curse.
Everything came easily to him.
Always.
Too easily.
To the point that life itself had lost all flavor.
He was the kind of person who could say, without trembling:
"On earth as in heaven, I alone deserve to be revered."
Born with a face too perfect, eyes of a ruby color shining like jewels — the consequence of a genetic anomaly as rare as it was inexplicable — and a body that dominated effortlessly, Ken Jinheon was not just talented.
He was a phenomenon on his own.
Studies, martial arts, sports… everything he touched, he excelled at.
And that without ever encountering a true challenge able to impress him.
Over time, life always felt monotonous to him.
Even when he ventured into illegal things, nothing could awaken in him a true sense of danger or surprise.
For Ken Jinheon, it was always the same story.
The same pattern.
The same cycle, again and again.
Every victory, every peak he reached, every obstacle overcome left only emptiness.
Or the small satisfaction he believed he had obtained was immediately swallowed by a bottomless abyss.
Without an opponent worthy of him, anyone who tried to challenge him was instantly crushed by his monstrous talent — as absurd as it was terrifying.
This gift, combined with his extraordinary physical traits, earned him a nickname — a title both admired… and feared by his peers:
"The Demon King."
Deep down, for Ken Jinheon, nothing had any taste anymore.
Nothing was worth it.
Nothing… could stimulate him.
This world too predictable, too slow for him, bored him to death.
But secretly, he longed for more…
For a world capable of embracing his adrenaline-filled blood,
for a world full of dangers, desperate situations, brutal, deadly fights,
for a world full of trials that would finally allow him to unleash his full potential, surpass himself and transcend his limits.
But what he didn't know yet…
is that his wish was about to come true — for better or for worse.
A feminine voice, insistent and piercing, suddenly tore Ken Jinheon from his stupor.
He turned around immediately, still panting.
His face, bruised by fatigue, trembled slightly.
His school uniform was stained with black blood — the monster's — which had dried on him due to the infernal heat reigning in the compartment.
The dark liquid sullied his skin, clinging to his hair, streaming down to his face, giving him a heavy aura.
His eyes, still lost in the chaos, finally settled on the silhouette behind him.
"Hanna? What are you doing here?" he said, surprised, his voice heavy.
"You should be with the others… evacuating. It's too dangerous here."
The girl shook her head gently.
Her gaze, vibrating with fierce determination, fixed itself on Ken.
She was as injured as he was; fatigue and pain threatened to make her falter at every step, and yet, she was there.
"And what? Abandon you and let you face that terrifying monster alone… Never!" she replied, her voice trembling but resolute.
"Huh?!"
The girl's eyes widened for a moment, frozen in shock.
Her hand pressed against her wounded arm, she stepped forward, staggering, unable to look away from the gigantic corpse of the monster before her.
"You really did it… you really defeated it."
She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaled, then shook her head violently to regain composure before saying again, in a deeper, more urgent voice:
"That's not the most important thing right now. We have a big problem. We must evacuate. The train isn't stopping, it's going to…"
Before she could finish, a huge explosion caused by a gas leak blew up several compartments of the train, making them derail like a snake on the tracks.
"The explosion was incredibly violent; the whole train seemed to float above our bodies, weightless. In the carriage, frozen in that moment, I could see and hear Hanna screaming my name, reaching her hand toward me. It was brutal."
"And in a brief instant… As soon as we thought it was over, that it was the end…"
blink
[System Update completed!]
[Selection Trial completed!]
[SURVIVE THE HORROR]
[Participants at the start: 300 / 300]
[Remaining survivors: 5 / 300 passengers!]
blink
[Configuration…]
blink
[Configuration completed!]
[RIFT WORLD]
[Automatic teleportation activated!!!]
Suddenly, a blinding white light appeared out of nowhere, then it was nothingness.
And after a few seconds, when I opened my eyes,
I found myself in a vast plain, bathed in the silver light of the moon.
Around me, thousands of people, apparently from all over the world: men, women, children.
All seemed as anxious and lost as I was, talking and shouting very loudly in a general chaos of incomprehensible languages.
Suddenly, a terrifying voice cut through this sound chaos:
"Welcome, everyone."
A tall and imposing being stood there, frozen in the sky, with huge wings resembling those of a bat.
The moon behind him cast a pale glow that darkened and partially masked his silhouette.
From what one could see, he wore a luxurious black suit, very elegant black shoes,
and a golden pocket watch hung along his chest.
But when one squinted, searching, trying to look…
Through the moonlight that blurred our vision, his face finally appeared. It was…
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
No eyes, no nose, no ears, no mouth, no hair.
Just a white, pale head, without any detail.
"A demon!" shouted a large part of the crowd, panicked and terrified.
"Silence! Listen to me carefully until the end…"
declared the demon, resuming his speech without paying any attention to the crowd.
With a nonchalant gesture, he glanced at his watch, as if the chaos around him had no importance.
As soon as he wanted to speak, he had not even pronounced a word when several members of the crowd interrupted him:
"What do you want from us?" shouted a man.
"Take us home!" replied a crying woman in the crowd.
"This isn't real, it's a hidden camera, right?" added a terrified man, trembling on the edge of madness.
"You want money, right? My family is rich! I can give you some!"
Immediately, chaotic tumult erupted, mixing screams, pleas, and panic.
But in the middle of all that noise, a silhouette stood out from the others.
That of a bearded, corpulent man in a white suit, wearing a cowboy hat,
his wrists shining with rings and luxury watches, more dazzling than the others.
He advanced slowly, fearlessly, making his way through the crowd.
He was immediately recognized by several people.
Who wouldn't recognize him?
This man was one of the richest people in the world, a millionaire and an influential politician worldwide.
His mere presence was enough to temporarily calm the surrounding agitation.
Then suddenly, the corpulent man stopped at the front of the crowd, puffed out his chest and shouted in a loud, arrogant voice:
"Do you know who I am?!"
The demon did not answer, visibly irritated by his stupid interlocutors.
Suddenly, a shrill scream rang out:
the man in the white suit swelled… then exploded violently like a bomb, his flesh and entrails spreading through the crowd who screamed in horror.
Then suddenly, the air became hotter, more oppressive, pressing.
And then, the demon exclaimed again:
"That is why I hate humans.
Were you never taught that interrupting someone during a speech is rude? Very well."
"I think if I kill a few troublemakers, no one will hold it against me."
At that moment, no one dared speak anymore; even breathing too loudly had become taboo.
Fear and terror had paralyzed the entire crowd.
"Well…"
Clap… clap
The demon clapped his gloved hands.
The moon, previously white, behind him, slowly began to turn red.
The sky darkened into a scarlet red, as if a veil of blood covered the world.
The moon's rays, now blood-red, bathed the plain in an unhealthy light.
The demon's voice also seemed to change, gaining power and coldness.
It even seemed to pierce our souls.
"I believe you still do not understand the situation you are in…
Nor the honor represented by being chosen."
The demon, whose face had so far seemed smooth and without features, suddenly displayed a wide terrifying smile, a rictus that would have frozen a corpse.
Then, two red eyes slowly opened on his face, with golden pupils shaped like inverted stars, staring at the crowd with absolute contempt.
"My dear little humans with a now uncertain future…"
"You must understand one thing:
The world in which you lived and which you knew no longer exists!"
Then he opened his arms wide, adopting a crucifixion pose, as if welcoming us into his hell.
Behind him, the blood-red moon pulsed like a heart, casting stifling scarlet light.
The scene was both hypnotic, enchanting and terrifying.
"No more carefree life!"
"No more comfort!"
"For too long, you have lived in peace, lulled by the illusion of progress, forgetting what true terror is.
But that… is about to change."
"What is happening…?"
"What kind of hell is this?" thought Ken, eyes widened before that unreal scene.
Every cell in his body tensed instantly, his breath stopped, and his heart began to pound wildly.
His blood boiled in his veins like molten lava, while a cold shiver ran down his back, accompanied by a strange pressure squeezing his chest.
At that precise moment, Ken had just understood that the world he had always known… had come to an end.
It had turned into hell.
Around him, everyone was terrified, horrified and panicked.
Some were crying, finally realizing the gravity of the situation.
A baby screamed beside him, its mother unable to calm it.
A young girl curled up on herself was tearing out her hair while sobbing.
But for Ken Jinheon, it was different; he kept repeating the same question in his mind again and again:
"But why…?"
"Why…?"
Why me?
"Why is my heart beating so fast?"
"Why am I so excited?"
"Why can't I be afraid like the others?"
"Whether in the train, or now… why am I so happy?"
"And above all, why can't I stop smiling…?"
A crazy and equally insane smile distorted the young man's face…
"I must admit, it's been a long time since I've felt so alive.
Since I've been so stimulated."
"My dear pathetic little humans, with now broken existences…"
"Hold on to your miserable insignificant lives."
The demon's smile widened, twisted by joyful madness.
His eyes burned like two black suns.
And suddenly, he screamed, in an uncontrollable, maniacal, exalted laugh:
"Here comes the first stage…
OF RIFT WORLD!"
Then, in deadly silence, his voice thundered like lightning:
"Let the Survival Game… BEGIN!!!"