The night reeked of rain, smoke, and something metallic that clung to the air. Ethan Cross stumbled down a cracked alleyway, clutching his stomach where the blade had slipped between his ribs. His breath came in short, ragged gasps, the world spinning around him like some cruel carousel he couldn't get off.
He pressed his back against the damp brick wall and slid down until he hit the ground. His palms left streaks of blood against the stone. The neon lights of the city flickered above, casting the alley in harsh flashes of green and pink. His vision blurred, and the colors bled together into something grotesque, like the world itself was mocking him in his final moments.
He thought of how pathetic it was, dying here, alone, like some nameless street rat. No epic last stand, no noble sacrifice—just another nobody carved open for the cash in his wallet.
When the footsteps of his attackers faded, he allowed himself a bitter laugh. "Figures," he muttered, though his voice was little more than a wheeze.
His chest tightened. His body grew cold. He tried to fight it, tried to hang on, but the darkness pressed in until he couldn't resist anymore. His last thought was that death, for all its reputation, felt eerily quiet.
And then, nothing.
Or rather, not nothing.
When Ethan opened his eyes again, he was not in the alley. He was standing—or at least, it felt like standing—suspended in a vast expanse of darkness speckled with stars. The void stretched endlessly in all directions, silent yet humming with an unseen energy. His wounds were gone. His body was whole.
Panic hit him in a wave. He twisted around, trying to make sense of where he was. No ground beneath his feet. No sky above his head. Just infinite space, shimmering and alive.
"What the hell…" His words seemed to echo far too loud for such a still place.
A ripple moved across the stars, as if the very fabric of the void had shuddered in response.
Then a voice spoke, cold and steady, resonating not in his ears but in his mind.
Initializing Player.
Ethan froze. The words weren't human, not spoken aloud, but they reverberated inside his skull. Before he could process them, another followed.
Unauthorized subject detected.
His pulse quickened. He spun, as though he might find someone standing behind him, but there was only emptiness.
"Who's there?" he demanded, his voice cracking.
No reply—only more words, like they were being etched into his bones.
Glitch detected.
Installing corrupted system.
A faint glow flickered in front of him, coalescing into a screen made of pale light. Strange runes shimmered across its surface, some legible, others broken, skipping, and rearranging themselves as though reality couldn't hold them steady.
It listed his name. Ethan Cross.
It listed things that made no sense: Level 0, no class, no skills. Attributes so low they looked like mockery—Strength: 1, Agility: 1, Intelligence: 1. A series of numbers like something out of a video game, except this wasn't a game.
He reached out, hand trembling, but his fingers passed through the glowing screen as if it weren't even there.
"This isn't real," he whispered. "I'm dead. This is… it's just…"
But the screen pulsed, bright enough to blind him, and suddenly the void shattered like glass around him.
He fell.
The stars broke into fragments and swirled past him, tearing at his body as though he were plummeting through a storm made of shards. His scream was swallowed by the roaring void, and then—
Impact.
The world slammed into him with bone-jarring force. He crashed through branches, his body twisting, snapping twigs, ripping leaves until he slammed onto damp earth. Pain flared everywhere. His breath caught in his throat.
For a long moment, Ethan lay still, dazed, staring up at a canopy of dark trees that swayed in the moonlight. The air was crisp, far too clean, carrying the scent of pine and soil. He coughed, groaned, and forced himself to sit up. His body screamed in protest, but he was alive. Somehow.
Alive in a place that was definitely not home.
The forest stretched around him, endless and alien. Trees loomed tall, their bark etched with strange glowing veins that pulsed faintly, like the forest itself was breathing. The ground beneath him seemed to hum faintly with life. He shivered, pulling himself to his feet.
He wasn't alone.
The first sign was the low growl that rippled through the air behind him.
Ethan froze. Slowly, he turned. From between the trees, a pair of crimson eyes glowed in the darkness. A shape moved forward, silent but heavy.
It was a wolf—or at least, it resembled one. Twice the size of any natural beast, its fur was shadow given form, its teeth glinting unnaturally sharp in the moonlight. Each step it took seemed to drain the warmth from the air.
Ethan's breath hitched. His mind screamed at him to run, but his legs refused to obey.
The creature bared its fangs, and Ethan saw the hunger in its eyes.
Then something strange happened.
The screen of light flickered back into existence before him.
Quest generated: Survive.
Failure: Death.
He cursed aloud. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
The wolf lunged.
Instinct finally kicked in. Ethan stumbled sideways, barely dodging as claws raked across the ground where he'd been standing. He grabbed the nearest branch, swinging wildly. It smacked against the wolf's shoulder, splintering instantly. The beast didn't even flinch.
Its head snapped toward him, jaws wide. Ethan's blood turned to ice.
Then the screen flashed again.
Skill theft activated.
Target: Shadowfang Wolf.
Skill obtained: Shadow Step.
A strange sensation surged through him, like icy water racing through his veins. His vision warped, the shadows around him stretching unnaturally. Before he could understand what was happening, his body flickered and vanished.
He reappeared several feet away, stumbling forward in shock. His heart hammered. His breath caught.
"What the—"
The wolf spun, confused for a moment, and Ethan realized what had happened. He'd… teleported? No, not quite. He had stepped through shadows themselves.
A laugh bubbled out of him, half-mad, half-exhilarated. "Okay… maybe I can work with this."
The wolf growled, stalking toward him again. The screen shimmered, new words appearing.
Quest updated: Defeat the Shadowfang Wolf.
Reward: Experience and random skill.
Ethan's grip tightened on the broken branch still in his hand. His body trembled with fear, but beneath it was something else—an ember of determination, small but alive.
He had died once tonight. He refused to die again.
The wolf lunged, and Ethan vanished into the shadows once more.
The fight had only just begun.