Darkness.
An endless void where even time itself seemed frozen. There was no light, no sound, no warmth—only an eternal silence that pressed down like an invisible ocean.
At first, he wasn't even aware of himself. He drifted in that void, weightless, thoughtless, until a single sound shattered the silence.
It wasn't a heartbeat. It wasn't breathing.It was a voice.
Cold, mechanical, echoing directly inside his skull:
[System initializing…][Mission: Discover the True Meaning of Living.]
The words reverberated through the emptiness, metallic and absolute. His mind, once fogged and scattered, suddenly snapped awake.
Then—light.
A blinding radiance pierced through the void. He gasped as his eyes shot open, though he had no memory of closing them. His vision swam, his lungs convulsed, and for the first time he became aware of a body.
The world around him was nothing like the Earth he remembered.It was white—endlessly, impossibly white. An infinite space, boundless and sterile, stretching further than his eyes could follow. No horizon, no ceiling, no floor—just a seamless expanse that made him feel both infinitely small and terrifyingly exposed.
He tried to breathe. The air was heavy, oppressive, as though it wasn't meant for humans.
A dull pain throbbed at the back of his skull. Memories flickered—brief, jagged images.Shattered glass. Screeching tires. Blood pooling against cracked leather. A woman's scream cut off mid-breath.Then nothing.
His chest tightened. His last moments on Earth… a car crash.
"I… died?" His voice echoed strangely in the empty white void, as though the space itself swallowed his words and mocked him with their return.
His hands trembled as he lifted them into view. They were… whole. Not torn, not mangled. Pale, unblemished skin. His heart should've been shredded inside that wreck, but now—it beat steadily, too steadily, almost unnaturally so.
"Or… is this rebirth?" he whispered, a mix of fear and awe threading through his tone.
Before he could piece together his thoughts, the mechanical voice returned, sharper this time, as though addressing him directly:
[Identity confirmed.][Welcome, User.][Loading system parameters…]
Lines of text scrolled through his vision, flickering in midair like translucent screens only he could see.
Health: 100/100Strength: 5Agility: 5Intelligence: 5Vitality: 5
He blinked rapidly. The words vanished as soon as he tried to touch them.
"What the hell is this…? A game interface?"
The void gave no answer.
For a long moment, he simply stood there, alone, listening to the echo of his breathing. Then, like cracks spreading through glass, the whiteness around him began to distort.
Shadows bled into existence. The pure white began to fracture, revealing a darker layer beneath. He staggered back as the world trembled, and the voice echoed once more:
[First Trial: Survival.]
The ground beneath his feet—if it could even be called ground—shattered. The whiteness broke apart like shards of porcelain, and he plummeted into the abyss below.
The sensation of falling was real—too real. Wind tore past his ears, his stomach lurched, and panic clawed at his throat. He tried to scream, but the roar of the void drowned him out.
Then—impact.
He slammed against rough stone. Pain lanced through his body, and this time it wasn't a dream. His lungs burned as he coughed violently, spitting red against the dirt.
The whiteness was gone.He was lying on damp earth, surrounded by shadows. The air smelled of rot and moss. A dim, unnatural glow illuminated jagged rocks and twisted trees, their branches curling like claws. Somewhere in the distance, something growled—a low, guttural sound that prickled the hair along his arms.
This was no heaven. No hell he'd ever imagined.
It was a forest, but one carved out of nightmare.
The voice whispered again, calm and merciless:
[Survive for 24 hours.][Failure Condition: Death.]
His heart skipped. He staggered to his feet, chest heaving, eyes darting wildly through the shadows.
Survive? In this place? With what?
The ground trembled faintly beneath him. The growl grew louder. Something was moving between the twisted trees, heavy and deliberate. He caught a glimpse—glowing red eyes staring at him from the darkness, unblinking.
His throat went dry.
No weapons. No allies. No instructions. Just him… and the voice.
For the first time, he realized—this wasn't just some illusion. This wasn't a dream.
This was his new reality.
And it wanted him dead.