Darkness. That was the last thing I remembered before I opened my eyes again.
I expected nothingness—oblivion, maybe even eternal sleep. Instead, I was standing in a vast white space. There was no floor, no ceiling, no horizon. Just endless white stretching in every direction like I had fallen into the blank page of a book.
I wasn't alone.
All around me were people—hundreds of them. Some young, some old, some still in clothes that looked like they had just come from work, school, or home. Yet no one moved. No one spoke. Their mouths hung slightly open, their eyes unfocused. They were frozen, like mannequins suspended mid-thought.
And me?
I couldn't move either. My body felt stiff, as though invisible chains wrapped around me. Panic welled up in my chest, but even that came out silent. My lips refused to part. My lungs burned, yet no scream escaped.
Then the voice came.
"Welcome."
It wasn't human. Metallic, deep, resonating in my skull like the echo of a machine. Every syllable vibrated through the whiteness.
"You are dead."
The words slammed into me like a hammer. Dead? No… no, that couldn't be right. I remembered—yes, I remembered—walking home. A flash of lights. Pain. Screeching tires. Then nothing.
Had I really…?
"You stand before the Supreme System," the robotic voice continued, calm and unyielding. "You have all been chosen. You may continue in the cycle of death and rebirth… or step beyond. A chance to relive, to seize power, to face great danger."
The whiteness around us trembled faintly, as though reality itself rippled with its words.
"Each of you may choose. Decline, and you return to the wheel of life and death. Accept, and you will be granted a soul ability—a unique fragment of power. With it, you will struggle. With it, you may triumph."
A pulse of blue light flared across the white space. Before me, a translucent screen shimmered into existence, floating in the air.
[ Choose. ]
The words pulsed softly.
I didn't hesitate.
Return to the endless cycle? Live another pointless life just to die again? No. If this was real, if power and magic existed, then I wanted it. Even if danger awaited me, at least it was something different.
"I accept," I whispered in my mind.
All around, some of the frozen people flickered—like static on a broken TV—and vanished. Their bodies dissolved into sparks of light, returning to whatever "cycle" awaited them.
The rest of us stayed.
"Very well," the voice said. "You have chosen. Then receive… your soul ability."
My blue screen shifted. Lines of text scrolled before my eyes.
Name: Adrian
Strength: 6
Constitution: 7
Agility: 6
Intelligence: 8
Soul Ability: [Clone]
Clone?
My heart jumped. That… sounded broken. Could I create another me? Two Adrians? Ten? A hundred? The possibilities rushed through my head. But before I could test anything, the robotic voice thundered again.
"You will now enter the Tutorial. Survive, and you may step into the Supreme World. Fail… and your soul is erased."
The whiteness shattered like glass.
When I woke again, I was walking.
No—*we* were walking. My body moved on its own, my legs carrying me along a dirt road with a crowd of people. Around a hundred of us trudged forward, all dazed and confused.
I blinked, trying to adjust. The world was no longer white emptiness. Trees lined the path, their leaves rustling in a faint breeze. A pale sun hung overhead, its light softer than the one I knew. The sky seemed… bigger, stretched like a dome without end.
Everyone was murmuring now, voices rising and overlapping.
"What's happening?"
"Where are we?"
"Is this… another world?"
I caught fragments of their conversations, but no one had answers.
I glanced at my wrist instinctively, as though checking the time, and another blue screen appeared at my thought.
[ Tutorial: Floor 1 ]
[ Objective: Survive ]
[ Scenario: The Walled City ]
Beneath it, new text scrolled.
[ In six months, the southern horde will descend. Witness the fall of the city. ]
My throat went dry. Southern horde? Fall of the city?
I looked at the others, but most seemed too shocked to process the information yet.
After a while, people began talking more. I joined a few who seemed calmer, and through bits of conversation, I pieced together the situation.
We were heading toward a place called a "Walled City." Apparently, this land was plagued by hordes of undead—zombies that swarmed from the south in numbers too great to imagine. Survivors sought refuge within cities surrounded by massive walls, safe from the endless tide.
At least, safe for now.
Because my screen had already warned me: in six months, that safety would end.
Hours passed.
The dirt road wound through forests and hills, until at last, the trees parted and the city came into view.
I froze.
The walls were *colossal*. Gray stone blocks stacked higher than any skyscraper I had ever seen, stretching for miles across the landscape. Towers jutted upward at intervals, manned by figures I couldn't quite make out. The gates alone were the size of apartment buildings, plated with iron that gleamed under the sun.
It was awe-inspiring. And terrifying.
Because if walls that massive were needed… then whatever lay beyond them must be worse.
The crowd stirred, gasping and pointing. For the first time since waking in the white space, a spark of hope flickered in people's eyes. The city meant shelter. Food. Safety. Maybe answers.
But for me?
I kept staring at the words burned into my vision.
[ In six months, the Walled City will fall. ]
I shivered.
Six months. That was the time limit on our lives. Unless we grew stronger. Unless we found a way to change the fate written before us.
I clenched my fists.
Clone. That was my soul ability. I didn't know how strong it was, or how to use it yet, but if I wanted to survive, if I wanted to defy that warning, then I'd have to master it.
Because death had already claimed me once.
I wouldn't let it happen again.