The stench of the Basin was the first thing that hit him. Sour rot, wet stone, and the faint copper of rusted blood clung to the alleys. Rat opened his eyes, staring at the cracked bricks overhead, and for a moment he didn't know which set of memories was real.
There was the life he remembered last, the quiet hum of electric wires, the glowing rectangle of a screen, the half-finished cup of noodles gone cold on his desk. And then there was the other one: hunger gnawing his belly, the rough scrape of straw in a damp corner, fists and boots raining down on him while laughter echoed.
Both belonged to him. Both were true.
His throat rasped as he sat up. The narrow street was the same as always, mud, broken jars, shadows clinging to walls like mold. The Basin's heart. Mortals crawling like ants after the Immortal Dynasties shattered more than a century ago. People said this was the Era of Mortals, as if that made anything better. Rat knew better. In the Basin, mortals weren't rulers. They were meat.
"Look who's crawled out again."
The voice came sharp, too familiar. Rat turned just in time to see three figures fan out across the alley. Boys older than him by a year or two, bellies full enough to give them strength. Their rags were better than his. Their smiles were cruel.
"Street vermin," one said. "You been hiding scraps again?"
Rat's fists clenched. He knew this play. They didn't need scraps. They just needed something to break. And he, as always, was there.
The first kick slammed into his ribs. The air rushed out of his lungs, and the world narrowed to red flashes. His body curled, instinctively small, but the second boy yanked his arm and dragged him upright so the third could punch his face. Teeth rattled loose, and he tasted iron.
Pain anchored him. Yet in the pit of it, another thought sparked. Different this time. Clearer.
Why here again? Why this same gutter?
And then,
Threads.
It was impossible to mistake. The air shimmered faintly, weaving lines of silver-white threads before his eyes. They crossed, tangled, and re-formed into the image of a book made of woven strands. A Codex.
The voice that wasn't a voice thrummed inside his head:
[Codex of Strands of Fate awakens.]
The bullies didn't see it. They just kept laughing, spitting, hurting. But Rat saw. Rat heard.
The Codex opened, its pages rippling like a net in the wind. Symbols burned across them, too complex, yet somehow understandable.
[Fate entangles. Choose.]
[Path One:Stand. Resist. Die.]
[Path Two:Fall. Submit. Live.]
Rat wheezed, blood sliding down his chin. Two choices. Both miserable. Both true. His old world self wanted to scream. This one, the Rat of the Basin, only spat blood into the mud.
He fell.
The boy holding him jerked in surprise as Rat twisted, wrenching free. His small frame tumbled sideways into the dark. Mud swallowed him as he rolled into a drainage ditch choked with filth. Cold water closed over him.
Above, the boys cursed, jeering, peering down. "Coward! Crawl with the worms, then!"
One of them leaned too far. That was when the growl came.
Low. Wet. Wrong.
From the far end of the alley, where shadows pooled, two eyes gleamed. Not human eyes. The boys froze, too late. The thing that slid out was shaped like a dog but stretched long, ribs showing, jaws too wide. A Beast.
They screamed. The Basin's unwritten law was simple: Beasts did not belong inside town walls. Yet here it was, hunger burning in its gaze.
The first boy bolted. The Beast leapt. Jaws closed, bone cracked, and the alley filled with the sounds of terror.
Rat stayed in the ditch. Filth stung his wounds. His body shook. His teeth chattered. His heart told him to run, but the Codex's woven pages hovered above the water, steady and indifferent.
The sounds ended quickly. The Beast fed.
Rat kept still, every nerve shrieking. He thought of his old life, quiet, meaningless, safe. He thought of this one, short, cruel, doomed. And now this Codex, dangling impossible choices.
When silence finally pressed down, the Codex shimmered again. Words unfolded like spider silk.
[Codex of Strands of Fate – Status Page Unveiled]
Vitality: 1
Qi Sense: 0
Comprehension: 1
Fate Entanglement: 3
Realm: Mortal Dust
Rat blinked, wet hair plastered to his face. A laugh bubbled up, raw and broken. The Codex had given him numbers, as if his life were some cosmic joke. Yet even through the terror, something in his chest burned.
Alive.
He was alive.
And in the Basin, that was the first victory.