The mist in the forest moved slowly like a living creature, trailing behind his steps from afar. Every tree seemed to lean toward him, as if this world was made of something unfinished.
Kael had barely walked a few meters away from the abandoned house when the ground beneath his feet trembled—softly.
The vibration was too rhythmic.
Not the wind.
Not an animal.
As though something enormous was walking behind the trees.
He stared deeper into the forest.
Several trees suddenly collapsed—not blown over by wind, but pushed aside by something invisible. Roots lifted, trunks snapped, the cracking echoes tearing through the silence.
Then…
A low roar.
Deep.
Vibrating.
And belonging to nothing he recognized.
The roar crawled through the air, sinking into his bones, freezing his body in place.
He held his breath.
A system panel flickered beside him, its blue light pulsing rapidly.
[SYSTEM]
Warning: Environmental instability increasing.
Initiating user isolation protocol…
"W–wait…"
The world stopped responding.
The mist froze.
The wind halted.
Every sound vanished.
A thin light appeared beneath his feet, spreading like an inverted fracture. It rose, swallowing his body slowly.
Kael tried to move.
Useless.
In an instant, the forest collapsed like a drawing being erased.
---
White.
The space glowed, yet it didn't blind.
A blank expanse with no direction, no distance—
as if time and space folded into a single point.
Kael blinked, feeling a strange sensation—like his body was standing, yet at the same time… not entirely present.
His footsteps echoed, though there was no visible floor beneath him.
The panel reappeared.
[SYSTEM]
Isolation space active.
Stabilizing user core data…
He exhaled softly.
This wasn't a completely unfamiliar place.
Something inside him recognized it—
a faint feeling, like an incomplete déjà vu.
As though part of him came from this place.
Kael touched his chest.
There was a weight.
A subtle warmth, like an old memory on the verge of surfacing but slipping away whenever he reached for it.
[SYSTEM]
Detecting minor memory fragment.
Initiating temporary restoration…
The light in the room shifted rhythmically, following an unseen heartbeat.
The space pulsed.
Silent, yet alive.
He closed his eyes briefly, trying to feel.
But instead—
A low roar.
The same one from the forest.
But this time it came from all directions.
As if the creature lurked beyond the walls of this white space, waiting for it to collapse so it could enter.
The roar's echo made the space tremble faintly.
Thin cracks tore through the air.
Light leaked out.
The isolation room was losing stability.
The panel flickered rapidly.
[SYSTEM]
Warning: Isolation space failing to maintain structure.
User will be relocated…
The white space shattered—
like glass struck from within.
And he was thrown into another light.
---
Far away…
A dark room illuminated only by floating holographic screens.
Foggy forest images.
The fractured white room.
And the figure that had just been dragged to the next location.
Someone sat on a tall chair.
Their body swallowed by shadows, their face unseen.
Yet their gaze—though hidden—was fixed on the screen displaying Kael.
They moved a finger slowly, as if brushing against something invisible.
"…the isolation structure is deteriorating faster," they murmured softly.
Not angry.
Not afraid.
Just observing.
The screen's light glimmered against the faint outline of their face.
"If the fragment is reacting this quickly…"
They paused, contemplating something only they understood.
"…then the game has just begun."
The screens flickered.
And silence reclaimed the room.
---