Standing before the gate, time seemed to freeze for Alpha. A storm of questions raged in his mind—should he enter, or should he stay? He knew that if he crossed this threshold, he would be separated from his only mother forever. At that moment, a mysterious vision flashed before his eyes. It was blurry, with nothing clearly visible, but the feeling was so profound that as soon as it faded, Alpha made his choice. He took one last look at his home and stepped through the gate.
The moment he emerged on the other side, a strange, heavy pressure bore down on him. The very air had a weight to it, crushing his body. Alpha looked up to see jagged, terrifying mountains surrounding him on all sides. Before he could even steady himself, a monster lunged from the shadows!
Alpha managed to scramble away and bolted back toward the gate in a panic. But when he arrived, his breath hitched in his throat—the gate was gone. It had vanished into thin air. With his heart racing and terror clawing at his chest, he tried to run, but the monster was already upon him. In a single, blurred motion, the beast's razor-sharp claws slashed through the air, severing Alpha's arm from his body!
"AAAAAAHHH!"
Alpha's scream echoed through the desolate peaks. The pain was so agonizing that he saw death flashing before his eyes. It was a hideous Werewolf, and to Alpha's horror, the beast began to devour his severed limb right in front of him. As Alpha struggled to crawl away, a strange phenomenon began to stir in the heavens. Lightning cracked across the sky and a violent storm erupted. Seeing this, the Werewolf paused. He looked at Alpha and growled, "If you survive... we shall surely meet again," before vanishing into the darkness.
Alpha managed to drag himself into a cave, trembling as he sobbed, "Why did I come here? I should have stayed with Mother." But then, he suddenly fell silent. A heavy stillness filled the cave. Alpha forced himself to stop; he couldn't afford excuses anymore. He had to find a way to survive immediately, or he would die here. But the blood loss was too great; the world began to spin, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
[Scene: The Palace of Immortals]
At that very moment, in a magnificent palace far away, two figures sat sipping wine. They chuckled softly, watching the scene unfold. "It seems things in this world are finally about to get interesting," one said, their laughter echoing through the halls. These Immortals were watching Alpha's every move.
When Alpha woke the next morning, he was shocked to find that the bleeding had stopped, though he had no idea how. He stepped out of the cave into the scorching sun. Hunger and thirst began to torture him. He walked through the mountains, on and on, but there seemed to be no end to them. Exhaustion set in until his hope began to wither. He was on the verge of giving up when he remembered—this was his dream. He told himself, "Now that this unfinished dream is finally coming true, I cannot admit defeat!"
With newfound resolve, he began to walk again. By evening, he had collapsed on the ground, parched and begging for water, but there was no one to hear him. He crawled through the night, yet the path remained endless. Hunger and thirst eventually claimed his consciousness again.
The next morning, the same mountains greeted him. With only one arm, even standing up was an excruciating struggle, but he refused to give up. He fell repeatedly, only to drag himself back up. He thought bitterly, "I thought my powers would awaken like in novels... that someone would help me... but in the real world, nothing like that happens."
Under the blistering afternoon sun, he collapsed again and began to crawl. His hands and knees were rubbed raw, leaving a trail of blood behind him. As night fell and he lost consciousness once more, the same Werewolf stood atop a distant peak, watching him.
The following morning, Alpha spotted a dead monster nearby. Without a second thought, he began to tear into the raw meat. Having not eaten for days, his hunger overrode his revulsion. After eating, he fell into a deep sleep. When he woke that evening, he realized the raw meat hadn't made him sick; it had simply sated his hunger. He kept moving... walking through the entire night.
When the first rays of the sun touched Alpha's swollen eyes, a new vista lay before him. The hell of the mountains had finally ended, and before him stretched a lush, green forest. Gathering his remaining strength, Alpha rushed toward it.
He found a cave nearby. As he stepped inside, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief. After the scorching heat and the bloodshed of the mountains, the sight inside was like paradise. Soft, vibrant green grass covered the floor like a velvet carpet. After days of crawling over jagged stones, the feel of the grass against his wounded body was like a healing balm. Without a thought, he collapsed onto the soft green blades and let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
After resting for a while, the sweet sound of flowing water broke the silence. The sound reawakened his thirst. He stood up and followed the noise into the depths of the cave. Along the way, he found trees laden with succulent fruits. Alpha's hunger was past the point of restraint; he plucked the fruits and ate them as he moved deeper. As the sweet juice trickled down his parched throat, it felt as though life was surging back into him.
Going further still, he reached a spot where a pristine river was flowing. The sight of the shimmering water made Alpha forget everything else. He didn't look left or right; he simply knelt by the river and drank desperately. He drank until his thirst was gone, but his body was now so heavy he could barely move a muscle.
There, on the riverbank, amidst the cool breeze, Alpha closed his eyes. After so much exhaustion and pain, he fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time, free from fear.