The rain won't stop.
It's always this thin, gray drizzle that feels heavier than it should… as if even the sky itself carried old debts. I look out the window and see nothing but a tired neighborhood — cramped houses, empty streets, everything faded. Everything… kind of like me.
There are six months left until the end of the year.
This year I finish high school.
And I have absolutely no prospects for what comes after.
My gaze returns to the organic chemistry workbook. The formulas blur together, dance, and run down the page like wet ink. No matter how hard I try, nothing sticks. My head throbs. My heart does too. The end of high school feels like a cliff — and I still have to jump.
The darkness of my room is cut only by the cold glow of the computer. From the kitchen come the steady sounds of something being chopped; my mother is preparing dinner. The same mother who breaks her own body working double shifts, while I… I can barely manage to do anything worthwhile.
"Pass the entrance exam, Noah," she said yesterday.
Smiling, as if it were easy.
As if there were some kind of relief waiting for us somewhere in the world.
I close the book — too hard. The wooden desk creaks, as if complaining along with me.
"I need to find a job as soon as possible…," I think, sinking into vague plans about escaping this hell. I get up from the chair and walk to the bed. A rainy afternoon like this is perfect for a nap. I deserve it. I've spent four hours studying stupid formulas.
I throw myself onto the bed. Puf.
"Soft and cozy as always…" I murmur, my eyes already closing.
Then my phone vibrates.
Probably some dumb notification. Some spam.
But no.
The light is too bright. Too blue.
As if it had set the display on fire.
[SYNCHRONIZING]…
I blink, confused.
I didn't install this. No one installed this.
"What the hell…?" I think, picking up the device as if it might bite me. It trembles — but it's not a normal vibration. It's… alive. The screen goes dark for a moment. I enter my password. Nothing seems wrong. I swipe through the apps, anxious.
"Damn… must be a virus."
The sigh escapes like a lament.
But in the last tab… I see something strange.
An app that was never there before.
A golden icon, a sun… cracked. Or carved with ancient runes.
Still wary of malware, I tap the icon.
The device pulses in my hand — hot, like a fever.
The screen darkens, and a word appears, blinking:
[Loading]
Then:
[Welcome to the Integrated Simulation System — SIMULUM]
My stomach drops.
"A virus? A hack? Some kind of prank?"
The question echoes inside me, but the air in the room has changed.
Heavy. Dense.
As if my next words were going to be judged by something unseen.
A layout similar to a game menu appears, floating on the screen:
[Selected user: Noah Winsley.
Reason for selection: Compatibility.]
I want to turn it off. I want to throw the phone away.
But my fingers won't move.
The screen changes again — now revealing a map.
Ancient. Beautiful.
Mountains outlined like brushstrokes of black ink.
Borders engraved with almost artisanal care.
And then:
[You will play this simulation by living in the skin of the character you choose.
Your progress can be converted into S-coins.
S-coins can be exchanged for resources within the simulation…
and for money in the real world.]
Real money.
My lungs fail.
It's stupid. Absurd.
But at the same time…
it's the only thing that could keep my life from completely falling apart.
The screen vibrates again:
[Before entering, customize your origin.]
The options appear like destinies carved in stone:
• Common villager
• Child of artisans
• Disciple of a minor sect
• Disciple of a mid-tier sect
• Disciple of a major sect
• Heir of a greater sect
• Lost bloodline of an extinct dynasty
• Ancient noble bloodline
And beneath them, a sentence that sends a chill down my spine:
[The higher the prestige of your origin, the more winding the paths ahead.
NPCs possess their own ambitions, fears, and wills.]
NPCs with wills of their own…
So it's that kind of simulation?
I feel something strange — as if the world inside the phone were breathing with me.
The next screen appears:
[Select your Path.]
• Path of the Immortal Flesh
• Path of Inner Essence
• Path of Shadows
• Path of the Heavenly Mandate
• Path of the Living Blade
• Path of Aetherial Harmony
[Host, make your choice so that the world may be loaded.]
The sound of the rain seems to bend around me, waiting for my decision.
And, for the first time in a long time, I feel that maybe — just maybe — my life is about to change.