Ye-rin sat on the edge of her bed, the blue light of the tablet reflecting in her eyes. She didn't wash her face or change out her stage outfit. She just scrolled. She checked every single stream. One by one, she opened them all, eyes tracking the movements of players who were simply existing in the game world.
When she finally reached the end of the list, a sharp chime echoed from the intercom.
Ye-rin set the tablet down and walked to the door. Two technicians wheeling an obsidian-black pod entered the room. They connected the liquid-cooling lines and the neural-link cables of the ARES-7 Bio-Sync Capsule.
As she stood back, watching the machine pulse with its rhythmic white light, a small, genuine smile finally broke through her face. It wasn't the practiced, radiant beam for the cameras, but a quiet, fragile spark of relief. For a fleeting moment, her eyes crinkled at the corners, and the hollow vacancy was replaced by a look of pure, childlike wonder.
Ye-rin washed up and prepared to try the game. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at her reflection. The heavy stage makeup was gone, leaving her skin looking pale and slightly raw. Her heart was thumping, not with the practiced adrenaline of a concert, but with a sharp, jittery excitement she hadn't felt in years.
This is it, she thought, her fingers trembling as she gripped the edge of the sink.
She walked back into the bedroom and stood before the obsidian pod. It looked like a sleek, dark cocoon. She felt a wave of nerves wash over her, a cold shiver running down her spine.
When stepped into the capsule, the pod lid slid shut with a pneumatic hiss, sealing Ye-rin in a silent, temperature-controlled darkness. The hum of the machine grew more prominent, vibrating against her spine as the capsule began its initialization sequence.
A soft, genderless voice spoke directly into her mind, bypassing her ears entirely.
"Neural link established. Welcome, User. Please specify your destination."
"Aethelgard," she whispered, her own voice sounding small and distant in her ears.
"Acknowledged. Initiating link to Aethelgard. Calibration complete. Please relax as the sensory transfer begins."
A translucent timer appeared in the void of her vision, the numbers glowing with a soft, ethereal white light.
5 ...
The weight of her own body began to fade. The sensation of the gel against her skin vanished, replaced by a feeling of lightness, as if she were drifting in an endless ocean.
4 ...
3 ...
The silence of the penthouse was replaced by a low, rhythmic thrum, the heartbeat of the world she was about to enter.
2 ...
The darkness began to ripple. Faint, jagged shapes of obsidian towers and storm-tossed clouds flickered at the edges of her consciousness.
1...
As the final digit of the timer flickered out, the swirling obsidian and storm-clouds vanished. The crushing sensation of the descent dropped away, leaving Ye-rin suspended in a weightless, silent void of pure, blinding white.
There was no floor, no ceiling, and no horizon. Just a vast, infinite canvas that felt both terrifyingly large and strangely intimate.
"Synchronization complete," a voice resonated.
It wasn't the genderless chime from the pod. This voice was melodic, warm, and crystalline like the ringing of a glass bell. A few feet in front of Ye-rin, the white space rippled like water. A figure began to manifest, translucent and glowing with a soft, internal light.
The figure took the form of a small, ethereal wisp that soon settled into the shape of a miniature, glowing owl with wings that shimmered like a nebula.
"Welcome, traveler, to the Hall of Origins," the owl spoke, its head tilting in a curious, mechanical rhythm. "I am Aria, your System Guide. You have successfully crossed the threshold into Aethelgard."
Aria fluttered her wings, sending a shower of faint, violet sparks into the infinite white. Her golden eyes fixed on Ye-rin with a shimmering intensity.
"Before we proceed," Aria began, her voice resonating like a soft chord on a harp. "There is a final requirement of the Aethelgard Protocol. This world is not just lived; it is witnessed. Every traveler who enters must establish their connection to the Great Beyond."
The glowing owl circled Ye-rin's head, her nebula-wings leaving a trail of starlight that began to form a translucent rectangular box in the air.
"To finalize your synchronization, you must provide your Stream Name," Aria explained. "Be aware that once you cross into the world, the broadcast begins automatically. The spectators of your old world will see through your eyes, though they will never know the heart beating behind the avatar."
Ye-rin felt a sudden, sharp chill. The very thing she was running from, the eyes of the public was hard-wired into the mechanics of her escape.
A streamer, she thought, her fingers twitching at her sides. I'm leaving one stage only to step onto another. But this time... they won't know it's me. I think that's good enough.
She stared at the empty text box floating in the white void. She didn't want a name that sounded like an idol. She didn't want a name that felt like a brand. She wanted something that reflected the shadow she was about to become.
"The name you choose will be your mask," Aria whispered, drifting closer until her glowing feathers almost touched Ye-rin's cheek. "Once spoken, it cannot be retracted."
Ye-rin took a deep breath, "Nobody," she said, her voice steady.
"Nobody," Aria repeated, "What a fine name."
The text box filled with golden light, the word locking into place with a mechanical click.
"Identity confirmed," Aria sang out. "The stream is initialized. Your stream will go live within a few seconds."
The white space shattered like a sheet of ice hit by a stone. The silence of the Hall of Origins was replaced by a violent rush of wind. Ye-rin's consciousness felt like it was being pulled through a needle's eye, a sudden, crushing weight returning to her limbs.
Everything was dark for a moment. Then, a small, translucent icon flickered into existence in the upper-right corner of her vision.
[ ● LIVE ]
Beneath it, a counter appeared, its numbers glowing with a soft, sterile light.
[ VIEWERS: 0 ]
Suddenly, the soft, sterile light of the counter flickered. The number 0 shivered and transformed.
[ VIEWERS: 1 ]
A new window materialized beneath the viewer count, translucent and silent.
————— *** —————
[ CHAT ]
Newbie_Watcher: A new player?
————— *** —————
Ye-rin blinked against the sudden, biting cold of the transition. She saw the bright red dot of the [ ● LIVE ] icon and the glowing 1 next to the viewer count, but the space beneath it was an empty void.
She acted as if she didn't see the chat. In fact, she didn't see the chat.
The system's "Silent Observer" passive was working with an unintended perfection. While the red [ ● LIVE ] icon and the viewer count were hard-coded into her visual field, the chat window itself remained invisible to her.
To Ye-rin, the corner of her eye showed only a flickering pulse of light where the chat should be. She saw the 1, and she felt the weight of it, but the message never reached her.
Just one person, she thought, her breath hitching. Maybe they'll leave. Maybe they'll get bored.
Meanwhile, Aria flew around in a rapid, blurring circle, her nebula-wings weaving a colossal, translucent wheel that materialized in the center of the void.
The wheel hummed with a deep resonance, divided into slices containing detailed, life-sized avatars.
"The Wheel of Origins," Aria said simply. "It gives you a body. A place to start."
Ye-rin watched the spinning wheel, her heart thumping against the weight of the neural link. The viewer count remained steady at 1.
"Wait," Ye-rin whispered, her hand reaching out. "Can I, can I choose?"
"Fate is often a lottery," Aria replied. "But sometimes the wheel stops exactly where the soul desires. I hope you enjoy the story you're about to create."
The wheel groaned to a halt. The pointer vibrated as it landed on a slice shrouded in deep, flickering purple shadows.
Everything was dark for a moment. Then, the weight of the world returned all at once.
Ye-rin's eyes snapped open to the smell of damp limestone and guttering tallow. The stone floor beneath her was freezing, biting into her skin through the thin wool of her tunic. She sat up, looking at her thin, calloused hands.
Where am I?
She looked up, her gaze darting across the room. The walls were made of gargantuan, jagged black stones that seemed to absorb the flickering light of a single, dying candle. There were no windows, only a narrow slit high above that bled a faint, bruised purple light from a sky she didn't recognize.
In the corner of her eye, the [ VIEWERS: 1 ] shivered. Suddenly, the digit rolled upward.
————— *** —————
[ CHAT ]
Newbie_Watcher: Wait is she in a dungeon??!
PrettyPrincess1111: What a brutal start.
Lvl1_Peasant: First stream and she's already about to get executed lmao!
Newbie_Watcher: rip the 1 viewer streak. Who is coming in??
————— *** —————
Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed from the other side of the oak door, followed by the slow, metallic scrape of a bolt being drawn back.
Before the door could swing open, a sharp, crystalline ping vibrated through the air, and a semi-transparent window with golden border burst into existence directly in Ye-rin's line of sight.
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[ CHARACTER PROFILE ]
Name: Elara Drakenhof
Lineage: House Drakenhof (The Ducal House)
Description: You are the blemish on the Duke's legacy. Born to a maid and discarded in a distant mansion, you have spent your life in isolation. Now, your own blood has turned against you. Captured and locked in a secret dungeon, you are no longer just an unwanted daughter, you are a target in a war for inheritance.
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Ye-rin stared at the glowing prompt, the gold light reflecting in her widened eyes. Her heart hammered against the rough fabric of her tunic. Before she could even process her new identity, the system was already forcing her into a corner.
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[ ! EMERGENCY QUEST ! ]
Description: Your siblings have decided that thirteen is an unlucky number. An assassin has been sent to ensure you never leave this dungeon alive. In Drakenhof, the weak are culled, and you are the weakest of all.
Objective: Survive the first assassination attempt (00:59:59 remaining)
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