The Quest of Existence
"Existence is a canvas we are given to paint as we see fit."
A single, silent voice echoed across the globe, shattering the illusion of the world as humanity knew it. They called themselves the Tohotsi, and their decree was absolute. Accept a brutal evolution, or fade into the void of insignificance.
In a fraction of a second, reality fractured. Time lost its meaning. The mundane gave way to an ancient, decaying truth. The world is no longer a home for humanity. It has become a blank, terrifying canvas governed by unfathomable laws and absolute predators.
Thus began the dawn of the Qualia, the awakening of the pure, subjective essence of individual consciousness.
Atlas wanted none of it. He had spent his entire life as the very definition of average, and he liked it that way. But averages do not survive an evolution. When he opens his eyes again, his world is gone, swallowed by something far older and far hungrier than time. To survive what comes next, he will have to become something he never asked to be, and lose pieces of himself he never agreed to give away.
In a universe where trauma and fractured sanity can literally reshape reality, the true battle is fought within. What happens when the mortal shell is paralyzed by primal terror, yet the mind awakens to a chilling, intoxicating fascination?
To walk the one and only path of existence, one must transcend. But what, exactly, are we evolving into?
