In the pitch darkness, there was nothing but screaming and running, stumbling steps and panting breaths, as if the city had turned into a living nightmare.
The monsters roamed the place, devouring anyone who wasn't lucky enough to escape. Some had four legs, others had six arms—distorted shapes and entities born from the worst nightmares a human could dream. Brutal beyond limits, they consumed the bodies of the fleeing as if they were mere small prey running to their burrows or nests.
Amid the chaos, a girl's voice rang from behind, filled with determination and despair at once:
"Hurry up and run!"
She fought bravely, sending her fire orbs to block the monsters' advance toward the others, trying to give them another chance at life.
But fate was not merciful. There was no mercy in that world or its destinies.
With a sudden blow from one of the monsters, she found herself falling to the ground, her body hitting the blood-stained dust violently.
She gasped, trying to catch her breath instinctively, but the iron in her throat prevented it.
The monsters advanced toward her, the gleam in their mindless eyes reflecting the hunger tearing at their guts, their saliva dripping as if they were enjoying imagining the girl between their jaws.
She tried to stand, to fight, but her energy was drained, and her fire magic had run out.
She was surrounded from all sides, and all that remained was to face a fate that seemed written for her long ago.
Something heavy crept into her heart, a dark mix of helplessness and despair.
She closed her eyes, surrendering.
Seconds passed... nothing.
She opened her eyes slowly, expecting pain, death, or even eternal void, but instead, she found the monsters lying before her, lifeless, their corpses reeking of death.
She felt a familiar aura creeping into her senses, her breath quickening as she slowly turned her head.
And there, amid the monsters' corpses, stood a boy...
His white hair glowed as if the stars of that night had landed on his head, and his eyes were dark red like the last drop in a wine bottle or a vein of a beast.
A black and red aura wrapped around him, pulsing with a mysterious energy like the screams of the tormented or the prayers of saints.
He wasn't just a savior...
He was something beyond imagination.
As his aura spread into the air, the remaining monsters flinched, as if they smelled a prey they couldn't resist, something that stirred every cell of their lust for blood and flesh and bone.
Their saliva dripped as they lunged toward him at terrifying speed, mindless before the promise his scent carried: a meal filled with a pleasure they'd never tasted before.
But they didn't realize that what they thought was prey was a cold-blooded hunter.
The moment they pounced on him, they were torn to pieces, one after another.
The arena turned into a bloody stage, with limbs flying and screams of agony echoing through the air.
Yet that was only the beginning of the real confrontation.
From the shadows, another emerged—a figure tall as a wine bottle's eye, standing confidently with mystery, behind him a black dragon pulsing with a red glow like burning coal.
It wasn't just any dragon—it pulsed with power, its eyes glowing with hunger no less than the monsters before it, but this time, it wasn't the one seeking to devour.
The two boys stood face to face—one with hair white as snow, the other with hair black as the night.
The silence between them was louder than a storm, each watching the other, waiting for the spark to ignite the battle.
The black-haired boy only needed to snap his fingers.
The sound echoed in the air like a warning bell, and in an instant, the black dragon roared, breathing wild fire from its mouth, engulfing everything in its path, crawling at terrifying speed toward his opponent.
Now, it wasn't just a fight...
It was a battle to decide who deserves to survive.
As the boys charged, running toward each other in the middle of the battlefield...
Darkness suddenly fell.
The screen went black all at once, leaving behind only the echo of their suspended footsteps in the void...
The boy sitting behind the computer gasped, then his voice exploded through the room:
"No! Why now?! Damn you, stupid computer!"
He stood up angrily, running his fingers through his hair, gritting his teeth and muttering curses only the silent walls could hear.
"Why does it always turn off when I reach the exciting part?! A bad joke, you piece of junk!"
As he stared at the black screen, a faint light lit up from his phone, followed by a soft vibration.
He picked it up slowly to find a new notification.
A message from Mom.
He tapped the notification, and her words appeared on the screen, warm amidst the cold, chaotic room:
"My dear son, I'll be late at work today. The food is in the fridge—don't forget to eat when you're hungry. And please, don't stay up late... tomorrow is your first day at university, an important day you shouldn't miss. I'm proud of you and love you so much, my little one."
He stared at the message for a moment, as if the words reached through the screen to embrace his heart.
He exhaled quietly and gave the computer one last look before muttering with a soft smile:
"At least Mom doesn't shut down."
I sighed deeply, as if my exhale carried the weight of the world, then stepped toward the computer and sat back in the chair.
I placed my fingers on the cold keys, tapping them impatiently, murmuring in a quiet threat:
"Okay, you better work now... or I swear I'll smash you!"
I pressed the power button and waited…
Moments passed like an eternity, then the screen lit up, and everything returned to normal.
I breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the game, immersed fully in its virtual world, unaware of the time slipping through my fingers.
An hour, two, three… I didn't know. I played and played until the air around me grew hotter.
I raised my eyebrow in concern, staring at the screen that began to shake unusually.
I muttered suspiciously:
"Hmm… what's happening all of a sudden?"
The computer didn't give me a chance to think—smoke began rising from its edges, like a beast trying to escape from inside.
And before I could move, a blinding red light exploded, sweeping the place like a fiery storm, making me flinch involuntarily and blinding my sight completely.
I could no longer breathe, as if the air around me had evaporated into nothingness.
I tried to feel anything—cold, heat, the roughness of the floor beneath my hand—but nothing.
Only the void, swallowing me slowly, dragging me into an unknown without end.
Everything faded, even the sound of my breath, which I wasn't sure still existed.
There was nothing but darkness—thick, deep, as if I were trapped in a point between existence and non-existence.
...
The darkness was absolute, as if it would never lift.
I felt trapped in nothingness until my breathing quickened, as if I was finally regaining control of my existence.
But before I could comprehend my situation, a girl's voice pierced the silence—calm, yet carrying an eerie dread, as if her words held a grim prophecy:
"The countdown to the player's death will begin if he doesn't wake up quickly."
Player? What nonsense is this? What player? And why do I feel like I'm stuck between a dream and reality? Should I wake up?
"Three..."
The voice sounded closer, as if time itself was shrinking around me.
"Two..."
A shiver crept down my skin, and I forced myself to wake as if my life depended on it.
I opened my eyes all at once, only to find myself staring at a crumbling ceiling, flakes of old paint falling as if about to collapse on my head.
I lifted my heavy body, looking around in confusion.
Faded walls, the smell of mold piercing my nose, and scattered furniture hinting the room had been abandoned long ago.
No... this isn't my room, it can't be!
"But if it's not… then where the hell am I?"
I muttered in a voice barely audible to my ears, staring at my outstretched hands.
They were pale white, thin, but not exactly.
My fingers looked like they didn't belong to me, like they belonged to someone else—someone foreign to me.
I ran my fingers over my palm, searching for any familiar mark, any scar, anything to tell me I wasn't imagining things.
But nothing.
I swallowed hard, feeling my breath slow down.
Is this really my body? Or am I…? No, I don't want to finish that thought...
I sat at the edge of the bed, my feet touching the cold floor as if trying to pull me into a reality I didn't understand.
I felt a slight tremble run through my body, but I ignored it. No time for hesitation.
I stood up, my steps heavy, as if the air itself resisted me.
Mirrors always reflect the truth—but what if I wasn't ready to see it?
I clenched my fists tightly, trying to control my racing heartbeat.
Was it fear of what I'd see, or a strange desire to discover the unknown?
I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them slowly as I faced my reflection... or what was supposed to be my reflection.
My eyes widened, a chill running down my spine.
What I saw… wasn't me. Not even close.
I stepped back, panting, staring at the reflection that didn't belong to me.
In front of me, in the mirror, stood a strange boy—his skin pale as if carved from moonlight, and his hair white like snow, strands swaying with my rapid breath.
But what froze the blood in my veins were his eyes…
Eyes the color of dark wine, like blood gleaming under dim light.
My fingers trembled as I touched my face slowly, as if testing the reality of this new body.
The skin was warm, pulsing with life—but it wasn't mine. It wasn't my face.
And there was no room for doubt.
This body, these features, the white hair and crimson eyes… everything screamed one undeniable truth:
I had become "Kyle Estorait."
The character I always hated, mocked every time I played, wishing I could change his foolish decisions.
His exaggerated emotional behavior, and his strange coldness at the same time, always seemed inconsistent, illogical to me.
How can someone be so sensitive, then suddenly become an emotionless entity?
And now… I was that person.
I felt tightness in my chest, as if the realization was slowly crushing me like a collapsing wall.
If I was Kyle… does that mean I'm inside the game itself?
Have I become part of its world?
But if that's the case… when will the game begin?