6:50 PM
After finishing his meal and cleaning up the dishes, Adyr returned to his room. It was a small space—just enough for a single bed, a wardrobe, and a modest desk.
On the desk sat a battered laptop gifted by his university, two half-melted candles, and the game helmet Selina had sent him, now carefully packed back into its box, waiting to be returned.
For a teenage boy, the room was almost unnaturally simple, tidy, and clean.
He sat on the edge of his bed, holding the other helmet—the one Victor had sent—and glanced at the time.
"Ten minutes until the power cut... and the game launch," he muttered.
In low-income districts like theirs, scheduled blackouts were common—a measure enforced by the city to conserve energy. Still, the fact that the launch of the most anticipated game in decades coincided with one of these outages felt... off.
He picked up the instruction manual resting next to him and flipped through it. There wasn't a single word about the game itself—just technical data and safety guidelines.
Following the instructions, he powered up the device.
A small digital display lit up near the base of the helmet, reading: 100%. According to the manual, that meant the internal battery was fully charged, enough for approximately three hours of use.
It meant that after three hours of gameplay, he'd have to wait until morning for the electricity to return, just to recharge the helmet if he wanted to keep playing.
Such was one of the many inconveniences of being poor in a world still recovering from an apocalypse.
Adyr lit the candles first, then placed the game helmet on his head and waited.
Everything was pitch black, except for a green neon countdown pulsing at the center of his view.
He waited quietly as the numbers ticked down.
3...
2...
1...
The moment the countdown hit zero, a sudden pull gripped his entire being. Everything went dark, and for a few seconds, all sensation vanished.
It wasn't just a visual blackout—he could feel his entire body being transported somewhere else, as if space itself had shifted around him.
For a split second, he thought about removing the helmet and checking what was going on, but just then, his vision and senses came rushing back.
"This…" Adyr murmured in disbelief.
His body was suspended high in the sky, still clad in the familiar pajamas he always wore to sleep, soaring weightlessly as he looked down at the vast, breathtaking world stretching out beneath him.
And it wasn't just the visuals that felt real—it was everything.
He could feel the gentle and cold breeze brushing against his skin, the unfamiliar scent of clean, untouched air filling his lungs.
It was too real.
While he was still taking in the moment—watching, feeling, savoring every bit of the surreal scene—glowing green text suddenly appeared before him.
[Choose your path.]
Moments later, more text shimmered into existence, like fireflies drawn toward a distant sun.
[Astra]
- One of the four main Paths, created by the God Astrael.
- He shaped the first solid form from the chaos, giving structure to the formless.
- It represents everything physical.
[Aether]
- One of the four main Paths, created by the Goddess Aetheris.
- She gave inner depth to all that exists, shaping the unseen essence within the seen.
- It represents everything spiritual.
[Ignis]
- One of the four main Paths, created by the God Ignivar.
- He sparked the first motion within creation, awakening both flesh and soul.
- It represents every movement.
[Nether]
- One of the four main Paths, created by the Goddess Nethera.
- As the counterforce to creation, she began the cycle of decay — undoing form so that renewal may begin.
- It represents every destruction and rebirth.
"Oh... this is interesting," Adyr said, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
In his previous life, gaming had been one of his many hobbies, particularly MMORPGs, and he quite enjoyed them. Based on his experience, he had expected to choose something like a class. But seeing this... it genuinely surprised him.
For the first time in his life—or any life—someone, or something, was asking him to choose his own path. And so, he decided to take his time, floating there in the sky, carefully pondering which path truly suited him and which one he genuinely wanted.
As Adyr hovered in silent contemplation, something unexpected began to unfold.
First came a darkness, rising from nowhere, staining the sky and veiling the world beneath his feet.
Then came the sound—a low, buzzing hum that filled his ears and the space around him, like the distant clash of a thousand instruments colliding into one alien note.
Next was the cracking.
He looked up and saw the sky itself fracture, a jagged tear splitting open with a bone-deep creak.
Almost instinctively, Adyr thought of fleeing—but he quickly remembered he had no control here. He was merely floating, his body bound by an unseen force.
Frozen in anticipation, he watched.
From the widening rift, dozens of brilliant lights surged outward, flooding the world and sky once again with a blinding, ethereal glow.
As they approached, he could see them clearly: letters—radiant, sharp, and pulsing with a presence too vast to comprehend.
The letters drifted downward and arranged themselves above the existing four paths, taking their place at the very top.
While the four original paths remained beneath, glowing grandly in green, this new one was different.
It was made entirely of colorless light, shining not with beauty, but with something beyond magnificence—something absolute.
[Primora]
-The One.
-They longed to exist, and I let them be.
And thus, the fifth path descended upon the world.