Gray pushed open the door to his apartment, the scent of instant noodles and faint electronics greeting him like old friends. He stepped inside, letting the door click shut behind him with a tired but satisfied sigh.
Today had gone well. For once, his corporate job hadn't drained the last of his soul. In fact, he'd gotten a promotion. Nothing huge, just a small team lead position in an obscure department, but it came with a pay bump. And more importantly, it meant more disposable income. The kind he didn't need to pretend was going toward savings or retirement.
It meant more pulls.
He kicked off his shoes, dropped his bag on the floor, and flopped face-first onto the bed. The springs squeaked under his weight, but he didn't care. All that mattered was the glow of his phone screen as it lit up in his hand.
The Legends of a New Dawn.
The title sparkled to life, dramatic orchestral music swelling from his speakers. He grinned. The number one Gacha game in the world. Maybe the only one that still truly mattered. And now, with a little extra cash from his raise, he could finally afford to go for that limited banner.
He tapped through the menus quickly. Login screen. Usual routine. Username: Apocryph. Password: same as always.
But today, something was off.
Beneath the login bar, where his username usually appeared, was something else.
Gray Ellison
His real name.
He blinked. Tapped the screen again. The password field was unchanged. Shrugging off the weird feeling crawling up his spine, he hit "Log In."
His vision blurred.
His body went limp.
The phone slid from his hand as his eyes closed.
He woke up to silence.
Or rather, a kind of soft, endless hum. Like the sound of wind without direction. Gray opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by clouds.
No ground. No sky. Just endless, cotton-like white stretching in every direction.
He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. This wasn't a dream. It didn't feel like one. Every sensation was too sharp. The chill of the mist, the pressure under his hands, the rhythm of his own breath.
He stood, though there was nothing under him. The clouds supported him like invisible glass, firm under his steps. He turned in place, scanning for anything beyond the monochrome mist.
"Where the hell..."
A voice cut through the clouds.
"Welcome, Gray."
He turned.
Descending from above like a painting come to life, a woman drifted through the air. Her crimson hair flowed behind her in a loose braid, and a soft white tunic clung to her like light itself. Wings weren't visible, but something about her presence made it hard to look away.
"My name is Victoria," she said with a warm, practiced smile. "I will be your guide as you progress through this world."
Gray raised an eyebrow.
"So... I'm not the only one, right?"
Victoria blinked. "Pardon?"
"The others. There are billions of people on Earth. You're telling me all of them got pulled in too?"
She hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. All eight billion humans have been integrated into this world. Each one placed accordingly."
A slow smirk crept onto Gray's face.
"Perfect."
Victoria tilted her head. "You don't seem surprised."
"I've been playing this game since launch," he said, brushing a hand through his hair with a chuckle. "I know this place better than my real apartment. So let's skip the tutorial, shall we?"
Victoria opened her mouth to object, but he held up a hand.
"Just tell me one thing," he said, eyes gleaming. "Do I have a special class?"
She paused again, as if recalculating.
"You, like the rest of humanity, have been granted the class of Invocator. With it, you can summon units. Pull characters into your service through the summoning system."
Gray stared.
Then he began to laugh.
It started small. A few chuckles. But quickly grew louder, wilder. He doubled over in the air, howling with laughter that echoed through the clouds.
Victoria's expression shifted from confusion to concern.
"Is something wrong?"
Gray wiped a tear from his eye and looked at her with the unhinged joy of a man whose years of whale spending had just paid off.
"Wrong? No."
He grinned.
"This is the best day of my life."
He spread his arms wide and tilted his head back, laughing again. Not just at the absurdity of it all, but at the irony. He had spent thousands of hours and more money than he liked to admit playing a game. Memorizing stats. Calculating banner drop rates. Perfecting meta teams.
And now, all of that mattered.
"So what happens next?" he asked, voice steadying as he turned to face her again. "Do I get my starting units? A starter pack?"
Victoria's lips curled into a hesitant smile. "There is a starting bonus. But you'll need to find a summoning altar first. You were brought here temporarily, to receive orientation. Your real journey begins as soon as you descend."
"Let me guess," Gray said. "The world is divided into zones. Dungeons, cities, war-torn kingdoms. The usual fantasy mess."
"That is... a simplified way to describe it, but yes."
"And other players? I mean, other people. Do I meet them, fight them, team up with them?"
"In time, yes. This world allows for interaction between all Invocators. Some will cooperate. Others may choose conflict. Your choices shape the story you will live."
Gray crossed his arms and nodded slowly. He was already thinking in terms of strategy. If he could pull even one high-rarity unit early, he'd dominate the early-game zones. With his knowledge of the game's systems, he could probably skip weeks of grinding others would suffer through.
"Good," he said. "Then drop me in. I've got rolls to earn."