The world was at war.
A full-blown world war—not the kind written about in dusty history books, but a brutal, present reality. Smoke in the sky. Sirens that never stopped. Streets soaked in blood.
I was a soldier. One of the many. I followed orders, marched where they told me, fought whoever they pointed at. At first, it was simple—us versus them. Our country against another. Flags. Borders. Lies.
But then the rot set in.
Not from the outside... but from within.
There were whispers at first. Strange behavior. Missing units. Then sudden, unexpected attacks. And one day, we realized—we were killing each other.
The war turned inward.
Civil war.
The people I trained with. Ate with. Bled with. They turned their guns on us. On me.
And I still believed. Even when I saw squads disappear. Even when I was sent on missions that didn't make sense. Even when the radio went dead.
I should've seen it coming.
We walked right into a trap. They were waiting for us in the ruins. My entire unit gunned down in the first minute. I fought back. Killed two—maybe three. Took a hit in the leg, rolled behind cover, ran out of ammo.
Then someone stepped forward.
I knew that silhouette.
"...You?" I said, stunned.
He didn't answer. Just raised the rifle.
Shot me in the gut.
I collapsed. Couldn't breathe. Blood filled my mouth. The world dimmed.
He walked up to me. His face was pale. Eyes shaking. My best friend.
"I'm sorry, Elion. I had no choice."
I wanted to scream. Or curse. Or ask why.
All I managed was a broken, wet whisper.
"Why…" I whispered hoarsely, blood filling my throat. Then... everything went black. The sound of gunfire faded into silence.
---
But something woke me.
A light—brilliant and pure—forced my eyes open.
I gasped.
Gone were the war-torn streets, the smoke, the blood.
I was lying on smooth stone, beneath a vast sky filled with stars I didn't recognize. Behind me, a massive swirling portal hung in the air, humming softly like the beat of a mechanical heart.
I staggered to my feet, my body intact—no wounds, no pain. My military uniform was gone. In its place: simple clothes, rough boots, and a cloak draped over my shoulders.
There were five others with me, just as confused. A mix of men and women, strangers from different walks of life. One of them wore strange armor, like something out of a medieval game. A massive greatsword was strapped to his back.
Then I heard wings.
A small figure descended from the sky—a fairy, no taller than my forearm, dressed in a black gown of shifting fabric. Her eyes glowed faintly violet, and her voice echoed like a whisper carried by wind and wire.
"Ah... the new batch has finally arrived," she said, circling us.
None of us spoke. We were stunned. Breathing hard. Confused beyond reason.
"All of you get ready, because all of you will be sent to some kind of trial, whether you guys are Worthy or not", The fairy said.
She snapped her fingers, summoning different kind of medieval weapons, "all of you have 1 minutes to chose the weapon of your choice, the you'll be transported to the first floor", she added.
There's total of six people in the area, that includes Elion, and the other five, one of the five is looks like a medieval soldier, that holds a big sword.
Even though Elion is still confused to what just happening to his surroundings, he still picked a sword, in case of emergency, while trying to gasped to situation.
Somewhere beyond the fabric of this world, a command had been executed.
---
And then all of them are teleported to different world, "this is forest...", The other said.
"What's happening, how did I get here", Elion thought to himself.
"Everyone, since all of you were just looks like a average joe, let me be the leader here, we are sent to first floor of the tower to subjugate the monster here", Greg said, the man that looks like a medieval soldier.
"Subjugate? Tower? Monsters?", Elion confusedly thought to himself, "I always encounter those words every time I read some novel or play games", Elion added.
Then a system appears in front of them.
[The 'new batch' party is now taking the first floor mission]
[Mission: Goblin subjugation]
[10/10 Goblin]
Seeing the blue panel screen makes Elion confused, because he was just in the war on his country then he suddenly transported to a worlds where logic doesn't work.
Then there's ten Goblin that appears in front of them, all of those Goblins are wielding some knifes.
Seeing that, the other four of their team are now trembling in fear, "no.. no, I don't why I'm here, so.. so let me out", the other said as he ran away.
"I have family, my childrens are waiting for me so let me out of here!" The other said, as he also ran away.
"They must be so confused that they didn't react earlier", Elion said as he looks to other four who ran away.
Then the Goblin leap to Elion and swing his knife, but Elion managed to dodge it, and counter by swing his sword, cutting the neck of the Goblin
[9/10 monster]
Then the Greg, Charge forward and uses his special skill "swordshot", He shouted, The moment his blade extended, a compressed shockwave exploded from the tip — invisible, but devastating. Air screamed as the pressure wave ripped across the field.
[3/10 Goblins]
That attack killed six Goblins, and Elion was dumbfounded by what he just witnessed, "A powerful attack.. how..", Elion confused.
But then the three Goblins leaps to him, and attack him, but Elion was ready, he dodge and doges avoiding the continues leaps, and when he saw an opening, he swing his sword, killing a Goblin.
But after he attack, he twisted his pivot to redirect his body and change the direction of his sword, killing the Goblinthat leaping to his blindspot, then throw the sword, stabbing the last Goblin on head.
[First floor cleared]
[Mvp - Greg]
[Elion lvl1 >> lvl2]
Then all of them were teleported back to the place before, a place where there's a massive house that called 'town hall', beside that big house, there's a training ground, and the laborato looked more like an abandoned stone hut than a place of arcane science. Its walls were uneven, formed from weather-worn stone blocks patched with strange metal plating that shimmered faintly in the right light.
Then as they walked in the center of the place, the fairy reappears, with a disappointed looks on her face.
"All of you failed the test, so you can die now, except for Greg", she said, that news shocked Elion, because he was about to die.
Then the other man who was afraid and ran away, raised his sword and point it to the fairy, "w-who are you to tell us to die... We just get dragged here without pur consent and now you're killing us!", he shouted as he swing his sword to the fairy.
Then there's a wicked smile on the fairy's face, she extended here arms and griped it, she uses magic, causing the body of the man to exploded to pieces.
Everyone was shocked, including Elion, he know that the moment he was summoned here, he doesn't owned his life, he already witness enough.
"All of you, Go to that laboratory over there", the fairy pointed the laboratory that looks like a abandoned stone hut.
All of them proceed over there, and the thoughts of dying crossing to their mind, they're clueless of what's happening.
And then all of them stop in front of the laboratory, the first one who came inside was Greg, then followed by the other guy.
After sometime there's A flash of searing white light exploded between them, not blinding, but revealing — as if reality peeled back to expose the framework underneath. The air folded, crackled, and glitched, fragments of space and code stuttering like a system about to crash. Their bodies flickered in and out, outlines twisting, blending, bleeding color and form into each other.
One soul screamed. The other whispered.
They were being synthesized, the one who came out in the laboratory was Greg, he was standing more fiercer,his aura was radiating faintly.
That moment on, Elion realized what's happening, all of them will be used to be an ingredient, to make Greg powerful.
Then the fairy proceed to instruct them again, one by one, until Elion was the last one left.
Greg's standing in front of him, "you were a good warrior compared to them, a talented one, but it's disappointing that you'll be used in this way", Greg said in low voice.
Elion was now hesitant to walked inside of the laboratory, he know that this is the end, and if he refuse, the fairy will kill him.
" What are you guys doing, moved!" She screamed at them.
As they walked towards to the laboratory and go inside, there's something that interrupt them.
[Are you sure you want to cancelled the synthesis]
>Yes
"Looks like the master chose to give you a chance", Greg said with a smile, "master?", Elion asked confusedly.
"Ohh yea, you're new here so you don't know, everything you see here was being handle by the 'master' , the master was there, behind those sky", Greg said as he pointed to the sky.
[The player has logged out]
"The master has logged out, the next time the master appears again, he will try to test you again, alongside with others", The fairy said to Elion then a faintly light surround her then disappear.