Darkness.
Not the kind that comes when you close your eyes, but the kind that swallows the concept of "sight" itself. A void so ancient, even time had forgotten its own name.
A faint hum echoed inside the emptiness.
> [System Initialization… Error_03]
The voice was mechanical, but carried a weight — as if a thousand forgotten worlds whispered through it.
"Where… am I?"
The voice belonged to him — a man with no memory, not even of his own name.
> [System Protocol Engaged… Assigning User Identity… Error_07: Higher Entity Interference Detected.]
Somewhere beyond the darkness, colossal beings stirred. Shadows of impossible forms loomed: a horned figure whose every breath could shatter stars, a winged silhouette wreathed in blizzards, a burning throne of golden lightning.
They were not just gods. They were the architects of existence:
The God of Dragons, whose roar had birthed the first suns.
The God of Nature, whose roots coiled around galaxies.
The Gatekeeper of Dimensions, whose eyes watched every world.
The God of the Void — smiling where smiles should not exist.
And… they were watching him.
> [Warning: Unauthorized Entities Detected. Balance of Creation — Shifting.]
The man tried to speak, but the void shuddered. The System's voice returned, cracking like broken glass:
> [I am the first system ever created… but there are others now. Stronger. Hungrier. If you ever see the Void of Death… run. Or you will be hunted by all.]
The words burned into his mind. Before he could ask more, a panel slowly flickered into existence:
[Welcome, New User. Begin?]
He reached toward it.
That was when something behind him whispered his name.
A name he should not have known.
A name that did not belong to a human.