Chapter 1: When Death Pressed Continue
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Chapter 1: When Death Pressed Continue
The fire spread faster than logic could process.
Kai Ryu's monitors cracked one after another, glass shattering under the suffocating heat as smoke filled the cramped game studio. His lungs burned, and every breath clawed at his chest like molten knives. He stumbled over scattered coffee cups and sketch papers, desperately trying to reach the exit.
Flames licked the ceiling, curling around posters of worlds he'd built but never finished — digital realms born from sleepless nights and caffeine. His life's work was being devoured, pixel by pixel, and he could do nothing but watch.
He'd always wanted to design something that would outlive him.
He never thought death would come first.
When the smoke finally won, Kai collapsed to his knees, coughing blood onto the tiles. His vision flickered — lights dimming like the end of a dying screen. His final thought wasn't regret. It was a strange, quiet relief.
At least I don't have to meet that deadline.
The world blinked out.
And then… rebooted.
A sound like a digital chime echoed in the dark, followed by a whisper — mechanical, emotionless, yet disturbingly human.
> [Initializing Dimensional Code.]
[Loading consciousness fragment… successful.]
Kai's eyes snapped open. He wasn't in his studio anymore.
The sky above him pulsed in shades of violet and grey, shifting like liquid. He lay on what looked like glass, yet it rippled beneath his touch as if alive. Beneath the surface, shadows moved — humanoid figures twisting and writhing without faces.
"Where… am I?" His voice trembled, fading into the void.
Then came the whisper again.
> [Welcome, User 0001: Kai Ryu.]
[You have entered the Spiritbound Realm.]
A translucent screen blinked into existence before him — faint blue light outlining floating text that looked too real to be a dream.
> [System Function: Emotional Index — Locked.]
[Spirit Energy Detected: 0.0001 units.]
[Core Integrity: Unstable.]
His head throbbed. He tried to stand, but a wave of nausea hit him, forcing him back to his knees. The surface beneath him rippled again, and this time, a shape began to emerge — tall, cloaked, featureless except for a faint smile carved where a mouth should be.
Kai's instincts screamed danger.
The air grew heavy, vibrating with something primal — fear. It wasn't just emotion. It was tangible, crawling across his skin like static electricity.
> [Warning: Wraithborn entity detected.]
The voice in his head — the same mechanical tone — was calm, almost bored, while the creature lunged.
Kai rolled instinctively, barely avoiding the black claw that slashed where his throat had been. The surface cracked beneath the strike, releasing an inky vapor that reeked of rot.
He scrambled backward. "No weapon, no health bar… no pause button. Great."
The entity hissed — a chilling sound like glass shattering underwater. Its body flickered, multiplying into several afterimages. Each one whispered in overlapping tones, feeding on the rising panic in Kai's chest.
Fear detected.
Feed… feed…
His heartbeat raced. The air thickened. His limbs grew heavy. His mind screamed for escape — and that's when it happened.
> [Emotional Index activated: Fear → Conversion in progress.]
Blue light burst from his chest, spiraling upward. His vision warped as numbers flickered across the screen hovering before him.
> [Negative Energy Assimilation Complete.]
[Spirit Capacity: +0.05]
[Skill unlocked: Instinct Surge.]
Power coursed through his veins like electricity. His fear didn't vanish — it transformed. It became momentum.
The Wraithborn lunged again. This time, Kai didn't flinch. He moved — faster, sharper. He ducked beneath its arm and, without thinking, drove his fist into the creature's chest.
There was no impact — only light. The monster shattered like glass, fragments dissolving into the mist.
> [Entity eliminated.]
[Fragment acquired: Shadow Data x1.]
Kai stared at his trembling hands.
"Did I just… absorb that thing?"
The whisper returned — softer now, almost approving.
> [You are adapting.]
[Welcome to the cycle of Ascendancy.]
The world rippled again, and the glass beneath him began to break apart. Beneath it, another layer revealed itself — a city skyline submerged in fog, skyscrapers built from bone and steel. Shapes moved within the mist — thousands of people, some human, some not.
> [Tutorial Complete.]
[Beginning transfer to Outer Sector.]
As his body began to dissolve into light, Kai whispered to no one in particular, "If this is hell… at least it has good graphics."
The voice gave no answer.
Only the sound of data streaming through a void as the world faded to white.