Deep within a remote branch of the Creation Cavern, the world's first and most enormous cave, which has entrances scattered across the globe and is the origin of every other cave in existence. According to the oldest entities, this cavern was born from the battle between the two mightiest of all gods: Nocturne Eternis, the God of Eternal Night, and Lumenaris Originaris, the God of Primordial Holy Light. That was an age long past; even now, the entire world has yet to explore even five percent of the Creation Cavern.
"Don't you find it ironic, Riven? It's genuinely hilarious, just how stupid are you?"
"If I had truly found a God's treasure in this Creation Cavern, I'd just swallow it whole—why would I need to bring you along? Do you really think we're that close?"
An indifferent voice, tinged with mockery, echoed within the massive cave, the sound reverberating from all directions. Despite its volume, no one could hear it, simply because of the sheer gigantic scale of the cavern.
Inside the cave were two youths, appearing to be between 17 and 19 years old. One of them was struggling weakly on the ground. A quick look showed no external injuries, but his body was clearly poisoned, which accounted for his desperate struggle. His black hair wasn't an ordinary black; it was a black like the endless night, absorbing all the light in the world. Though his face couldn't be called exceptionally handsome, it was relatively pleasant to look at.
The other was a rather short youth, wearing thin animal-hide clothing. He held a short sword and was smiling as he looked down at the struggling young man.
"You're going to die soon anyway. Out of respect for the time we spent as teammates, I'll let you have your last words."
Hearing this, the struggling youth looked confused and bewildered, not understanding where he was or how he had ended up there.
He was originally Nguyễn Khánh An, an 18-year-old young man. After a stressful exam period, he decided to play a few rounds of games to relax his mind. Unexpectedly, a 52-game losing streak dropped him straight from Emerald to tattered Silver, infuriating him so much that he suffered a fatal stroke. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in his current predicament.
"I actually transmigrated. This situation is a bit too much like those melodramatic novels where the protagonist gets betrayed by their friends."
"What the hell are you babbling about? Stalling for time won't change your current situation, you know."
The short youth said impatiently, sounding like he didn't intend to let Riven have any more last words. What he was truly after was the necklace Riven wore, adorned with a solid black crystal pendant, resting against the center of his neck.
Both he and Riven had been orphans, but he had noticed early on that Riven's necklace was far from ordinary. It was said that the necklace and the boy were the only two things found in the cradle left at the orphanage's doorstep a long time ago. His guess was that Riven might be a descendant of a noble family caught in a civil war or something similar, forcing his family to send him to the orphanage for safety. After all, while such events weren't entirely common, they weren't unheard of either.
He had held this idea for a long time but had been hesitant because the orphanage director was very protective of Riven, so he never dared to act rashly. However, he had recently lost too much money gambling and was being hounded by debt collectors right to his residence, prompting him to take this desperate gamble. At worst, if he was caught for murder, he'd only go to prison for a few years. With the right connections and money, he might even receive attentive service in prison. If the loan sharks killed him instead, he'd rather go to jail.
The campfire crackled in the silent space. In this vast space, there were only the two of them. Next to the fire lay a meat skewer on the ground, covered in dirt and sand. Riven guessed the original owner of this body had been poisoned to death. Suddenly, he felt a wave of unease.
Though initially surprised, he was still unfamiliar with his surroundings. Now, having calmed down and realized the extreme danger of his situation, Riven's face became incredibly grim. His body was weakened by the poison, and another person was preparing to kill him. If that person didn't kill him, the poison would surely kill him a second time. Perhaps the transmigration had weakened the poison but hadn't completely eliminated it.
Just as Riven thought he had just transmigrated to a new world only to be on the verge of dying again, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind, like the narrator from the classic RPG games he used to play as a child.
"Suitable host detected. You have become the Fated Bearer of Nocturne Eternis, the God of Eternal Night. Scanning the Fated Bearer's memories to become a medium familiar to the Fated Bearer."
"Memory scan complete. System conversion initiated to match the Fated Bearer's familiarity. Detected Fated Bearer is highly familiar with RPG games. Conversion successful. The RPG Cavern has opened."