On the ground was the corpse of a huge monster twisted with wounds and blood, its body didn't look like anything familiar.
Above it stood a young man who looked to be in his twenties, with golden hair and eyes that glowed like suns... around him, the world looked like it was cracking, as if nature itself was struggling to contain him.
He raised his sword slowly and swung it, only for space to tear in front of him, and bend to his will.
Then, in a moment, everything stopped, and the game's pause screen appeared.
In a dark, dirty room, the only light came from an old computer screen... the young man sitting in front of it let out a long sigh, then whispered in a hoarse voice. "Huh... end of chapter."
He was talking about his latest game, Time Rift, which had come out only days ago.
Its world was one of a kind... a mix of mechanics like solus games and next-generation games.
It starts around spatial rifts appearing on Earth, monsters leaked out of them and almost wiped out humanity... in the end humans were forced to flee to another world.
The main story revolves around an orphan hero, adopted by a noble family... with talent that touches the sky and many superhuman powers, he was destined to clash with a powerful organization called "the Void System".
The game stirred up noise on the internet, but very few players reached the end, because it was still new, and had only been released recently.
The young man browsed the news, his skin pale and dark circles under his eyes, his thin body spoke of years of suffering.
After he lost his parents and his sister in a car accident when he was seventeen, he didn't have time to grieve. He had to leave school and work like a slave to pay off his parents' debts and stay alive... so games were his only escape from the harsh reality.
"They say the ending isn't good..." he muttered to himself in the quiet room.
He didn't want the story spoiled for him, especially since he'd reached a point that seems important.
And when he decided to shut down the computer and go to sleep, he heard knocking on the door of his crumbling apartment.
He got up lazily, his steps slow until he reached the door, and opened it.
In front of him, a step away from the entrance of his apartment, stood three grown men... all of them taller and bigger than him, dark tattoos spread across their bare arms.
The moment they saw him, one of them reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him outside. "So, this is the brat who called the police?"
The young man didn't blink. He stayed calm... not out of courage, but out of indifference and unfiltered contempt.
"What do we do with him?" another one asked, his deep voice full of annoyance.
The young man knew who they were... a group of local drug dealers in this neighborhood, he'd reported them to the police, but the corruption was deeper than he imagined... or specifically, he didn't expect things to go as far as them finding out the identity of the informant.
The man shook him by the collar violently; with every word the saliva flew onto his face. "Why are you so calm?... did you freeze from fear?"
The young man raised his eyebrow and didn't try to hide the contempt and the disgust on his face. "What do you want, you sons of bitches?"
The third man lost his temper, angry, he pulled out a knife and stabbed the young man straight in the heart. "Who do you think you are!"
The first man let go of the young man and screamed at his companion. "Damn it, damn it!... what did you do you psycho!"
The young man staggered backward, he tilted his head to see the knife buried in his heart and the pain rising through his body.
He muttered calmly, a pained, tired expression on his pale face. "Finally."
His body lost its strength and hit the ground; the last thing he heard was the screams of the drug dealers before the darkness swallowed him.
...
Years of memories swept through my mind all at once, giving me a sharp headache, as if my skull was about to explode.
I was tied to a chair of cold steel, many wires and tubes connected to my body, pumping strange fluids I can't tell whether they were keeping me alive... or killing me slowly.
Around me, the humming of the machines and the cold electronic beeps reminded me that I'm nothing more than a live experiment in this dark laboratory.
In front of me stood a man with his back to me. He was wearing a white coat that covers most of his body, his fingers dancing on the three-dimensional screens, reading the data without any interest in my existence.
Finally, he pressed a button. The metal restraints around my limbs released, and the mechanical arms removed the wires and tubes with cold precision.
He turned to me, his voice flat and cold. "Your examination is complete, Subject 01. Return to your room now."
I obeyed, and got up from the chair with heavy steps, heading toward the exit of the laboratory. Two familiar men were waiting for me... the guards assigned to escort me back.
I ignored them as I walked through the cold corridors, the air in them making me feel like a ghost.
It was a stretch of gray walls empty of color, with no windows, and no life... just heavy steel doors here and there, as if the place was designed to keep people locked in forever.
When I reached my room, one of the guards scanned his card and the door opened automatically, then he stepped aside without words, a silent order to go in.
My head was still drowning in a flood of strange memories as the door closed behind me.
I scanned the room with my eyes. Nothing new. A small bed in the corner, a sink with a mirror, and a toilet... everything was the way it always is. No windows, just ventilation openings the size of a fist, even the air here is restricted.
I came closer to the sink and turned on the tap. I cupped the cold water in my hands and washed my face, then raised my head to see my reflection.
A flawless face... black hair of medium length, deep black eyes... pale, clear skin. Features that don't belong to a child who grew up in a torture room.
I leaned my hands on the edge of the sink, staring at the mirror, trying to organize the flood of memories that had invaded my mind.
Time passed... I don't know how much, then finally, I understood.
These were the memories of my first life. My death at twenty-four... from a stab in the heart by a desperate drug dealer.
A miserable life. An even more miserable end.
I don't understand how, but it looks like I was given another chance, only to be reborn into the last game I played.
But... what did I become?
Just an experiment inside the Void System. Specifically, one of its small, unimportant branches.
Since childhood in this life, I've been trapped here... harsh training, fighting to the death while being watched constantly... daily injections of unknown substances?
By the age of ten... I'd killed hundreds of children like me. Rivers of blood flowed in front of me.
In the end, I became number one... their most successful experiment.
My lips trembled, then a quiet laugh came out. "Hehehe..."
I laughed more... I laughed like a madman. "I'm... I'm cursed apparently."
I leaned back, breathing deeply. In all the games and novels, I knew, people were reborn as the hero, or at least as the main villain, or as a side character with a certain role.
As for me? I wasn't any of that.
I was the character who appeared at the start of the game... in the first cinematic scene... before the hero even appeared.
The scene was clear in my mind, a young man with black hair and black eyes, tied to a chair, connected to countless tubes and wires, undergoing a strange examination.
Only to be revealed later that I was the perfect vessel to contain the being the Void System worships.
"The Watcher behind the wall of existence... the First Voice of the Void... the Devourer of All."
I hadn't finished the game... so I didn't know much about it.
But... did that matter? My fate was already sealed.
I'd just finished that examination. Maybe there are hours or a few days left until the results come out... so my life will end again?
I'd be moved to this organization's main facility, where other experiments were waiting for me.
I took a deep breath and lay down on the bed.
And with a single thought, the system screen appeared in front of me... as is always the case for anyone who awakens in this world.
Name: Caius Astroweild
Age: 17
Rank: 2
Sub-rank: Intermediate
Abilities:
[Soul Eyes]: When activated, you can see and sense the essence and souls of living beings.
[Sea of Souls]
My strength was close to the main characters' at this stage, at least if we ignore all his over-the-top abilities, while all I had was a skill that lets me see the essence, and the souls of living beings.
The second ability appeared recently, with no description or details or any noticeable difference. Maybe that's what made me the perfect vessel?
With another thought, the system screen disappeared.
I stared at the ceiling, my thoughts in complete chaos.
My first life was hell... but the second was worse. After seventeen years of suffering and fighting and torture here... I realized that my fate is to be just a vessel for a strange entity.
I smiled... then laughed, a quiet laugh that came out from between my lips.
"Heh... cursed."
But deep down I didn't accept this... there was a desire burning in my chest.
To get out of here and see the sun again.