Eli ran harder than usual.
His music was loud, but not loud enough to drown out the shouting still echoing in his head. Voices lingered longer than they should. They always did.
That was why he ran.
Central Park was the only place where things felt quiet. No judgment. No demands. No one expecting something from him.
Just space. Just air. Just silence.
He slowed to a stop, breathing evenly. The city stretched out beyond the trees—steel and glass catching the last light of the day.
It looked peaceful from a distance.
It never felt that way up close.
Eli exhaled and tilted his head back. For a moment, he let himself exist without thinking about anything else.
Then reality crept back in.
A paper due tomorrow.A boss already irritated with him.Siblings waiting to ask for money he didn't have.
He let out a quiet breath.
"Yeah… figures."
Still, he pushed it down. That was what he did. No matter what happened, he kept moving forward.
Just do the next right thing.
He started running again.
The sun dipped lower, its rays cutting through the clouds in long streaks of gold. For a brief moment, everything felt lighter.
Maybe things weren't as bad as they felt.
Maybe people just didn't know better.
That thought made things easier to carry.
A deep, aggressive bark shattered the calm.
Startled, Eli flinched.
His foot caught the edge of the pavement.
The world flipped.
He hit the ground hard.
Pain exploded across his face as concrete tore skin away. The impact knocked the air from his lungs. He could feel his warm blood against his cheek.
"…damn."
His vision blurred.
Of course.
Even when things felt better—something had to go wrong.
Darkness pulled him under.
A few feet away, a woman struggled to hold onto her bulldog.
"Susie, stop! What's wrong with you?!"
The dog barked wildly, straining against the leash.
Then she noticed the young man who had fallen.
He wasn't moving.
She approached cautiously and turned him over.
Her breath caught.
A deep cut ran across his face, blood already pooling beneath him.
"…oh."
She looked around quickly. No one close.
For a moment, she hesitated.
Then—
The ground trembled.
The air shifted.
The clouds overhead twisted unnaturally, pulling into a circular opening. Light broke through them, bright and supernatural.
And at the center—
A massive golden shape, maybe an obelisk, stood erect.
She stared.
The light intensified.
Then—
Everything disappeared.
All across the world, people looked up.
A man stopped mid-step and vanished.A woman reached for someone who was no longer there.Entire crowds thinned in seconds.
In an instant, billions disappeared.
Silence followed.
Then panic.
Governments scrambled to respond.
"We are investigating the situation. Remain calm."
The words that were told all around the world sounded hollow.
And then something else became clear.
The military command structure was crippled.
In every branch. Every country.
Nearly half of all people were gone.
Eli opened his eyes.
White.
An empty space stretched in every direction.
No walls. No sound.
He blinked slowly.
His face felt tight.
He reached up and touched it.
The wound was gone.
"…what?"
He sat up slowly, looking around.
Nothing made sense.
But it didn't feel like a dream.
"Ding."
A translucent screen appeared.
[Welcome.]
Eli stared at it for a moment, then exhaled quietly.
"…okay," he said with uncertainty.
The screen shifted.
[The Tutorial will begin shortly.]
[Failure may result in death.]
[Please say "Status"]
That was straightforward enough.
Eli stood.
No point overthinking it.
He'd deal with it as it came.
"Status."
Status
Name: —Level: 0 | 0/5 EXPRace: Human
Physique: UnknownBloodline: Black — Stage 9
Mana: 0
Vitality: 7
Strength: 5Agility: 7Stamina: 7Willpower: 9Perception: 6
Eli read through it once.
He didn't know what most of it meant.
But the structure was clear enough.
Like all the games he had played before. Increase stats and get stronger.
[Please assign a name.]
He paused briefly.
Then shrugged.
"…Eli Merlin."
[Name accepted.]
He rolled his shoulders once and waited.
[Initialization.]
The white space dissolved.