Earth:
The sun touched the horizon, swollen and burning like an ember. Its dying light spread across the sky in strokes of orange, crimson, and molten gold — and the clouds, stretched thin by the wind, glowed like drifting sparks above it all.
Crows flew across the burning sky, their wings slicing through the air. Their sharp caws broke the silence.
Beneath that sky, two college boys walked side by side down the road leading to their dormitory. Their backpacks hung loose over their shoulders, tired from attending the lectures and with unfinished assignments. They had just finished their last lecture of the day.
The boy on the left broke the silence with a sigh.
"I hate that Professor Izel. He gives so much work. I have like four of his pending assignments. Now he gave us another one. What should I do, Nile?"
"Boris, this happened because you keep postponing your work. You should try skipping some of your basketball practice and try to finish Professor Izel's assignment."
"Must be nice since you don't have to do his assignment. You are his Project assistant. Can you help me finish some of my assignments?" Boris said, pressing his hands together.
Nile sighed, "Fine, but not much. The rest you have to do by yourself."
"Three?"
"One"
"At least two, please, two," Boris said, pressing his hands together, his gaze as intense as a Labrador who has just discovered the bag of treats and is trying to telepathically convince his owner to open it, regardless of the hour.
"Ok 2 no more."
"Yesss....." Boris jumped in excitement.
Three boys came towards them with a basketball team shirt. And a ball on one of the boys.
"Boris, are you coming to today's practice?"
Nile slightly looks at Boris. Boris looks back at him.
"I really need to go. The intercollege basketball tournament is in the next three days. I can't miss this."
"I haven't said anything, Boris."
One of the other boys looked at Nile.
"Come join us, Nile. It will be fun."
"Not today, I have a new game to play."
"Ok then, see you later, guys."
Nile left the group and walked back to his dormitory.
************
He finally arrived at his dorm.
He unlocked his room, pushed the door open, and let out a tired sigh. His stomach grumbled.
'I'm so hungry.'
He placed his bag at his usual spot near his bed. He grabbed a cup of instant noodles from the shelf, tore off the lid, and poured hot water from the kettle into it.
Leaving the noodles to cook, he showered, changed, and settled in front of his computer — cracking his knuckles and clicking the mouse in one continuous motion.
"I still don't know how I even got access to this beta version," he muttered. "I never applied for any beta test. I've never even heard of the developer or the company. Everything about it is a mystery. "
"I even tried searching the web, but got no results. One day, completely out of nowhere, I received an email."
[from: [email protected]
Hello, Mr Nile.
You have been selected as a beta player to test our newly developed game.
We hope you give our game a try and give us your feedback to improve our game.]
"Suspicious… but interesting," he whispered with a grin.
"I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Steal my data?"
The cursor hovered above the game icon, and he clicked it.
The game screen popped up and prompted him to choose between Male and Female.
The male character was around seventeen or eighteen — black hair, brown eyes, average build. He wore a plain dark tunic, simple and functional. The kind of character a developer makes in an afternoon.
The female character had black hair; her eyes looked lifeless and reflected the darkness cast by the world back to the world.
She wore a deep midnight robe that flowed around her like the quiet sky before dawn. The matte fabric was embroidered with pale white lotus blossoms, their slender branches curling elegantly across her sleeves and torso. A light grey inner collar formed a clean V beneath the dark layers, adding gentle contrast. A midnight sash cinched her waist, its trailing end dissolving into a faint black mist. Her long black hair was half-tied with a white jade lotus hairpin, perfectly matching the embroidery. In her hands she held a single white lotus, its soft glow reflected in the swirling, black-halo aura behind her head—an otherworldly crown that made her appear less human, and more divine.
'What the... the male version has less detail than the female. Did the entire budget go into her?'
'The female character looks beautiful, whereas the male character looks so plain. Is this called gender discrimination? Should I choose Male or Female?'
'Hm.. I know who to choose'
The mouse clicked on the character.
'I know some boys will pick female characters over male characters, saying smaller hitbox, but for me, I'm not a big fan of that. I think male characters in a game are cool'
The screen flashed into his eyes.
"Ah— My eyes"
Nile covered his eyes with his hand. When he finally opened his eyes, he was floating in space. Stars, galaxies and nebulae showered him with their radiant light.
'Where am I?'
'I can't move my body.'
'ICan'tMoveMyBodyICan'tMoveMyBody.'
'Can'tMove.'
Panic surged through him. Though he had no physical lungs, he felt the terrifying, suffocating sensation of heavy, ragged breathing echoing in the silent void, a phantom sound of his own despair.
The panic was like a storm blowing his rationality away, but a tiny spark of rationality desperately fought back.
"Calm down, Nile."
He forced the thought into the raging noise in his mind.
'Calm down, Nile. Stop fighting it. See what the situation is first.'
Nile forced himself to calm down. His ragged, heavy breathing became soft and slow.
Nile shifted his gaze, using only his peripheral vision. He saw two massive silhouettes in each direction.
Nile focused his gaze on the silhouettes. They had no distinct features. Their body had the shape of a human. Nile had a hunch that these two silhouettes were the game characters that he had chosen.
'Could they be the game characters?'
Before he could think any further, he was drawn into one of the silhouettes. It wasn't a pull; it was more like an absolute, undeniable warping of the space around him. He was hauled toward the blackness, like a celestial body being yanked beyond the event horizon.
'Ahhhhhh. No—'
Nile screamed, but no sound was coming out of his mouth. It was more like sounds in his mind. While Nile was being drawn towards the silhouette, his eye was fixed on the other silhouette. Even if he wanted to move his eyes, he couldn't.
The other silhouette moved its head, a subtle shift against the oppressive darkness, and its gaze—heavy and cold—landed directly on Nile.
'Did... did ... it just look at me?'
The thought was fractured, pulled apart by the force overwhelming his mind. Before he could process the impossible question, Nile slipped past the point of no return, instantly absorbed by the silhouette.
Now, in the silent expanse, where the deep, soft light of distant nebulae and stars permeated the void, stood the two silhouettes. There was no movement for a moment, an eternity of stillness; the silhouette that had watched Nile turned its gaze to the other. The silhouette that had absorbed Nile returned the silent regard.
The two figures stared at each other—unmoving, unreadable—until one of them simply vanished. Dissolving like smoke into the ambient light. Now one silhouette stood in the quiet space.
*************
It was quite a full moon; the air was cold, and the immense white disc of the moon hung high above the clear sky, colouring the whole world with its bright silver light. No cloud could cover her radiant image.
The silence was broken first by a movement, then by sound. Above a shadowed hill, a wolf howled. It was a long, deep call that echoed through the night. Moments later, the howl was replied to by others.
Below the ridge stood the ruins. Jagged stone walls, half collapsed and covered in dark moss, marked the shape of what had been a large village or a civilization. Most of the roof was gone.
At the center of the ruins stood a structure that might once have been a temple. Moonlight streamed through its shattered roof, illuminating the silent interior. Leaning against a fallen column was a human skeleton. Its bleached white bones remained perfectly intact, resting in eternal repose.
The skeleton began to shake. Not violently, but with a deep and internal vibration. The moon cast her silver light on the bones, making them appear unnatural.
First, the bones mended. Tiny fragments and cracks sealed seamlessly. Fractures spider-webbed across the skull, the dislocated ribs, the bones fused seamlessly, leaving the entire skeletal structure whole and rigid.
Tissue and cartilage formed. A thin membrane spread rapidly over the bone surface. It became thickened and rubbery, and pale, forming the smooth pads at the joints, ears and the end of the nose.
The body began to fill out with muscle and blood vessels. Fine red lines, the vascular network, spread like lightning from the spine and branched across the limbs. Immediately, the muscle fibres - tight, deep red threads sprouted and began to wrap around the bones.
The internal organs appeared inside the chest and abdomen. The heart materialised and gave its first heartbeat. The lungs unfolded, followed by the stomach, liver and other viscera, all settling into their correct positions.
Finally, the whole mass was covered in skin.
Hair follicles appeared - a dark, wet mat on the scalp, eyebrows and lashes. The empty sockets became eyes.
The figure's eyes snapped open, revealing his brown pupils. His dark hair stirred against the night breeze. A deep, shuddering first breath drew air into his lungs. With a sharp gasp, the newly formed human, Nile, woke up and took his first breath in this foreign world.