Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Beginning
The dashboard crumpled. Metal shrieked. Airbags exploded in white clouds.
Ethan’s head snapped back, then forward. The impact threw him against the seatbelt.
Pain. Everywhere.
He tasted blood. Copper and dust.
The world spun. Red and black.
His vision swam. He heard screaming. Was it his?
No. Not his.
A woman. Her face, a mask of terror. Pressed against the passenger side window.
Then glass shattered. A grotesque, impossible sound.
She was gone.
Ethan tried to move. His arm was pinned.
Something heavy. Something hot.
Fire.
Flames licked at the ceiling of the crushed car. Orange and angry.
Panic clawed at his throat. He couldn’t breathe.
Smoke filled his lungs. Raw, burning.
He thrashed. Kicked.
The seatbelt held him tight. A death grip.
He saw his hand. It was shaking. Covered in glass shards.
A blinding flash. Not from the fire.
Blue. Pure, electric blue.
It appeared right in front of his eyes. Floating. Impossible.
Text scrolled across it. White letters on a vibrant, impossible blue.
**[You have been chosen as a Candidate.]**
Ethan stared. His mind refused to process it.
He blinked. The text remained.
**[Your objective: Become the strongest being in this world.]**
What the hell?
He coughed. A ragged, wet sound.
The fire was closer. Roaring now.
He tried to scream. No sound came out.
The blue screen pulsed. A soft, almost hypnotic glow.
**[Failure to accept will result in termination.]**
Termination? What did that even mean?
He was dying. He knew it. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
His own.
He squeezed his eyes shut. This was a dream. A hallucination.
Open them. The blue screen was still there. Taunting him.
**[Accept?]**
**[Y/N]**
His fingers twitched. He couldn't feel them.
He couldn't move.
The heat was unbearable. His skin blistered.
He was going to burn alive.
His mind screamed no. No to dying. No to this madness.
But the blue screen offered… something. A choice.
He had no choice.
His head lolled. His vision blurred.
He wanted to live. Desperate, animalistic need.
His consciousness faded.
He woke with a gasp.
Cold.
He wasn’t in a car. He wasn’t burning.
He was on dirt. Hard, packed earth.
The air was sharp. Like metal.
He pushed himself up. Every muscle screamed.
His body ached. But it was… different.
He felt stronger. Lighter.
He looked around. Trees. Huge. Ancient. Twisted.
Not like any trees he’d ever seen. Their bark was black, their leaves a deep, blood red.
The sky above was a bruised purple. Two moons hung in it. One pale, one a sickly green.
This wasn’t Earth.
He scrambled to his feet. His legs felt shaky.
He wore unfamiliar clothes. Coarse linen. A leather tunic.
His hands. They were clean. Unscarred.
He touched his face. No blood. No burns.
He ran his fingers through his hair. Short. Coarse.
Not his hair.
Panic flared. Cold, sharp.
He remembered the crash. The fire. The woman.
Her scream.
He remembered the blue screen.
He remembered… accepting.
He looked down at his hands again. They felt foreign.
He didn’t recognize them. He didn’t recognize himself.
He stumbled forward. Through the strange trees.
Where was he? What was this place?
A growl. Low. Deep.
It came from behind him.
He froze.
He turned slowly.
Eyes. Huge. Yellow. Glowing in the gloom.
A creature. Eight feet tall. Covered in coarse, matted fur.
Its teeth were long, curved fangs. Its claws, like obsidian blades.
It smelled of damp earth and something foul. Like death.
A demon. His mind supplied the word.
Impossible.
The creature snarled. A guttural sound.
It lunged.
Ethan reacted. Pure instinct.
He dove to the side. Rolling.
He came up in a crouch. His heart hammered in his chest.
The demon missed. It slammed into a tree. Bark exploded.
He stared at his hands. They had moved. Fast. Too fast.
His body was responding. Different.
He felt a surge of adrenaline. Not just fear. Something else.
Power.
The demon turned. Its yellow eyes fixed on him.
It roared. A sound that vibrated in his bones.
It lunged again. Faster this time.
Ethan didn't think. He moved.
He darted left. The demon overshot.
He saw an opening. A thick branch.
He grabbed it. Heavy. But not too heavy.
He swung. A clumsy, desperate blow.
It connected. A dull thud against the demon’s flank.
The creature howled. Not from pain. From surprise.
It spun. Swiping with a massive claw.
Ethan ducked. The wind of its passage ruffled his hair.
He felt the blue screen flicker in his mind. Not visible. Just… there.
A sudden, overwhelming urge. To fight. To survive.
He gripped the branch tighter. His knuckles white.
He wasn't going to die here. Not like this.
Not again.
He remembered the name. Ethan Cross.
His name.
He remembered the woman. Her face.
Her name. Sarah.
He clung to it. A lifeline.
The demon charged.
Ethan met it. He swung the branch with all his might.
He screamed. A raw, primal sound.
The branch connected with the demon's head. A sickening crunch.
The creature staggered. Its yellow eyes widened.
It fell. A heavy thud that shook the ground.
Ethan stood over it. Breathing hard.
The branch was splintered. His hands ached.
He looked at the fallen demon. It was still.
Dead?
He kicked it. Gently.
No response.
He collapsed to his knees. His body trembled.
He killed it.
He killed a demon.
The blue screen flared. This time, it was visible.
**[Threat neutralized. Experience gained.]**
**[Level Up!]**
**[Ethan Cross – Level 2]**
Ethan stared at the screen. His mind reeled.
Level up? This was like a game.
But it wasn't a game. That thing was real.
The blood on his hands was real.
He looked at the demon again. Its fur was coarse. Its fangs long.
He remembered the smell. The fear.
He remembered his name. Ethan Cross.
And Sarah.
He closed his eyes. Tried to picture her face.
It was fading. Blurring at the edges.
No.
He gripped his head. A throbbing pain.
He tried to remember her laugh. Her smile.
Blank.
A cold dread spread through him.
He tried to remember his job. His apartment. His life.
Snippets. Fragments.
A street name. A coffee shop.
Then, nothing.
It was being erased. His past. His identity.
The blue screen pulsed. A soft hum in his head.
**[Memory corruption detected.]**
**[System attempting to stabilize host consciousness.]**
Stabilize? It was destroying him.
He fought against it. Against the blankness.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Forced himself to remember.
Sarah. She had blonde hair. Brown eyes.
He could see her. Just barely.
Her voice. He could almost hear it.
No.
It was fading. Fast.
He opened his eyes. Panic, raw and pure, ripped through him.
He stared at the blue screen. It was mocking him.
**[Memory wipe in progress.]**
No.
He screamed. A desperate, broken sound.
His past. His life. It was all being stolen.
He was being rewritten.
He reached out. Punched the blue screen.
His fist passed through it.
He stood there, shaking. Alone.
In a world he didn’t know. With a past he couldn’t remember.
And a system that was erasing him.
He remembered one thing. One last, desperate thought.
He was Ethan Cross.
And he would not forget.
He would not be erased.
He would fight.
He would find out what this was.
And he would kill whoever did this to him.
Even if they were gods.
Ethan’s head snapped back, then forward. The impact threw him against the seatbelt.
Pain. Everywhere.
He tasted blood. Copper and dust.
The world spun. Red and black.
His vision swam. He heard screaming. Was it his?
No. Not his.
A woman. Her face, a mask of terror. Pressed against the passenger side window.
Then glass shattered. A grotesque, impossible sound.
She was gone.
Ethan tried to move. His arm was pinned.
Something heavy. Something hot.
Fire.
Flames licked at the ceiling of the crushed car. Orange and angry.
Panic clawed at his throat. He couldn’t breathe.
Smoke filled his lungs. Raw, burning.
He thrashed. Kicked.
The seatbelt held him tight. A death grip.
He saw his hand. It was shaking. Covered in glass shards.
A blinding flash. Not from the fire.
Blue. Pure, electric blue.
It appeared right in front of his eyes. Floating. Impossible.
Text scrolled across it. White letters on a vibrant, impossible blue.
**[You have been chosen as a Candidate.]**
Ethan stared. His mind refused to process it.
He blinked. The text remained.
**[Your objective: Become the strongest being in this world.]**
What the hell?
He coughed. A ragged, wet sound.
The fire was closer. Roaring now.
He tried to scream. No sound came out.
The blue screen pulsed. A soft, almost hypnotic glow.
**[Failure to accept will result in termination.]**
Termination? What did that even mean?
He was dying. He knew it. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
His own.
He squeezed his eyes shut. This was a dream. A hallucination.
Open them. The blue screen was still there. Taunting him.
**[Accept?]**
**[Y/N]**
His fingers twitched. He couldn't feel them.
He couldn't move.
The heat was unbearable. His skin blistered.
He was going to burn alive.
His mind screamed no. No to dying. No to this madness.
But the blue screen offered… something. A choice.
He had no choice.
His head lolled. His vision blurred.
He wanted to live. Desperate, animalistic need.
His consciousness faded.
He woke with a gasp.
Cold.
He wasn’t in a car. He wasn’t burning.
He was on dirt. Hard, packed earth.
The air was sharp. Like metal.
He pushed himself up. Every muscle screamed.
His body ached. But it was… different.
He felt stronger. Lighter.
He looked around. Trees. Huge. Ancient. Twisted.
Not like any trees he’d ever seen. Their bark was black, their leaves a deep, blood red.
The sky above was a bruised purple. Two moons hung in it. One pale, one a sickly green.
This wasn’t Earth.
He scrambled to his feet. His legs felt shaky.
He wore unfamiliar clothes. Coarse linen. A leather tunic.
His hands. They were clean. Unscarred.
He touched his face. No blood. No burns.
He ran his fingers through his hair. Short. Coarse.
Not his hair.
Panic flared. Cold, sharp.
He remembered the crash. The fire. The woman.
Her scream.
He remembered the blue screen.
He remembered… accepting.
He looked down at his hands again. They felt foreign.
He didn’t recognize them. He didn’t recognize himself.
He stumbled forward. Through the strange trees.
Where was he? What was this place?
A growl. Low. Deep.
It came from behind him.
He froze.
He turned slowly.
Eyes. Huge. Yellow. Glowing in the gloom.
A creature. Eight feet tall. Covered in coarse, matted fur.
Its teeth were long, curved fangs. Its claws, like obsidian blades.
It smelled of damp earth and something foul. Like death.
A demon. His mind supplied the word.
Impossible.
The creature snarled. A guttural sound.
It lunged.
Ethan reacted. Pure instinct.
He dove to the side. Rolling.
He came up in a crouch. His heart hammered in his chest.
The demon missed. It slammed into a tree. Bark exploded.
He stared at his hands. They had moved. Fast. Too fast.
His body was responding. Different.
He felt a surge of adrenaline. Not just fear. Something else.
Power.
The demon turned. Its yellow eyes fixed on him.
It roared. A sound that vibrated in his bones.
It lunged again. Faster this time.
Ethan didn't think. He moved.
He darted left. The demon overshot.
He saw an opening. A thick branch.
He grabbed it. Heavy. But not too heavy.
He swung. A clumsy, desperate blow.
It connected. A dull thud against the demon’s flank.
The creature howled. Not from pain. From surprise.
It spun. Swiping with a massive claw.
Ethan ducked. The wind of its passage ruffled his hair.
He felt the blue screen flicker in his mind. Not visible. Just… there.
A sudden, overwhelming urge. To fight. To survive.
He gripped the branch tighter. His knuckles white.
He wasn't going to die here. Not like this.
Not again.
He remembered the name. Ethan Cross.
His name.
He remembered the woman. Her face.
Her name. Sarah.
He clung to it. A lifeline.
The demon charged.
Ethan met it. He swung the branch with all his might.
He screamed. A raw, primal sound.
The branch connected with the demon's head. A sickening crunch.
The creature staggered. Its yellow eyes widened.
It fell. A heavy thud that shook the ground.
Ethan stood over it. Breathing hard.
The branch was splintered. His hands ached.
He looked at the fallen demon. It was still.
Dead?
He kicked it. Gently.
No response.
He collapsed to his knees. His body trembled.
He killed it.
He killed a demon.
The blue screen flared. This time, it was visible.
**[Threat neutralized. Experience gained.]**
**[Level Up!]**
**[Ethan Cross – Level 2]**
Ethan stared at the screen. His mind reeled.
Level up? This was like a game.
But it wasn't a game. That thing was real.
The blood on his hands was real.
He looked at the demon again. Its fur was coarse. Its fangs long.
He remembered the smell. The fear.
He remembered his name. Ethan Cross.
And Sarah.
He closed his eyes. Tried to picture her face.
It was fading. Blurring at the edges.
No.
He gripped his head. A throbbing pain.
He tried to remember her laugh. Her smile.
Blank.
A cold dread spread through him.
He tried to remember his job. His apartment. His life.
Snippets. Fragments.
A street name. A coffee shop.
Then, nothing.
It was being erased. His past. His identity.
The blue screen pulsed. A soft hum in his head.
**[Memory corruption detected.]**
**[System attempting to stabilize host consciousness.]**
Stabilize? It was destroying him.
He fought against it. Against the blankness.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Forced himself to remember.
Sarah. She had blonde hair. Brown eyes.
He could see her. Just barely.
Her voice. He could almost hear it.
No.
It was fading. Fast.
He opened his eyes. Panic, raw and pure, ripped through him.
He stared at the blue screen. It was mocking him.
**[Memory wipe in progress.]**
No.
He screamed. A desperate, broken sound.
His past. His life. It was all being stolen.
He was being rewritten.
He reached out. Punched the blue screen.
His fist passed through it.
He stood there, shaking. Alone.
In a world he didn’t know. With a past he couldn’t remember.
And a system that was erasing him.
He remembered one thing. One last, desperate thought.
He was Ethan Cross.
And he would not forget.
He would not be erased.
He would fight.
He would find out what this was.
And he would kill whoever did this to him.
Even if they were gods.