A cold, mysterious voice echoed through the endless darkness.
"The crime you committed cannot be ignored. Consequences must be paid. You broke the rules. For whom? You tried to play both sides… and what did you gain? Nothing."
From deep within the dark, a monstrous growl rose.
"I am Death — one of the celestial beings who govern the cycle of mortality, the ruler of shadows."
The words reverberated through the void, where a bloodied corpse lay motionless.
"I sentence you to death. You… and everyone you hold dear… will face judgment. Now go—bring death."
A massive serpent-like monster burst through the wall, blasting concrete and debris across the room as dust flooded the air.
"What is that thing?! What's happening?!"
"I… I can't move. My body won't respond. This fear… it's unreal.
Is this really happening, or am I dreaming?"
Keal Ardent lay injured on the ground, staring up at the colossal creature. Everything had changed in an instant—his world flipped upside down. Nothing about this felt real. It was beyond anything he could imagine.
The monster spotted him and lunged forward, slithering at terrifying speed.
"My ears… my chest… it feels like my whole body's going to explode! I can't stay here another second!"
Keal forced himself to run. His body resisted every movement, but he pushed forward, heart hammering in his chest. He glanced at the device strapped to his wrist—the cooldown timer showed 3:28:47.
"Only twelve minutes have passed… How am I supposed to survive even one more minute—let alone three hours?"
The monster spotted him and lunged, slithering across the ground with terrifying speed.
Keal sprinted up a flight of crumbling stairs and slipped into the shadows of a dark room, praying the creature wouldn't find him.
Earlier that day…
Creak… creak…
A woman walked across the floor, her steps steady and deliberate. She stopped in front of a plain wooden door.
Her expression was calm but hurried as she knocked.
Knock… knock…
"Keal… wake up," she called, her voice faintly echoing through the room.
Inside, Keal Ardent lay sprawled on the floor—one leg dangling off the bed, one arm resting across his stomach.
"Wake up, son! I'm already late," she called again, knocking a little louder.
"Can you hear me?"
Keal rubbed his head with one hand, drool slipping from the corner of his mouth as he slept.
"Mom… let me sleep a little longer," he murmured.
He cracked his eyes open for a moment, then immediately shut them again, refusing to wake up.
"Mom, didn't I tell you vacation starts today? I don't have school, so just let me sleep. I'm exhausted."
His mother's eyes narrowed, a faint flush rising to her cheeks as she tapped her foot. Irritation was written all over her face.
"Vacation or not, that doesn't mean you can sleep all day."
Keal reached toward the table beside him, patting blindly until his fingers brushed against the clock.
"It's eleven o'clock, Mom," he said, glancing at it.
She smiled faintly, as if she already knew exactly how to get him out of bed.
"Okay… looks like you forgot about the V7. I'm glad to hear that. Well, I'm heading to the office—so go ahead and stay in bed."
She turned away from the door, her neatly pressed formal clothes swaying as she walked.
"Anyway, I'll be busy starting tomorrow, so I guess your V7 setup is canceled."
The V7 was the newest model in the V-series of VR gaming devices—a full-immersion virtual reality system.
Keal shot upright instantly, one leg still tangled in the bedsheets. His balance faltered, but he lunged toward the door and yanked it open.
"Mom, you can't blackmail me like this! That's not fair!"
"Yes, I can," his mother replied calmly.
He stepped into the hallway and froze. She was already crossing the yard in her office attire.
"Mom, you're not serious, right? At least wait for me to get ready!"
"You have only five minutes, or I'm leaving you here. And don't complain later," she replied.
She opened the door and stepped outside.
Keal bolted to the washroom, brushing his teeth at record speed. After rinsing his mouth, he sprinted back to his room and yanked the cupboard open. He grabbed the first T-shirt he saw along with a pair of pants, hopping on one leg as he struggled to pull them on.
Still half-dressed, he rushed toward the kitchen, grabbed a piece of bread from the table, and shoved it into his mouth.
His mother parked the blue car just as Keal flung open the front door of the house and spotted it waiting outside. He sprinted toward it and slid into the front passenger seat, still chewing the last of the bread he'd stuffed into his mouth.
As she pulled onto the road, she glanced at him. Her expression was tense.
"Keal… your father called this morning. He wants you to stay with him during the vacation. They're planning a trip—somewhere… maybe Thalburg," she said.
Keal stared out the window in silence, irritation clearly written on his face.
The phone connected to the car's Bluetooth began to ring—ring… ring… ring…
"Since you haven't seen your sister—and it's been years since you last saw your father…" his mother began. Her voice was calm, but a hint of nervousness showed she didn't want to talk about this.
"You'll have plenty of time to spend with them. It'll be good for you."
Keal shot her a frustrated look.
"Mom, enough. Don't push this. I told you—I don't want to talk about him or his family."
Her eyes softened, peaceful but still tense.
"Don't say things like that. He's still your father."
"I don't want to discuss him with you. Just pick up the phone and end this already."
She picked up the ringing phone.
"Mrs. Ardent, it's urgent. Can you come to the office right away?" Malathi Iyer's voice came through the speakers.
Mrs. Ardent glanced from the car's display back to the road, adjusting the steering wheel slightly.
"What happened?" she asked.
"The game we launched last month has run into legal trouble. A notice arrived an hour ago claiming it was copied."
Mrs. Ardent's eyes flicked back to the car's display screen.
"What the f**k are you talking about? Who's claiming it was copied? Do they have any proof?"
"The notice came from BT," Malathi replied. "They're saying Last Game was copied from their title Explore. I ran a comparison—there's a forty to seventy percent match, and the ending is almost identical."
"Really? I thought the story was original and unique," Mrs. Ardent said.
"I thought so too… but BT launched their game before we even started development. There's no way we can defend ourselves."
"What are they demanding?" she asked, forcing her voice to stay calm.
"They want us to change the ending and pay four hundred thousand Gelder as compensation."
Mrs. Ardent stared at the display screen, a hopeless expression tightening her face.
"Are you kidding me? We haven't even earned that much."
She turned the steering wheel and took a left toward their destination.
"So, what's the team behind the game doing right now?"
"They're working on some minor missions for the new project," Ms. Iyer replied.
Mrs. Ardent parked the blue car in the lot.
"Listen—put the project on hold and dismiss the team for today. And don't let the boss hear about this yet. I want to check everything myself before he explodes."
Keal glanced at her.
"As the manager of this company, how did you let this happen?"
She allowed herself a small, tired smile.
"Don't mock me. The boss is going to yank me apart anyway."
As they entered the store, an employee greeted them with a cheerful smile.
"Welcome! How can I help you today?"
"We'd like to buy a V7 set," Mrs. Ardent said, "and one copy each of Explore and Last Game."
"Of course, ma'am," the employee replied before heading toward the shelves.
A few minutes later, he returned with the items and placed them on the counter. The cashier checked everything, then turned to the computer to begin billing.
"Ma'am, your ID, please."
Mrs. Ardent pulled her ID from her bag and handed it over.
The cashier typed her details into the system. Her information appeared on the screen:
Name: Nora Ardent
Age: 41
Occupation: Manager, February Studios
Residence: Lime District, House No. 323
"Here's your bill, ma'am—two hundred Gelder and twenty Sol.
(Sixty-four Sol equals one Gelder.)"
Mrs. Ardent took out two hundred-Gelder notes and added two hexagon-shaped ten-Sol coins, handing them to the cashier.
The cashier packed the items neatly and returned the bag along with her ID.
With the package in hand, Mrs. Ardent and Keal stepped out of the store.
The employees called after them politely,
"Have a great day! And please visit us again!"
As they stepped outside, Mrs. Ardent accidentally bumped into a strange woman. The bags slipped from her hands and scattered across the pavement.
The woman looked suspicious. Her silky brown hair and oversized sunglasses hid most of her face. The jacket she wore and the stiff way she carried herself made it seem like she was trying not to be noticed—like someone might be watching her.
Both women quickly apologized.
The stranger picked up her package, checked it once, and hurried away. Her movements were tense, almost frantic, as if she was afraid of something.
Keal and his mother gathered the fallen items and put them back into the bag.
"What's wrong with her?" Keal muttered.
Their car rolled to a stop in front of the house. Keal stepped out, carrying the packages they had bought.
"I cooked lunch this morning—white rice and tarka. Eat on time, okay? I might be late tonight, so if you can, make dinner," Mrs. Ardent said as she restarted the engine.
"Bye, honey!"
Keal watched the car pull away.
"Bye, Mom!"
He hurried inside, wasting no time. The moment he reached his room, he pulled the packages from the bag.
"I've been waiting for this for so long. Finally!"
He opened the V7 box and the VR glasses package, laying the parts out as he began setting them up.
"This is… a little harder to assemble than I thought. But it's done."
Next, he opened the two controller boxes. He connected one controller to the V7, but when he picked up the second one, he paused.
It didn't look like a controller at all.
More like… a watch.
"What the hell is this? This isn't a controller… it's more like a watch."
A traditional V7 controller was shaped like a bracelet, with a circular device fixed at the center. The round pad would rest against the player's palm, designed to detect and track movement.
To activate it, the user simply had to press the center.
"Let's try it. Maybe it's just a new version."
Keal placed it in his palm first, but it felt awkward—nothing like a normal VR controller. So he slid it onto his wrist instead.
It fit perfectly.
Just like a watch.
"It's clear they scammed me… or maybe my controller got switched with that strange woman's. But she checked her package before leaving."
Keal examined the device more closely and noticed two small buttons on the side. He pressed the left one.
The circular pad lit up instantly, projecting two options:
Spawn
Transmigration
"Spawn? Transmigration? What is this supposed to be… a kid's toy?"
Curious, he pressed the left button again—selecting Spawn.
The world around him flashed.
And in the next instant…
Keal vanished from his room.
A woman's voice echoed in the empty space he left behind.
"Welcome to Alterra."