Rio's heart hammered in his chest as the last lines of the system prompt glowed sharply before him. The air in the Hall of Origins trembled, vibrating with a tension he could not explain.
He wasn't alone.At least not anymore.
All around him, thousands—no, tens of thousands—of white silhouettes flickered into existence. Shadowy figures shaped like players, but their identities were still blurred. Some screamed. Some cursed. Some tried to run. Others tried to log out.
None succeeded.
A cold realization sank deeper into Rio's bones.This wasn't normal. This wasn't a regular launch.
The glyphs around the Scythe pedestal pulsed blood-red. The floor beneath them cracked open like thin ice tolerating too much weight. Darkness seeped upward like ink in water, swallowing the once holy-looking hall in creeping shadows.
Rio took a hesitant step back."What… what's happening?"
Before anyone could say another word, the world froze.
A SOUND LIKE A THOUSAND GLASS BELLS SHATTERING FILLED THE HALL.
Then—
"ATTENTION, NEWLY BOUND PLAYERS OF HOLLOW DEATH ONLINE."
The voice was everywhere. In the air. Inside Rio's skull. Vibrating in the marrow of his bones.It was calm, deep, emotionless—yet it carried an almost divine weight.
The white silhouettes froze.Rio froze.Even the shadows seemed to kneel to the voice.
The air around him thickened as the glyphs reorganized into a massive screen above all players. A figure formed within the shifting lights—tall, cloaked in obsidian robes, face hidden by a cracked alabaster mask. The crack ran through the mask's right eye, glowing faintly like magma ready to erupt.
A single name appeared beneath it:
GM • EIDOLON"The Hollow Sovereign"
Rio swallowed hard.So that's the GM?!
The masked head slowly tilted, as though examining each and every soul trapped in the hall.
Then the GM spoke again.
"WELCOME TO THE DEATH GAME."
A deafening silence followed.As if the world itself forgot how to breathe.
Then—
Chaos.Screams.Panic.Attempts to force logout.Players slamming invisible walls that shouldn't exist in a game.
Rio felt his stomach churn.A death game?No. NO. That only existed in fiction—anime, novels, movies—not real life!
Eidolon raised a single hand.
The entire hall shut up.Every sound died instantly.Even breathing became a fragile privilege.
"THE FOLLOWING ARE THE RULES OF YOUR NEW EXISTENCE."
The glowing glyphs rearranged once more, this time forming a terrifying list:
**1. ALL PLAYERS ARE NOW SOUL-BOUND TO THE WORLD OF HOLLOW DEATH ONLINE.
LOGGING OUT IS DISABLED. PHYSICAL DISCONNECTION WILL RESULT IN REAL DEATH.**
A cold spike of horror ran through Rio's veins.
**2. DEATH INSIDE THE GAME WILL ALSO RESULT IN REAL, PERMANENT DEATH.
YOUR SOUL WILL BE CLAIMED BY THE HOLLOW."**
Rio felt his legs weaken.Permanent death? Claim the soul? No way…
3. TO SURVIVE, YOU MUST MASTER YOUR CHOSEN CLASS, PROGRESS THROUGH THE CONTINENTS, AND CLEAR ALL 13 CONSTELLATION GATES.
Constellations? Gates?Rio didn't even know how to open his menu yet.
**4. THOSE WITH SPECIAL ALIGNMENTS—LIKE YOU, SCYTHE USER—WILL BE HUNTED.
EMBRACE YOUR ROLE OR DIE EARLY."**
Rio's blood ran cold.Everyone turned toward him.Because the light marking his Scythe alignment glowed like a beacon—dark violet, swirling with deathly mist.
He stepped back instinctively.Hunted? Already?!He hadn't even taken a quest!
**5. ONLY ONE WAY TO ESCAPE EXISTS:
CLEAR THE FINAL CONSTELLATION GATE.FAIL, AND THIS WORLD BECOMES YOUR COFFIN."**
The glyphs flared.Eidolon lowered his hand.
"THE GAME BEGINS NOW."
The floor fractured completely.The Hall of Origins collapsed into a swirling void.
Thousands of players screamed as they were sucked into it.
Rio reached for anything—ANYTHING—but gravity caught him and the world tilted violently.
His vision blurred—his ears rang—and everything became a storm of darkness—
Until the system displayed one final message before he lost consciousness:
[WELCOME, RIO JAVIER][RACE UNLOCKED: HUMANS – DEAD SOUL HARMONY BRANCH][HIDDEN ALIGNMENT: SCYTHE-BEARER OF THE HOLLOW][BEGIN YOUR DESCENT.]
Rio tried to scream—but the void swallowed him whole.