Pain.
Pure, overwhelming pain.
After enduring the worst agony he had ever felt, the boy awoke in darkness.
Not the game.
Not reality.
Just… nothing.
Riven lay still, suspended in a vast black plain that felt endless in every direction.
Am I dead? he wondered.
He slapped his own cheeks—hard.
"Get real," he muttered. "It was just a game. There's no way I died."
Yet as the memory returned, his expression darkened.
That pain… it had been real.
More real than anything he'd ever felt.
Even in the Land of Fey, even when Eryndor—the so-called God of Fairies—had held him suspended in midair, unable to fall until he allowed Riven to touch that invisible force beneath him…
None of it compared to this.
Here, wherever here was, Riven could feel the ground beneath him. Solid. Unforgiving.
He lay there, staring into the void, replaying everything that had happened not long ago.
Then he chuckled.
"…Now I understand," he whispered.
His voice grew louder, sharper.
"Now I get it. I must've left my pain receptors on. That's how all of that still hurt." He laughed bitterly. "God, I'm such an idiot. I put myself through all that pain for nothing."
Silence answered him.
Then—
"Or maybe all of it was real."
The voice echoed through the darkness, hollow and distant.
Riven groaned. "Oh, come on. What now?" He stared upward. "Why can't I just lie in peace for five seconds today?"
He exhaled. "Whoever you are… if you're here to hurt me, just make it quick."
At first, he thought it was Eryndor.
But no.
Eryndor's voice was different. Empty. Flat. As if he could only express one emotion—
None at all.
Was he always like that? Riven wondered. Or did becoming a god do that to him?
"If he really is a god," Riven murmured to himself, "was he born that way… or did he grow into it?"
"So," the voice said again, amused, "you do believe he was a god."
Riven sighed. There was no point pretending he hadn't heard it.
"Doesn't really matter whether I believe it or not," he replied. "If he is or isn't, my belief doesn't change anything."
"Hm. That's a pretty good answer."
Riven pushed himself up slightly. "So are you going to tell me who you are and where I am, or are you going to keep hiding in the shadows and acting mysterious?"
"This place," the voice replied, "is something I like to call the Void. Think of it as… a bridge."
"A bridge?" Riven frowned. "Doesn't that mean it connects two places?"
"Probably," the voice said casually. "I wouldn't know. my knowledge even though some get limited by you when I enter this place so truthfully, I have no idea where this bridge goes."
"…And why would that be?" Riven asked, narrowing his eyes.
Before the voice could answer, a faint green glow ignited in the darkness.
The black plain lit up slowly—but even then, there was nothing. No walls. No sky. No horizon.
Just void.
Then, after several seconds, the light dimmed—
And someone stood in front of him.
A boy with green hair.
At first glance, he reminded Riven of Eryndor. But there were two major differences.
First—he wore clothes. Or at least pants, his upper torso bare.
Second—
He looked exactly like Riven.
"Who… who are you?" Riven demanded.
The fact that he'd had to ask green-haired people that question twice in one day felt absurd.
The boy smirked. "Really? Look at my face. What do you think?"
"…Okay, fair," Riven admitted. "That was a dumb question. But in my defense, I have a twin brother."
He folded his arms. "So let me rephrase. What are you? Because I know for a fact you're not me. Since, you know—I'm me."
"Fair enough," the boy said calmly. "And knowing you… after this, you'll try to help Jordan improve his ability. You'll look for new strength—for him, and for yourself."
Riven's eyes widened.
"You never mentioned Jordan," he said sharply. "What's our parents' names?"
"Kaden and Candice Harlow."
"What wall do I live in?"
"Dawn."
Riven didn't hesitate. "Who was my first celebrity crush?"
The boy laughed. "Hailee Steinfeld. Which is kind of stupid, considering she's way past our time."
Riven froze.
No one knew that. Not because he was embarrassed—but because no one had ever asked.
"…So you're me," Riven said slowly. "Or at least you have my memories."
"No," the boy replied. "You were closer the first time. I am you—
or rather… what you could be."
Riven grimaced. "If that includes the green hair, I'm not interested."
The boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, not my first choice either. Just wanted to show you what could happen."
His hair shifted—green to brown, identical to Jordan's.
Then to black.
"Riven," he said seriously, "I'm one of many paths you could walk. Depending on how your life goes, this opens a lot of doors."
He paused.
"Not just for you. For them."
Jordan.
Their parents.
"But there's one thing you'll do no matter what," the other Riven continued. "Accept the System."
A sharp ding echoed—like a school bell signaling class.
"It allows you to gain power beyond any normal Evolver," he said. "And it doesn't just affect you… but everyone around you."
The green energy began to lift him into the air.
"That's time," he said softly. "Don't falter, Riven. Trust your friends. And remember—no matter what happens, Jordan will always be beside you oh yeah, lose a few pounds and don't tell anyone about your power unless you truly trust him"
The energy surged.
"Oh—and one last thing," he added with a grin.
"Yes. You are an Evolver now."
The void collapsed.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Riven closed his eyes—
And when he opened them again, he was staring at the cracked, tattered ceiling of his room.
The boy pushed himself upright, his upper body jerking forward as his hand shot to his face.
The VR helmet was gone.
He froze.
Jordan must've taken it off… after I passed out.
Riven leaned back against the bed, breathing slowly, his mind racing. Memories clashed together—darkness, floating prompts, the voice, the weightlessness, the pain that wasn't pain.
Was all of that real?
Was any of it real?
One word echoed louder than the rest.
Evolver.
"I wonder what my ability is—"
The thought didn't even finish.
Riven slapped a hand over his mouth and bolted for the bathroom.
He barely made it before dropping to his knees and hurling into the toilet.
The bathroom itself looked… conflicted. Clean, but not clean. Like someone had tried their best to scrub away years of grime, only to accept that some stains just wouldn't leave. Dirt still clung to the corners of the floor, faint marks stained the walls, and the tiles had lost whatever shine they once had.
Riven gagged again.
When he finally looked down, expecting to see bits of lunch or sour bile, his stomach twisted.
There was nothing.
Not food.
Not liquid.
Just pure white.
Blank. Empty. Like his body had rejected something that wasn't meant to be there.
Shaking, he flushed the toilet and pulled himself up, turning toward the mirror.
That was when the front door opened.
Three small bags hit the kitchen counter with a dull thud.
The sound of running water echoed through the house.
Jordan froze.
"…Riven?"
He dropped everything and sprinted down the hall, bursting into the bathroom just as Riven lifted his face.
The black-haired boy stared into the mirror—and his blood boiled.
His face was covered.
Messy writing stretched across his cheeks and forehead. Crude drawings. Random insults.
Slow.
Pig.
And then he saw it.
Big. Bold. Impossible to miss.
DUNCE
Written straight across his forehead.
Riven's eye twitched.
Jordan skidded to a stop behind him, calling his name—only to immediately bite back laughter. He turned toward the door, shoulders shaking.
"Heh—sorry about that," Jordan said, flashing an awkward grin that showed far too many teeth.
Riven slowly turned.
Minutes later, justice was served.
Jordan sat on the edge of the tub, his own face now decorated with uneven drawings and poorly spelled insults. Riven finally exhaled, the tension draining from his shoulders.
They moved back into the room and sat down.
And Riven talked.
He talked for nearly an hour.
Every detail.
He told Jordan how unreal it all felt—how the sky was clear and endless, not choked by smoke, how the grass beneath his fingers was soft and alive, smelling fresh instead of burned. Everything there looked healthy, like it wasn't slowly dying. Even the air felt different when he breathed it in—light, clean, normal. Not polluted. Not heavy. Just… air.
When he finally finished, the room was silent.
Jordan leaned back, arms crossed, brows furrowed.
"…Are you sure?" he said carefully. "I mean, Riven—I'm not saying you're lying, but this sounds insane. A game giving someone an Evolution ability? If that were possible, wouldn't everyone outside the walls be Evolvers?"
Riven understood the question.
The outside world was brutal—beasts roaming freely, danger on every corner. Yet plenty of people lived beyond the walls without abilities.
The Broken Veil was the clearest example.
Unlike the other three factions, the Broken Veil despised Evolution abilities.
Hated them.
Their territory was infamous. Anyone discovered to have an ability within their walls was either forced to relocate—or thrown out entirely. History books recorded entire families being expelled simply for suspicion alone.
No one knew why the Broken Veil hated Evolvers so deeply.
They just did.
"I don't know, Jordan. All I know is that it felt real. Too real. And what happened to me on the outside?" Riven clenched his fists. "Nothing explains that."
Jordan frowned. Riven had a point. Everything about it sounded fake—impossible, even. Like something pulled straight out of a game or a dream.
"…Okay," Jordan said slowly. "Let's say—all of this is real. What do we even do with that information? Sell it online? We don't even own a phone or a computer. And even if we told someone, no one would believe us." He let out a short laugh. "Hell, I barely believe it myself."
"But there's a difference," Riven said quietly. "You know me. Besides Mom and Dad, you know I don't have an ability."
Jordan paused. "Yeah… so what are you getting at?"
System. Open, Riven thought.
For a split second, nothing happened.
A wave of doubt hit him. Did nothing actually happen?
He didn't want to look stupid in front of Jordan.
Then—
A familiar gray prompt appeared in front of his eyes.
[SYSTEM: Hello, User Riven Harlow.
Are you ready to discover your true potential and see what the Harlow name is truly made of?
YES / NO]
Riven remembered the words spoken by the other him—the warning in his eyes, the certainty in his voice.
He selected YES without hesitation.
"Earth to Riven." Jordan snapped his fingers in front of his face. "You zoning out again?"
Riven slowly turned toward him.
A wide grin spread across his face.
Then he laughed—loud, uncontrollable, bursting from his chest as he jumped to his feet.
"It's real, Jordan!" he shouted. "It's all real! I did it—I evolved!"
Jordan stiffened. "You did?" He stared at his brother carefully. "How do you know you're not just… hallucinating?"
Riven didn't answer right away.
The system layout was unmistakable—menus, tabs, clean interfaces. It was exactly like the game legendary of the evolver.
That could only mean one thing.
Eryndor really granted my wish.
He opened the Settings tab and paused when he saw an option:
[Allow others to view system interface]
When he clicked it on, another notification appeared.
[Select visibility preference:
— Specific individual
— Anyone nearby]
Riven remembered the warning.
Don't show anyone. Not unless you truly trust them.
Without hesitation, he chose Specific individual.
A list of names appeared—some fading out, others forming as people passed in and out of range. At the top of the screen, a small indicator blinked:
[Distance Limit 15 meters]
Riven searched.
Then selected one name.
Jordan Harlow.
"What the—" Jordan staggered back.
That reaction alone told Riven everything.
"You can see it, right?" Riven said, excitement bubbling in his voice. "Isn't this amazing, Jordan? Do you know what this means?"
Jordan swallowed. "…I can actually see it."
"We could get revenge on Casfer," Riven said. "For humiliating us."
"No." Jordan shut that down immediately—then paused. "…Okay, maybe we keep that in our back pocket."
Riven chuckled. "But this means something way bigger. We can go to the same academy now. Together." His eyes shone. "So… what ability should I choose?"
Jordan blinked. "Wait—what? Isn't this the ability?"
"It is," Riven said, nodding. "But it's based on the game. I get to choose a starter ability."
A new screen opened.
[Starter Selection Available]
Fire
Lightning
Earth
Ice
Water
Air
"So?" Jordan asked. "Which one?"
"I'm thinking lightning," Riven said. "I've always loved it. And honestly… it'd be pretty funny to beat Casfer using his own element."
Jordan smirked. "You really are my twin."
Then his expression hardened. "Are you going to listen to the other you? About keeping this a secret—only showing it to people you truly trust?"
"Yes." Riven didn't hesitate.
"I don't know how to explain it," he continued quietly, "but when I looked at him… it felt like I was staring at my future. Like he was warning me not to make the same mistakes he did."
"Hm… well, there is one thing he said that we know was true."
Jordan's voice softened. "I'll always be by your side. No matter what."
He held out a fist.
Riven smirked and bumped it without hesitation.
The moment their knuckles met, a gray notification flashed into existence.
[SYSTEM: You have received your first daily quest.]
[Quest Name: Pre-Academy Conditioning]
Objective:
— 20 push-ups
— Run 20 miles
— Complete one additional exercise of your choosing
Reward: 5 EXP
A second message followed immediately after.
[SYSTEM NOTE: Every five weeks, this quest will adjust in difficulty.]
— Example: After five weeks, 20 push-ups will increase to 30 push-ups.
— Rewards will scale accordingly.
— EXP gain will increase from 5 to 6.
Both boys froze.
Then Jordan stared at the screen.
And burst out laughing.
"Wow," he said between laughs. "So you're finally gonna lose that gut, huh?"
"Get bent," Riven shot back, though a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
But deep down, he knew Jordan was right.
Something had changed.
He could feel it—burning in his chest, crawling through his veins. Ever since the system appeared, a fire had ignited inside him. A restless hunger. A drive that refused to let him stay weak.
I'm an Evolver now.
And if getting stronger meant suffering?
Then he'd run.
He'd sweat.
He'd bleed if he had to.
Because whatever that other version of him had become…
Riven truly wanted to know—
could he become that version of himself?