It took several minutes for him to even recall the path, since he had only stumbled upon the place by accident earlier. After nearly an hour of frantic searching, he finally arrived beneath the tree.
Or so he believed.
It was exactly as he remembered it from the night before-- well, with only two distinct differences.
The first was that it was no longer dark. The daylight made it easier to discern the shape and structure of the tree, and it looked drastically different from how it had appeared at night. Its bark was a deep brown, the trunk immensely massive. It had only five thick branches, but each one was enormous, curving slightly toward the sun with smaller branches stretching outward.
It almost looked as though the tree had taken the shape of a hand opened wide from below. Strangely, there were no leaves growing on it. Instead, flowers bloomed where leaves should have been. They were bright red and shaped uncannily like butterflies. The sight of such a magnificent tree was breathtaking, especially since Leo had never encountered anything remotely like it within the forest.
In all honesty, he hadn't even believed beauty could exist in Hellscape.
The second difference from the night before was the absence of the body. More shocking still, there wasn't even the slightest trace of blood anywhere nearby. It was as if a bloodied old man had never been there at all.
This left Leo deeply unsettled. He dropped to his knees before the tree and spoke in a broken, hollow voice.
"It's official… I've gone mad."
His hand fell limply to his side and struck something in his trouser pocket. He felt a strange object-- small, curved. Frowning, he dug his hand inside and pulled out a small golden ring. Ironically enough, it was smeared with dried blood.
For the first few seconds, there was absolute silence. Then a low chuckle escaped Leo's lips. It wasn't laughter born of happiness, but of grim acceptance. "Does this mean I'm sane? I didn't imagine an old man biting me?"
The ring was proof-- clear evidence that the man had existed-- but that alone didn't mean the rest hadn't been a hallucination.
There was a box full of questions he didn't want to open, yet couldn't ignore.
Had the man recovered and walked away? Or had whoever he feared come for him in the end? And if either was true, why would anyone bother cleaning up the blood so thoroughly-- to the point that there was no trace of the man anywhere?
There was only one way left to confirm his sanity. He remembered hearing an error message from the sphere earlier. The sphere functioned like a system, guiding a chosen individual through their abilities. It was the defining difference between a superhuman and a mere mortal.
As far as humanity knew, the sphere had always existed. It was a criterion for survival within Hellscape. None of this would have mattered, however, had Hellscape not destroyed the world first.
Hellscape didn't exist until several decades ago, back when humanity stood at the pinnacle of science and technological advancement. Many believed humanity was on the verge of venturing into space, discovering new worlds and stars-- but nothing of the sort happened.
Some believed the gods themselves descended to halt humanity's rapid growth. On a certain day in the year 2125, a colossal titan—seventy meters tall—emerged from the ocean alongside millions of strange monsters. The world's armed forces fought desperately to repel the invasion, but more than seventy percent of humanity perished in the war. After months of devastation, the titan vanished without a trace, and portals began appearing across the globe.
Each portal led to another world, one that soon became crucial to humanity's survival.
This strange realm, populated by monsters known as "beasts," defied all research. For days, scientists failed to understand it.
Soon after, people began experiencing visions of the world beyond the portals, along with hearing a haunting, unfamiliar song. Eventually, some crossed over-- only to find themselves in a brutal hellish landscape. Many died on the other side.
Thus, the world earned the name: Hellscape.
Those who returned came back as superhumans-- stronger in every conceivable way. They spoke of being greeted by the sphere-- a strange entity, which granted them abilities that grew with time.
Over the years, humanity conquered territory within the portals and established bases to train new generations of superhumans, while veteran hunters annihilated beasts and prevented them from crossing into the human world.
Yet despite all that progress, one question remained unanswered: where had the colossal titan come from-- and where had it gone?
When humanity first discovered the rifts, they also learned that no technology relying on electricity or waves functioned within them. Those who crossed over were granted a chance to become more than human. No one knew why Hellscape existed, but they knew it would have been far more hellish without the sphere.
The sphere linked individuals to their abilities and could neither be shared nor transferred. Even after centuries of technological advancement, the sphere remained impossible to fully understand.
Leo summoned the sphere, not expecting anything impressive. After all, he had barely made any progress in months.
What he saw made his breath hitch.
[ALERT: System Assimilation… Failed.]
[ERROR: Unauthorized bloodline detected.]
[Reconfiguring host…]
[Legacy of the Dire Wolf has been forcibly implanted.]
[WARNING: Core Pathway Corruption at 47%]
Normally, it would display his name, level, and abilities-- of which he had none.
And artifacts-- of which he also had none.
Leo felt distraught, his chest tightening as bitter words slipped from his lips like venom. "I'm useless… I even broke the sphere."
Such a thing had never been heard of before. Yet somehow, he had done it. Fueled by self-loathing, he grabbed his hair and dug his nails into his skin, tearing flesh and staining the grass beneath him with drops of crimson.
All he had ever wanted was to create a simple life for his sister and his family-- and he had failed at that too. If he weren't such a loser, maybe things would have turned out differently.
The sphere appeared again before him. He didn't know whether it meant to mock him-- or if it was simply malfunctioning.
[ALERT: System Assimilation… Failed.]
[ERROR: Unauthorized bloodline detected.]
[Reconfiguring host…]
[Legacy of the Dire Wolf has been forcibly implanted.]
[WARNING: Core Pathway Corruption at 62%]
"Huh?" His vision blurred, and his heart skipped violently.
Everything was the same-- except the corruption had increased.
He wondered what would happen if it reached one hundred percent.
Would he die?
Or would something far worse occur?
One thing was certain: whatever was happening to him was only going to get worse.
A twig snapped beside him.
His body shuddered, freezing in place as silence pressed in. All he could hear was his own ragged breathing.
Then, after several long, agonizing seconds, a soft female voice cut through the stillness.
"I was wondering what animal was making such a racket," she said lightly. "Turns out it's the peerless loser himself. I see you're still living up to the title, Leonardo."
Leo groaned inwardly as he slowly turned to face one of the few people who hated him with unrestrained passion-- and whom he hated just as much.
"Hi there, Cassie," he replied flatly. "What have you been up to these days?"