They gathered beneath a sky split in two.
One half was golden, radiant with the dying light of divinity. The other was crimson, filled with error messages from the system and glitches in reality. It was the aftermath of a battle that tore the world apart.
At the center of the giant altar, where the Heart of the World opened to demand its sacrifice, stood a man with a ragged black cloak, riddled with injuries, but who carried the defiance of demons.
Chains filled with the last authority of the collapsing system tied him down.
His grey-tinted eyes looked at the group surrounding him, but not with hatred.
Only exhaustion.
"I carried your sins… so you didn't have to," he muttered. "Is this how you repay the man who saved you countless times?"
No one answered.
A message appeared, reminding the group of the task they were given by the system.
[Eliminate the Last Sinner.]
The Seven Ascendants exchanged glances, and they nodded to each other, albeit with reluctance and hesitation. Ascendant Caldrein stepped forward, wearing golden armor and carrying a stoic expression.
"We are grateful for your sacrifices, Riven. However, your presence has become a destabilizing factor to the world. You were never meant to exist in this world, nor were you meant to carry a class such as yours. Consider this… as your last sacrifice."
Riven's lips twitched into a thin smile. "I didn't ask to be born."
"You weren't," muttered Caldrein with a hint of sadness. "But you forced your way in."
The chains constricted around his body, letting a surge of existential pain wash over Riven. The system was erasing him, line by line.
One by one, the other Ascendants turned their backs.
Even Selin, the woman he had saved ten thousand times.
Even Rythe, the boy who once called him "big brother."
Even Kara, who once told him: "If you fall, we all fall."
They walked away.
And Riven stood alone.
"I gave you time," he said. His voice cracked with memory instead of pain. "I gave you chances. I became the monster, so you could stay human."
"You became too much," Caldrein said.
The sky howled as messages filled the world. The Final Protocol was activated, bringing a beam of white light from the heavens. It was systemic, and absolute. It did not kill, but unmade the anomaly that had plagued it.
The last thing that Riven saw was not the light, but fragmented messages from the system.
[Emergency Rejection Protocol Detected]
[User: Riven Ashveil | Status: Invalidated]
[Exporting consciousness to External Timeline…]
[Begin Anomaly Storage Cycle 1…]
And then, there was nothing.
---
[Survive, evolve, or die.]
Those three words boomed throughout their world, signifying the beginning of change. A spire fell from the heavens as the entire world was filled with monsters. Humanity began its struggle against hordes of monsters as millions perished, but some rose to the challenge.
[Project Ascension]
In order for humanity to survive, the World Government sanctioned Project Ascension in a bid to nurture the younger generation into heroes that could save humanity from the clutches of death.
Inside one of the spire's countless dungeons where players woke up, a young man opened his eyes. He didn't see the sky torn in two, nor the Ascendants he considered friends. Instead, he saw nothing but a brick-layered ceiling.
And an ominous message from the system.
[Welcome, Riven Ashveil.]
[Initializing Starting Zone: The Forsaken Floor.]
[Tutorial Quest: One More Time.]
[Objective: Find an exit from the tower and learn about the world outside.]
[Rewards: System Access (Basic), Memory Sync (Partial), Class Initialization.]
"What… is this?" Riven muttered as he rose. There was no pain, nor the light of judgment.
The room was dark and empty, with nothing but a rag beneath Riven. It had chains fastened to the walls, which told Riven that he was in some sort of prison.
Memories resurfaced.
The Forsaken Floor.
Another name for this floor was the Merciful Floor. The first floor of the tower was 'merciful' to new players. Those who die in the first floor wake up in the Forsaken Floor, with one last chance to survive.
"This floor… is anything but merciful," Riven muttered to himself as he touched his forehead. "But what is this? It couldn't be just a dream."
Riven knew that what happened was not a dream, because it was the only thing he could remember. As for his current situation, it was too real to be a dream. The rag beneath him felt cold and damp, while the air stunk with the smell of rotten flesh.
[Exporting consciousness to External Timeline…]
[Begin Anomaly Storage Cycle 1…]
Riven remembered the last two messages before his death. If the system was not simply toying with him, then it means he had returned to the past… entering some kind of loop. It was dreadful to think about reliving this nightmare infinite times.
"But this is a chance for me," Riven said, his grey-tinted eyes sharpening with focus as he rose. "If the world still exists outside this tower… I can change things. I can finally… defeat the system."
Riven moved his hand instinctively, as the muscle memory was carved into his soul. The system responded and a menu appeared in front of him.
[System Menu: Locked]
[Inventory: Empty]
[Class: Uninitialized]
[Error: Residual Authority Detected]
The last line made his blood run cold.
"It didn't erase everything," Riven muttered. "The authority that I stole from the system… the same authority that made everyone turn against me… is still here."
Riven didn't know the implications of this, but it brought him joy knowing that he didn't lose everything. The memories of the past were still hazy, but this authority was proof that his life was not wasted.
After a moment to collect himself, Riven rose from the floor. He looked at his hands, realizing that they had never carried a sword nor seen hardships.
"As I suspected," Riven said. "My consciousness, alongside my memories, was sent back in time."
Riven paused. A single question remained in his mind.
Why?
A sharp sound of something being dragged came from outside the open doors of the room. Riven raised his eyes, realizing that it wasn't the time to ask questions. Not yet.
It was time to survive.