"Every legend starts with a name, a class... and a choice no one else understands."
August 1st, 2049 – 12:00 AM
The NeuralForge capsule sealed around Kael like a second skin. Cool gel pressed against his temples as the system voice echoed:
Neural synchronization complete. Loading: Eidolon.
Darkness.
Then—
Weightlessness.
Kael fell through a star-strewn void, his senses unraveling. Light became sound. Sound became touch. For one disorienting moment, he existed as pure consciousness, unbound by flesh.
Then his vision cleared.
He stood barefoot on a floating platform of white crystal, suspended in an endless sky. Above him, twelve luminous rings rotated slowly, their surfaces etched with glyphs that pulsed like living things. The air hummed with latent power.
A shadow passed overhead.
She descended in a cascade of silver light—a being of impossible grace, her twelve wings shimmering like folded moonlight. Her voice resonated through Kael's bones when she spoke:
"Welcome, soul of the boundless thread. You stand at the threshold. Now, shape your destiny."
Even knowing she was just an AI construct, the weight of her presence pressed against Kael's chest. This wasn't just character creation. This was a covenant.
A ring of golden light flared beneath his feet. Panels materialized in the air:
CHARACTER CREATION
Name: [Kael Arin]
Gender: Male
Race: Human (Locked)
Appearance: Real-world Sync (95%)
Starting Region: [Village #101]
Kael's lips twitched. Village 101. The unremarkable backwater where three legendary players had secretly begun their rise. Where the rarest early-game triggers hid in plain sight.
The celestial being circled him, her gaze piercing.
"Each class carries its own agony. Choose wisely, for it will remake you."
Six symbols ignited around him:
Warrior - Steel and survival
Mage - Fire and frailty
Summoner - Spirits and sacrifice
Archer - Precision and patience
Assassin - Shadows and silence
Beast Master - Bonds and blood
The glyphs pulsed in time with Kael's heartbeat. Ninety-nine percent of players would choose Warrior or Mage. Safe. Predictable. Powerful from the start.
His hand moved past them all.
The Beast Master sigil glowed a dangerous crimson when his fingers neared. The system's subtle warning—this path breaks most who walk it.
Kael knew the truth they didn't:
How taming odds secretly improved with consecutive failures
Where the hidden beast shrines spawned
Which low-level creatures had undisclosed evolution trees
Most of all, he knew about him—the only player who'd ever taken Beast Master to the endgame. The one they'd called The Hollow King after he marched an army of Void-Touched monsters through the capital.
Kael's finger hovered.
"I'll go further," he whispered.
The selection locked with a thunderclap.
[CLASS CONFIRMED: BEAST MASTER - TIER 1]
"The wild things will know your name."
The angel's wings stilled. For the first time, something like surprise flickered across her perfect features.
"This road is paved with teeth," she murmured. "Why walk it?"
Kael met her star-filled eyes.
"Because when the world burns," he said, "I want to be holding the torch."
The faintest smile on the angel's lips.
The panels faded. The class glyph burned into his feet, marking his soul.
Kael stood there, motionless.
He hadn't been teleported yet.The game hadn't truly started.
But the path had.
And this time, he wasn't following anyone else's.