A sudden, crushing pressure closed in on Veeryan, forcing the breath from his lungs. His vision flickered — and then, impossibly, a glowing screen appeared before his eyes.
Eldricth System:Welcome, user. You have been chosen to gain Eldricth powers. To continue, please choose one of the options.
Two choices pulsed in strange, shifting letters:
Yes, I want to continue.
I don't want to continue.
Before Veeryan could even begin to make sense of what he was seeing, movement caught his eye.
A figure emerged from the haze — a ghostly being, standing at least five feet seven. Its skin was stretched tight across sharp bones, its jaw jutting forward like a predator's, and its nails were impossibly long and jagged. Though its form flickered like mist, it moved with the uneven lurch of a zombie, each step scraping across the alien sand.
Veeryan's voice barely escaped his lips. "What… is going on?"
He turned to run — and the ghost lunged. Its nails, sharper than blades, tore into his stomach. Pain exploded through him as a gaping hole opened in his abdomen. His legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the strange red-blue ground.
The ghost closed in, its face an empty, snarling void. The glowing system screen still hovered in the air before him. Desperate, not thinking, Veeryan reached out and selected Yes, I want to continue.
The screen pulsed. The user wants to continue. New text appeared instantly: The user is in critical condition.
Before he could read more, the air erupted. A blinding flash tore across the landscape, a deafening explosion consuming the ghost in a single instant. The ground itself shattered and crumbled, smoke and dust swallowing the horizon.
When the silence returned, Veeryan's eyes fluttered open. His left cheek felt whole again. He touched his face in disbelief — the burned flesh was gone, smooth skin restored. His stomach bore no wound, no scar. And yet… he was still in that strange dimension, the sky swirling unnaturally overhead.
Then darkness claimed him again.