The living world has always been filled with mysteries and myths no human could truly confirm or deny. It is a plane where spirits are said to take on bodies of their own, wandering in the illusion of life. Yet one man refused to believe in the existence of such nonsense.
"Gods? Devils? Spirits? What a joke…" The harsh tone came from a young man around twenty, with black hair and eyes as deep and dark as chestnuts. Beside him, a young woman flinched at his words, clearly unsettled by the man known as the Myth Breaker.
His name was Nox. Whether it was his real name or one he had chosen for himself, no one could say. What mattered was his reputation within the anti-supernatural community.
By the time most were still trying to find their place in the world, Nox had already made a name for himself. He exposed myths, tearing them apart with proof, logic, and unshakable confidence. That earned him both admiration and hatred, the latter feeding on his growing arrogance. He never saw that flaw in himself, and he couldn't have cared less. The more people despised him, the more it proved he was no pushover.
Now, he stood before two opposing parties at the site of a so-called mythical rite known as the God's Resting Place. Rumor spoke of an ancient skeleton lying untouched in a decrepit hut, its bones immune to decay. It was a place avoided by all, cloaked in fear and superstition. But today, Nox had declared he would drag that skeleton out into the open.
His team stood behind him, while the believers gathered to block the way, calling his act a crime against God.
"You people cling to fairy tales just to justify your fear of death. That's why you tremble before made-up things like ghosts," Nox said coldly, pointing his finger at the group of five standing in his path.
"You— You cannot go ahead. We won't let you. You are a blasphemy against God. You will burn for your sins in hell if you dare to take another step!" The woman's voice shook, yet she carried herself as the leader of the believer party. Her warning only drew laughter from Nox's side.
"Stop us if you can. But don't expect mercy. My boys don't care if you're women or men... They'll break your bones just the same. As for the rest of the clowns behind you… they'd lose a fight to a mosquito." Nox's words were sharp as daggers. He pushed forward, his frame towering over the blockade until the believers stepped back despite themselves. Their threats rang hollow, their courage a fading mask. Nox could smell the fear.
"Boss, do you think there really is a skeleton here? Or are these people just making it up again?" asked the man closest to him. He walked with pride beside Nox, loyal enough to claim he'd follow him even into death.
"Even if there is, it's probably just some poor drifter. Once I bring it out, we'll give it a proper burial, let the bones return to dust. These so-called believers don't even respect the dead the way they claim." Nox pressed his fingers to the hut's rotting door. It creaked open with an eerie groan.
"You will die there. God will punish you for your sin, Nox…" The woman spoke again, her tone dripping like poison, laced with the hope of his death.
"If I die, then you'll be proven right. What's the problem? I don't understand why you all cling to such pettiness." He rolled his eyes and stepped inside. The hut was nearly swallowed in darkness.
"It should be there, just as the rumors say," one of his men muttered, pointing toward an old ladder leading into a shaft of pure black. The air carried a chilling weight, an aura that made some hesitate. But Nox was already inspecting the entrance.
"I'll go alone. Wait for my command." He knew none of them believed in spirits, yet their fear was written in their faces. Unlike them, he had no hesitation. Caring for his men, he chose to descend alone.
"Take care, boss!" The group cheered after him, their voices tugging a faint smile from Nox.
The ladder groaned under his weight, but to his surprise, it held. His boots struck the stone floor below, and instantly a terrible chill coursed through him.
"So cold… what is this, a freezer?" He cursed under his breath. "Better make it quick before I freeze to death." For the first time in his career, he faced an anomaly he couldn't explain.
He drew his smartphone and switched on the flashlight. Its pale glow revealed ritual stone walls smeared with dried blood and strange writings. Ahead, slumped against the ground, sat the shape of a skeleton. When the light hit it, Nox raised his brow.
"So there really was a skeleton. Poor guy… what did those animals do to you?" He sighed, pulling a blanket from his pack and laying it before the remains. The bones seemed ordinary, weathered by time.
Nox reached out, meaning only to wrap and lift it. But that single act changed his fate. The moment his fingers touched the ribcage, the bones crumbled like wet sand, falling away to reveal a brilliant crystal glow that lit the chamber.
"What the—?!" Nox tried to recoil, but his hand was fused to the remains. Pain surged through him, sharp and merciless, as if his own skeleton was being crushed into dust. His scream tore through the chamber, reaching his men above, only for them to find the entrance had vanished, erased as if it never existed.
Below, Nox writhed as the skeleton dissolved into black wisps that forced their way into his chest. If one could have seen inside his body, they would have found his bones turning into crystal, while a shadowy smoke coiled around his heart.
The agony dragged him into unconsciousness. His world collapsed into black. When his eyes opened again, he stood in a place where no light reached. Before him loomed an ethereal gate, towering and endless, where souls came and went. It was a world no mortal was meant to enter. The world of the dead.
And Nox had become the only mortal ever to step into it. A realm known as 'The Between'.