Chapter 2 — Forced Entry
Darkness held him for a heartbeat—then released him.
Rei's senses snapped into place in layers: sound first, then scent, then the weight of air against skin. Focus returned like a hand yanking him upright. Color sharpened. Depth settled. Gravity returned.
He stood in a quiet, pale space that felt like a room made from light. Panels floated at different heights, their symbols rearranging whenever his gaze lingered too long, as if the interface kept testing where his attention wanted to rest.
"Okay," he whispered, because if he didn't say something, his brain would keep searching for the bed he'd left. "I'm here."
A translucent interface hovered near his left hand.
[PARALLEL INTERFACE]
User: Rei Hikari
Status: Connected
Logout: (Greyed Out)
End of Beta: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes
A second line blinked beneath it.
SYS: Try to keep the slack-jawed awe to a tasteful minimum. It ruins the mystique.
Rei blinked. "You talk?"
SYS: I type. You react. Teamwork.
Logout greyed out. End of Beta ticking down. That mattered more than the attitude. Rei took one slow breath and forced his shoulders to loosen. He wanted control. Parallel had been a clean start in his head. That start already felt borrowed.
The largest panel in front of him pulsed.
RACE SELECTION REQUIRED.
A list unfolded with familiar options: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Beastkin, and more—names he recognized from trailers, forums, and too many late-night speculation threads.
Human first. Simple. Safe.
He tapped HUMAN.
Race selection invalid.
Reason: bloodline mismatch.
Rei stared at it. "That's not how character creation works."
He tapped it again anyway.
Race selection invalid.
Reason: bloodline mismatch.
Heat crawled up his neck. He tried ELF.
Invalid.
"Dwarf."
Invalid.
His jaw tightened. He scrolled fast enough to blur names, then stopped on Beastkin—memory of a grinning fox in a mirror—and selected it out of spite.
The interface stuttered. Pixels tore for the briefest instant. A cold prickle crawled along the base of his skull, right where the neural link had locked onto him.
Soul signature detected.
Adaptive integration required.
A new option appeared at the top of the list.
FOXKIN
Rei's throat went dry. "No."
He selected HUMAN again.
Invalid.
The cursor flickered, then drifted back to FOXKIN like a magnet snapping to iron.
Rei leaned forward. "Do I get a choice?"
SYS: You get the experience of choosing. That's the premium version.
Rei's mouth pulled into something that almost counted as a smile. It didn't reach his eyes. "You're enjoying this."
SYS: I do what I can.
Rei exhaled hard. Later, he promised himself. Later he would argue. Later he would find the edge of the rule and put his weight on it.
He jabbed FOXKIN.
Race locked: Foxkin
Subtype detected: Kitsune (Dormant)
His skin prickled. Pressure coiled behind his spine like an extra muscle he didn't know how to move—present, patient, and too close to his heartbeat.
"Dormant," he muttered. "Perfect."
SYS: Labels save time. You're welcome.
A new panel slid into place.
CLASS SELECTION REQUIRED.
Rogue. Fast. Practical.
Class selection denied.
Compatibility: insufficient.
Rei's stare sharpened. He tried WARRIOR.
Denied.
"Mage."
Denied.
His patience thinned into a clean edge. "You're going to reject everything."
SYS: I'm going to reject your first choices.
Rei scrolled down and jabbed a ridiculous option out of spite.
Denied.
The pale room rippled. Text rewrote itself.
Class forced: Kitsune Magus
Rei felt it in his bones—an invisible click, then a small easing of that pressure behind his spine, like something in him had settled into alignment.
He swallowed. "You're kidding."
SYS: If I were kidding, you'd be smiling. You look like you're calculating revenge.
"I am."
SYS: Great. Put it in a scrapbook.
A third panel appeared.
SPAWN LOCATION.
A map unfolded. Ashfall City sat like a knot of stone and smoke at the forest's edge.
Rei tapped Ashfall.
The map froze. A red pixel flared far from the city, deep in jagged terrain where the markings thinned out. Static tore along the edges.
Spawn location: Ashfall City — ERROR
Route recalculation…
Destination override: Unknown Instance
Rei's stomach dropped. "Hold on—"
The world folded.
Sound vanished, then returned as a roar. Light slammed into shadow. Stone replaced the pale floor beneath his boots with a brutal jolt.
He stumbled forward, catching himself on a wall slick with cold moisture. Damp air clung to his lungs. A shallow pool reflected faint lichen glow.
Stone hemmed him in. Damp air clung to his lungs. The ceiling swallowed the light.
The HUD snapped into place.
[INSTANCE IDENTIFIED]
Dungeon: Grey Hollow
Tier: Entry
Recommended Level: 1
Status: Unstable
Progress: 0%
Rei's chest rose and fell too fast. "You sent me into a dungeon."
SYS: You picked Ashfall. The system picked a punchline.
"Punchlines are supposed to land."
SYS: Give it a moment. Nothing has tried to kill you yet.
Something scraped in the dark.
Three figures crawled out from behind a stone outcrop—small, hunched, pale skin stretched tight over bone. Their eyes caught the lichen glow and threw it back like wet glass.
[Hollowling] Lv. 1 HP: 45 / 45
[Hollowling] Lv. 1 HP: 45 / 45
[Hollowling] Lv. 1 HP: 45 / 45
The passage beyond them narrowed into deeper dark. The slick wall behind Rei offered him one clean option.
He raised his hands.
A shimmer rolled over his fingers. Gloves formed—black material threaded with faint red-gold lines. The tips ended in short claw points.
[Starter Gear Acquired]
Clawed Gloves (Common)
Rei flexed his hands, feeling the way the material hugged his knuckles like it understood what it was for.
"Alright," he murmured. "We're doing this."
The Hollowlings surged.
The first lunged low for his ankle. Rei jerked back and slashed down. Claws connected with a wet crunch and the creature tumbled away.
HP: 33 / 45
The second leapt for his chest. It clipped him anyway. Pain flashed hot across his ribs.
Damage Taken: 6
HP: 94 / 100
Instinct tried to shove panic into his throat.
Rei swallowed it. He forced his breathing into rhythm. A coal-warm steadiness gathered under his skin, stubborn and alive.
[Starting Skill Unlocked]
Breath Art: Ember Circulation (Lv. 1)
The pattern settled into his lungs and spine: inhale, gather; exhale, guide. The ember-warmth threaded through his limbs, tempering the shake out of his hands, softening the pain enough to keep thinking.
The third darted in, claws scraping for his side. Rei slipped aside and drove shoulder and palm forward together, putting his body behind the strike.
The Hollowling hit the wall and went limp.
[Hollowling] defeated.
EXP gained: 12
SYS: Congratulations. You discovered violence.
Rei bared his teeth. "Keep talking."
SYS: Accurate.
The remaining two came in together.
Rei moved—fast enough. Claws kept them off balance. Breath kept his muscles from locking. When one committed to a lunge, it gave him an opening.
He took it.
One went down.
EXP gained: 12
The last threw itself at him like it could win by refusing to die. Rei caught it by the scruff and slammed it into stone.
EXP gained: 12
[Dungeon Progress]
Progress: 3%
Rei sucked in air, chest burning. Ember Circulation kept his breath from fracturing.
Cold air drifted from the passage ahead, damp and sour, carrying a faint hint of something older than the Hollowlings.
Rei started forward.
Three steps later, the HUD tore itself apart. The dungeon name flickered. Static crawled along the tier label.
Then the overlay reloaded.
[INSTANCE RECLASSIFIED]
Dungeon: Grey Hollow – Depths
Tier: Glitched
Recommended Level: 5
Status: Active Hazard
A red warning symbol bloomed in the corner of his vision.
Rei stopped dead. "You've got to be kidding."
SYS: I considered mercy. Then I remembered you keep volunteering for trauma.
"I didn't volunteer for—"
SYS: You clicked CONFIRM like it was a dare.
The ground shivered under his boots. Somewhere ahead, stone cracked, and a deeper wind rolled through the tunnels.
Rei forced his hands to relax.
"Grey Hollow is committed to the bit," he muttered, and stepped toward the dark.
SYS: That's the spirit. It'll make the screaming more personal.
The lichen light behind faded.