"...Where am I?"
Euris' voice echoed out, but strangely, there was no fear behind it.
Only calm.
Wherever he was, it wrapped around him like a quiet blanket, soothing him down to his core. It didn't feel right—but it didn't feel wrong either.
It just… was.
He lifted his arm slowly.
It moved, but not normally. It felt thick, like pushing through something dense—like gelatin or liquid. The resistance was soft, but unmistakable.
"…What the hell…?"
Looking down, his eyes widened slightly.
His body was glowing.
Not bright—but faint, pulsing blue, just like the veins he had seen earlier in the garage.
The light flowed through him in slow, rhythmic waves.
"…Okay… that's new."
He tried to pinch his arm.
Or at least, he tried to.
His fingers passed straight through.
No resistance. No feeling. Just empty space.
"…Woah."
For the first time, a hint of confusion broke through his calm.
"That's… definitely not normal."
Something flickered in the distance.
Euris' attention snapped toward it.
A shape—floating, translucent.
He moved closer, his body gliding more than walking, until the object came into focus.
A hologram.
Clean. Sharp. Unreal.
Text hovered in front of him:
Initiate System Now?
The moment he finished reading it—
A voice spoke.
"Initiating system now?"
It was mechanical. Male. Flat.
The exact same words.
Euris paused.
That should have startled him.
It should've sent him into panic.
But that strange calm still held him in place, like his emotions were being dulled just enough to keep him steady.
"…System…?"
He read the message again.
And again.
Like he was trying to convince himself it was real.
Or maybe trying to understand what it meant.
After a few seconds, he let out a quiet breath.
"…Well… not like I've got anything better to do."
He reached forward.
And pressed Yes.
The moment his finger made contact—
Everything broke.
It felt like he was ripped apart and hurled through space at impossible speed. Pressure crushed in from all sides, like his body was being dragged somewhere it wasn't meant to go.
"—!"
He couldn't even scream.
Euris' eyes snapped open.
He was back in the garage.
Flat on the floor.
"—Oh shit… that hurt…"
He groaned, pushing himself up slightly, his stomach twisting with nausea.
The room spun for a moment before settling.
He looked around quickly.
The device—
Gone.
"…What?"
His hand shot to where it had pierced him earlier.
Nothing.
No wound. No glow.
His veins were completely normal again.
"…Okay… that's—"
A sharp pain slammed into his head.
"—Ghh!"
He clutched his skull, collapsing back onto one knee.
It felt like something was being forced into his mind.
Information.
Too much.
Way too much.
Fragments, data, words—none of it making sense—poured in all at once, like a flood breaking through a dam.
And underneath it all—
That voice.
"System initializing…"
"Core functions loading…"
"Energy conversion protocols active…"
It overlapped.
Repeated.
Stacked on itself until it felt like a thousand voices speaking at once.
"Make it stop—!"
He squeezed his eyes shut, teeth clenched, body shaking as the pressure built—
Then suddenly—
Silence.
Euris gasped, breathing heavily.
"…Thank—god…"
He stayed there for a moment, letting his body recover.
"…I thought that was gonna last forever…"
Eventually, he forced himself to stand.
His legs felt weak, like he hadn't slept in days.
"…Yeah… I need food…"
He stumbled back into the house, grabbing the first thing he could find—a granola bar—and tore it open.
The second he took a bite—
A screen appeared in front of him.
It snapped into existence.
Clean. Blue. Floating.
Just like before.
"—What the—?!"
And then the voice returned.
"Converting mass into energy."
Euris froze mid-chew.
"…What's that supposed to mean?"
The screen didn't disappear.
It stayed there.
Waiting.
"…Okay…"
Slowly, cautiously, he reached out and tapped it.
The display shifted instantly.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Tier: 0 — Human
level: 1
Core Stats:
STR (Strength): 5SPD (Speed): 5INT (Processing Power): 10ENG (Energy Capacity): 5 / 5HUM (Humanity): 100
"…What the hell…?"
Euris stared at it.
"…Wait…"
Something clicked.
"…This is like… something Gramps showed me…"
He rushed down the hall, nearly tripping over himself as he pushed open his grandfather's old room.
Everything was still there.
Untouched.
Just like he left it.
He went straight for a box shoved into the corner.
DND
He pulled it out, flipping it open and digging through the contents until he found what he was looking for.
A sheet.
Worn, slightly crumpled.
"Character Sheet."
"…Yeah…"
He looked back and forth between the paper and the floating screen.
"…Yeah, it's the same kind of thing…"
He let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
"…An RPG…"
He looked back at the screen, eyes narrowing slightly.
"…Does that mean… I can actually get stronger like this too?"
The excitement faded just as quickly as it came.
"…How did I even get this…?"
His gaze drifted.
Back to the garage.
Back to that device.
"…Was it that thing…?"
He exhaled slowly, shaking his head.
"…No point asking now…"
The screen flickered faintly in front of him.
Still there.
Still real.
"…Alright."
He straightened slightly.
"…Let's look at the bright side."
A small smirk formed.
"…Maybe this won't be a complete waste."
His eyes sharpened.
"…Maybe this'll actually help at the academy."
The rest of the night passed quickly.
Packing.
Clothes. Supplies. Anything he might need, he couldn't help but sigh, his clothes weren't new or in style, and he doubted his first day would be pleasant socially.
He slapped his hand to both sides of his face, trying not to think too hard about tomorrow.
Eventually, he collapsed onto his bed, sinking into it as the last bit of normalcy he would have in a while.
Exhaustion pulled him under almost instantly.
But the system didn't sleep.
"Warning: Energy 4 / 5"
…
"Warning: Energy 3 / 5"
…
"Warning: Energy 2 / 5"
…
"Notification: Activating battery saver mode."
Euris slept through it all.
Unaware.