Time passed as Marcus ate dinner with his new family. Nothing particularly important happened, aside from the occasional small talk and a few scattered questions about his first day at the academy. He navigated the conversation cautiously, dodging anything that edged too close to personal history. Every word felt like a test. Every smile, a performance.
By the time Marcus made it back to his room, the faint scent of roasted duck and lavender glaze still clung to his shirt—one more detail that felt too elegant for someone still pretending. He unbuttoned it slowly, the fabric softer than anything he'd worn before, expensive in a way that made him feel like a guest wearing someone else's clothes.
Dinner had been… strange. There was laughter, but it came in all the wrong places. Polite questions with answers he had to invent on the spot. Aveline had kicked him under the table twice—once for calling their father "sir," and again for accidentally saying "back home" like he'd lived somewhere else.
Nobody noticed the way he hesitated before calling their mother "Mom."
Marcus collapsed onto the bed with a heavy sigh, his limbs splayed out across the plush mattress.
"Man… I can't even count how many excuses I made up."
He stared at the ceiling, then muttered with a tired smirk:
"Well, when in Rome do what the Romans do."
A pause.
"Well… I think that's how you use that phrase?"
He chuckled softly, covering his eyes with the back of his hand as exhaustion crept in. The sheets were impossibly smooth—almost silk-like—and the pillows practically swallowed his head. It felt like sleeping on a cloud. Too comfortable, too unreal. Almost suspiciously so.
Then—
[Day 1: Logged]
[Genesis Room Initialized]
> Trial: Echo Level 1 — Identity Verification
Reward:
- Partial Memory Sync
- ???
- System Core Unlock
Marcus blinked, jolting upright.
"—A what now?"
The familiar interface hovered in his vision, faint and translucent, like a ghost of the tech he used to know. It had been a while since it last appeared. He hadn't expected this tonight, of all nights.
Before he could react further, a glowing portal materialized beneath him. The bed vanished from under his back, and suddenly he was falling into an endless white void that seemed to stretch beyond sight.
"You're kidding me, right?"
He flailed slightly before crossing his arms with a resigned groan, straightening mid-fall like a man used to being thrown through realities.
"Can't I get a break!?"
Marcus twisted in the air, scanning the blank space for clues, symbols, or anything resembling a clue. Then the system chimed in again:
[Loading Area: 32%]
He rolled his eyes.
"Well… as long as it gets me stronger, I'll take it on."
He paused, thinking back to the chaotic, unpredictable game world he'd found himself trapped in.
"The game does have a ton of really odd and world-ending plots the more it go—"
The environment snapped into existence mid-thought.
Blackstone bricks surrounded him, rough and cold. A classic dungeon, foreboding and ancient-looking, unfolded around him in eerie silence. Caught off guard, Marcus hit the ground with a heavy thud, air leaving his lungs in a sharp grunt.
"At least give me a warning…"
He groaned, pushing himself up slowly. His palms scraped against the stone, sending a faint ache up his arms. He stretched with a pained sigh.
"Not only am I tired both mentally and physically, I also just landed a few feet onto stone…"
He looked around, noting the damp chill creeping in from the walls. Moss clung to corners. Faint echoes pulsed through the corridor ahead.
"And now I have to take on this dungeon thingy…"
Marcus hopped lightly in place, bouncing on the balls of his feet, trying to psych himself up. His limbs responded, magic trickling into them like heat through veins.
"Fire Rune!"
His hands and feet flared to life, flames blooming along his limbs in familiar, pulsing sigils. The warmth from the spell seeped into his bones, warding off the dungeon's cold grip. The heat flickered off the walls, casting dancing shadows in every direction.
"Well… at least it's warmer now."
He inhaled deeply, eyes narrowing.
"Just think of this as another job…"
He let the fire build just a little more, the rune patterns glowing brighter.
"New world, same job. Find the threat. Survive it."