The forest behind him hissed, its final embers fading into the soil.
Lysander stepped from the wreckage, boots sinking into strange earth that pulsed faintly with dormant mana. The air here was dense with energy, sharp on the tongue—like breathing the breath of a sleeping god.
Towering silver-leafed trees stretched into a sky bleeding into dusk. Alien. Beautiful. Haunting.
But he wasn't looking at the trees.
His eyes locked onto the skyline beyond—on the horizon where nature ended and something else began.
Beyond the veil of mist and leaves, sharp angles gleamed in defiance of the wild. Towers of glass and steel scraped the heavens. Lights blinked across their spines like captured constellations.
Civilization.
He narrowed his gaze.
This world is not mine… but it breathes. Evolves. And now, it belongs to me.
He moved like smoke—silent, fluid. The gauntlets on his forearms pulsed faintly, syncing with his heartbeat as he melted into the shadows of this unknown world.
---
By nightfall, he stood at the city's edge—and even he, forged in fire and ruin, had to pause.
The sheer magnitude of it staggered the senses.
Roads shimmered beneath glowing signs. Metallic beasts thundered past him, engines snarling. Towers of glass stood like frozen lightning. Screens floated midair, displaying symbols, faces, and color in an endless stream. Neon painted the air in blues and reds, magic dressed in machinery.
He stood in the current of it all—still, silent.
This is no kingdom. No empire. It's something faster. Harsher. Hungrier.
The relic ship's knowledge unfurled in his mind. Neural codes sparked awake. Language decrypted itself like ancient runes revealing secrets. In moments, he understood the world's speech. Signs flickered, rearranging themselves into something familiar.
One billboard pulsed with massive text: "서울 – Seoul"
He whispered it aloud. "Seoul…"
So this was the realm's name.
That night, he sat alone on a park bench, shadows curled around him like an old cloak. People drifted by, tethered to glowing rectangles, immersed in silent conversations. Laughter, sirens, music, and news bled together into a digital song.
Then, a screen caught his eye. And froze him.
> "Fifth Anniversary of Tower Appearance Near Seoul: Awakened Guilds Prepare for Annual Raid."
His pulse quickened.
A Tower?
Even the word carried weight. Power. Fear.
What kind of structure bends a city to its presence… and survives?
---
Dawn drew him to it.
Beyond barricades and patrolling soldiers, it loomed.
The Tower.
Black. Monolithic. Unmoving.
Its surface shimmered like obsidian oil, swallowing reflections. It pierced the sky without regard for clouds or gravity. It did not belong—yet it was the most permanent thing in sight.
From a rooftop, Lysander listened to passing broadcasts and chatter. The story unfolded.
Five years ago, the Tower appeared without warning. With it came chaos—and evolution. Some humans Awakened, gaining strange powers, classes, stats, and roles. The world fractured, then rebuilt itself around this singular anomaly.
But the Tower never changed.
It remained. Silent. Unyielding. Waiting.
Lysander didn't wait for invitations.
With a flicker of heat, his body blurred. The outer perimeter's guards didn't see him pass—they couldn't. The relic's stealth systems made him a phantom.
And as he reached the Tower's base...
The door was open.
Waiting.
---
Light consumed him. Then silence.
A heartbeat later, glowing text hovered before him:
> Starting the Tutorial. Aptitude Test Completed. Class Assigned Based on Analyzed Parameters.
Your Class: Combat Swordsman Open status window for more details.
Lysander's breath hitched.
Not from fear.
From anticipation.
He whispered the word like a spell. "Status."
A window bloomed in front of him—digital, yet alive.
---
[Status Window] Name: Lysander Solari HP: 100 MP: 10 Class: Combat Swordsman Level: 1
Skills: • Basic Swordsmanship – Lv. 1 • First Awakening – Ember Ascension
Stamina: 100 Strength: 100 Agility: 100 Sensitivity: 100
Remaining Stat Points: 0
---
He studied the display. The numbers. The structure.
A system of growth. Of rules. Of consequences.
And that name... Lysander Solari.
A shadow of his old self… repurposed for this new world.
He smiled, eyes glinting.
This world plays by rules. Good. I've always been good at breaking them.
A second window pulsed to life:
> Complete one of the following objectives to proceed:
1. Survive in the forest for 60 minutes.
2. Find the exit and escape.
He tilted his head. "Escape?" he echoed, amused.
No.
Where others might run, he stepped forward.
A soft heat rose at his collarbones. Ember licked at the edges of his coat, curling up like affectionate serpents.
His grin deepened.
"I didn't come here to flee."
He turned toward the shimmering forest ahead, eyes gleaming with challenge.
The Tower had opened its doors. And Lysander Solari had walked through.
The hunt had begun.
---
To be continued...