A distant light split the endless dark.
It wasn't salvation. It was a crack. A jagged wound in the fabric of reality.
The System's voice echoed distantly, warning of unstable dimensional boundaries.
And then it threw him out.
He crashed hard onto cold, wet earth.
Air hit his lungs.
Leaves rustled high above. Dark, ancient trees pressed close around him.
He was in a forest.
Dark. Vast. Chillingly quiet.
Nearby, a wide river snaked through the mist. Its sluggish current gurgled against the muddy bank.
He dragged himself up.
Strange limbs.
His body felt wrong. Alien. Chitin plates flexed and clicked, claws bit into the soil. Multiple eyes blinked and focused.
He shuffled to the water's edge.
Peered in.
An abomination stared back: countless eyes, jagged armored ridges, fang-lined mandibles.
He didn't flinch.
> New life. New form. Who cares.
A rustle in the undergrowth.
A giant troll.
It loomed over him, sniffing the air, reeking of blood and damp fur.
It froze when it saw him, eyes wide with primitive terror.
Then rage overcame fear. It roared and charged.
He felt a spike of old human fear—an instinctive terror.
> I'm going to die.
The System's voice flickered inside him:
> [Combat mode enabled.]
Void energy surged through him.
He moved.
One swipe.
The troll split open, its guts steaming in the cold air.
It collapsed at his feet.
He stood still.
Blood dripped from his claws, hissing on the mud.
His multiple eyes scanned the corpse, the ground, the quiet forest around him.
He flexed one massive arm, feeling the inhuman strength ripple through layered muscle and chitin.
Then he turned his gaze inward.
> [SYSTEM ONLINE.]
[Race: VOIDBORN.]
[Special Class Acquired: SPACE TRAVELER.]
[Abilities:]
– Copy Ability
– Synthesis
– Multiverse Travel
– Yggdrasil System
He watched the windows flicker in his mind, cold and precise.
> So this is me now.
He stood there on the riverbank in silence.
Blood on his claws.
Eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
Analyzing.
Planning.