The world finished stitching itself together with the sound of stone grinding against stone. Arches of fractured ivory leaned inward like broken ribs. Fog coiled across the uneven ground, as if exhaled from the lungs of something long dead.
Michael blinked, alone.
No HUD. No NPC. No quest markers. Just the faint flicker of a system pulse at the edge of his vision:
[Objective: Survive and Adapt]
He glanced at the sword in his hand. Iron-forged. Scarred from wear. Not the kind of sleek starter gear you'd expect — this thing had been through something. So had the arm that now gripped it.
A low groan came from the mist ahead.
Then — dragging metal.
A shape emerged. Tall. Humanoid. Armored in bronze so tarnished it looked like dried blood. The figure's helm was cracked open down the middle like a skull. And from the jagged slit, no face—just blackness.
[ENEMY IDENTIFIED — SHADED REMNANT]
Level 2
Michael's pulse quickened. It didn't walk—it advanced, dragging a jagged two-handed blade behind it, scoring lines through the ancient stone.
He tightened his grip. Waited.
The Remnant attacked with no warning. No wind-up. Just violence.
Michael barely brought his blade up in time. Sparks flew. His wrist flared with pain.
HP: 91 / 100
It came again. Faster. Unrelenting. This wasn't like a typical game enemy with cooldowns and patterns. It fought like it wanted to end him.
His counterattack glanced off its shoulder.
No damage number. No bar. No feedback.
He didn't know if he'd even hurt it.
And then—
A second Remnant emerged from the fog.
No spawn animation. No signal. Just there, like it had been waiting.
Michael tried to reposition, but the stone beneath his boots was slick with mist and uneven. He stumbled—and the second one struck.
HP: 71 / 100
It wasn't a clean hit, but it rattled him. The force of it drove him backward. He rolled and came up gasping, blade trembling in his hand.
Too fast.
Too smart.
He tried to remember his training—what little the game had given him. But there was no training. Just a sword, fog, and death.
The two Remnants moved in tandem now, cutting off his escape angles.
He dodged, barely. Deflected one strike, but the other carved a line down his thigh.
HP: 53 / 100
His breath hitched.
This isn't beatable. Not like this.
His mind screamed at him to log out.
But the logout button wasn't here.
He didn't even know if it existed.
Another blow came. Parried. But it took everything in him to hold the line. His fingers were going numb.
The sword wasn't just heavy — it was alien. Like he hadn't earned it yet.
The Remnants circled.
Something inside Michael cracked. Not in panic. But in resolve.
If this was a trial…
He had to bleed for it.
He threw himself forward. The blade caught one Remnant in the side—not deep, but enough to stagger. The other raised its sword high—
—and Michael dove into the hit to close the distance, letting it graze his shoulder—
HP: 39 / 100
—then drove his sword into the first one's chest with a scream.
A flash of light erupted from the impact, bursting the mist away in a shockwave.
CRITICAL HIT!
+15 EXP
[LEVEL UP — HP fully restored]
[Unspent Stat Points +3]
Everything stopped.
The pain vanished. His limbs felt weightless. His grip firmed.
It didn't feel like the game was giving him something. It felt like it had recognized him.
The remaining Remnant stared.
Michael smiled.
He stepped in. Fast. Clean. One slash to the side, another to the knee—then, with a surge of power still humming in his limbs, he drove the sword straight through its chest.
+12 EXP
[Enemy Defeated]
The echo of the kill faded like thunder rolling away.
Michael stood alone in the broken fog. Panting. Wide-eyed. Alive.
He hadn't just survived that.
He'd won.
Stone beneath him shifted. A hidden stairwell yawned open where none had existed.
[Progress: 1st Phase Complete]
Preparing Phase II…
The message wasn't congratulatory.
It was cold. Mechanical.
Like the game hadn't expected him to get this far.
Michael wiped blood—real or imagined—from his cheek. The sword in his hand still shook. But not from fear.
From potential.
This was no ordinary tutorial.
And it wasn't done with him yet.