The final school bell rang like a celebration for most students. Laughter echoed through the halls. Exams were done. Graduation was near.
But for Jack Evans, it was just another reminder that he didn't belong.
Nineteen. Smart. Quiet. A boy who read more books than he spoke words. His brown hair always slightly messy, eyes mismatched—one soft hazel, the other a piercing ocean blue. Girls found him attractive, but his silence made him a mystery. Boys envied him and mocked him in equal measure.
He was called a "nerd," a "know-it-all," a "loser." The more he ignored them, the worse it got.
On the last day of school, he received a message on a small folded paper.
> "Jack, meet me behind the gym after class. I need to talk. —Mia"
His heart beat faster. Mia—the most beautiful girl in school. She'd never spoken more than a few words to him. Was this a prank? Or something real?
He shouldn't have gone.
---
Behind the gym, the sky was grey.
No one smiled when he arrived. There was no Mia—only shadows. Only fists.
It happened so fast.
A punch to the stomach.
A boot to the side.
"Smartass."
"Think you're better than us?"
Jack didn't scream. He couldn't. The pain took everything. He didn't fight back. He never had.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was the grey clouds swirling above him.
---
Hospital Room
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
The soft rhythm of the heart monitor echoed in the room.
Jack lay unconscious, bruised, broken, barely holding on. Doctors moved around him, faces tight, voices low.
But inside… he heard everything.
And he was fading.
> "I… I don't want to die…" he whispered, though no one could hear him.
He could feel it. The emptiness. The weight pulling him down.
> "Screw this…" his voice cracked, barely a breath. "I don't want to die…"
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
Beeeeeeep.
The line went flat.
---
Darkness.
No pain. No sound. No ceiling. No floor.
Only black.
Then—a green light.
A sharp beam pierced the void like a blade. Glowing letters formed in front of his eyes, floating in the air like a digital screen.
> SYSTEM MESSAGE
Life status: TERMINATED
New identity initializing...
Transfer complete.
Welcome to [Unknown World].
More lines appeared, glowing brighter:
> CLASSIFICATION: HOLLOW KNIGHT_X
Power Source: VOIDFRAME PROTOCOL
Core: Emotion-Linked Adaptation
Public Identity: Hidden
Monitoring: Active
Survival Probability: 1.4%
Jack blinked. "A system…?" he murmured.
> You are the only one. The Hollow Knight must remain hidden. Your fate is sealed. Will you accept this burden?
He didn't know what it meant.
But something deep inside answered.
> "I don't want to die again."
---
The darkness shattered.
He opened his eyes—and saw sky. Lights. Steel towers and floating highways. Airships hummed overhead. Skyscrapers pulsed with blue veins of energy.
The world was... alive.
He stood on a glowing platform in the center of a floating plaza. The city stretched out endlessly—a fusion of technology and magic, with radiant structures floating between massive rotating rings above the horizon.
Jack looked at himself.
His body felt… different.
Stronger. Taller. Sharper.
He glanced into a glass panel beside him—his reflection looked the same… but enhanced. More defined. His eyes glowed faintly. His skin shimmered with life.
People walked past him, staring.
"Who's that guy…?"
"Is he from the Sky Sector?"
"He's hot as hell…"
Jack heard the whispers but ignored them. Let them wonder. Let them talk.
> They don't know who I am. Good.
> No more weakness. No more blind trust. No more being played.
A soft chime echoed in his mind.
> [SYSTEM ONLINE]
Class: [???]
Power Rank: [Locked]
Voidframe Protocol: Inactive
Status: Hidden
Identity Trace: Masked
Jack took a deep breath. The air here was cleaner. Fresher. More real than Earth had ever felt.
> "Screw my old life," he thought.
"This time… I play the game my way."
And with that, he took his first step into the unknown world—alone, invisible, powerful… and dangerous.
---
[End of Chapter One]