Chapter 1 – The Me That Isn't Me
Darkness.
But not the usual kind. This was a darkness that made me forget direction. Forget up or down. Forget whether I was still breathing… or already dead. No sound. No feeling. No body.
I drifted in something that wasn't the world, but wasn't a dream either. It was empty… but alive.
And then—
[System Log: Host Body Reconstructed]
[Soul Sync: 12.9%… 43.2%… 78.6%…]
[Caution: Identity Core Unstable]
[Override Protocol: REBIRTH MODE – ACTIVE]
The words lit up in the dark. Floating. Piercing into my thoughts without a sound. I tried to scream, but no voice came out. Tried to move, but had no body to move.
Then… I fell.
THUD!
The sound of a body hitting the ground. Pain. Wetness. I groaned, chest heaving as I gasped for air. The breath entered my lungs in a rough, raw drag. "I'm… alive?" I slowly opened my eyes. The sky stretched wide - pale blue like a painting, but too real. Too perfect to be the real world. No clouds. No sun. But there was light.
I sat up slowly. My body felt light. Strange. My hands… Young. Clean. No scars, no wrinkles.
I stared at my palms, and a shiver began to spread through me. "This… isn't me?"
The world around me was silent. The wind rustling through trees, the soft brushing of leaves — everything was too "real," and yet something was off. As if all of this was mimicking reality. Not actually real. I tried to stand. My knees shook. My breath was unsteady.
And then—
[Initializing HUD…]
[Player Detected: Zaki]
[Level: 1]
A translucent panel appeared before my eyes. Floating. Following my gaze.
I gaped.
"…A HUD? This is…" I raised my hand to touch it, but felt nothing. Just a visual. Yet it moved… it lived… and it knew my name.
[System Online. Ethereon Core Active.]
[Warning: No Return Point Detected.]
[User Soul Status: Unstable]
[Environment: Safe Zone – Outer Wilds, Eldenross Province]
"Ethereon…?" I repeated the name softly. It sounded like the name of a world from an online game. But this — this wasn't a game. I could feel the wind. I could smell damp earth. I could hear the sounds of the forest… too consistent. Too real.
And what scared me most…
My heart. It wasn't denying what I was seeing. I walked slowly through the underbrush. My hand touched the trunk of a tree, feeling its texture — rough, cold. No pixels. No glitches. No textures. This wasn't graphics.
But I knew this wasn't the real world either. There was something about the way the light fell on the leaves, in the perfection of shadows, in how the trees swayed — too orderly. Too perfect. Like a world built from code… but infused with breath.
"If this is a game…" I whispered, "…why can I feel all of this?" And if this isn't a game… then that means I…
"…I died?"
I sat down beside a rock, hugging my knees. My chest felt hollow. My breath came in slowly, but it couldn't calm the storm in my head. That file — veilbreak.sys. I never downloaded it. And now I'm here. No choice. No direction. I looked at my reflection in the puddle below me.
A young face. But the eyes… they were mine. The eyes of a thirty-eight-year-old man who had lost everything. No job. No family. No one left who cared. A man who used to talk to his own shadow at 3 a.m. And now… I've been given a new body.
But not a new life — because I don't know what "life" means in a world that isn't real. "HUD," I called out softly. The panel returned, this time more complete.
Status – Inventory – Skills – Log – Help
Soul Sync: 81.2%
Identity Core: Stabilizing…
Warning: Quest System Disabled by User Instinct Layer
[Note: User appears to reject core narrative triggers. Adaptive mode activated.]
I frowned. This system… wasn't just an interface. It was reading my emotions. It knew I was rejecting all of this.
[Help Tip: The world of Ethereon is not bound to a fixed narrative. Players may move freely without following the main quest.]
I clenched my jaw. Looked around. Silence. Still no one. And maybe that's what I needed — silence.
I wasn't here to be a hero. Wasn't here to follow some system-assigned path. I just… I just wanted to find meaning in this emptiness.
This world is foreign.
But I am even more foreign to it.
[To Be Continued – Chapter 2: A Voice in the Silence]
Glossary – Chapter 1
• HUD (Heads-Up Display): An interactive panel visible only to Zaki. It responds to emotions and voice commands.
• Soul Sync: The compatibility process between Zaki's soul and the Ethereon system.
• Rebirth Protocol: A system protocol for transferring soul entities into the world of Ethereon. There is no way out.
• Safe Zone: A starting area free from threats. In this case: outskirts of the Eldenross region.
• Instinct Layer: A mechanism in the system that reads the player's inner reactions. It can adapt the world based on emotional rejection or acceptance.
• Narrative Trigger: A system element that initiates story paths (quests). Can be unconsciously disabled if the player rejects the system.