The crimson message hovered before Noah’s eyes.
[Hidden Condition Met.]
[Unknown Authority Has Taken Interest In You.]
[Ragnarok System: Early Activation Sequence Initiated.]
For several seconds, he simply stared.
His mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.
Then pain exploded throughout his body.
"AAAAAGH!"
Noah crashed to the floor.
Every muscle convulsed violently.
It felt as though molten metal had been poured directly into his veins.
His blood burned.
His bones screamed.
His organs felt like they were being crushed by invisible hands.
The agony was beyond anything he had ever experienced.
Noah clawed at the wooden floor.
His fingernails cracked.
Blood stained the planks.
Yet the pain only intensified.
"What... the fuck...!"
The words barely escaped his lips.
Crimson light erupted beneath his skin.
Veins illuminated throughout his body.
They glowed like rivers of lava.
Something ancient was awakening.
Something that had slept for countless years.
Then the messages continued.
[Bloodline Compatibility Confirmed.]
[100% Compatibility.]
[Beginning Bloodline Awakening.]
The room trembled.
Windows shattered.
A violent shockwave erupted from Noah’s body.
Outside, several students screamed in surprise.
None of them understood what was happening.
Inside the room, Noah’s vision blurred.
The world faded.
Darkness swallowed everything.
—
When Noah opened his eyes again, he was no longer inside the dormitory.
He stood upon an endless battlefield.
The sky burned crimson.
Mountains of corpses stretched toward the horizon.
Broken weapons littered the earth.
Blood flowed like rivers.
The air itself carried the scent of death.
Noah’s breath caught in his throat.
The battlefield felt real.
Far too real.
Then he saw them.
Giants.
Thousands of them.
Each one towering over mountains.
Each one dead.
Their enormous corpses lay scattered across the landscape.
Even dragons were among them.
Gods.
Demons.
Creatures beyond imagination.
All dead.
All slain.
Noah slowly turned.
And froze.
A throne stood at the center of the battlefield.
Black.
Ancient.
Forged from bones.
A figure sat upon it.
Its appearance remained hidden beneath shadows.
Yet Noah could feel it.
Power.
Absolute power.
The kind of power that could shatter worlds.
The figure slowly rose.
The battlefield trembled.
The corpses shook.
The heavens cracked.
Noah’s instincts screamed.
Run.
Run now.
Yet his body refused to obey.
The figure descended from the throne.
One step.
The world trembled.
Second step.
The sky fractured.
Third step.
Reality itself seemed to groan.
Finally, it stopped before him.
The shadows covering its face slowly parted.
Noah’s pupils contracted.
Because the face staring back at him...
Was his own.
"What..."
The figure smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Knowingly.
"As expected."
Its voice echoed across the battlefield.
"You survived."
Noah couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t move.
Couldn’t think.
The figure continued.
"The story has begun collapsing sooner than expected."
Its crimson eyes burned brightly.
"Which means our enemies have already started moving."
"Our enemies?"
The words finally escaped Noah’s mouth.
The figure nodded.
Then pointed toward the endless battlefield.
"Everything you see here was once alive."
Noah looked around.
Gods.
Giants.
Dragons.
Monsters.
Countless races.
All dead.
A terrible realization formed.
"Who killed them?"
The figure’s smile widened.
Then it answered.
One word.
One name.
A name that made reality itself tremble.
"Ragnarok."
The battlefield erupted.
Lightning split the heavens.
The rivers of blood surged violently.
And the messages returned.
[Ragnarok System Successfully Activated.]
[Welcome, Successor.]
[Level: 0]
[Bloodline Rank: Dormant]
[First Quest Generated.]
A final screen appeared.
Noah’s eyes widened.
Main Quest
Survive Blackthorn Forest
Difficulty: Impossible
Time Limit: 48 Hours
Failure Penalty:
Death
Reward:
???
The screen vanished.
The battlefield shattered.
The world collapsed.
And Noah woke up gasping inside his dormitory.
The first thing he noticed was the smell.
Blood.
His blood.
The second thing he noticed was the countdown.
[47:59:58]
The third thing he noticed...
Was the black mark that had appeared on the back of his right hand.
A mark shaped like a broken crown.
And somehow...
Deep inside his soul...
Noah knew one thing with absolute certainty.
Blackthorn Forest wasn’t an examination.
It was a trap.
And something inside that forest was already waiting for him.