Unholy Player Chapter 5: Choose Your Path

Adyr retreated to his room after finishing his dinner and scrubbing the plates. The space was cramped, containing only a modest desk, a wardrobe, and a single bed.

Resting on the desk were two candles worn down by flame, a battered laptop provided by his university, and the gaming gear Selina had sent, which he had neatly repacked into its box for return.

The room was remarkably orderly and spotless, possessing a simplicity that was unusual for a boy his age.

Perching on the edge of the mattress, he gripped the alternative helmet Victor had provided and checked the clock.

"Ten minutes until the blackout... and the server launch," he whispered.

In these impoverished districts, the city enforced scheduled power cuts to manage energy reserves. Even so, it felt peculiar that the debut of the most hyped game in history aligned perfectly with one of these outages.

He reached for the manual lying nearby and thumbed through the pages. It offered no lore or gameplay details, containing only safety protocols and technical specifications.

Following the listed steps, he initialized the hardware.

A tiny digital screen at the helmet’s base flickered to life, displaying: 100%. The manual indicated the internal battery was at full capacity, providing roughly three hours of runtime.

This meant that once those three hours passed, he would be forced to wait for the morning sun to restore electricity just to charge the device and continue his journey.

This was simply another hardship of being poor in an era still rebuilding from the apocalypse.

Adyr struck a match for the candles, pulled the helmet over his head, and waited.

His world turned to total darkness, save for a neon green countdown shimmering in the center of his vision.

He remained still as the digits bled away.

3...

2...

1...

As the timer struck zero, a violent tug pulled at his very soul. Darkness swallowed everything, and for a brief window, he lost all physical sensation.

This was no mere visual trick; he felt as though his entire physical form was being surged across space, as if the fabric of reality had warped around him.

For a fleeting moment, he considered tearing the helmet off to investigate, but his senses suddenly flooded back with overwhelming intensity.

"This..." Adyr gasped, stunned.

He was suspended high in the atmosphere, still dressed in his usual sleeping clothes, drifting weightlessly above a massive, stunning landscape that unfurled below him.

The realism extended far beyond the visuals.

He felt the crisp, chilly wind grazing his skin and inhaled the foreign scent of pure, untainted air.

The authenticity was staggering.

As he hovered there, absorbing the sensations of this impossible vista, luminous green characters suddenly materialized in the air.

[Choose your path.]

Shortly after, more text began to shimmer into view, gathering like embers drawn to a flame.

[Astra]

- One of the four primary Paths, forged by the God.

- He molded the first physical forms from chaos, bringing order to the void.

- It embodies all things physical.

[Aether]

- One of the four primary Paths, forged by the Goddess.

- She infused existence with spiritual depth, crafting the hidden essence within the visible.

- It embodies all things spiritual.

[Ignis]

- One of the four primary Paths, forged by the God.

- He ignited the initial spark of motion, waking both the body and the soul.

- It embodies every movement.

[Nether]

- One of the four primary Paths, forged by the Goddess.

- Acting as the balance to creation, she initiated the cycle of entropy—breaking down forms so that life may start anew.

- It embodies all destruction and rebirth.

"Oh... this is quite fascinating," Adyr remarked, his gaze burning with interest.

In his past life, he had been an avid gamer with a fondness for MMORPGs. Drawing from that history, he had anticipated selecting a standard class. This presentation, however, was a genuine shock.

For the first time ever, he was being granted the agency to define his own destiny. Consequently, he chose not to rush, floating in the heavens as he weighed which path resonated with his soul.

While Adyr remained lost in thought, an anomaly began to manifest.

A sudden gloom rose from the void, staining the horizon and obscuring the lands below.

A low, vibrating drone followed, filling his ears like the discordant harmony of a thousand instruments striking a single, alien chord.

Then came the sound of tearing.

Looking upward, he witnessed the firmament fracture, a jagged wound ripping through the sky with a sickening groan.

Adyr’s first instinct was to run, but he quickly realized his lack of agency; he was trapped in place, held by an invisible grip.

Paralyzed by the spectacle, he watched.

From the growing breach, dozens of radiant lights erupted, washing the world in a blinding, celestial brilliance.

As they drew closer, he identified them as characters—sharp, glowing letters that pulsed with an authority too immense to grasp.

These letters descended, hovering above the four established options and claiming the highest position.

While the original four paths glowed with a grand green light, this newcomer was different.

It was forged of pure, colorless radiance, projecting an aura not of beauty, but of absolute supremacy.

[Primora]

With that, the fifth path was introduced to the world.