《Dreams Are Becoming Reality》 Ch 1: The End of Everything Existence. What exactly is it? Why do we cling so desperately to this fleeting thing we call life? Every living creature fights to survive. Yet, we all know¡ªdeep down¡ªthat our end is inevitable. What¡¯s the purpose? Survival? Evolution? Entertainment for something far greater than ourselves? I¡¯ve wondered about this for years. And now, as the world is about to end, I finally have my answer. *** Psychiatric Ward ¨C 11:42 AM The hum of fluorescent lights drilled into my skull. The walls¡ªpure white, sterile¡ªwere so clean they almost looked fake, like the set of some forgotten sci-fi movie. The sharp scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, mixing with the distant sound of scribbling pens and murmured conversations. They were watching me. Again. I could feel their gazes through the one-way glass, their whispers buzzing in the silence. The doctors weren¡¯t discussing treatment or therapy. No, they weren¡¯t here to help me. They never were. The only reason they kept me here was because I told them the truth. A black hole will swallow the Earth. I¡¯d seen it in my dreams since I was a child¡ªthe sky fracturing, the ground warping, gravity twisting in impossible ways. At first, I thought it was paranoia. Hallucinations from a lonely mind. But the visions never stopped. They only grew stronger. So I told people. I warned them. And for that, they locked me away. A familiar voice crackled over the intercom. ¡°Patient #326, report your condition.¡± I tilted my head, staring blankly at the camera above my bed. ¡°Still crazy, doctor?¡± I muttered, just loud enough for the mic to catch it. There was silence. Then a tired sigh. ¡°Be serious.¡± Be serious? How can I be serious when the world is about to die? I exhaled, shutting my eyes. Soon. Soon, they would see. *** Breaking News ¨C 12:15 PM CNN Live Broadcast ¡°Reports of strange gravitational anomalies have surfaced worldwide¡­¡± The screen cut to footage of the Tokyo skyline, where buildings bent at unnatural angles, light warping as if seen through a heatwave. Cars floated an inch above the asphalt before crashing back down, sending pedestrians screaming. ¡°Similar phenomena have been reported in New York, London, and Beijing. Scientists remain unsure of the cause.¡± Inside the newsroom, the anchor¡¯s forced calmness barely masked the panic in his eyes. ¡°We are joined now by Dr. Elias Carter, a leading astrophysicist. Dr. Carter, can you explain what¡¯s happening?¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The guest¡ªa middle-aged man in a tweed jacket¡ªadjusted his glasses with trembling fingers. ¡°This¡­ this isn¡¯t natural. The laws of physics don¡¯t allow for localized gravity distortions like this.¡± The anchor frowned. ¡°Then what do you think is causing it?¡± Dr. Carter opened his mouth. Hesitated. Then, with visible reluctance, he said, ¡°A black hole.¡± A heavy silence settled over the newsroom. The anchor¡¯s voice cracked. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. A black hole can¡¯t just¡ª¡± ¡°I know,¡± Carter interrupted. ¡°But it¡¯s the only explanation. And if I¡¯m right¡­ we don¡¯t have much time.¡± *** The White House ¨C Crisis Meeting ¨C 12:30 PM President Cole sat rigidly at the head of the Situation Room table, his knuckles white as he gripped the armrests. The massive digital screen in front of them displayed real-time footage of the anomalies spreading worldwide. ¡°Tell me we have a solution,¡± he said, voice hoarse. The Secretary of Defense exchanged glances with the Chief of Staff, then cleared his throat. ¡°Sir¡­ there is no solution.¡± Cole¡¯s hands clenched. ¡°What about evacuation?¡± ¡°To where?¡± The Defense Secretary¡¯s face was pale. ¡°There¡¯s nowhere to run. If Dr. Carter is correct, the entire planet will be consumed.¡± A sharp knock on the door. An aide rushed in, face drenched in sweat. ¡°Mr. President, we have something¡­ urgent.¡± He handed over a folder, hastily printed from classified records. Cole flipped it open. His breath caught. SUBJECT #326 Name: [Redacted] Committed to St. Augustine Psychiatric Facility Reason: Claims of apocalyptic visions. Predicted gravitational collapse years prior. Cole¡¯s hands shook as he turned the page, revealing notes from the facility. The patient knew. His gaze snapped up. ¡°Get me a direct line to this patient. Now.¡± *** Psychiatric Ward ¨C 12:45 PM The entire building trembled. Loose papers fluttered from desks. The light overhead flickered wildly. I sat calmly on the edge of my bed, staring at the small fracture forming in the ceiling. Footsteps. Loud, hurried. The door to my room slammed open, revealing Dr. Harris, his usual arrogance replaced by sheer panic. Behind him, a group of security guards looked equally terrified. ¡°YOU¡ª¡± He pointed a shaking finger. ¡°You knew this would happen.¡± I smirked. ¡°Told you so.¡± The guards raised their weapons, but what was the point? The floor cracked beneath us, an unnatural pull forcing objects toward the growing distortion in the air. One of the nurses screamed as she lost her footing, sliding across the room¡ªstraight into the expanding void. She vanished with no sound, no trace. Simply erased. Chaos erupted. People ran. Some begged. Some cried. I simply stood, closing my eyes. ¡°Finally.¡± Finally, I wasn¡¯t alone in my nightmare anymore. *** Worldwide ¨C 1:00 PM Across the globe, the earth split apart. Cities folded inward, entire continents bending like paper. Planes fell from the sky, swallowed mid-air. Time and space crumbled. Billions cried out in terror. Some prayed. Some cursed. Some simply accepted. A fisherman in Norway watched in horror as the ocean tilted sideways, massive waves curling unnaturally before vanishing into the void. His boat cracked in two, and then¡ªnothing. In Paris, lovers kissed atop the Eiffel Tower, their final embrace frozen in time as the air twisted into a vortex of stars and shadows. In Tokyo, a mother held her child tightly, whispering lullabies as they were pulled into the sky. In London, a violinist played his last song, even as the streets twisted beneath him. In New York, a lone journalist whispered his final broadcast: "This is¡­ the end." Meanwhile, deep in the Amazon rainforest, indigenous tribes watched in horror as the sky darkened into an abyss, the stars themselves vanishing one by one. On a lonely road in Texas, a trucker slammed the brakes, staring at the swirling void forming in the sky. ¡°Well, shit,¡± he muttered, lighting a cigarette. ¡°Guess I ain''t making my delivery.¡± The world ended in silence. *** Psychiatric Ward ¨C 1:02 PM The last of the hospital crumbled around me. The void expanded, stretching time and space beyond comprehension. My body elongated, pulled in a million directions at once. Spaghettification. So this is what it feels like. I laughed. A true, genuine laugh. And then¡ªnothing. Darkness. Silence. I should have ceased to exist. My atoms should have been scattered across time. But I was still here. Drifting. Alone. Why? Then¡ªpain. A blinding headache. Images flashing in my mind. I saw it again. The singularity. The Tower Realm. The truth. Something was waiting for me beyond the black hole. And this¡­ this was only the beginning. Ch 2: The Nameless One How long has it been? A second? A millennium? Longer? Time no longer exists here. Not in the way I once understood it. Past, present, future¡ªthere is no distinction. Everything is now. I drift through the abyss, weightless, thoughts unraveling like threads caught in an endless current. There is no body to hold me together, no breath, no heartbeat. I am nothing but awareness, stretched thin across an eternity. But even nothingness cannot silence my memories. *** The visions began the moment I opened my eyes for the first time. Before I could speak, before I could even comprehend the world around me, I saw it. A black hole. It loomed in my mind like a scar across the fabric of reality¡ªswirling, devouring, waiting. I could see the way time fractured around its edges, how it warped space into something incomprehensible. No infant should have been able to understand what I was seeing. But I did. And I screamed. Every night, I would wake in terror, my tiny body convulsing as visions of the abyss clawed their way into my skull. My parents tried everything¡ªlullabies, doctors, prayers¡ªbut nothing could shield me from the truth I was born knowing. Because it was coming. Even then, I knew. I don''t remember their faces. I should, shouldn''t I? They were my parents, the people who gave me life, who tried to protect me from the horrors lurking in my mind. But their faces are blurred, distorted like figures in a dream that slips away the moment you wake. The only thing I remember is the blood. It was everywhere. The warm, sticky scent of it clung to the air, thick enough to choke on. It pooled across the floor, seeping into the cracks of our old wooden house. It painted the walls in wild, erratic streaks. And their bodies¡­ Dismembered. Torn apart. Pieces scattered like discarded puzzle fragments, an image that would never fit together again. I don''t remember screaming. I don''t remember crying. I just stood there, watching, as if I had already known this would happen. Maybe I did. Because in my visions, I had seen their deaths before they came to pass. I had seen the shadows creeping at the edges of reality, the inevitable descent into chaos. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. And I had seen myself standing in the middle of it, untouched. *** At the orphanage they called me a liar. The authorities who found me in that blood-soaked house. The social workers who tried to force emotions I didn''t have. The teachers who whispered about me behind closed doors. "He''s disturbed." "No trauma response. Not a single tear." "He claims to have seen it before it happened. Another pathological liar." I didn''t argue. What was the point? They wouldn''t believe me. Just like no one ever had. So I sat in silence, watching the world move around me, watching the children at the orphanage play their meaningless games. They were normal. I wasn''t. The visions never stopped. And I stopped trying to pretend I was like them. It was the doctors who gave me the number 2 years after that day. "Patient #326." I don''t remember when I stopped thinking of myself as anything else. Names have meaning. They tether you to an identity, a history, a person who once existed. But I was never really a person, was I? Just a mistake, an anomaly. A living prophecy of the end. They studied me like a specimen, documenting my hallucinations, my sleep patterns, my complete lack of human connection. "Do you remember your name?" a doctor asked once. I stared at him. I could have lied. I could have given him something to write down, something to fit into his neat little boxes of psychiatric evaluation. But I didn''t. Because the truth was simple: I didn''t remember. *** I float. I wait. The infinite void. The singularity is ahead, but I have no way of measuring the distance. Maybe I''m already inside it. Maybe I''ve already been torn apart. But no¡ªI still exist. Somehow, some way, I still am. I sift through my fragmented thoughts, trying to find myself within them. But who am I? A child born with knowledge he shouldn''t have. A boy whose parents were erased before his eyes. A ghost who walks through life with no name, no purpose. A monster, maybe. Because I didn''t cry when they died. Because I never feared the black hole. Because, deep down, I always knew I belonged to it. That''s why I survived when the rest of the world didn''t. I was never meant to be part of that world to begin with. *** Then, something changes. The crushing weight of the abyss, the infinite darkness, the stillness that has held me in its grasp for what feels like eternity¡ªall of it begins to shift. It starts as a pulse. A single, rhythmic beat. Then another. Then a burst. Light. Blinding, radiant, overwhelming. It erupts from the singularity like a supernova, reversing the endless collapse. Not destruction. Creation. A white hole. But this time, it is not just restoring. It is building. Through the burning haze, I see worlds. Ten spheres of landmass and sky, each distinct yet eerily connected, shoot outward into the unknown. They are new¡ªfreshly woven into existence, their very atoms birthed from the energy of the white hole. But they are not alone. They collide into a vast cosmic plane, where hundreds of other worlds already exist, orbiting like celestial battlegrounds. The Tower Realm. I don''t know how I know its name. But I do. And I know that I am no longer in the universe I once belonged to. This is something else. Then, I see Earth. Not just my home. A new version of it. It materializes within the Tower Realm, seamlessly integrated into the ten newly-born worlds. The land reforms. The cities return. The people breathe again. But they remember. This is no illusion, no alternate timeline where events were undone. The billions of humans that reappear know what happened. They remember the black hole, the void, the spaghettification. They remember dying. And yet, here they are. Alive. Whole. Confused. I sense it before I even regain my form. The rules of existence here are different. Gravity is altered. The very air hums with a force beyond human understanding. Magic? Energy? Something else? But more than that, I feel the presence of something watching. No. Not something. Someone. For the first time in what feels like eternity, I exist again. A shape forms around me, familiar yet foreign. My body. My senses. I exhale. And then¡ªa voice. It doesn''t belong to a person. It doesn''t belong to any living thing. It belongs to this place. "Welcome to the Tower Realm." Ch 3: The New World I awoke. Or at least, I think I did. After what felt like an eternal slumber, drifting endlessly toward the singularity, I was suddenly here. Alive. As if no time had passed at all. But it had. I remembered. I remembered the collapse and rebirth of everything. And now, as I sit in the Oval Office¡ªyes, the Oval Office¡ªstaring at none other than President A. Cole, I can¡¯t help but wonder: What the fuck is going on? President A. Cole¡ªthe second-ever Black president after Obama¡ªstood before me, his presence both imposing and surreal. He wasn¡¯t just a leader; he was the leader. An individual who rewrote history with his sheer influence. Born from seemingly thin air, he emerged in 2032, founding his own independent political party. Within weeks, he swept the nation, securing an unprecedented 75% of the vote. A feat never before achieved by any president, let alone an individual running outside the two-party system. And yet, in 2036, his reelection numbers soared even higher¡ª90% monopoly. Unheard of. Impossible. Yet, he had done it. Because A. Cole did the impossible. In just eight years, he united a fractured America¡ªa nation on the brink of collapse, poisoned by its own polarization. He bridged the unbridgeable, pleasing both sides of the political spectrum, defying expectations. Democrats. Republicans. Independents. It didn¡¯t matter. They all bent to him. Some people called him the second coming of Christ¡ªnot just a man, but a savior. A foolish belief? Maybe. But how else do you explain what he did? World peace? Not yet. But it was closer than ever before. And now, this man¡ªthis legend¡ªstood before me, his sharp brown eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that could strip a man of his soul. ¡°#326.¡± His voice was steady, calculated. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Awake? Was I asleep? Was I dreaming? I looked down at myself¡ªa body I wasn¡¯t sure even existed minutes ago. My hospital gown was gone, replaced by a black tactical jumpsuit, sleek and unfamiliar. There was a weight on my wrists and ankles¡ªthin, metallic bands emitting a faint hum of energy. My head throbbed. What¡­ what was happening? The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The last thing I remembered was¡ªthe white hole. The Tower Realm. The birth of new worlds. I inhaled sharply. The air felt different. Thicker. More¡­ potent. I wasn¡¯t in the same Earth I had once known. Cole didn¡¯t blink, watching me closely, as if studying a ticking bomb. "You knew, didn¡¯t you?" His voice was quieter this time. ¡°You predicted this years ago.¡± I exhaled, my lips curling into something between a smirk and a grimace. ¡°Told you so.¡± The tension in the room thickened. Behind him, his top advisors stood like statues, men and women in dark suits with expressions frozen somewhere between fear and confusion. I spotted military generals, intelligence directors, and scientific experts, all silent. All waiting. A large monitor flickered to life behind them, displaying live global feeds. I felt it before I even saw the images. My stomach twisted. The world¡­ It was different. The Earth I knew no longer existed. I stepped forward, my feet making no sound against the polished floor. My eyes darted between the screens, taking in the unreal new reality. The skies were no longer blue¡ªthey shimmered with violet hues, streaked with faint silver cracks, as if the very fabric of the universe had been stretched too thin. The oceans churned differently, their tides influenced by an unseen force. The moon, still suspended in the sky, now radiated an eerie purple glow, its surface scarred by new, unexplained craters. And then, the planets¡­ Hundreds of them, orbiting around the new colossal sun. A titanic star, unlike anything in our old universe, radiated an intense golden light, and surrounding it were ten distinct orbital rings. Each ring was occupied by dozens, maybe hundreds, of planets. Earth and the other nine newly birthed worlds were locked in the innermost ring. Each celestial body was unique, some glowing with ethereal light, others engulfed in swirling storms. Some appeared mechanical, as if forged rather than formed. My breath hitched as the camera feeds zoomed in, revealing foreign landscapes, alien structures, and¡ªinhabitants. Not just humans. There were beings unlike anything we had ever encountered. Creatures that looked almost human¡ªbut weren¡¯t. Others were entirely monstrous, towering giants, slender figures with elongated limbs, creatures that flickered between solid and ethereal. And our old home? Gone. The Sun we had known, the constellations that had guided human civilization for millennia¡ªall erased. I clenched my fists. As if the universe itself had rewritten its rules. But that wasn¡¯t even the worst part. The laws of physics had shifted. At first, things seemed normal¡ªgravity still held, objects moved as expected. But then came the anomalies. This new energy¡ªwhatever it was¡ªdisrupted everything. Electronics failed. Signals cut in and out. Even the most basic scientific readings made no sense. I had experienced it firsthand. Before the black hole consumed the Earth, I had internet access. You might not believe it, but yes, even a locked-up psychiatric patient like me had a phone and a PC. The government scientists running their inhumane tests on me weren¡¯t complete maniacs. They treated me well enough, at least within the confines of my gilded cage. I wasn¡¯t allowed outside. But the internet was my window to the world. And yet, when I had immediately searched for others who had witnessed what I had seen in the eternal abyss, I had found nothing. No one else seemed to remember the infinite time spent drifting toward the singularity. No one recalled the collapse and rebirth of existence. They all spoke of the black hole consuming everything, then waking up here, as if no time had passed at all. But I remembered. I remembered everything. And as I turned back to Cole, his expression unreadable, I realized¡­ I wasn¡¯t supposed to. I exhaled, my mind catching up to the gravity of it all. I turned back to Cole, meeting his gaze once more. His gaze hardened. I smirked. ¡°This isn¡¯t our world anymore,¡± I muttered. ¡°And if you think you can control it like you did before¡­ you¡¯re dead wrong.¡± For the first time since I had woken up in this room, Cole¡¯s mask of control faltered. Because we both knew the truth. This was no longer humanity¡¯s dominion. It belonged to something else. Something that had been waiting. And it had finally begun. Ch 4: The Tutorial (1) Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. President A. Cole studied me carefully from across the massive mahogany desk of the Oval Office, his fingers steepled, his expression unreadable. The weight of the last week¡ªthe impossible, the unexplainable¡ªhung over us like a storm cloud ready to burst. ¡°You remember everything.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. I exhaled slowly. ¡°Yeah.¡± The sharp hum of the monitors behind him flickered through the room, displaying live feeds of the planet¡ªexcept this wasn¡¯t Earth as I knew it. A sky streaked with violet hues, split with faint silver cracks like the universe had been stitched together wrong. The Moon glowed an eerie purple, its surface scarred with new, unnatural craters. The tides shifted unpredictably, as if some unseen force played with gravity itself. And then, there were the planets. Hundreds of celestial bodies orbiting a colossal golden sun, all arranged in ten concentric rings. Earth was on the innermost ring, along with nine other worlds. But our old home? Our solar system? Gone. Cole turned to the monitor, his gaze lingering on the foreign constellations, the alien formations, the terrifying expanse of an unfamiliar universe. Then, he spoke. ¡°You knew this was coming.¡± I smirked faintly. ¡°I tried to tell people.¡± Cole scoffed, shaking his head. ¡°And for that, they locked you up.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The tension thickened. He wasn¡¯t just a politician. He wasn¡¯t just a survivor. Cole was someone who adapted¡ªwho rose above the chaos and took control. And that was what he was doing now. "Something is coming," he muttered. I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s already here.¡± Then¡ª A voice. Not from the speakers. Not from Cole. From everywhere. From within. From beyond. A voice that was not a voice at all. A deep, resonating presence pressed into my skull, vibrating through my very existence. And I wasn¡¯t the only one. Because I heard it through the monitors, through the live broadcasts, through the screams of billions worldwide¡ª Everyone heard it. [THE GRACE PERIOD HAS ENDED.] My blood ran cold. Cole¡¯s head snapped toward me. His advisors clutched their heads, eyes wide with terror. The voice wasn¡¯t human. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. It was something else. Something ancient. Something absolute. [WELCOME TO THE TOWER REALM.] [THE TUTORIAL BEGINS NOW.] The room shook. Cole stood abruptly, slamming his hands onto the desk as the monitors flickered violently, distorting with unreadable symbols and shifting static. The air thickened, pressing against my lungs. I staggered, gripping the edge of the desk. The voice continued, unfazed by the rising panic worldwide. [YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE ASCENSION.] [YOU NOW BELONG TO THE TENTH FLOOR.] [ADAPT OR PERISH.] Then, the entire world screamed. Cities trembled. Skyscrapers rattled. The very fabric of reality twisted¡ªand then snapped. Everything went white. *** A Void of Nothingness I opened my eyes. There was nothing. Just¡­ white. A blank, infinite void stretching endlessly in all directions. No sky. No ground. No sound. No horizon. Just me. I took a shaky breath. It didn¡¯t echo. I moved my foot¡ªthere was no texture. This wasn¡¯t a place. It was absence. A dream? A hallucination? Or worse¡ªsomething real? Then¡ª [TUTORIAL IS COMMENCING.] [TUTORIAL QUEST 1: SURVIVE] [Survive against the incoming hordes of goblins.] [Time: 1h] [Reward: Basic Functions] A glowing window appeared before me, suspended in the void, letters burning in an unfamiliar script that my brain somehow understood. The voice read it aloud in my head. A quest? I frowned. A game quest? It didn¡¯t seem impossible. After all, I was standing in nothingness after reality itself collapsed. But this felt¡­ wrong. Not like a game. Like a test. [BEGINNING QUEST.] Suddenly¡ª Screeches. I turned. A circle of goblins had materialized around me, 100 meters away in all directions. Their warped, snarling faces twisted with malice. Their eyes glowed red. Their clawed hands gripped rusted blades. Their bodies twitched unnaturally, as if reality struggled to contain them. And then¡ª They charged. *** The goblins lunged. I barely had time to process before the first one closed the distance. A shrill shriek tore through the air, its jagged rusted blade swinging straight for my throat. Move. Instinct took over. I twisted my body, narrowly dodging the slash. The goblin¡¯s rancid breath hit my face, its yellowed fangs snapping at the empty space where my neck had just been. My heart slammed against my ribs. Another one lunged from the side. I barely managed to throw myself backward, skidding across the ground¡ªexcept there was no ground. It felt like I was moving on something solid, but my feet left no marks, and the surface beneath me was¡­ nothing. No time to think. The goblins were fast. Not sluggish, not the low-level cannon fodder that games or stories made them out to be. They moved like starving predators¡ªeach motion jerky, twitching, unpredictable. One screeched and slashed at my face. I ducked, but another was already diving for my exposed back. I was going to die. No. I wouldn¡¯t. I had spent eternity in the abyss. I had seen the universe collapse. I had survived spaghettification. I clenched my fists, a surge of something running through my veins. My body felt lighter. Faster. Stronger. Adapt or perish. The words from the Tower Realm echoed in my skull. The goblin came at me again. This time, I didn¡¯t dodge. I stepped into its attack, twisting my body at the last second. The creature overextended, stumbling forward¡ªand I moved. My hand shot out, grabbing the goblin by its wrist. It screeched in surprise¡ªright before I twisted its arm at an impossible angle. A wet snap. The goblin shrieked. I didn¡¯t let go. I yanked it forward and slammed my knee into its face. Its skull caved inward with a sickening crunch, and it collapsed lifeless at my feet. Blood dripped from my knee. The first kill. But there was no time to process. The other goblins had stopped in their tracks, their glowing red eyes locking onto their fallen comrade. For a second, they hesitated. Then¡ª They roared. I barely had time to react before the entire swarm charged at once. Shit. I spun on my heel and ran. The goblins weren¡¯t just fast¡ªthey were relentless. They didn¡¯t move like mindless monsters. They hunted. They flanked me, forcing me toward dead zones where I had no room to dodge. They herded me, waiting for a mistake. I barely slipped past one of them, kicking off the body of another to gain distance. There were too many. My breath came in sharp bursts. My legs burned. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. I couldn¡¯t keep running. The realization hit me like a slap to the face. They weren¡¯t tiring. I was. If I didn¡¯t end this soon, they would tear me apart. A goblin lunged from my blind spot. I spun¡ªtoo slow. The blade sliced across my arm. Pain flared through my body. I hissed, stumbling back. My blood¡ªbright crimson¡ªdripped onto the endless white void. The goblin grinned, its jagged teeth stained yellow. It lunged again. I dodged¡ªbut this time, I grabbed its wrist. It screeched, trying to pull away. I didn¡¯t let it. I twisted and yanked the goblin in front of me as a shield just as another goblin¡¯s dagger stabbed forward. The blade sank into its ally¡¯s chest. The goblin shrieked. I used its dying body as leverage, vaulting over it and bringing my elbow down on the attacking goblin¡¯s skull. It cracked like a dropped watermelon. Two down. I landed in a crouch, panting. My arm burned where the goblin had cut me, but the pain was starting to dull. Or maybe I was just adapting. The remaining goblins hesitated again. Good. I was learning. And they were starting to fear me. [REMAINING TIME: 44 MINUTES] [TIME TICKS FORWARD. YOUR BODY WON¡¯T LAST.] Ch 5: The Tutorial - Goblins (2) The hesitation in the goblins'' eyes was brief, but I saw it. They had expected easy prey. Instead, I had torn through two of them, and now the rest were starting to realize¡ªI wasn''t like the others they''d hunted. But I wasn¡¯t stupid. I wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight them all. Not yet. Survive for an hour. That was my only goal. [REMAINING TIME: 44 MINUTES] Not long enough. I flexed my fingers, feeling the warm blood dripping from my palm. My knuckles ached from the last kill. The wound on my arm throbbed, but the pain was dull¡ªalmost distant. Something was changing inside me. The goblins let out another shriek. Their fear turned to renewed rage. Then, as if commanded, they charged. I exhaled sharply, scanning my surroundings¡ªexcept there was no environment. Just white emptiness in all directions. No terrain to use. No cover to hide behind. Just me and an army of bloodthirsty creatures. Fine. Then I''d have to become the terrain. A Predatory Dance The first goblin reached me in seconds. This time, I didn¡¯t retreat. I stepped into its attack¡ªclosing the distance before it could react. Its jagged blade slashed forward. I tilted my head just enough for it to graze past my ear, feeling the wind of its strike brush against my skin. Then¡ªI struck. My elbow slammed into its throat. The goblin gagged, its beady eyes bulging in shock. I twisted, grabbing its arm and snapping it backward at an unnatural angle. Another goblin lunged from behind. I used the first goblin¡¯s dying body as a shield, its ally¡¯s blade plunging into its back instead of mine. Before the second goblin could react, I wrenched the blade from its grip¡ªripping it free from the corpse. Steel felt cold in my palm. It felt right. The goblin staggered back, now unarmed. I didn¡¯t give it the chance to recover. I drove the blade through its skull. [Enemies Defeated: 4] But there was no time to celebrate. The others charged all at once. I kicked the goblin¡¯s corpse off my weapon and pivoted on my heel, barely dodging another attack. Another goblin¡ªsmaller than the rest¡ªdove at my side. Instead of dodging, I rolled with its momentum and twisted its neck in midair. Snap. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It dropped. [Enemies Defeated: 5] But they kept coming. I dodged. Countered. Struck back. One by one, they fell. And I kept moving. I had no time to think. No time to breathe. Just react. Just survive. *** [REMAINING TIME: 22 MINUTES] I couldn¡¯t keep this up. I was faster than them. Stronger than before. But my body was failing. My breathing was ragged. My muscles burned. My vision blurred at the edges. And the goblins weren¡¯t stopping. They adapted. They started attacking together¡ªone feinting while another struck. A blade sliced through my leg. I staggered. A blunt club slammed into my ribs. I gasped, dropping to one knee. My vision darkened from the impact. The goblins pounced. I tried to move. Too slow. One of them grabbed my arm¡ªanother seized my ankle. I struggled. They forced me down. No. I thrashed, but there were too many. Their claws dug into my flesh. Their blades hovered inches from my throat. I refused to die here. Something inside me snapped. A pressure I hadn¡¯t noticed before exploded outward. The goblins froze. For a brief moment, they all flinched¡ªeyes wide with something I hadn¡¯t seen before. Fear. Then I felt it. A new sensation thrummed beneath my skin¡ªa force coiling through my veins, buzzing beneath my fingertips. Something foreign. Something mine. The goblins hesitated. I didn¡¯t. I lunged. A raw wave of energy surged through my limbs. My movements became sharper. Faster. Lethal. I ripped free from their grasp, twisting mid-air to drive my heel into the nearest goblin¡¯s skull. It caved inward instantly. I landed smoothly, not even out of breath. The goblins shrieked. They sensed it, too. The shift. I exhaled. Adapt or perish. I was done running. I dashed forward. Too fast for them to react. I weaved between their strikes, moving like I had always known this body¡ªlike I had always fought this way. A goblin lunged. I grabbed its throat mid-air and slammed it into the void. Another swung its blade. I caught it with my bare hand¡ªthe steel barely scratching my skin. I drove its own weapon through its chest. The remaining goblins panicked. Some tried to run. I didn¡¯t let them. I moved through them like a phantom¡ªeach motion precise, calculated, devastating. Blades found throats. Limbs snapped like twigs. The battlefield drowned in green blood. And then¡ª Silence. I was the only one standing. The goblins were gone. Nothing remained but their corpses, and the blood dripping from my fingers. [TUTORIAL QUEST COMPLETE.] [REWARD: BASIC FUNCTIONS UNLOCKED.] [SUBQUEST COMPLETE: YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED FOR ADVANCED CHALLENGES.]I staggered. The pressure in my body receded, leaving behind only exhaustion. I looked down at my hands¡ªat the blood smeared across my skin, at the bodies scattered around me. It should have bothered me. It didn¡¯t. I exhaled, steadying myself. Then¡ª The void shattered. A burst of white light swallowed everything. A distant voice echoed in my skull¡ªcold, emotionless. [TRANSFER COMPLETE.] And when my vision cleared¡ªI was somewhere else *** The blinding white void vanished. The suffocating emptiness of the tutorial was replaced by¡ªwarmth. A soft breeze brushed against my skin. The scent of flowers drifted through the air. My feet, once pressing against nothingness, now stood firmly on solid ground. Grass. I looked down. Beneath me, a vast field of wildflowers stretched endlessly in every direction. Blues, yellows, and reds swayed gently under a breeze that carried the faint hum of rustling leaves. Above, the sky was a deep, vivid blue¡ªbut unlike the skies of Earth, this one shimmered, streaked with thin golden lines, as if the heavens themselves had been laced with cracks of pure energy. It was beautiful. And yet¡ª I wasn¡¯t alone. Scattered across the open plains, tens¡ªno, hundreds¡ªof people stood in small clusters, all wearing the same stunned expression I must have had. They weren¡¯t ordinary civilians. At a glance, I could tell most of them were military personnel, police officers, or people who had combat experience. Others were hunters, survivalists¡ªanyone who had the means to fight back. It made sense. The Tower¡¯s first test had been brutal. Only those who killed the goblins before the time limit had survived. No second chances. No retries. The rest? I didn¡¯t need to see their bodies to know what had happened to them. A weight settled in my stomach. I exhaled slowly. I should have felt something. Guilt. Relief. Anything. Instead, I just felt tired. The survivors whispered among themselves, shifting anxiously as they took in their surroundings. Some clutched weapons¡ªknives, makeshift clubs, even guns¡ªthough I doubted firearms had done much against the goblins. A group of men in tactical gear stood a few feet away, watching the area with trained eyes. Military, probably. I scanned the field. No civilians. No children. Everyone here had blood on their hands. Even me. A ripple of energy surged through the air. I stiffened. The others must have felt it too, because the entire field went silent. Then¡ª [CONGRATULATIONS.] The voice returned. That same overwhelming presence, pressing into my skull. [SURVIVORS OF THE TUTORIAL HAVE BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED.] [A TOTAL OF 52,769,091 PARTICIPANTS HAVE PASSED.] Murmurs broke out across the crowd. Fifty million? That sounded like a lot¡ªuntil I considered just how many people had entered the tutorial. Eight billion people had been thrown into this game. Only fifty million survived. The realization sent a chill down my spine. And yet, the voice continued, completely devoid of emotion. [YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FIRST STEP OF ASCENSION.] [PREPARE FOR SYSTEM INITIALIZATION.]