"Your system isn't complete yet. Right now, you're unstable. Weak," the man said, voice low and steady. "But if you step through that door, you'll have a chance to change that. A chance to survive."
Eli stared into the stairwell. It was pitch black, the air seeping out of it damp and heavy, smelling faintly of metal and earth. Every instinct screamed at him not to go down there.
But the system chimed again in his mind, sharp and undeniable.
[Quest Update: Final Step — Enter the Threshold.][Reward: Core System Activation. Penalty for Refusal: System Lockout.]
Eli's hands clenched into fists at his sides.
No choice, huh?
Story of my life.
He took a shaky breath and stepped inside.
The man followed, sealing the door behind them with a heavy clang that seemed to swallow the last of the outside world.
The stairwell spiraled downward, lit only by thin, flickering strips of pale blue light embedded in the walls. Eli's footsteps echoed in the cramped space, each one a reminder that he was sinking deeper into something he didn't understand — and might never come back from.
At the bottom, the stairs opened into a vast underground chamber.
Eli stopped, blinking in disbelief.
The room stretched out in all directions, far bigger than any basement should've been. Massive pillars rose into the darkness above, carved with strange, shifting symbols that seemed to hum if he stared too long. The air thrummed with energy — alive, electric, ancient.
In the center of the room stood a tall pedestal, and atop it... a mirror.
Or at least, it looked like a mirror at first. But the surface wasn't glass — it rippled like liquid silver, glowing faintly under the blue lights.
"Step forward," the man said, voice cutting through Eli's awe.
Eli glanced at him. "What is this place?"
The man's silver eyes gleamed. "The beginning."
[Final Task: Accept Initiation. Touch the Threshold Mirror.]
Eli's feet moved before he even fully decided to. His heart hammered against his ribs as he approached the mirror, the strange energy from it pulling at something deep inside him — something that had been asleep for a long, long time.
He reached out.
The moment his fingertips brushed the surface, the mirror shuddered — and so did Eli.
A blinding pulse of light exploded outward. Eli staggered back, gasping, as the world tilted on its axis.
Visions slammed into him.
A boy, alone in a storm, fists bloodied.A blade glinting in the dark.A monstrous shadow with no face, no name, reaching for him with claws made of smoke.A fire burning in his chest — wild, desperate, unbreakable.
[System Core Initialization: 63%.]
Eli dropped to his knees, clutching his head. It felt like his skull was splitting open from the inside.
[Warning: Host Potential Exceeds Normal Parameters.][Adjusting System Framework… Adapting New Path.]
Through the haze of pain, Eli heard the man's voice, distant but steady.
"Hold on," he said. "If you fight it now, you'll break. Let it happen. Let it awaken."
Eli gritted his teeth. Sweat poured down his face. Every instinct screamed to push back, to run — but somehow, some stubborn part of him understood.
Not everything that hurt was meant to be fought.
Some pain you had to survive.
He let go.
The energy roared through him like a tidal wave. It tore away the numbness. The fear. The weakness.
And beneath it all, buried so deep he had almost forgotten it existed, he found it:
Will.
Not anger.Not hatred.Not even revenge.
Pure, raw, stubborn will to keep moving. To live.
[System Core Integration Complete.][Class Assignment Pending...][Assessment: Host Potential Critical — Unique Class Generated.]
Eli gasped as the flood of energy snapped into place inside him like a lock turning in a door.
A final screen appeared before his eyes:
[You have Awakened.]Name: Eli VargasClass: Revenant (Prototype)Core Trait: Unbreakable WillPrimary Ability: Adaptation — The more you survive, the stronger you become.
Eli collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting, the mirror's glow fading behind him.
The silver-haired man approached, his boots echoing in the vast chamber.
"You made it," he said, almost sounding impressed. "Not everyone does."
Eli looked up at him, vision clearing.
"What... what now?" he rasped.
The man smiled — a grim, knowing smile.
"Now," he said, "the real training begins."
Behind him, in the darkness of the underground, something shifted.
Something vast.
Something waiting.
And Eli — battered, bloodied, but still breathing — rose to his feet to meet it.
Whatever it was, he wasn't afraid anymore.
The storm inside him had finally found its place.
And it was just getting started.