Darkness surrounded him from every direction.
Not the ordinary darkness of night or closed eyes, but an endless abyss so deep and absolute that Kenny could no longer feel the existence of his own body. It felt as though his consciousness had sunk beneath a cold black ocean where neither sound nor light could survive.
For a brief moment, he genuinely believed he had died.
Then the silence shattered.
BEEEEEEPPPPP! BEEEEEEPPPPP!!
A piercing alarm exploded through the darkness hard enough to make Kenny's entire body jolt violently awake.
His eyes snapped open.
Flashing crimson lights assaulted his vision immediately while deafening warning sirens echoed through a narrow metallic chamber surrounding him. The entire structure shook violently beneath him, accompanied by the horrible screeching sound of metal twisting under unbearable pressure.
Kenny's breathing became uneven as panic surged through him.
He found himself lying inside a strange transparent capsule barely large enough to contain his body. Cracks spread across the curved glass inches from his face while countless incomprehensible symbols flickered rapidly across glowing holographic screens surrounding him.
The air smelled strange.
Not smoke.
Not gasoline.
Something colder and artificial, like overheated electronics mixed with burning steel.
Before Kenny could even begin understanding where he was, an explosion erupted somewhere beyond the chamber walls.
BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!
The entire structure lurched sideways.
Kenny's body slammed painfully against the side of the capsule while sparks burst from the ceiling overhead like miniature fireworks. Somewhere deeper within the structure, something massive collapsed with a deafening metallic groan.
"What the hell is happening?!"
His own voice sounded small compared to the chaos around him.
Then, suddenly, amid the alarms and violent shaking, a cold, mechanical voice echoed through the chamber.
[Hull integrity failure detected.]
The voice lacked emotion entirely.
Cold.
Mechanical.
Emotionless.
[Hull integrity failure detected.]
[We have received another direct hit.]
[Warning. We are under pursuit.]
[Emergency portal activation authorized.]
[600 UVK energy consumed.]
A deep humming vibration suddenly filled the entire chamber, causing the air itself to tremble unnaturally. Kenny's vision distorted for half a second as strange blue light flooded the room around him.
Then—
WHOOOOSSHHHH!!
Everything went silent.
The violent shaking stopped abruptly.
Only the mechanical voice remained.
[Dimensional transition successful.]
[Current location unknown.]
[Scanning new realm designation…]
[Realm XGT confirmed.]
Kenny's mind reeled in confusion.
Realm?
Dimensional transition?
None of it made any sense.
Then another warning suddenly appeared.
[Critical system malfunction.]
[Core damage exceeds acceptable limits.]
[Crash imminent.]
The capsule surrounding Kenny unlocked with a loud hiss, but before he could even attempt to move, the entire structure suddenly tilted downward at terrifying speed.
His stomach dropped instantly.
The ship was falling.
Outside the fractured glass panels, Kenny caught glimpses of blazing fire and endless clouds rushing past at impossible speed.
"Oh God…"
The mechanical voice continued speaking as though completely indifferent to the disaster unfolding around them.
[Emergency protocol 103 initiated.]
[300 UVK energy allocated.]
Then the world exploded.
A massive impact shook the heavens themselves as a gigantic disc-shaped object tore through layers of clouds before crashing directly into a mountain valley below.
Forests shattered beneath the collision.
Ancient trees snapped apart like twigs while earth and stone erupted violently into the air. The burning object rolled across the mountainside, carving a path of destruction through the forest before finally slamming to a halt near the edge of a massive cliff.
Silence followed.
Then came fire.
Kenny regained consciousness slowly, his mind surfacing through layers of dizziness and pain as though he were drowning beneath an endless black ocean.
The first thing he felt was heat.
Intense, suffocating heat pressed against his skin from every direction.
Then came the pain.
A burning sensation spread across the left side of his face and arm so violently that Kenny immediately gasped awake. His vision blurred as smoke drifted through the shattered remains of the metallic structure surrounding him.
Everything around him was destroyed.
Twisted walls of dark metal hung at unnatural angles while sparks rained from broken machinery overhead. Flickering flames crawled across fractured corridors, illuminating the wreckage with an unstable orange glow that made the entire interior resemble a dying mechanical beast.
The air itself tasted like ash and burning steel.
Kenny coughed violently as smoke entered his lungs.
The smell instantly dragged him back into a nightmare he had spent ten years trying to forget.
Burning metal.
Smoke.
Screaming.
His parents died inside a crushed vehicle while helpless medics pulled his broken body from the wreckage.
"No…" Kenny whispered weakly.
His breathing became erratic.
Not again.
He refused to die like this.
Not trapped.
Not helpless.
Not while unable to move.
"I… can't…"
Kenny gritted his teeth so hard his jaw trembled.
"I can't die here…"
Using only his functional right arm, he dragged himself painfully across the broken floor while shattered debris scraped against his skin. Every movement sent waves of pain through his body, yet he continued pulling himself toward the distant light visible beyond the burning wreckage.
He clawed his way through smoke and twisted metal like a wounded animal fighting desperately to survive.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kenny collapsed outside the wreckage among shattered trees and burning debris scattered throughout the ruined forest.
Cold night air hit his face immediately.
Kenny collapsed against the cold dirt while desperately pulling air into his burning lungs. His entire body trembled from exhaustion as his mind struggled to process the impossible series of events that had just happened to him within the span of a few minutes.
None of it felt real.
His mind struggled desperately to make sense of everything that had happened.
For a brief moment, Kenny wondered whether the crash had killed him already and this was merely some bizarre hallucination created by a dying brain.
However, that thought vanished almost immediately when a metallic sound suddenly echoed from behind him.
CLANK.
The noise instantly caused Kenny's body to stiffen.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the burning wreckage.
Something was moving inside the flames.
At first, he thought another survivor had crawled out of the crashed structure, but the silhouette emerging from the smoke quickly destroyed that assumption.
It was a machine.
A humanoid mechanical figure slowly climbed free from the wreckage while sparks flickered across its damaged metallic frame. One of its arms appeared partially broken while sections of dark armor plating hung loose from its body, exposing glowing red lines pulsing faintly beneath the surface like artificial veins.
Despite the damage it suffered during the crash, the machine's movements remained unnervingly precise.
Not stiff like industrial machinery.
Not awkward like the primitive robots on Earth.
It moved with an almost living quality that immediately sent chills through Kenny's spine.
The humanoid machine dragged itself several meters away from the burning wreckage before gradually straightening its posture. Twisted metal groaned softly as its damaged joints shifted back into place, and then, with eerie slowness, the robot turned its head toward Kenny.
Its eyes suddenly ignited with deep crimson light.
The glowing mechanical gaze locked onto him instantly.
Kenny's heartbeat accelerated violently.
Instinctively, he began dragging himself backward across the dirt while staring at the approaching figure in fear. Something about those glowing red eyes felt deeply unnatural, almost as though the machine was not merely looking at his body, but directly into his thoughts and emotions.
For the first time in his life, Kenny genuinely felt afraid of a robot.
A bitter thought suddenly surfaced inside his mind.
After spending his entire life dreaming about creating advanced artificial intelligence…
Was he really going to die before one?
The machine stopped several meters away from him and remained completely motionless.
Then the same cold, synthetic voice Kenny heard earlier suddenly echoed inside his head once more.
[Basic System Rebooted.]
[Commencing The Articles of 404.]
[Inheritance Procedure Initiated.]
Kenny's expression froze.
"Inheritance…?"
The robot slowly raised one damaged metallic arm toward him.
Immediately, crimson light began gathering within its mechanical palm before condensing into a strange crystal shaped like a transparent pyramid. The object floated weightlessly above the robot's hand while streams of scarlet energy pulsed beneath its surface.
The crystal looked beautiful.
And terrifying.
Unknown symbols rotated endlessly inside it like living code, emitting a faint humming sound that resonated strangely inside Kenny's mind.
The synthetic voice continued speaking.
[Scanning for new Master.]
A thin red beam suddenly shot out from the robot's glowing eyes and slowly swept across Kenny's body from head to toe.
[New sentient being detected.]
[Race: Human.]
[Compatibility confirmed.]
[Beginning Inheritance Procedure.]
Before Kenny could even react properly, the floating crystal drifted toward him.
Slowly.
Silently.
The closer it moved, the stronger the strange pressure inside his chest became. Fear mixed with curiosity, while an unexplainable sensation spread through his body, as though something deep within his instincts was telling him that this moment would completely change his existence forever.
"What the hell is that thing…?"
Kenny tried backing away again, but his exhausted body refused to respond fast enough.
The crystal suddenly accelerated.
In the next instant, an indescribable agony exploded inside his skull.
"GAAAHHH!!"
Kenny immediately collapsed onto the ground while clutching his head with both hands as waves of unbearable pain surged through every nerve in his body. It felt as though molten metal had been poured directly into his brain while invisible hands tore apart his thoughts and reconstructed them piece by piece.
His vision flickered violently.
Countless streams of incomprehensible information flooded into his consciousness all at once.
Images.
Symbols.
Languages he had never seen before.
The sheer amount of information pouring into his mind was enough to drive a normal person insane.
"ARGHHHHHH!!"
Blood vessels bulged visibly across Kenny's face while his entire body convulsed against the dirt. Every cell inside his brain felt as though it was being burned apart and rearranged down to the smallest detail.
The pain continued endlessly until even screaming became impossible.
Then finally, Kenny's consciousness began collapsing beneath the overwhelming flood of information.
Darkness slowly consumed his vision once again.
And just before he completely lost consciousness, the cold synthetic voice echoed one final time inside his head.
[Inheritance Procedure completed.]
[New Master successfully bonded.]
[Authority Rank One granted.]