Itsuki opened his eyes, and all around him was an endless void stretched in every direction—pure darkness, swallowing everything. There was no sky, no ground, no horizon. Only an empty, suffocating blackness.
He stood at the center of it, as if under an invisible spotlight. The "light" didn't illuminate anything beyond the faint outline of his own body. No matter how he squinted—no matter how hard he tried to focus like someone staring long enough at a night sky to find stars—nothing appeared.
Only silence.
Utter, deafening silence.
Where the heck am I…?
The thought echoed sharply through his mind, bouncing off the emptiness around him as if the void itself answered with his own voice.
He ran his hands along his arms, chest, face—everywhere—checking if he was still whole.
I can feel my body… but it doesn't feel like it's actually here.
"Hello! … Hello!"
His voice echoed outward but faded without a trace.
Shit…
The last memory hit him like a slap.
The system's dashboard notifying him about the punishment he was about to face.
"Shit. Am I actually dead?!"
His words boomed across the void, the silence swallowing them after a delayed, hollow echo.
I mean, I knew death was a possibility—but I didn't think it'd happen this soon.
I disobey one measly order and I get killed? Just like that? I haven't even lived in this damn body for a full day…
He rotated slowly, scanning the endless darkness for anything—an edge, a ceiling, a floor, a glow—anything.
Is this heaven? Or Hell?
Or is it some kind of cosmic time-out the so-called "True Light" tossed me into for ignoring his system?
He scoffed inwardly.
I've never understood gods. Always pushing their agendas on people and calling it "judgment." Beings like the Greek gods were basically narcissists with divine powers….
He let himself fall backward, landing on… nothing. Or something. Whatever passed for a surface in this place, if it was a surface.
If this is a prison, maybe i'll be let out eventually. All I did was refuse to serve myself up to Abyssals on a silver platter.
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How long have I even been here? Maybe a little over ten minutes?
He exhaled as he ran his hand through his hair.
What's the True Light planning? A day? An hour? Eternal boredom as punishment?
His thoughts drifted for a moment—then sharpened as it slowly moved through the events that had happened before he got sent to the void.
I wonder if it was all just coincidence. The armored unit captain talking to the supervisor… the fact that over fifty Abyssals were in a rift that was already declared safe enough for excavation.
If it wasn't coincidence, then someone had planned a massacre.
But… why?
Why kill workers? Why go that far to murder people who don't matter to anyone except their families?
Although, if they wanted a specific person dead, I suppose using a rift filled with Abyssals would be smart…
He clicked his tongue mentally.
But fifty-two? That's insane. People would definitely start pointing fingers at the unit responsible for clearing the rift in the first place.
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Unless they too were also meant to be disposable?
If that's the case… faking that injury and halting the work might've been a smart decision. That or actually killing all fifty-two Abyssals myself, but—yeah. I'll stick with the lie.
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And that crystal…
The Abyssal somehow managed to carve it into a blade.
Mining them out of stone is already hard enough for humans with tools, and yet, that creature shaped one into a weapon with nothing but its hands?..
That's insane…
He mind went back to when he snatched it and hid it behind a pillar in the cavern before he staggered out of the rift.
I hope it's still there by the time this punishment ends—assuming I'm not actually dead.
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If these things could carve blades, who's to say they couldn't shape the crystals into more than that?
Molding, even crafting. If they're capable of complex tool manipulation like those, then their intelligence needs far deeper study.
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Adrien's life really mirrors my old one to an extent…
There's people researching facts, studying anomalies, pushing knowledge forward.
There's probably already someone in this world investigating things like that—someone far above Adrien's social level, somewhere Adrien himself never dreamt of having the chance to reach...
But maybe with the system's help, I'll be able to accomplish some of that… maybe more.
Though, even that's a fragile assumption, since I still know next to nothing about the system.
Or the True Light.
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Adrien's friend mentioned the True Light before the excavation began. The way he spoke made it clear—it isn't just a concept. It's a faith.
Something everyone in this world worships as a god.
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If that's the case, why bother with trash like me?
And why choose Adrien's body?
Maybe, it wasn't intentional?—maybe our deaths just happened to line up at the exact same moment?..
"This is such a hassle!!"
His voice cracked through the void, swallowed once more by endless darkness.
Then there's the matter of the Archetypes.
If my guess is right, archetypes are tied to being an Awakener. You only learn what you are after checking your limit at the Council—whatever that is.
The armor of the first unit I saw makes more sense with that in mind: heavy plating for Combaters, lighter suits for archetypes ranging from Assassins to Skinwalkers…
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I wonder what archetype the captain was...
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And then, there's the ranking system…
From what Dupont and Adrien's friend said, Awakeners have ranks, with the S-Ranks being the most rare and powerful.
But the system uses levels, not ranks.
Safe to say Level 7 is way too low to be comparable to an S-Rank.
Maybe killing those Abyssals would've helped me climb higher?…
I'll have to confirm later...
"As soon as I get out of this place!"
His frustration echoed outward again, lost immediately in the void.
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How long have I been here for…?
I've completely lost track of time.
He rubbed his hands over the side of his body, confirming he still had a body—whatever that meant here—then lowering his palm, he started to tap lightly against the invisible ground beneath him.
I can't just sit here doing nothing. If I have no sense of time, then I'll just have to count it myself.
One…
Two…
Three…
Four…
Five…
His mind kept racing.
He lay there, eyes open, staring at an eternity of nothing. Even while he counted, he's thoughts spiraled in circles—analysis, comparisons, memories of the world he came from, musings on the world he was now in. His brain clawed for anything to help pass the time.
And even though he tried to push the thought backwards and reject it, it was still awfully clear.
Time here, meant nothing.
*****
His eyelids fluttered.
Warm, muted light seeped into his vision—golden rays slipping past the massive warehouse doors and washed over him in a soft, hazy blur.
Is this… actually sunlight?
Before he could fully gather himself, he felt the weight of two bodies bracing him—Dupont on his right, Adrien's friend on his left. They guided him forward step by step, out of the dim warehouse where the rift was in.
As the light brightened and the outside world fully came into view, Dupont glanced at him. Her brows drew together as she stared blankly at his face..
"…Are you, crying?"
Adrien's friend whipped his head towards him too,
"Does it really hurt that much!?"
Itsuki sniffed, unable to stop the small, relieved smile forming at the corner of his lips. His gaze remained locked on the sunlight pouring over the streets outside.
"Yeah," he murmured, his voice light and quiet, trembling just a little. "Just for a moment though…"