Chapter-1
The dim glow of the hospital room's fluorescent lights flickered slightly, casting eerie shadows on the white walls. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound accompanying Lucas as he lay in bed, His once athletic body had withered over the years due to his illness, leaving him looking frail.
He reached for his phone, the screen lit up and illuminated his face with its pale glow.
A notification blinked at the top of the screen: [New message! The Web Novel, Dawn of Eldorin, has updated a new Chapter!]
A faint smile broke through his otherwise blank expression.
Clicking on the notification, he opened the app and began reading. For a brief moment, the world faded away.
The boy lost himself in the story, his mind grasping at the escapism it offered. But as he reached the end of the Chapter, the familiar words stared back at him:
[To Be Continued...]
He groaned, letting the phone fall onto the Bed. "Always too short," he muttered, rubbing his temples.
His gaze drifted to the clock on the wall. [23:57 P.M.]. The reminder of the late hour made his expression stiffen.
He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped together.
His mind replayed the events of the day, his thoughts circling back to a single, inescapable truth - "Lung cancer. Final stage."
The doctor's voice was clear and cold; a sentence of inevitability delivered with clinical precision. Words had hit him like a sledgehammer, but now, they felt almost distant.
His chest tightened as he stared at the floor, his thoughts a chaotic whirl of emotions he couldn't name. He had always known life was fleeting, but knowing his time was running out—knowing he would face the end alone—was a different kind of pain.
Finally, he stood, intending to get a glass of water. But as he took his first step, his vision blurred, and his legs gave out beneath him.
"Thud!"
The sound of his body hitting the floor echoed throughout the hospital room.
Coughing violently, he clutched at his chest, his breaths shallow and ragged. Blood spilled from his lips, staining the floor as his body trembled.
"I-I can't... breathe..." he thought, panic rising as his vision darkened. His strength faded quickly, his limbs going limp. The pain that had wracked his body moments ago began to fade, replaced by an eerie numbness. As his consciousness slipped away, a faint smile touched his lips.
"I'm... so tired..." he thought. "Maybe... I can finally rest..."
Darkness enveloped him completely.
---
Lucas gasped, lungs burning as if torn apart. Air rushed in sharply, hot and suffocating, and instead of hospital disinfectants he smelled—
Smoke.
Rotting wood.
Mold.
A faint metallic scent of blood.
His eyes shot open.
It wasn't the hospital ceiling.
It wasn't white lights.
It was… a broken shack's dust-covered roof.
"What—?"
He sat up abruptly, only to feel dizziness explode behind his eyes. His heart pounded violently, breathing ragged, body trembling.
His voice cracked. His fingertips touched his face, his arms— thin, malnourished, full of scars and dried blood.
Then the memories hit him like a tidal wave.
Not his own. Someone else's.
A child. Lost.
Running through burning streets.
Parents disappearing during a stormy night.
Relatives selling him out for money.
A knife.
Cold alleys.
Starving for days.
Sleeping beside corpses in slums.
And the final memory
— A letter from the Arcane Academy saying:
"Due to unique circumstances, you have been granted an opportunity to take the Entrance Examination and You have Five months to prepare before the examination."
Followed by desperate ruin exploration.
Monsters lurking inside.
Crushing rocks.
A scream.
Then darkness.
Lucas staggered, clutching his head.
"These… these aren't my memories… They're his… Lucas Starlight's…"