[ Chapter I (1): "TRICKED BY THE MACHINE GODS!" ]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
In the universe that only knew pain, struggle, sacrifice, and hopelessness; one certain individual stood out.
As he isn't from around here... He is someone that'll completely change the future, someone unbind, untied, unknown and is foreign from the destined fate of this universe...
But what if something happens, and he is forced to interact with the grim darkness of the future?
Will he destroy everything? Save everything?
Or will he be the destined arbiter that'll change the fates of trillions?
The universe doesn't know, so does anyone and everyone... Even this great existence himself, as he grapples with the new reality he now finds himself in.
[ "W-where the hell exactly am I?!!" ]
A young man, in his mid to late 20s. His once dyed hair turned back to their original color, which is black. His appearance returns to its original also, before the many surgeries, which he dearly hates. For it reminds him of his father...
But to his relief not all things have changed. His physique for example that borders between malnourished and sickly, one that is imperfect, but he likes at least, is still here...
His eyes on the other hand... It flickers from left-to-right, having slightly been changed from their original black; which he had covered with contact lenses daily, varying in colors... Purple, red, green...
But never blue... As unbeknownst to him, his eyes had changed to azure blue that mirrors that of the sea. A beautiful pair of eyes that shouldn't be his, but is now his.
[ "I-I is this heaven...?!" ]
He panicked, scanned his surroundings and could only see green lush forest. Though with slight deviance from the forest he knows and doesn't care about...
This new forest he found himself looking at, is abnormal. Towering over the largest tree he knows, reaching up to even the highest apartment he had seen first-hand.
The branches are sturdy, thick, and slightly greenish rather than the supposed brown, extending to other trees forming a slightly dense wall...
Thankfully there are gaps in-between most, if not all of them; which made him not exactly boxed in, but also not giving him enough breathing room... He felt suffocated.
But not just suffocated. He also felt a thousand other emotions at once, all battling inside his mind as the world seemingly stopped for him... The afterlife he found himself in, being not the one he expected it to be.
He was prepared to go and suffer in hell. May that be reddish with the sea of fire, or cold to the point that his body would freeze just standing a minute in that supposed hell... But no.
Apparently hell, or this afterlife he found himself in. Isn't the same from the ones his so-called believer friends preach to him about... To be fair, he let himself be preached on, so that he can score on those lovely innocent ladies...
But still, this place that he found himself in. It doesn't seem to be heaven, or the hell he promised to go into, or the void wherein nothing exists, or even any other afterlife, this isn't even nothing.
Because this place is something... And he could feel the said something bite into his skin, but no matter how much he looks, or tries to swat it, he can't seem to find anything.
The pain he felt was like, a mosquito biting into him... Or ants... But no matter how much he scratches, he can't get rid of the existence of those somethings biting him.
He could only grumble in response.
[ "Damn it...!" ]
Alastor Blank, a weird name for somebody. Could be seen looking around, at the foreign surroundings he found himself in; and no matter how much he looked. He still can't understand what's happening, or partially of what's happening.
He can't grapple the fact, that an afterlife truly exists. Even though it isn't what he expected it to be. At the very least, it is still something.
[ "Okay. Okay, this is freaky..." ]
Alastor smiles to himself, as what floats in front of him are texts that blend with the surroundings. No holograph, but just floating black ink that says the following; [ WELCOME PLAYER NO. 1! ]
[ PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR PARTICIPATION WITH THE GAME ]
[ SWIPE LEFT FOR NO ]
[ SWIPE RIGHT FOR YES ]
[ "Huh...?" ]
Feeling muddled, confused, and amused from what he is seeing. Alastor absentmindedly tried touching the floating text in front of him, which didn't do anything other than letting his hands pass through the words.
He also tried many things, even moving around... But the texts followed him, and is still continuing to follow him in a fixed distance. He then tried turning around to the side, but the floating texts followed his vision; as they floated in front of him...
Confused on what to do, Alastor who doesn't fully understand the inner workings of this thing... Or whatever the hell he is in, decided that it'll be best to not join this so-called "game" or be a "player."
He watched and knows of many death games, and wouldn't want his consent to be used on him later. Especially because he still doesn't fully know what this so-called "game" is.
It might be bad, it might be good. He doesn't know.
But what he does know, is that. You don't kidnap someone, or just randomly wake up somewhere foreign, somewhere unreal and just randomly do all these theatrics without wanting something in return.
In most death games, then that'll be the participation of someone, a player most of the time, to a life-or-death situation game.
He watched Squid Game, he watched As the Gods Will, and even Alice in Borderland, some more but he forgot the name of. So in no way he'll easily give consent, lest this be another one of those situations. Or worse.
Besides... He knows he died. Stabbed in the neck by a sharp object, then repeatedly in the back before he finally succumbed. Alastor knows, even though it's muddy, blurry, and dark at that time.
He can still feel the pain before, and he can still remember partially of what happened. And how he cried... It's just that not everything, even his past memories are muddled, may that be due to him being forgetful or something else, he doesn't know.
So at the moment, he can wholeheartedly say that he; [ "I-I died..." ] And he wouldn't be tricked on signing something, or giving consent to something unknown; who knows, this may be the purgatory without him knowing.
So with anger about his death, he repeatedly swiped the text to the side. Once, twice, thrice, nth time... But no matter what he does... It doesn't work.
[ "Huh?!" ]
[ "Why isn't it working...?" ]
The instructions were clear as day, floating still right in front of him. Say no via swipe to the left, say yes i.e. give consent via swipe to the right... He is doing the first option of the two, so what exactly is going on?
He kept doing what he does... But suddenly... The text shifted at a rapid pace that it didn't even register to Alastor, only when it was too late; [ "No!" ]
Because what the changes in text did, is change the yes with a no, and the no with a yes. So basically, even though he didn't want to do it, Alastor had given his consent for this so-called "game" to start. And he will have to face unknown terrors along the way.
This is stupid...!
Alastor grumbled inside his head, preparing for the worst to come... He waited, and waited... But seemingly nothing came.
[ THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION PLAYER ]
[ THE SYSTEM WILL NOW ACTIVATE, PLEASE DO NOT LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE PROCESS ]
[ "E-excuse me... T-thing, what exactly do you me-" ]
Worried for his safety, Alastor tried voicing out his thoughts. In hope that it could in some way talk to the man behind the floating texts... But before he could complete his sentence... He fall.
Clutching his head, on the ground, in pain... Much more than being stabbed by a sharp object to the neck, and on the back. What he now feels is that, but a thousandfold as he screams in anguish, despair, in true pain.
[ "AHHH!! SH-SHIT!!!" ]
Wanting right then and there, in that moment for everything to end; if that's what it'll take to end this pain he is feeling. But contrary to expectations, Alastor who felt like being pierced by nails all throughout his being can't die.
[ "I-I can't die!" ]
[ "S-shit. SHIT!" ]
As he at this moment bears the pain. On the ground, crying, tears dropping from the corner of his eyes, and snot covering his face trailing down to the grass below...
He wheezes in pain, not knowing where to go. The now proud Alastor, in unbearable pain and in a humiliating position— in fetus-like position scrambling on about on the grass...
Wanting to end it all... Before thankfully, stopping. A voice now ringing inside his head, which sounded feminine but also robotic.
[ SYSTEM INTEGRATED, WELCOME PLAYER NO. 1 TO WARHAMMER 40,000 UNIVERSE ]
[ ——— ] [ ——— ] [ ——— ] [ ——— ]
[ 04/26/2025 ]
[ 04/27/2025 ]