A distant, vibrant, blue planet of the cosmos.
Vast expanse of terrains spanning millions of miles, patched the entirety of its surface as huge bodies of waters surrounded its lands.
Towering trees shoots through the atmosphere, as if guarding the mighty earth that housed its birth.
Mountain ranges akin to sleeping primordial beasts guarded the borders in between.
Where myriads of races strive to compete for survival and hegemony.
Where the weak will always be a prey for the strong.
The world of Arcadia.
***
'Fuck! My head hurts so much. Holy shit.'
Raven tried to open his eyes, grabbing anything that can support him to stand up.
Beep!
{Successfully booted.}
Oblivious to the sound of what seemed to be a message notification, Raven somehow found a platform to hold on to.
'I can't rest here anymore. They...might be near me somewhere. Must find another pla--'
Beep!
{Options are now available.}
It was at this time that he finally noticed a sound ringing from somewhere, causing him to slip down.
'Fuc-?! What the hell was that?'
The voice was clearly from a lady, but it sounded monotonous as if it came from a machine. He tried searching around with difficulty but because of how dizzy and weak he was feeling right now, he was confused.
His eyes, now opened, Raven observed around. He noticed that the sun was already setting, evident from the orange hue of the sky.
Trees, shrubs and a river were in his surroundings. His clothes were damped and injuries riddled his entire body.
"Where the heck am I?"
Confused at this circumstance, he lied down quietly by the river. His mind ran back to the the tiny bits of memories just from a couple of moments ago.
***
Raven was an assassin by profession, a particularly outstanding one at that.
Ever since his debut 3 years ago, there was no place he could not infiltrate and his rate of success was a hundred percent. It was something that is utterly impossible, but he somehow managed to pull off.
Thus, he became the acknowledged number one assassin in the underworld. At the same time, his codename, "Reaper", rose to the first spot of the underworld's experts.
Whoever the target was, the Reaper would finish it quick and clean.
Delivering souls to the afterlife, akin to a judge that decides the life and death.
Well, the downside was, he also occupied the shining and glittering number one spot for the bounty offered on a head, worldwide.
This was not to say that no one was willing to take on this request, rather, there was no one capable of completing it!
No one possessed the ability to go toe-to-toe against Raven, much less kill him.
Countless daredevils took on the job, but the only reward they obtained was death while the "Reaper" still lived.
He has his own bottom line though, he would not kill someone if it did not suit his taste. He won't do it even if you pay him a quarter of the world, but would willingly take action when the case interests him, even if the pay would only be... donuts.
Yes, there was a time when he was just passing by a slum district to complete a mission. He then saw a little girl crying in the streets. A box of donuts was sprawled on the ground where the little girl's parents were lying down, bloodied and lifeless.
Turns out, the parents of the little girl were murdered by hoodlums because of some 'protection fees'.
Raven instantly understood what happened and asked the girl if he could get a donut as his payment. A donut for a bunch of good-for-nothing thugs? What a steal, eh?
Fast forward to his latest mission, where he was tasked by the higher-ups of the underworld to retrieve a relic that was recently discovered in the pyramids.
The said relic was producing massive energy storms capable of contesting the energy produced by hundreds of power plants combined.
Now, anything that produces energy will be beyond valuable to any country, much less one capable of contesting hundreds of nuclear-powered plants at that.
Over thirty international organizations plotted and schemed against each other to obtain the largest piece of the pie.
The pyramids of Egypt.
Skirmishes and blood-soaked battles were everywhere along the way towards where the energy was coming from.
Until there were only a small amount of people left.
Facing off with each other while looking at the distant floating orb of dense energy, the scene was mystical yet horrifying.
The final stand of carnage happened and lasted for over an hour. It got to the point where the Reaper was the only one alive from his team and he had to face enemies from multiple directions.
No one knew what identity he held at that moment, but the outstanding skills, maneuvers, and plots he devised caused the other agents to focus their fire into him.
Besieged from all sides, he was left with no other choice.
He disregarded his safety and ran straight to the orb.
But before he can reach the floating orb...
An extremely terrifying and massive storm of energy pulsated from it.
Devouring everyone in the vicinity.
*****
As he was combing information from his memories, he heard the mechanical voice of a lady somewhere yet again.
{Options are now available.}
'Wait... is this..?'
Raven knew somehow from that moment, it was coming somewhere inside his head. He couldn't clearly just point out how it was possible though, as he was surrounded by trees, shrubs, and a river.
Besides all of that, there was nothing nearby that can produce a machine-like sound.
"Uhr-uhmm...Uhh... show?" Raven said groggily.
Ding!
[Emergency Module]
[Introduction]
A black panel then popped up in front of him. Glaring red lights dyed the 'Emergency Module' on as if to say that it needs immediate attention right now, while 'Introduction' sits below it, giving off a faint light.
He was shocked by this turn of events as he couldn't possibly know what was happening right now.
So he tried to think hard for a while and...
...decided that going with the flow won't harm him either way, probably.
Anyone would know that an introduction would be some kind of tutorial or some sort, so Raven particularly didn't worry about this one.
He was staring intently at the glaring red 'Emergency Module', pondering what to do next.
Ding!
Then the next panel popped up naturally.
"Oh, it doesn't need to be said... saves me from some embarrassing stuff."
['The Trial'
Soul is damaged. Needs immediate repair in order to function completely.
Find a living object and extract its soul.
Extracted soul/s: 0%
Time limit: 42:17:52
Reward: 'Host' Title
Penalty: Death]
"What!?"
< Chapter 1 > Fin.
Notes:
' ' = inner thoughts
{ } = system's voice
[ ] = floating panel