"Catch the thief!" A voice sliced through the gloom of the ancient forest, sending a murder of crows scattering into the twilight.
"Don't let that street rat escape! The Master promised gold for his head!" The hunting cries echoed between the gnarled trees as Wu Chen, a thin boy of sixteen, crashed through the undergrowth.
His bare feet tore across roots and rocks, each ragged breath burning in his chest.
The pounding footsteps grew closer.
Why?!!
The question screamed in his mind with every frantic heartbeat. Why hunt me like an animal just for a stupid ring?
Even calling me a Thief!.
For an Item I won.
The gold ring weighed heavy in his pocket - a trinket to nobles, but a month's meals to him.
The No Return Forest lived up to its name. Towering oaks twisted like tortured souls, their branches clawing at his arms as he ran. Even the air felt thick with malice, as if the forest itself wanted to swallow him whole.
Wu Chen knew the truth in his bones - even if he threw the ring at their feet, these men wouldn't let him walk away. The wealthy didn't just want their property back; they needed to make an example of the gutter trash who dared touch what they believe was theirs.
A bitter laugh escaped his bleeding lips.
Of course!!.
In this world, the strong took what they wanted, while the weak... the weak existed only to be crushed underfoot.
He'd learned that lesson in the slums of Azure Flame City, where starving orphans disappeared nightly and no one cared.
Human's are Very Selfish and wicked in Nature to fulfill their desire they can do anything, without a care in the world even if it harms.
Look now how they are Trying to do to him, what they will never want anyone to do to themselves.
His legs screamed in protest as he vaulted over a rotting log. The hunters' torches cast monstrous shadows on the trees ahead.
Is this all my life is worth? Wu Chen thought desperately. Just another nameless corpse in the woods because some noble's pride was bruised?
The injustice burned hotter than his aching muscles.
These men would return to warm beds tonight, while the world would never know he'd existed at all.
Maybe Unless... unless he refused to die.
As he dashed deeper into the murky woods, something caught his eye: a dark, narrow tunnel to his right. A winding path lay to his left, and ahead stretched an endless thicket.
The tunnel, however, appeared unassuming and hidden, tucked away in the shadows.
During his frantic flight, Wu Chen decided to take a chance; his instincts screamed that it would be easier for his hunters to overlook a secretive hideout. He veered to the left and plunged into the tunnel.
He slid down into the cold, damp darkness, immediately holding his breath to stifle the sound of his frantic heartbeat.
Above, boots crunched past the entrance. "Damn rat must've taken the game trail!"
Wu Chen didn't move. The darkness pressed against his eyeballs, thick with the stench of wet stone and his own fear-sour sweat. Somewhere in the void, water dripped like a slowing heartbeat.
Time seemed to stretch as he remained utterly still; moments later, the voices of his pursuers faded into the distance. Wu Chen remained concealed within the tunnel, his senses heightened and straining for any hint of danger.
The world devours the weak.
This was the first lesson the streets burned into Wu Chen's bones. At sixteen winters old, he'd learned this truth more intimately than most men learn their own names.
An orphan of the gutters, he had no lineage to claim him, no ancestral home to shelter him. The city had birthed him as indifferently as it spawned rats in its sewers, raising him on scraps and cruelty in equal measure.
Every glimmer of hope came poisoned with betrayal:
- A day's wages stolen by older beggars
- Shelter denied because his face looked "troublesome"
- This damned gold ring now bringing death at his heels
The noble's men hunting him saw no crime in their pursuit. To them, Wu Chen wasn't a person - just a thieving shadow to be eradicated. Their boots would keep his blood warm tonight while they slept on goose-down pillows.
Where He stayed most of the time, His refuge, if it could be called that, was a gambling den—a place where the wealthy and noble gathered to indulge in their vices.
Here, stone orbs were appraised, fortunes were won and lost, and the air buzzed with the clinking of coins and the murmurs of greed.
Over time, Wu Chen became observant, sharpening his instincts until he could detect treasures as skillfully as the seasoned appraisers.
After years of scraping together meager earnings, he finally took a gamble—and won.
The prize was no ordinary item: it was a mysterious gold ring, ancient and pulsing with an otherworldly aura.
The gambling house, bound by its reputation, handed it over to him, though their envy was palpable.
They could have easily snatched it away, but their pride held them back.
Others, however, had no such scruples.
And now, here he was—cornered, desperate, and clutching the ring that had become both his salvation and his curse.
After a while, the weather outside shifted dramatically. A powerful storm rolled in, with lightning tearing across the sky and rain pounding against the earth.
The chill seeped into Wu Chen's hidden space, and he instinctively curled into a ball to ward off the cold. As exhaustion took hold, he began to doze, his body finally succumbing to fatigue.
When he stirred again, Wu Chen found himself in an astonishing place.
It was as if he had awakened in the imprint of a colossal palm, situated like an island amidst an endless sea of shimmering light and swirling colors. Everything felt surreal and otherworldly.
Disoriented, Wu Chen clawed through his fractured memories.
Only fragments surfaced, recalling only the frantic chase and his desperate hiding in the tunnel.
But this? This place defied reason.
"Where am I?" His voice cracked, swallowed by the vast, eerie silence around him.
Then—a voice answered.
Not from any direction, but from within, as if the words resonated in his bones before they reached his ears. Deep, ancient, humming with unfathomable power.
"You stand within Trinity Palace… in the Andromeda Galaxy."