Chaos, life, and darkness. The three words that have always fascinated me for some reason.

Since I was sixteen, I kept having the same strange dream—the dream of being in a foreign body, or a fictional world while fighting with all my soul to survive 

In these dreams, I felt like I was someone else, belonging to a universe different from this one, in a world only real in webtoons.

But every time I woke up, I laughed. Oh man, you have a virus that strikes almost all young people your age—schizophrenia; so, pull yourself together.

Chaos, Life, and Darkness.

These three fundamental laws among many others, are perhaps the ones that govern nothingness.

At school, I learned that everything is composed of matter. But what is composed of this matter that creates everything?

Darkness is everywhere, sometimes even taking root in the light.

Chaos is capable of destroying everything, even a vacuum.

The seed called 'life' is the most tenacious among them, budding even in the darkness like a fragile flower of hope.

How do I know that? It's crazy, but even I, don't comprehend what I'm saying.

If I had to explain my life's journey, I would say two things—a seed that killed its tree before taking over everything that belonged to its origin.

A young teenager who received all the love a doting father could offer.

My father is like those hard workers you encounter in every alley in Z-city.

The world has no heroes, otherwise, my father would be among them.

Finally, a son who, since he was little, had never lacked anything despite his very common roots.

Everything seemed easy to me as soon as I knew how to differentiate good and bad.

At school, I was always top of my class until university. In sports clubs, no one could dominate me on the field.

Fame is stifling and boring, for those who know what I'm talking about.

However, I don't remember having made any significant effort to have this athlete's body or this genius' brain.

This ease may seem like a blessing before others' eyes, but a curse for me.

When was the time my heart really beat with excitement for something? - When did I get angry? - When was the time I felt torn apart by grief?

Even when that tumor took my father last year, I didn't cry. Let alone shed tears, I didn't even feel sad. 

I was there, looking at his pale corpse as if he were a stranger. That's when I understood how fake my emotions were. I pretended to be cheerful, to value those around me, and to feel the joy of living in a community.

Twenty years of a gloomy life. But now, this life that seemed too difficult for me is finally about to come to an end.

The tumor that had previously taken both of my parents, finally came back to take me too.

And for the first time, I finally understood what living meant. Yes, living is dying and finally going out in the matrix.

I know that some will start saying that I don't only have a hereditary tumor, but also a strong schizophrenia.

Pff, I don't give a damn about that.

Unlike my parents, I'm going to die young, without even having been able to go a little further.

I said to myself as I stared at the dark ceiling. The only regret I had was not having finished my higher schooling.

Out of curiosity, I had experienced everything that an average young man would want, friends, fame, and everything that goes with the path of a high school student. But in the end, none of them had any taste for me, because of their facilities.

Okay, let's cut this crap, twenty years ago, a young man named Devon Cradle was found next to the gates of an orphanage. 

Not to mention being famous, he had to trade his studies for odd jobs in order not to starve to death. 

He had to find a balance between survival and the daily struggle. 

He had never met his parents, so naturally, he took Cradle, which is actually the name of the orphanage he grew up in, as a surname. 

Despite his efforts to not end up as a homeless person, fate did not give him the chance to enjoy this thing called health. 

In the end, overwork and lack of sleep led him to stay bedridden. 

Guess which of these two is real…?

Regardless, there is indeed a man at the gates of death who is lying on his deathbed. 

{By the authority of the long-forgotten ruler of the afterlife, oh wandering soul lost in the depths of the underworld, respond to my summons and be my eternal companion.}

As the young man teetered on the brink of death, a gentle yet chilling voice echoed in his mind.

But instead of being surprised, he smiled, mimicking himself. 'Seems like my schizophrenia has reached a more refined level than I deemed.' He thought to himself, not really caring.

'At least that voice isn't that unpleasant. I never imagined my mind would conceive some odd like this.

Is it my fear of dying alone that gives me such hallucinations for some form of spiritual comfort? How miserable.' He continued in his as his lips curled up.

'I had a good life, a life filled with delusions as well.'

His consciousness, barely holding on, kept him from completing his words before he closed his eyes to what he thought was the last time.

[DING! ALL CONDITIONS ARE MET. BOUNDLESS EVOLVING'S SYSTEM WILL BE ACTIVATED AFTER FINDING A SUITABLE HOST.]

'Ugh, it's starting to get annoying. Even a quiet death seems too much to ask.' He made a face before opening his eyes just to see if there was a third with him.

To his bummer, as far as his eyes could see, he could only gaze at the infinite darkness.

Despite this shocking scene, his was peaceful, not showing the slightest ripple.

Instead of being afraid or feeling anxious, the boy stared into the abyss with dispassion.

Although it was his first time, he gave the impression that he had always lived in this environment.

'The darkness does not scare me, I have always coexisted with it since my birth.

But something new made him frown.

A holographic screen that floated in front of him with texts.

He looked at this screen like an intruder in his comfort zone.

'What the...?' He stopped halfway as he saw the texts change.

[CONGRATULATION! THE HOST IS SUITABLE TO USE BOUNDLESS EVOLVING'S SYSTEM!]

[Wait until the end to learn more.]

"...Since when did I start having such a perverted imagination?" Although he mumbled, he couldn't help but smile slightly in the dark as his adrenaline spiked in overexcitement.

Though too good to be true, Devon begins to imagine himself in something more ironic than even his wildest imaginations had previously concocted.

After those words disappeared before his eyes, his surroundings gradually changed as well.

As time passed by with chameleon steps-like seconds, he found himself lying in a grave with a demon queen-like maiden standing nearby.

It was still dark, but nothing like the previous darkness he was.

Instinctively, he sits up on the butt, without breaking eye contact with that gal above the whole he was.

'How did I get here?' He firstly whispered.

But when he gaped at the mysterious young girl for a second time, he saw the same faceline. 'She's not...human.'

Just like him, the girl was also staring at him with the same daze.

She had short black hair down her collarbones, two black crowned-shape-like horns curved upward, and crimson-red eyes.

Her complexion was ashed and she had a tattoo resembling a blood crucifix on her forehead, running down between her eyebrows.

So many contradictions forced Devon's mind to forget the previous scene and focus on her with wonder.

'…What world did I end up in?' He couldn't help but get puzzled about this sight.

Even though he didn't feel any threat coming from this creature that seemed to come straight out of the abyss, something scared him more.

His tranquility.

Instead of feeling fear or something similar, he felt safe.

It was the most alarming thing for him to feel safe in the presence of this 'girl' he was seeing for the first time.

Besides, the girl's eyes also widened when she saw this scene in front of her.

Her surprise was such that the red-brown grimoire she had in her hand fell. 

It wasn't fear that Devon read in her eyes, but hope and another emotion that he didn't dare describe with words. 

"It... it worked...? It really worked!!" She didn't bother to pick up her grimoire. 

She reached out to Devon, doing her best to smile warmly at him. 

Driven by his instinct, Devon tried to grab the girl's hand. 

However, 

"???" 

Waves of chill ran down his spine When he saw his so-called hand. 

Instead of a dream, he realized that it was a nightmare he was living right now. 

The sight of that hand moving in his direction was like a hammer of despair. Worse yet, the other parts of his body also had the same characteristics as his hand.

'Bones? Piles of bones?! What the f*ck are these...!? What am I reincarnated!?' Even though he no longer had the heart to frantically beat according to his panic, his hands trembling before his eyes were more than enough of a sign of horror.

"What are you waiting for, get out of here."

She didn't consider Devon's body signs.

Fearlessly, the mysterious girl pulled him out of the grave with a face boiling out of excitement.

Devon who thought he had enough of a surprise dose, was shocked again as soon as he left the grave.

-!! 

Yet, the two small balls-like spherical red neon in his eye sockets tremble with fear as he sees the small mountain of corpses piled up behind the girl.

Regardless of the feeling of security he had felt before, …was somehow now vanished when goggled at the girl smiling in such a dreadful situation.

With a careful look, he could now notice details that had escaped him at first.

Because the girl was dressed in a black priestess gown, the blood stains on her were not too visible.

At this moment, Devon could not only see these blood stains on her clothes but also along her limbs and hair.

She reeked of blood like a butcher straight out of the slaughterhouse.

But she was smiling.

'What the hell...

Before he could finish his sentence, the girl finally released him.

She picks up her red-brown book that was also stained with blood and walks a little further towards the corpse closest to them.

All the corpses were humans, without exception.

This made Devon believe that he was reincarnated in a similar world that he sees all the time in crappy webtoons.

However, what he didn't expect, was that the girl he takes for a demon was a human.

Although all her features make her pass for a demon queen, she is very human.