AT THE SAME TIME
XAVIER'S POINT OF VIEW:
The last thing I remember was pain. The screech of tires, the blinding light, and then… nothing. When I woke up, it wasn't what I expected.
There was no hospital room, no paramedics frantically trying to revive me. Instead, I felt the soft crunch of leaves beneath me. I sat up with a gasp, confusion flooding my senses. The air smelled… fresh. Too fresh. I wasn't surrounded by the usual city noise the honking cars, the distant chatter of people. I was in the middle of a dense forest, the sunlight streaming down through thick trees, their branches heavy with leaves.
Where am I? This couldn't be real. I looked around again, panic rising in my chest. Everything looked so… alive. Too alive. This wasn't the city I knew. There were no towering buildings, no concrete streets. This was a place out of a dream. I staggered to my feet, my limbs oddly light, and felt something strange a faint hum, like electricity dancing under my skin. My fingers twitched, and suddenly a screen appeared in front of me.
"Game World Loading… Welcome to Omega's Rebirth: The Fall of the Packs"System said.
My heart nearly stopped. Wait. What? I blinked several times, staring at the screen in front of me. I could barely process the words. Game world? Rebirth? This was… the game. I knew it. I used to play 'Omega's Rebirth' a popular virtual reality game set in a world dominated by wolf packs and alpha dynamics. But it was just a game, right? I swiped at the screen, trying to make it go away, but instead, more text appeared.
"Character Profile: Xavier Black, Male Omega" System said.
My stomach dropped. No way. No freaking way. I read the words again, my brain scrambling to comprehend the situation. Xavier Black? My name. And it said male omega. A male omega. The rarest and weakest of all, the one no one wanted, the one everyone cast aside. It was my worst nightmare, no, my life. I hadn't played this game in months, but I remembered it well. I knew Xavier Black he character I had chosen back when I first dove into the game. He was weak, outcast, and utterly useless in a world full of alphas and betas who could overpower him at a moment's notice. He was the type of character no one would choose unless they were into suffering. I had chosen him for the challenge. For the novelty. But to actually wake up in his shoes? This wasn't a joke.
The world around me suddenly seemed more vivid, more real than anything I'd ever experienced in the game. The grass underfoot felt real. The air was crisp, and I could smell the forest, the damp earth, the pine trees. This wasn't a simulation. This wasn't a game. This was my new reality. A voice cut through the confusion, sharp and commanding, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts.
"You're pathetic."I heard a female voice.
I jerked my head up to see her standing there, looking down at me like I was the scum of the earth. Aria. She was the pack alpha in the game a powerful, beautiful, and cold hearted leader of the pack. In the game, she was untouchable, feared, and respected. But here? In this strange new reality? She looked like she was ready to crush me with a single look.
"What the hell do you want?" I croaked, my throat dry. My mouth felt like it was full of sand. Her gaze was condescending, pitying even.
"You're a disgrace to this pack, Xavier Black. You've always been a liability. You're a male omega. A failure."She said.
She spat the words like they were venom. The words stung, but they weren't unfamiliar. In the game, this was how Aria treated Xavier. The weakest of the pack, the one who couldn't even protect himself. The one no one cared about. But now that I was in this world, living it, her cruelty felt too real.
"You're no longer welcome in this pack." Aria continued, stepping forward, her eyes icy. "You're weak. Pathetic. Useless. Your kind has no place here."
I stood up shakily, my body still adjusting to the strange, unfamiliar sensation of being in this world, in Xavier's body. My fingers twitched, and just as I was about to speak, a familiar text box appeared in front of me.
"Reverse reward ability activated. The more you suffer, the stronger you become." System said.
My heart stopped. This couldn't be right. This ability. It was the one thing Xavier had that everyone thought was a joke. In the game, it was a joke. The more you suffered, the more rewards you could earn. Everyone laughed at it. Who wanted to suffer for power? But now? Now that I was here, trapped in the body of a character who could barely stand on his own two feet, that ability didn't feel like a joke anymore. It felt like a lifeline. I glanced up at Aria, who was watching me with disdain. Maybe she thought I was still weak, still worthless.
But as I stood there, I felt it a flicker of power inside me. The smallest spark. I wasn't sure what the system was trying to do with me, but I knew one thing: I wasn't going to be anyone's punching bag anymore.
"You think I'm weak?" I managed, the words rough but full of defiance. I raised my head to look her in the eye. "We'll see about that."
Her smirk faded, replaced by something colder.
"Prove it." She sneered, like she couldn't wait to see me fail.
And for the first time since waking up, I didn't feel like I was about to lose. I didn't feel helpless. In fact, I felt the opposite. I felt like this world, this game, had just become my playground.
"You are being exiled. You cannot grab or take any items. Your exile location is the Dangerous wilds." System said.
My heart dropped straight into my stomach. The Dangerous wilds? The most brutal, unrelenting forest in the game? No supplies. No weapons. No way to protect myself. Just me, in the heart of a place known for its monstrous predators and vicious terrain.
She turned her back on me, her voice cold as she took a few steps away.
"This is your punishment, Xavier. Your weakness is your own problem now. Survive if you can."She said as she left.
The Dangerous wilds was a place full of monsters giant, vicious creatures that didn't care whether you were an omega or an alpha. They'd tear you apart if you were weak, and I was as weak.
Soon I was teleported inside that hell place. I gritted my teeth, trying to force myself into action, but the more I tried to move, the more it felt like my body was resisting me. I couldn't even move forward, let alone take a step toward the trees. What kind of system was this? But now that I was here trapped in a world that wasn't mine, with nothing but my wits and whatever scraps of power this game could give me I didn't have a choice. I had to survive. The monsters in these woods wouldn't wait for me to find my strength. They'd tear me apart before I even had a chance to use it. Then I heard it. A low growl, so deep that it rattled the bones of the earth beneath me. My heart stopped.
I spun around, my eyes wide with panic. The shadows in the trees shifted, and then there. A massive creature emerged, its eyes glowing a fierce red, its teeth bared in a menacing snarl. I wasn't ready for this. The creature's hulking form emerged from the forest's edge. It was like a twisted combination of a wolf and a bear, its muscles rippling beneath its matted fur. I had no idea what it was, but I didn't need to. The system didn't need to tell me I was in immediate danger. It was obvious.
"You Have Taken Damage." System said.
A sharp pain shot through my body, making me gasp, but something inside me… shifted. My body was still weak, but I wasn't helpless anymore. The creature lunged toward me, but this time, I wasn't standing still. I stepped back quickly, narrowly avoiding its claws, and barely dodged the snapping jaws that came at me. My heart raced, but I felt something I hadn't before. I ran and didn't turn back. I knew I had to survive and with the system I wasn't powerless.