Introduction Kane was a man in his early twenties who had just graduated from university. Now, with university finally behind him, Kane was looking for a job. But it wasn't going particularly well. It was another quite Monday afternoon as he sat in front of his computer, scrolling through lists of job postings, wondering whether his degree had been worth the years he'd spent earning it. His eyes looked as if bloodshot, endlessly refreshing job boards. Entry level position: Requires minimum of 3 years of experience. He groaned, "What exactly did you want me to do, work full time while I was in university and somehow attend lectures, and develop three years of professional experience simultaneously? Then they have the audacity to write: "Recent graduates are encouraged to apply." Four years of education and somehow my most important qualification is apparently three years of something I wasn't allowed to have yet. Maybe that was enough for today. He didn't need to solve his entire life tonight. He could think about it tomorrow. Or the day after that. Preferably sometime after the universe stopped requiring three years of experience for jobs that apparently existed to give people their first three years of experience. Kane sighed. "Fuck it. I'm playing something." As he opened Steam. The familiar library appeared on the screen, a collection of games he had accumulated over the years, most of which he had apparently purchased during sales with the confidence of a man who would definitely play them someday. His library went on and on, hundreds of hours of entertainment supposedly sitting at his fingertips, yet somehow none of it looked remotely appealing. He opened one game, stared at the play button for three seconds, then closed it. At some point, he realized he wasn't even reading the titles anymore he was just moving his mouse up and down. Kane stared blankly at the screen. "I don't even want to play anything." That realization somehow made him more irritated. He had spent an hour wanting to escape from reality, only to discover that apparently even escaping required effort. He leaned back again and stared at the ceiling. Maybe he'd just watch something. His eyes drifted back toward the monitor, then back to the ceiling. The library remained open, patiently displaying hundreds of games he had once been convinced he desperately needed. Kane sighed. "Human beings really are terrible at making themselves happy." He paused. "...I spent fifty nine dollars on this game?" He looked at the title again. He had absolutely no memory of buying it. Suddenly Kane heard a voice in their head [System Initiated.] He froze. For several seconds, nothing happened. Everything went black as he lost consciousness. When his eyes blinked open, the suffocating scent of pine, damp soil, and ozone hit him like a physical blow. He was standing on a patch of lush green grass. Trees surrounded him in every direction, enormous trunks rising into a canopy so dense that much of the sky disappeared behind it. There were no distant sounds of civilization. Even the landscape itself felt wrong in a way Kane couldn't immediately explain. It was too vast, and untouched as though nobody had ever bothered to leave anything behind.. Kane didn't assume a heroic stance. He didn't marvel at the beauty of nature. Instead, his hands immediately flew to his pockets out of pure, panic driven muscle memory. Phone. Where is my phone? His phone was still in his pocket, which provided a brief and irrational sense of relief. The device worked normally, but there was no signal, and the familiar list of contacts was suddenly useless. The photos, messages, and applications were all still there, little fragments of the life he had been living only moments earlier, yet none of them could tell him where he was or how far away home had become. He squeezed his eyes shut, slapped his own cheek hard enough to leave a sting, and opened them again. The trees were still there. "Okay," he muttered aloud, his voice cracking slightly in the crisp air. A translucent, hovering box of light materialized three inches from his nose. [Welcome to the Tutorial.] Kane stared at the floating blue window. He raised a hesitant finger and poked at it. His hand passed right through the light, triggering a soft ding that made him jump back a step. His first thought was that he had finally lost his mind. Before Kane could decide whether that was comforting or deeply concerning, the message disappeared. Another notification immediately replaced it. [Title Acquired: The Selected] [Title effect: Prana assimilation significantly increased] [Description: Not everyone is chosen by the System. Those who possess this Title will walk a significantly easier path than those who do not.] Kane remained silent for a moment. "Chosen?" The word bothered him more than the floating window did. It sounded less like a reward and more like a classification. The System hadn't explained who had been chosen, how they had been chosen, or what happened to the people who hadn't been. And if there were people who hadn't received the title, then there was already some kind of difference between them. Kane had no idea what Prana was either, but that was a problem for later. At least the System had given him something that sounded useful. Being chosen, however, raised a much less pleasant question. Chosen for what?

Chapter 1