Cold rain dripped through the gaping hole in the ceiling, splashing directly onto Ben’s forehead. He flinched, wiping the dirty water away with a calloused hand. His knuckles were raw and bloody, scraped from another long day of scavenging through the skeletal remains of the outer district.
Sitting up on his thin, moldy mattress, he let out a ragged breath that plumed in the freezing air. This ruined apartment complex had been his only shelter for three weeks, a concrete coffin matching his empty pockets. Orphaned at birth, forgotten by a world that only valued the strong, he had spent twenty years learning that survival was a solitary business.
Hunger gnawed at his stomach like a physical hand twisting his intestines. He had found nothing today but rusted scrap metal, barely worth a half-stale loaf of bread at the local market. His throat burned with thirst, but the water collecting in his rusted tin can tasted of lead and decay.
Every muscle in his body ached from exhaustion. The city of Oakhaven was a dying beast, its resources depleted, its streets ruled by ruthless gangs and corrupt merchants. For someone like Ben, who refused to join their ranks or bow to their whims, life was a daily battle against starvation. He had no allies, no family, and no hope of a better tomorrow.
Suddenly, a brilliant blue light flickered in his peripheral vision, burning through the shadows of the room. He blinked rapidly, thinking his malnourished brain was finally giving out. The light didn't fade; instead, it solidified into a sharp, holographic interface hovering weightlessly in front of him.
[UNIVERSAL PET STORE: SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
Ben stared at the glowing words, his jaw clenching as he tried to process the sight. He had heard rumors of the wealthy elite possessing strange, magical abilities, but he was just a nameless street rat. Why would something like this appear to him?
"Is this a joke?" he muttered, his voice raspy and dry. He reached out a trembling finger, his hand stopping just short of the glowing text.
[HOST DETECTED: BEN. STATUS: CRITICAL MALNUTRITION. UNLIMITED SUMMON GACHA SYSTEM UNLOCKED.]
More text flooded his vision, detailing rules and mechanics he could barely comprehend. It spoke of legendary beasts, primordial entities, and cosmic companions waiting to be called from the dark corners of the multiverse. It promised power, security, and an end to his miserable isolation.
Doubt warred with desperation in his chest. He had spent his entire life pushing people away, terrified of betrayal and the pain of losing someone. Animals, however, were different; they didn't lie, they didn't abandon you when the winter grew too cold.
Isolation had always been his shield. He had watched other orphans form cliques, only to turn on each other when the winters grew too harsh and bread grew too scarce. He resolved early on that depending on anyone else was a death sentence. But this system offered something different—a partner that could not betray, bound by the very fabric of reality.
A secondary screen flashed, displaying a colorful wheel of categories. Words like Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Cosmic spun in a mesmerizing circle. Beside it, a counter read: SUMMONS AVAILABLE: INFINITE.
"Infinite?" Ben whispered, the words tasting foreign on his tongue. He looked around his dismal room, taking in the cracked walls, the rotting floorboards, and the absolute lack of hope. If he did nothing, he would die here, forgotten by everyone.
Hovering near the bottom of the interface was a large, pulsing red button labeled 'FIRST SUMMON'. It seemed to call to him, vibrating with an unnatural, magnetic pull. Below it, a tiny warning label was written in microscopic, faded text, but hunger blinded his caution.
Taking a deep breath, Ben steeled his resolve. He raised his hand, his finger hovering over the virtual button before pressing down firmly.
Instantly, the blue light of the interface shattered like glass, replaced by a violent, crimson glow. The temperature in the room plummeted, turning his breath into thick, white clouds of ice. A low, vibrating hum began to echo through the concrete walls, rattling the loose glass in the window frames.
Air grew thin, smelling heavily of ozone and scorched copper. Ben scrambled backward, his back hitting the damp plaster wall as the humming grew into a deafening roar. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
Sweat poured down his temples, freezing instantly on his skin. He grit his teeth so hard he tasted copper. The air pressure in the small room spiked, popping his ears as the crimson light expanded, behaving like a miniature black hole that sucked in the ambient heat and light.
[WARNING: SUMMONING HIGH-TIER ENTITY. WORLD MANA DRAW INITIATED.]
"What does that mean?" Ben gasped, clutching his chest as a sudden, sharp pain flared behind his eyes. He felt a strange, invisible siphon hook into his very soul, pulling at a reservoir of energy he didn't even know he possessed.
Instinctively, he extended his right hand toward the center of the room. He didn't know why he did it, but an invisible force seemed to guide his arm, locking his wrist in place. His palm burned with an intense, localized heat, glowing with a faint, red aura.
A jagged crack tore open in the middle of the empty space. It wasn't a physical tear in the wall, but a rip in reality itself, bleeding a dark, violet light that seemed to swallow the ambient illumination of the room. Sparks of crimson lightning arced from the fissure, scorching the floorboards and filling the air with the scent of burning wood.
Wind howled inside the closed room, whipping his hair across his eyes. The sheer pressure of the summoning forced him to his knees, his muscles straining under an oppressive weight. He shielded his eyes with his forearm, squinting through the blinding glare of the rift.
Deep within the tear, a low growl reverberated. It was a sound that didn't just vibrate in the air; it shook his very bones, carrying a primordial, ancient hunger. Every survival instinct he had honed on the streets screamed at him to run, to flee this unnatural presence.
Yet, he couldn't move. An invisible bond, thick and unbreakable, anchored him to the entity emerging from the rift. He felt its hunger, its absolute power, and its strange, alien curiosity mirroring his own.
Slowly, a massive paw stepped through the tear, made not of flesh, but of swirling, solid darkness. Crackling arcs of violet lightning danced across its dark fur. The creature was immense, easily matching the size of a Siberian tiger, yet its silhouette shifted constantly like smoke in a drafty room.
Two burning, amber eyes locked onto Ben. They held no warmth, only a deep, endless void of cosmic hunger. This was 'Nyx,' a void wolf born from the dead spaces between dimensions.
Ben held his breath, paralyzed by the sheer majesty of the beast. He expected to feel terror, but instead, a wave of profound awe washed over him. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel completely alone; he felt a connection that transcended the physical world.
Nyx stepped fully into the ruined apartment, the crimson rift snapping shut behind him with a deafening pop. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the crackle of electricity humming from the wolf's back.
"You're... mine?" Ben asked, his voice barely a whisper. He reached out a trembling hand, his fingers stopping just inches from the wolf's snout.
Nyx lowered his massive head, pressing his nose against Ben's palm. The touch was freezing, sending a jolt of pure energy up Ben's arm, but it didn't hurt. A strange, mental link snapped into place, cementing their connection.
A thrill of absolute dominance surged through Ben's veins. He realized, with sudden clarity, that this terrifying creature was bound to his will. He possessed a power that could reshape his miserable existence, a strength beyond anything he had ever dreamed.
Yet, the triumph was short-lived. A sudden, sickening sensation hollowed out his chest, as if something vital had been violently ripped from the surrounding air. He gasped, clutching his chest as a wave of nausea hit him.
Looking down, he noticed the subtle, horrifying change.
As Nyx phases into existence, the very concrete beneath Ben's feet crumbles into fine dust, a silent, chilling testament to an unseen cost.