The moment my name lit up in the sky, the world blinked again — but this time, it wasn't just my screen.
It was me.
One second I was standing in my front yard, neighbors screaming in the distance, a faint smell of smoke in the air. The next? Gone. The wind. The sounds. The earth itself.
Gone.
I was floating in nothing.
Pure white. Like I'd been dropped into the inside of a cloud and someone had cranked the brightness to max. I couldn't even tell if I was standing or drifting — there was no ground, no walls, no sky. Just light. Soft. Still. Silent.
Then a voice spoke.
"Zavier King. Confirmed."
Not Lunaria this time. This voice was smoother, deeper — emotionless. Artificial, almost.
"You have been registered as a participant in the Ascension Tournament. Before transport, you may now select your Buff."
A glowing panel appeared in front of me, hovering midair. It pulsed with gold symbols, shifting language after language until it settled into English.
'Please describe your desired enhancement. There are no restrictions. Choose wisely.'
My mouth went dry.
I hadn't actually thought about this part. I figured maybe I'd get something random — a stat boost, cool laser eyes, maybe the ability to not fail math for once. But this?
No restrictions.
I stared at the screen, thoughts racing. Speed? Strength? Magic? Immortality?
But then something strange happened — my mind quieted.
And I remembered a dream I'd had a few nights ago. One where I was flying — not with wings, not with tech. Just flying. My skin was glowing, my body felt light, strong, and ancient.Like I was more than human.
I wasn't sure where it came from, but I said the words out loud before I could stop myself:
"I want the ability to evolve endlessly."
The screen flashed white.
Then:
Request accepted. Buff registered: [Endless Evolution].
Companion selection: Optional. Please choose one individual from your planet. If they accept, your Buff will be enhanced. If they decline, the Buff will be voided. Proceed?
A list began forming — everyone I knew. My mom. Classmates. My barber. My one ex. Even my neighbor's cat for some reason.
I hesitated. I thought about asking someone. Maybe just to secure the buff. But…
I don't know. It felt wrong.
This was my path.
If I needed someone else just to stand stronger, maybe I wasn't ready at all.
"I'll go alone."
The list vanished.
Selection confirmed. Buff applied. Companion slot skipped.
The white space started to flicker, like someone turning down the lights in a theater.
Prepare for deployment. Terrain: Multi-Biome. Seasonal Quadrant Map. Random placement in progress. Warning: Environmental effects active. Map scale: 400% planetary mass.
And then the light shattered.
I was falling.
Not like before, not some peaceful float. This was full-on skydiving without a parachute, arms flailing, stomach in my throat, wind roaring in my ears.
Below me was a world — huge, round, split into four perfect quadrants. One glittered with snow and jagged ice. Another glowed with flowers and greenery. A third burned golden beneath a harsh sun, desert winds curling across red sand. And the last — dark and rich with swirling leaves and amber forests.
Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn.
At the very center of the map, rooted in all four zones, was a single, massive tree.
It towered so high I couldn't see the top, its bark shifting colors as it stretched toward the heavens. It looked like it was older than time itself. And it was visible from everywhere.
And then—
BOOM.
I landed.
Hard.
I gasped and rolled over, the snow crunching under my body like glass. My hands burned. My breath came out in white clouds. I was in the Winter zone, clearly — snow-covered cliffs, frozen pine trees, and flurries dancing in the air like they were alive.
No HUD. No mini-map. No instructions.
Just me, the cold, and the howling wind.
My clothes had changed too. Sleek, flexible armor with a blue shimmer, padded enough to handle the cold, but lightweight. A weird insignia pulsed on my glove — my name, written in that same rune script, glowing faintly.
And beneath it, another word:
[Evolution: Locked — Awaiting Trigger]
Figures.
Nothing ever starts easy.
I trudged forward, boots crunching into the snow, eyes scanning the tree line for movement. The cold wasn't unbearable yet, but the air was thin, biting. I didn't know how long I had before nightfall — or worse, before someone or something found me.
For the next few hours, I wandered — up slopes, through frozen woods, across icy streams that cracked underfoot. I tried to stay moving, stay thinking, stay alive.
And that's when the sky changed.
Dark clouds rolled in from the north, heavy and fast. The wind turned cruel. The snowflakes thickened into icy darts, slashing sideways as the temperature dropped like a stone.
A storm.
Fast, brutal, unnatural.
I barely had time to dig a shallow shelter beneath a fallen tree before it hit.
The wind howled like it was alive. The snow blotted out everything — sky, trees, even my own hands. For an hour, maybe more, I curled beneath that tree, arms wrapped around my chest, trying not to freeze to death.
I lost feeling in my legs. My jaw clenched so tight I thought it might break. My thoughts slowed. My breathing weakened.
It wasn't the tournament that was going to kill me.
It was the weather.