BEEP BEEP Beep Beep beep beep...

Max, anchored to his hospital bed, didn’t have the strength to move or even open his eyes. Even if he managed to crack his eyelids, the only thing that would greet him would be darkness. He had been flirting with consciousness for the last couple of weeks of this illness. On the last day, each time Max regained consciousness, he would find himself with one less sense. They had failed him one by one, slowly trapping him in his own body. To him, unconsciousness almost felt like a blessing. His hearing was the last to abandon him, however, in the last few hours even that had started to fade.

The once obnoxiously loud beeps of his life support machine were now no more than soft taps. The loud and uncontrollable wails of his mother had also dulled to light whispers. And lastly, the frantic discussion between the doctors and nurses had completely gone silent. At this point, Max knew that his end was near. Without any of his senses, he would be completely trapped in his own body. He wished that the next time he lost consciousness he would stay that way. His parents would understand. This damn illness had slowly chipped away his will to live.

—

Two years after the end of Covid-19, a new and deadly illness took hold. In the year 2025, the world was struck by a sudden and mysterious illness, dubbed IDK-25. Its infections were seemingly random. It didn’t care about gender, age, race, religion, or nationality. From infection to death, the average lifespan was a mere 24 weeks.

It starts with a spotty vision. Many reported seeing floaters and blue boxes in their periphery. Then it progressed to pins and needles throughout the entire body. It always ends with spikes of pain below the navel at which point cancer-like growths could be found in and around all the vital organs. Most died shortly after the growth started.

With the whole scientific community working on a cure, most people thought it wouldn’t be long for a cure to be created. But as days turned into months and no news came from the scientific community people started to worry. They were right to be. Researchers couldn’t figure out how it spread, or even what was attacking the body. Was it a bacteria? A virus? Or something else? No one knew. The two things that remained the same across all cases were the symptoms and death. Catching IDK-25 was a death sentence. The only thing doctors could do was to make the patient feel as comfortable as possible.

To everyday people, IDK-25 was on the warpath of eradicating the human race. The lunatics and religious fanatics had crawled out of the woodworks and started proclaiming the end of times. To their credit, human civilization was already on the decline. Climate change was starting to have a serious impact on crop yields. Each year record winter storms would blow out electricity for millions and each summer heatwaves would do the same. Earth was becoming less hospitable by the year.

To everyone’s surprise, new cases of IDK-25 stopped. Just as suddenly as it appeared, IDK-25 started vanishing across the globe. Newly equipped and staffed hospital rooms sat empty, but no one was complaining.

Months after the last confirmed case, IDK-25 was still the hottest topic. There was continuous speculation about its origins. Some say it was a super-secret bioweapon that got leaked, others thought it was extraterrestrial. And of course, the religious fanatics claimed it was holy punishment from the almighty god.

—

Max was the last living person still infected with IDK-25 and would ultimately be the last person to die of IDK-25. While Max wasn’t the first to be diagnosed with IDK-25, he was among the first thousand. Miraculously, he had already survived nearly 2 and a half years. Close to 5 times longer than the average infectee, Max is the longest surviving patient with IDK-25. In the last year, he had been visited by countless doctors, researchers, and religious leaders all in an attempt to understand more about the mysterious disease.

As Max took his last assisted breath on Earth, his doctors marked the time of death. He was the 793,231st official and the last death of IDK-25. However, unbeknownst to anyone in the room, the unnatural growth in and around Max’s vital organs started to dissolve and turned into an energy that was unknown to this world. As the energy built and reached a critical point, it dug deep into his body, into the metaphysical, and wrapped itself around Max’s soul.

—

Max’s soul, now protected by the strange energy, left his body and started traveling through the chaotic void and passed through several dimensions. If he was awake, he would see wonders that he could never dream of. Creatures the size of the Milky Way, whole civilizations rising and falling in less than a blink, white holes that spew out massive amounts of energy, and many more. Max was oblivious to all of this as his consciousness was sealed deep in his soul. A good thing too, if he noticed any of the infinite predatory creatures, his journey would be cut extremely short.

As Max’s soul reached its destination, a new body was crafted from the laws of the realm. It was a replica of the one he left behind on Earth. Every hair, every scar, every muscle (or the lack thereof) was the same. Max’s soul had no issues inhabiting the new body as it was tailor-made.

As his soul settled into the new body, a small drop of water fell onto Max’s face startling him awake. He saw for the first time in what felt like weeks. While he was still laying down, the hospital bed, his life support machine, and the maddeningly white walls were all gone.

Max, confused, took stock of his new surroundings. He was naked in a dark cave with the only source of light coming from below him. He could see a soft glow from the ground that was already starting to dim. Soon after Max was plunged back into darkness. The only other thing he saw was some sort of altar, which he seems to be standing on top of.

Before he could think about it further blue text boxes started to appear in front of him.

“Wha..”

Initializing…

System unlocked and installed…

Title Gained: System Pioneer

For being among the first to unlock the System, you have gained the title System Pioneer. System Pioneer grants the following:

+25% all stats

Congratulations on surviving your journey to the realm of ShangJie.

Title Gained: Realm Walker

For traveling beyond your realm, you have gained the title, Realm Walker.

Realm Walker grants the following:

Skill - Analyze

Skill - Common Tongue

Trait - Quick Learner

“Well, shit”