"Haah!" A young boy, who should have been dead, gasped, as he jolted awake.
"Haah… Haah… Haah…" He panted, his chest rising and falling as he slowly regained his sense of self.
"NOOOOO! MY DAUGHTER! MY WIFE! THEY'RE ALL DEAD!"
"MOM?! DAD?!"
"MY SON… THOSE MONSTERS! NOOOOOOOO!"
Screams.
They reached his ears clearly. The anguished cries of those in despair.
He looked around.
A white room.
No doors. No windows.
It was all just…
…white.
"Huh?" He muttered. His head bowed slightly, but as he moved, his hair cascaded forward, obscuring his face.
'What…?' He thought.
His hair.
It was long.
Flowing all the way to his waist.
Purple.
This wasn't the hair he remembered.
"…Ugh," he suddenly groaned as a sharp, searing pain erupted in his chest.
'What is this feeling?' he thought, pulling at his shirt.
He saw…
…nothing.
His chest was unmarked—no wounds, no scars.
But the pain remained.
Something was wrong.
Then, a voice rang out.
"I will be brief," it began. "Welcome to Project Codex.
First and foremost, let me make one thing clear—you are alone. You have lost everything. Yes, everything. Even your freedom. You are a slave, and that is what you will remain.
To those of you who wish to drown in despair, feel free to do so. But for those who refuse to surrender, for those willing to fight until their last breath, I offer you a chance—a chance to reclaim everything that was taken from you. Your family, your life, even your planet.
But know this—the cost will be steep. Most of you won't survive.
Then again… what else do you have to lose?"
Silence.
Then—
All hell broke loose.
"DIE, YOU BASTARD!"
"I PRAY YOU ROT IN HELL!"
"YOU WILL NEVER KNOW PEACE!"
Voices upon voices rose in fury as the enraged crowd scrambled for escape, slamming against the seamless walls to no avail.
"…I… I remember," Elias whispered, clutching his chest as he collapsed to the ground, tears spilling down his face.
"Mom… Dad… Big… Bro… Ella… They… they're all dead…," he choked out between gasping sobs.
How had his world turned upside down in the blink of an eye?
A slow, deliberate sound cut through the chaos—
*Clears throat.*
"I think you all still don't get it…"
Then—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Agonized screams filled the air as overwhelming currents of electricity lanced through their bodies.
Elias clutched his head, crying out as the unbearable pain surged through him. He tried to endure, but coupled with the weight of his grief, he couldn't.
He could only cry.
"…Enough," the voice commanded, and the currents ceased.
Panting, the prisoners writhed in the aftermath of their torment.
"LET ME MAKE THE RULES CLEAR."
The voice rang with authority.
"YOU ALL WILL BE SENT TO A WORLD CALLED ELYSIUM.
ELYSIUM IS A PLANE SUSPENDED ABOVE ALL OTHERS—AN ANOMALY IN THE COSMIC BALANCE.
YOU ARE TO RETRIEVE WHAT LIES ON THE FINAL FLOOR OF THE TOWER.
HOW MANY FLOORS IT HOLDS, WE DO NOT KNOW. THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.
YOU HAVE TEN YEARS TO COMPLETE THIS TASK.
FAIL, AND YOU DIE."
The room fell into stunned silence.
"AND ONE MORE THING…
WE HAVE IMPLANTED A BOMB INSIDE EACH OF YOU."
In that instant—everyone realized what the strange sensation in their chests had been the moment they awoke.
"…YOU MUST ALREADY FEEL IT WITHIN YOU. BUT I WON'T DWELL ON THAT. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE GIVEN YOU A CHANCE TO BECOME SOMETHING BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. WE HAVE SHATTERED YOUR HUMAN LIMITS, AWAKENED YOUR CORES, AND FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME… GODS," he declared, his voice reverberating through the chamber.
The atmosphere shifted.
"YOU WILL ALL BE DEPOSITED ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF ELYSIUM. THAT IS THE EXTENT OF OUR AID. AS FOR THE ORIGIN OF THIS WORLD AND THE MEANS TO ASCEND ITS FLOORS… THAT, YOU WILL HAVE TO DISCOVER ON YOUR OWN. DO NOT LET GREED OR CURIOSITY CLOUD YOUR PURPOSE… FOR YOUR TIME IN THIS WORLD IS LIMITED," he finished, his words carrying an ominous finality.
Elias stared, frozen in shock.
'Does… does he mean that…? C-can he really bring them all back?' The thought was foolish—too hopeful. But given how bleak his situation was, was it truly wrong to cling to hope?
"…REACH THE VERY SUMMIT, AND NOT ONLY WILL YOU RETAIN YOUR LIFE, BUT YOU WILL BE GRANTED A SINGLE WISH… YOUR GREATEST DESIRE," he concluded.
Silence. A suffocating, absolute silence.
No one dared to breathe.
Then, a voice—sharp, filled with fury—broke the stillness.
"HOW DO WE KNOW YOU'RE NOT LYING?! HOW DO WE KNOW YOU'RE NOT JUST USING US TO CLAIM WHAT LIES AT THE TOP OF THAT DAMNED WORLD?! HOW CAN WE TRUST YOU, MONSTERS?!"
The accusation rang through the chamber, and with it, doubt seeped into the crowd like a slow-spreading plague.
A chuckle. Low, amused.
"Hm… A good question," he mused. And then, with chilling finality:
"THE THING IS… YOU HAVE NO CHOICE."
Suddenly—
"Ghk—!"
Blood welled in the woman's mouth. She tried to speak, but no sound came. Her eyes widened in horror as her hands clawed at her throat, her body convulsing violently—
BOOM!
Her chest erupted in a grotesque explosion.
"Oh God…" someone whispered in terror as the others recoiled, scrambling away from the fresh corpse.
"That…" a sinister chuckle echoed, "…is an example of what awaits you in ten years' time."
Intricate symbols ignited across the vast chamber, glowing with eerie brilliance.
"Oh… it seems our time is up." A smirk laced his words. "Well then… see you in ten years—if you don't die before it claims you."
And then—light.
Blinding, all-consuming light.
'Mom… Dad… Big Bro… Sis… I don't know if this is just some sick joke… or if this is all just a nightmare… but… I… I swear… even if it kills me… I will bring you all back.'
That day, a young boy made a vow.
A vow… that changed everything.