As Ethan Cole sprinted across the vast, solitary plains of the Northern lands, his legs burned with exertion. The wind beat against his face, bringing cold with it. Even when his skin was stinging with the cold as the Gu Master approached him, it was nothing compared to the heat of fear hammering in his chest. With each passing step of the Gu Master, the noise of heavy footfalls grew closer and louder, more menacing.
Rank 2, Ethan's mind droned, and he couldn't even guess what the words meant, but he could guess it was the reason for him running for his life. In this world, strength was merely being alive, not dead.
Ethan's mind was in a frenzy. How did he get here? One moment he had been in his apartment gaming until the early hours of the morning, and the next, he had awoken in this harsh, merciless world. The memories of his former life lingered, like a mist, but the things around him were all-too-real. This world, with its talking Gu worms, clans, and power struggles, was so far beyond anything he had prepared for.
His arms ached. Tightly held against his chest was a small boy of no more than two, his tiny hands clinging to Ethan's clothing for dear life. The boy was sleeping soundly and trembling, and though he appeared pale and scared, Ethan couldn't bring himself to leave him when he discovered him on the plains, screaming for help and he knew that he would be abandoned forever if he did. With every step taken, the boy felt heavier.
Ethan looked over his shoulder as he walked, locking eyes onto the figure swiftly approaching him, a tall man with cruel, cold; piercing eyes and an aura that screamed danger. The Gu Master had been pursuing him for what felt like hours, and Ethan was barely able to keep up. The boy was definitely holding him back, but he couldn't just leave him. Not like this.
Suddenly, as if his desperation was heard, a notification flashed in front of his eyes.
[Processing]
[System Activated]
[Gamer Interface Initialized]
Ethan stumbled, almost losing his footing. A translucent screen materialized before him, displaying glowing text and numbers. It felt like a game—his mind latched onto the familiar interface, even in the direst of situations.
_______________________________________________
[Quest: Escape or Defeat the Rank 2 Gu Master]
Objective: Survive the encounter with the Rank 2 Gu Master
Failure: Death
Reward: Status, ???.
______________________________________________
"What the hell…" Ethan muttered under his breath, his pulse racing as he glanced at the screen. He had no time to process fully. His instincts kicked in, pushing his body forward.
He ducked beneath a rock outcrop, his back pressed flat against the rough stone. The Gu Master's voice echoed across the plains, full of cruel amusement.
"Running won't save you, weakling. I'll break you."
Ethan's heart pounded in his chest. This wasn't a game. There were no second chances here, no respawns, no loading screens. In this world, death was final.
Another notification flashed:
[Abilities: None]
[Inventory: Locked]
Nothing. He had no weapons, no skills, and no clue how to fight. But he did have the Gamer System—maybe, just maybe, that would give him a chance.
He used all his energy running for his dear life.
He quickly swiped his hand across the air, half expecting the system to respond, and—
[Skill Unlocked: Dash (Level 1)]
A surge of energy coursed through him. Ethan's body reacted instantly, speeding forward faster than he had ever moved before, a burst of adrenaline pushing him beyond his normal limits. The weight of the boy in his arms seemed to fade, his mind focused solely on escaping the impending danger. The Gu Master's mocking laughter turned to frustration as Ethan gained ground.
[Objective Update: Escape the Gu Master's Pursuit]
Ethan didn't stop to read the rest. His mind focused on one thing: survive. As the distance between him and the Gu Master grew, he dared a glance behind him. The Gu Master was still in pursuit, but for the first time, Ethan had a chance to outrun him.
The system was his only hope.
-What happened previously-
It all started two days ago.
Ethan had woken up in a small, humble house, the kind of house he'd only seen in historical dramas or video games. His head had been pounding, disoriented, the vague remnants of a life he didn't remember clashing with the world around him. He looked down at his hands, noticing how young they were, how much like his own—but not quite.
He was a child again, no older than twelve, in a world that seemed to resemble a rural, ancient society. He'd figured something was off when his new "family" had explained things in a calm, nonchalant manner. They spoke of clans, of cultivation, and most importantly, of Gu Masters and the power struggles between families.
Ethan had accepted it with a shrug. He'd been a gamer in his past life, and his new life seemed like one of those novels he used to binge read—filled with conflict, magic, and clans fighting for power. He'd thought nothing of it. After all, it was just a weird dream, right? Maybe some kind of advanced VR simulation. The rules seemed simple enough: power determined your status, and if you didn't have power, you were nothing.
But things escalated quickly.
His "father"—who appeared to be a regular, if somewhat dull, member of a small clan—explained that their village was part of the Huang Jin bloodline, a mortal family in the Northern Plains. Nothing remarkable, but nothing to be ashamed of. They worked the land, lived simple lives, and stayed out of the bigger conflicts between the more powerful clans. Ethan thought it was a pretty decent life, even if a bit boring. For the first time in his life, he had felt… normal.
That illusion shattered when war arrived.
Ethan had been playing in the fields one afternoon when he heard the distant roar of battle. The peaceful life he'd gotten used to crumbled as Gu Masters descended on their village, part of a larger conflict between two rival clans. The Xiao clan, driven by ambition and bloodlust, attacked without warning, annihilating everything in their path. They slaughtered the men, women, and children of the village, and Ethan's family was no exception.
He could still hear the sounds of the Gu Masters' brutal attacks, the terrifying shrieks of the villagers as they were torn apart. He had watched as his "father" was killed before his very eyes, his mother dragged away by a group of cruel cultivators.
As Ethan ran through the plains, the memories of his recent past weighed heavy on him. He'd thought the world was normal—at least, normal for a world with clans and cultivation—but then he'd seen it firsthand. The vicious power struggles, the sheer disregard for human life in the name of ambition, and the fact that everyone seemed to be fighting for their own survival.
It hit him like a ton of bricks—he was in the world of Reverend Insanity. That world of ruthless scheming, of people striving to cultivate power through Gu worms, where the strong crushed the weak without hesitation.
He never finished the novel. He'd only gotten through a few chapters—just enough to get the gist of it: a man reborn in a merciless world where strength ruled and the morals of the weak were trampled. But that was all. He had never imagined he'd end up here.
A cold shiver ran down his spine as he processed it fully for the first time. This was no dream. This was real.
His first instinct had been to reject it. To tell himself he was wrong. Maybe it was all just a crazy coincidence—a strange world full of cultivation and monsters. But nothing made sense anymore. The Gu Masters, the clans, the conflict. It was all too familiar. The cold, cruel world he had only glimpsed through the lens of a novel was now his reality.
Ethan shook his head, his heart pounding as he refocused on the immediate danger.
Survive first. Think later.
There was no time to dwell on how or why he ended up here. His priority was simple: survive. But it was becoming increasingly clear that in this world, survival was a game—one that he had no choice but to play. The system had given him a glimmer of hope, but whether it was enough to survive the cruelty of this world… only time would tell.