?"But tell me something, Wren Extenguard. Have you ever wondered why you received absolutely nothing?"
?Wren’s heart skipped a beat.
?He had wondered.
?Of course he had.
?He had trained until his body could barely move. He had endured pain that would have made other children quit. He had spent years preparing for the moment when he would finally awaken.
?Yet the crystal had given him nothing.
?Not even the weakest ability.
?"I don’t know," Wren admitted quietly, his voice hollow.
?Envy’s expression grew mysterious, its glowing eyes shimmering in the white light.
?"Then let me show you."
?The endless white space suddenly trembled, shaking like glass about to break.
?Wren looked up as a translucent, glowing screen materialized right between them.
?[ CONTRACT ESTABLISHED ]
[ Contractor: Wren Extenguard ]
[ Primordial Sin: Envy ]
[ Synchronization: 0.01% ]
[ System Initialization: Complete ]
?Wren’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
?A system?
?Before he could read the rest of the text, a bright red notification popped up beneath it.
?[ WARNING ]
[ The contractor’s current physical condition is insufficient. ]
[ Emergency restoration will begin upon consciousness synchronization. ]
?Wren stared at the glowing letters floating in the air.
?"Wait. What is this? Is this the power you are giving me?"
?Envy grinned, looking pleased with itself.
?"Not exactly."
?"Then what is it?"
?"A beginning."
?The owl turned in midair, its feathers fluttering gently against the bright background.
?"You have spent your entire life chasing power, haven’t you? You wanted to stand above everyone else. You wanted your family to acknowledge you. You wanted the world to recognize your greatness."
?Wren’s hands slowly curled into tight fists.
?He hated how accurately those words described him.
?"But you were born into a world where everyone judges your worth only by what you awaken."
?Envy glanced back over its shoulder, its gaze piercing right through him.
?"Tell me, Wren. What happens when the world itself is completely wrong about you?"
?Wren said nothing. He could only stare.
?A faint, confident smile appeared on the owl’s beak.
?"Let’s find out."
?Suddenly, the clean white space cracked like ice.
?A violent pulling force grabbed at Wren’s body, and the endless void began collapsing inward all around him.
?"Hey! What the hell is happening?!" Wren yelled over the roaring wind.
?"Your little vacation is over!"
?Envy’s loud laughter echoed through the breaking, falling space.
?"Welcome to the beginning of your new life, my contractor!"
?The entire world shattered into a million bright pieces of light.
?And Wren fell straight down into the darkness once more.
?[ Welcome to Arga Express ]
?[ Player: Wren Extenguard ]
?Wren’s eyes snap open.
?Gasp—!
?He draws in a sharp, ragged breath, expecting to find himself lying on the cold stone floor of the E-rank dungeon, surrounded by frozen goblins. But when his vision clears, the damp cave walls are gone.
?Instead, he finds himself sitting upright on a plush, leather seat inside a moving carriage.
?Wren freezes, his golden eyes widening in shock as he looks around.
?No... wait. This is...?!
?A cold shiver runs down his spine. He knows this train. He had read about it in old history files and classified archives back when he was a child studying the lore of the awakened world.
?The Arga Express.
?It looks like a train, but it is no ordinary machine running on tracks of steel.
?It is a Dimensional Traveling Train.
?One hundred years ago, when terrifying otherworldly beings first began their brutal invasion of Earth, humanity was pushed to the absolute brink of destruction. With weapons failing and nations falling, ordinary people facing imminent death suddenly "Awakened."
?They became humanity’s first heroes, pushing back the monsters and saving civilization. But there was a terrifying, hidden secret behind the awakening that the public textbooks never talked about.
?Every single person who awakened would mysteriously vanish exactly one hour after their awakening, waking up inside a strange, ghostly train.
?And that train would carry them away... straight into a dangerous, unknown world.
That train would carry them away, dropping every single passenger off at different, random locations across a mysterious, alien world known only as Norhera.
?Wren sits frozen in his seat, utterly unable to believe his eyes. Am I... am I really on the Arga Express?
?Right at that moment, the words of the owl echo back in his mind, finally sinking in with terrifying clarity.
?I... I actually awakened.
?A hot, stinging tear slips from his eye, though a wild, breathless laugh tries to escape his throat.
Across the aisle and down the rows of the passenger car, panic erupts. The other newly awakened passengers are shouting, clutching their heads, and staring out the windows in absolute terror.
?"Hey! Where the hell is this?!"
?"I was just eating instant noodles at home! How did I end up here?!"
?"Look, look! A new notification just popped up in front of me!"
?A chorus of gasps fills the carriage as glowing blue text manifests in the air for everyone to see:
?[ NOTICE ]
[ Humans, welcome to the Arga Express. ]
[ After a short duration, we will transport you all to the world of Norhera. ]
?[ Rules and Important Information: ]
[ 1. [Redacted / Data Syncing...] ]
[ 2. [Redacted / Data Syncing...] ]
[ 3. [Redacted / Data Syncing...] ]
?While the rest of the passengers scramble in confusion, desperately trying to read and make sense of the erratic rules flashing on their screens, Wren doesn’t bother looking at his.
?Unlike the ordinary people around him who were ripped straight from their everyday lives in total ignorance, Wren was born into the Extenguard family. He had spent his childhood pouring over classified archives, elite training journals, and secret records detailing what happens after awakening.
?He doesn’t share their helpless confusion. He already knows what Norhera is. He knows what kind of nightmare is waiting for them at the end of the line.
?While everyone else panics, Wren’s golden eyes narrow calmly as he grips the edge of his seat, preparing himself for the descent into a world that will either make him a god or break him entirely.