Riley lay on the small island, staring up at the silver moon as its soft glow spilt across the still lake. The cold stone beneath him felt real, unlike everything else. He tried to steady his breathing, tried to make sense of how he'd ended up here.
How the hell did this all happen?
For the past day, he'd been running on instinct—just moving forward, one chaotic moment at a time. He hadn't really processed any of it: the tall, skeletal creature outside his house, waking up on a freezing mountaintop, the voice whispering through his earbuds. Then came the Oculus—monstrous, uncanny things that mirrored his face—and the will-o'-the-wisps, whose touch for some unknown reason had burned into him.
And somewhere above him, in the mountains, one of those Oculus was still out there.
The weight of it all began to settle on his mind, and as it did, a tear slowly slid down the side of his cheek. His muscles ached as if he'd just fought through a storm, and his eyes stung with exhaustion. Riley had never thought of himself as the emotional type, and honestly, he figured he'd done okay up to this point. But now… he wasn't so sure.
Where am I?
Why am I here?
The questions were simple, but they echoed too loud in his mind to ignore. Proxy had been helpful so far—useful, even. But something about him felt off. Too present. Too convenient. Always listening. Always watching.
Riley didn't trust him. Not fully.
But if he was going to get through this place alive, he needed answers—and Proxy was the only one offering them.
"Hey, Proxy," Riley said quietly. "Why are you helping me?"
The earbud crackled, then the voice came through, calm and composed as ever.
"I'm glad you asked. It's simple, really. You're lost… and I want to help you be found."
Riley frowned. Found by whom?
"You said earlier you knew where I was."
"Did I?" Proxy replied, almost playfully. "Well, not exactly. A better way to put it is—I know how to figure out where you are. If you head back to the mountain overlook, I can explain it a lot better."
With that answer, Riley decided to try to get moving. He sat up, but as he did so, a burning sensation flashed through him again. he closed his eyes, tensing his sore muscles, waiting for the pain to get worse…only this time… It was bearable.
As Riley opened his eyes, the burning sensation subsided, and with it, a blue panel had appeared right in front of him. Text appeared on its surface in a language Riley had never seen before but somehow understood.
[You have inherited the Will of the Wisp]
[Species: Human]
[Affinity: Perception]
[Natural Talents:]
[Eyes of Focus] (Active)
- Your eyes can see and understand things at incredible speeds.
[Will of the Wisp Talents Unlocked:]
[Eyes of the Wisp:] (Passive)
- To see what wasn't meant to be seen
-[Guided:] (Passive)
- You are guided to things; things are guided to you, whether for your benefit or theirs, is unknown.
[Quest:]
[Find the settlement near Lunareth Wood]
[Reward:???]
Riley stared at the flickering blue panel, dumbfounded. "Hey, Proxy, do you see this?"
Proxy glitched out in Riley's ear before muttering, "See what, the cave?"
Riley began to think. The blue screen told him more about his strange circumstances. While Riley wasn't sure what its purpose was. The Wisps may have done more than burn his insides. For now, Riley wouldn't share this information with Proxy. It seems he wants Riley to meet up with something. Perhaps the [Guided] trait will play a role in all this.
Riley also noticed two more details. The first was that he seemed to have [Natural talents], something separate from the [Core Talents]. This reminded him of a detail Proxy brought up during the fight with the Oculus, something about "being talented."
The second point was about the [Quest: Find a settlement]. Settlements imply other people like himself, right?
These thoughts continued to hum in Riley's head until eventually Proxy spoke up.
"Riley, we really should start moving now. If you're feeling alright, it'd be best to plan our exit off this mountain," Proxy said, his voice edged with caution. "This place feels like it's just getting started with the strange."
"You're probably right," Riley muttered. "Things are only getting weirder the longer we stay here."
He stood and began pacing around the small island, searching for the exit he'd found earlier. The blue screen that had floated in front of him vanished the instant he wished it gone. But something new caught his eye.
All across the surface of the lake, thin cracks shimmered like fractured glass. They weren't confined to the water either. The cave walls were lined with them, glowing faintly in the moonlight. As he moved, some cracks seemed to shift with him—like a rainbow that follows your gaze. It was unsettling.
He scanned the cavern again, squinting across the lake. He doubted he'd spot the hidden exit from this angle. He'd have to get to shore and walk the perimeter.
"I'll just swim across," he muttered. "Already soaked, no point staying here."
He plunged into the water without hesitation. The cold hit him instantly, a biting chill that stiffened his limbs. His boots grew heavy, dragging at him with each kick.
It didn't take long for regret to set in.
Riley had made the mistake of thinking that just because he'd survived the fall earlier, he could swim across a fifty-meter lake in full gear. But now his sore muscles screamed in protest, and every breath came short and ragged.
His earpiece buzzed, followed by Proxy's dry voice. "Hey, don't drown, okay? That'd be really unfortunate."
Too winded to respond, Riley powered through, each stroke fueled by raw determination. When he finally crawled onto the rocky shore, he collapsed, gasping.
He turned to glance back—and froze.
The cracks had followed him. They floated just above the lake's surface, layered over the world like a broken reflection, completely disconnected from the water or cave. Almost as if they weren't part of the landscape at all, but something deeper—an atmospheric fracture or a tear in reality.
"Alright," he panted. "Let's find that exit again."
He skirted the cavern wall, ignoring the main path he'd taken before. That way only led to the cliff where he started, and nothing useful was there. He kept his eyes sharp, scanning the stone under the moon's glow. The pale light made everything clearer now, even down to the glimmer of blue particles hanging in the air.
Finally, there it was—the hidden exit. He'd passed right by it before spotting it over his shoulder. It blended perfectly into the cave wall, a seam barely visible without the right perspective.
He climbed, the uphill slope testing his tired legs. But soon enough, moonlight spilled through the opening ahead. As Riley stepped onto the overlook, his breath caught in his throat.
This time, the world had changed.
The mountain range sprawled out before him, like before—but now, at the range's far end, a colossal tear pierced the sky. It split outward into jagged cracks, like shattered glass. A pillar of blue light surged from the earth into the stars, glowing with a surreal, ethereal energy.
The sight stirred something deep in Riley's chest. A beacon. A promise. Maybe even… a way home?
But that wasn't all.
The true world had revealed itself at night.
Dragons flew high overhead, their massive wings slicing the air. Far to the left, the ocean rippled with movement—something enormous beneath the waves. On a distant shore, a giant lumbered along the beach, so massive that from here, Riley could still make out the mountain strapped to its back.
To the right, the forests shimmered with strange hues—some trees burned blue like fire, others glowed gold like starlight. In their branches, eerie, half-seen creatures watched from the shadows.
This wasn't Earth.
This place—this world—was something else entirely.
And Riley knew with absolute certainty that he couldn't survive it alone. Even if he didn't trust Proxy… he needed him.
"Hey, Proxy," Riley said, eyes still on the sky-splitting tear. "Why are there cracks everywhere?"
Static popped in his ear before Proxy responded. "Cracks? Sorry, Riley, but I don't see any. You might want to check your eyes."
That confirmed it.
Riley's eyes had changed. Whatever the wisps had done to him, it had altered his perception—given him sight beyond normal limits. And despite Proxy claiming to share his vision and hearing, it clearly didn't extend to whatever this was.
He kept that to himself.
There were things Proxy didn't need to know.
"Proxy," Riley said, steadying his breath. "Do you know where we are now?"
This time, Proxy responded without hesitation.
"Yes. Sort of. What lies before us is the world of Velura. Beautiful, isn't it? The mountain range is called the Pendulum Ranges, and the peak we're on is known as Nebulus Peak. Now, if we want to move forward, we'll need to descend toward the forest to the east. It's called Lunareth Wood. That's where we'll start."