He woke to screaming.
Not from his mouth—but from the world.
The air was thick with ash and incense. Blood pooled beneath cracked stone, warm despite the chill. Circles were carved into the floor, symbols etched in bone. Candles burned low around him, flickering like they were afraid.
Above, a dozen bodies hung from rusted hooks. Robes soaked in red. Faces hidden by masks of carved wood and stitched flesh.
Cultists.
Something had gone wrong.
He tried to speak—choked on copper. His hands trembled as he lifted them. Cuts. Dried blood. A knife still gripped in his right.
But he didn't remember using it.
He didn't remember anything.
And then it spoke.
> [System Initialization Complete]
[Welcome, User: Asher Vail]
[Parasight Online]
Words slid into his mind like broken glass dipped in oil.
> [Entropy Detected – 3.7%]
[Kill Count Verified – 12]
[Initializing Core Subsystems…]
He staggered to his feet, eyes scanning the ruined chamber. The symbols weren't just ritual—they were wrong. Moving slightly when he didn't look. The kind of glyphs that whispered.
Parasight whispered louder.
> [System Hijack Successful]
[Ritual Source: External – Entity Alignment: Zalgo]
[Override: Complete]
His breath caught.
They hadn't meant to summon Parasight. The cult had called for something else—something older. But instead, it had come. It had taken the circle, taken him, and rewritten the outcome.
And somewhere, before that…
A different life.
But he couldn't reach it.
His memories were sealed, buried beneath noise and interference. Names, faces, and time itself—a blank slate scribbled over by static.
He looked around at the corpses.
Had he done this?
No answer came.
Only the system.
> [Kill Points: 15]
[Entropy: 3.7%]
[New Trait Acquired – Adaptive Reflex]
[Subsystem Unlock: Pending]
He stepped over the ruined circle, boots wet with blood and wax. The helmet in the corner—black, scratched, familiar—fit his head like it belonged. It hissed as it sealed shut.
From the shadows beyond the chamber, something moved.
He didn't flinch.
Instead, he walked forward—slow, steady, the weight of death like a second skin.
The world had ended for the people in this room. But for him?
It had just begun.