---
The last thing he remembered was the feeling of cold steel slicing into him, the flash of a twisted smile, and then… darkness. He should have been gone, erased from the world, just another victim lost to a sudden, cruel twist of fate. But then, something strange happened.
An echo, like a soft ping in his mind, resonated in the void.
[System Booting...]
[Welcome to the Gamer System]
Opening his eyes, the boy – once an ordinary high schooler with a boring life and an unfortunate end – found himself standing in a different place altogether. Around him was a surreal landscape of shifting colors, a space that looked like it belonged in some kind of game lobby rather than in the afterlife.
He looked down, surprised to see his body, but it looked different: faintly transparent, like he was some kind of hologram. Panic bubbled up within him, but the strange messages continued in his mind, blocking out his shock.
[Initializing Player: Riku Tanaka]
"Player...?" he muttered, feeling the words leave his lips but hearing a strange echo, as though his voice wasn’t really his anymore.
A sudden, glowing blue window appeared before him. The text was sharp and clear:
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Welcome to the Game of Life, Riku Tanaka. You have died and been selected to participate in a unique system known as The Gamer. Complete quests, fight monsters, and gain experience to unlock new abilities and grow stronger.
Quest: Prologue
Objective: Escape the Void Realm
Reward: 100 EXP, +1 Stat Point
Failure: Eternal Limbo
---
"Is this... is this real?" Riku whispered. The window seemed to respond to his thoughts, waiting expectantly as if it understood his hesitation.
After a moment, Riku clenched his fists and nodded. He didn’t know what was going on, but this might be his only shot at getting a second chance. He took a deep breath and accepted the quest.
[Quest Accepted: Prologue – Escape the Void Realm]
In the blink of an eye, the void shifted, and Riku found himself standing on a strange, rocky path under an empty, starless sky. Shadows twisted and turned along the ground as if alive, slithering toward him, whispering in a language he couldn’t understand. Then, out of the shadows, figures began to emerge—grotesque creatures with glowing red eyes and jagged claws.
A new notification appeared:
[Battle Mode Engaged]
Enemy: Void Wraiths
Level: 1
Quantity: 3
Instinct kicked in as he backed up, looking around for any kind of weapon or escape route, but there was nothing in sight. A second prompt popped up:
[Ability Unlocked: Basic Strike]
Not knowing what else to do, Riku focused on the prompt, and an intuitive sensation took over his arm. He lunged forward, delivering a punch that struck the closest Wraith. His hand seemed to pass through it, but he felt resistance, like striking thick air. A health bar over the creature’s head dipped slightly, and the Wraith staggered back.
"Alright… I can do this," he muttered, more to himself than anyone.
The fight wasn’t pretty. He threw clumsy punches, sometimes only grazing the Wraiths, other times hitting hard enough to make their forms ripple and hiss in pain. He took a few swipes from their claws, but, strangely, he didn’t feel any pain—only the pulse of his own health bar slowly ticking down. He managed to defeat the three Wraiths, each one exploding into a puff of dark mist that disappeared into the void.
YOU ARE READING
Game Of Shadows(Highschool dxd x male gamer reader)
FanfictionRiku Tanaka never expected his life to end so abruptly-or to start over in a place between life and death, where he's handed a mysterious new role: The Gamer. Thrown into a dark, otherworldly realm after dying a tragic death, Riku discovers he has b...
