The Black Hills of Dakota, a beautiful small yet isolated mountain range situated a short distance away from Mount Rushmore, had been inhabited by Native American tribes for 10,000 years. The rocky mountain peaks and grassland plains had been unaffected by the catastrophe which was in the form of humans. The mountain range encompassed 5000 square miles and had many tall peaks; however, the highest peak in the range was called Black Elk Peak.

On this day, the light blue sky was crystal clear, the sun was high in the sky radiating a tender heat. The sounds of birds chirping and small animals running through the lush greenery added to the serene atmosphere which possessed this picturesque landscape. A small rabbit was sitting in tranquility quietly admiring the sounds of nature and the pleasant heat. The sound of approaching footsteps woke the little animal who quickly scampered off back to its warren.

A young man was running silently across the rocky face of the mountain heading to the top. Spotting the small rabbit scampering off into the distance, he smiled as he admired the beauty of the free-roaming wildlife who had made this their home.

His name was Daimon Blaine. Daimon, an American hailing from Florida, was attending a private school in South Dakota. Majoring in athletic training, Daimon was a cross country champion winning gold medals in every competition he faced. Never backing down from a challenge had led him to train in some of the most beautiful places in the world and Black Elk Peak was his favorite.

As Daimon got closer to the peak, he started pushing himself harder and faster, longing for a break at the top. Gasping for air, he finally stopped sprinting. While breathing in the beautiful air, he looked at the surrounding scenery which consisted of more mountains and clear blue skies in every direction, except one. Staring at the skyline he spotted something which shocked him to his core.

A beam of bright vibrant white light was descending from the heavens, with the blue sky acting as a backdrop the beam looked magical. He watched as the beam dropped below the crest of the nearby mountain. Less than a second later the world had turned white.

Finding himself trapped in the vast expanse of white; immobile, scared, and alone, Daimon existed in mind only, he could not feel his body. What remained was only the thoughts running through his head. "Am I dead? Where am I? Can anyone hear me? Is there anyone there?"

With fear taking hold, these questions were all he could think about. What felt like days had passed and he started to question his sanity. Being trapped in this strange torture chamber had begun to affect his mind. Wide-eyed and confused suddenly in his mind, strange words appeared,

"Welcome to The Ruling System prepare for integration".

A timer had begun to the countdown on the screen before him. 59 seconds remained and he began to panic.

What the hell was a Ruling System? Was it the cause of the light? Most importantly, what does it mean by Integration? As the seconds slowly counted down, Daimon's mind became less fearful, he was glad to be finally getting out of the world of white.

Like a picture coming into existence one pixel at a time, Daimon slowly regained his vision and witnessed the colorful and vibrant world that awaited him. However, he found that the text still lingering in his mind. Watching as it slowly faded away, he was surprised to see a screen appear.

Name Daimon Blaine Level - 1 Class: none Health 100/100 Free stat points- 0 Subclass: none Stats Strength: 5 Agility: 8 Constitution: 5 Willpower: 5 Luck: 10 Skills N/a Laws N/a Titles N/a Bonus stats N/a

Staring at the table he was frightened as it looked like a screen from a computer game. Going by Earth's calendar, it was the 20th of June 2020, although Daimon was not sure how long he had been in the horrid white world. Nevertheless, he was certain that earth had not possessed the technology to cause this outrageous situation.

How could this be a game? He was almost fully certain that he had been returned to the same location he had been in before, it confused him greatly. Giving himself a quick once over, he realized that his clothes had remained the same and his backpack was still there.

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Upon checking his body he noticed that it too had not changed. Daimon was 22-year-old and had remained around 5ft 11 inches tall since he had turned 16. He was also quite skinny, However, he was well built from the years of training which gave him a strong physique for athletics. Light blue eyes adorned his face and the top of his head was filled with short jet black hair.

The only thing which seemed to have changed was the world around him. The landscape remained the same, but the color of everything seemed to have become more alive and radiant; it could even be described as magnificent.

After admiring the scenery for a few more scant moments it was finally time to turn to more pressing matters such as, what the hell was going on? Deciding to start with the computerized screen hiding in his vision, he made the first leap into his new life.

Growing up Daimon was an avid gamer, so the gaming aspects of a status screen and the idea of virtual reality games written about in books were not new to him. Trying to figure out how to close the screen, the word Tutorial appeared. Focusing on the world tutorial, he let it encompass his mind. Surprisingly new text appeared: "A tutorial orb has been dispatched, remain alive until it gets there".

"Stay alive!" Daimon exclaimed a sense of foreboding rose in his mind. "What does it mean by 'remain alive?" Daimon voiced out loud. Attracted by the sound, loud footsteps approached and drew closer to Daimon. A 10ft tall rock formation with eyes and legs appeared before him. The creature radiated power which even Daimon could sense. Thankfully as if sensing the impending doom the screen flashing in his vision finally disappeared which served to give Daimon a greater view of the monstrosity approaching him.

Completely shocked, he froze on the spot hoping that the giant would not notice him. Unfortunately, his luck stat must have let him down. Noticing Daimons' presence, the giant head swiveled around and their eyes met. Witnessing an intruder in its domain, the huge rock giant suddenly let out a grinding noise and rushed straight at Daimon. Not wanting to get crushed by the rock, he snapped back to his senses and dodged to the side. The rock entity fortunately was slow and clumsy. Unsure of what to do, Daimon quickly thought back over his memories from gaming and assumed that this was a monster created by the System mentioned when the text first appeared.

"Maybe if I kill it I will level up, but how does one kill a ten-foot-tall rock giant? I am slightly faster, it moves around as if it is encumbered so escape is possible". The monster, enraged by missing its target, finished rotating its body around. It suddenly screeched and rushed at Daimon once more. Rolling to the side, he barely escaped its outstretched arms, which were not present before. Taking in the changes Daimon exclaimed, "It can morph its body, that's not good".

Now panicking over the sudden ability which the giant had revealed, Daimon decided to run. Being a cross country runner before the assimilation, he considered himself pretty fast, leaving the giant about ten meters behind and slowly gaining ground on it he ran for his life. Feeling sweat rolling down his back he realized that it wasn't due to movement but due to his fear.

Adrenaline pushed him forward and through the building fear increasing his momentum until he peered over his shoulder and saw a massive boulder flying through the air towards him. Terror set in, A small cliff ledge with a massive drop was on his left, deciding to dodge right he prepared to roll out of the way; however, it was too late. The boulder smashed down on the right side of the path and flung him closer to the ledge.

Beaten by rock fragments scattered from the impact, he stood up shakily and noticed the rock giant 5 meters behind continuing its fierce charge towards him. With no space to dodge, he could only watch helplessly as the monstrous rock giant was about to barrel through him, at the last second his heart rate speed up and power returned to his body, it felt magical. With no time to study this feeling, Daimon rolled between the giant's legs.

The rock giant finding itself pacariously balancing on the edge of the cliff was slowly trying to turn around. Daimon with all his strength stood up behind the giant and watched as his arms swelled up greatly. In too much pain to notice or even care about his strange arms, he pushed with all his might. Toppling over the cliff, the giant let out a gut-wrenching grinding noise. Daimon watched as it fell and hit the bottom, a ding resounded and a message appeared in his mind:

"Congratulations for defeating a monster 40 levels above you, 7 level ups gained

First kill on: Area Boss: Calculating.....

First monster killed: Area Boss: Calculating.....

First to kill a Monster on your home planet Calculating.....

The participant has not been to Tutorial Town anomaly Detected...

Tutorial Orb already dispatched...

Calculating rewards ...

Rewards obtained

1 basic law granted at random

Forerunner Title

Boss slayer Title

One Rare item chest obtained

2 common skills of choice

After reading the rewards Daimon fainted.

A voice quietly whispered into the wind

"If fear cannot shackle a being nothing in the universe can".