Ethan’s eyes slowly blinked open. The ceiling above him was plain, painted a dull off-white. For a moment, he thought he was still in the hospital, but the light filtering through a window to his side wasn’t artificial. It was warm and natural, soft enough to lull him back to sleep if not for the realization that this wasn’t a hospital room.

He sat up, his movements sluggish, and the first thing he noticed was the bed. It wasn’t like the stiff hospital ones he had been used to. The mattress was firm but comfortable, and the blanket over him was neatly folded at the edges. His eyes shifted around the small room, taking in the details.

A nightstand stood next to the bed, with a simple lamp on top of it. The wardrobe in the corner looked clean but was barely large enough to hold more than a week’s worth of clothes. A door to his right led to what he assumed was a bathroom. Everything about the place screamed “basic,” but it wasn’t unpleasant. The faint scent of lavender lingered in the air.

Ethan stretched his legs over the edge of the bed, pausing when his feet touched the floor. He wriggled his toes out of habit, marveling at the fact he could even feel them. The realization hit him again—he could move.

Quietly, he stood up, testing his balance. His steps were steady as he walked toward the door leading out of the bedroom. His hand brushed the doorknob, and he hesitated for a second before turning it.

The door opened into a living room that doubled as a kitchen. Ethan stopped, his dark eyes scanning every corner of the space.

The living room was small, furnished with a two-seater sofa and a low coffee table. On the wall opposite the sofa was a television, slim and modern, mounted neatly. The kitchen area was minimal—a countertop with two stools, a stove, and a fridge that hummed softly in the background. It looked like the kind of place you’d expect a student or young bachelor to live in, nothing fancy but functional.

There was a sliding glass door at the far end of the room, and sunlight poured through it, casting golden streaks across the floor. Ethan walked toward it almost on instinct, sliding it open and stepping out onto the balcony.

The air outside was cool and crisp, filling his lungs in a way that felt cleaner than anything he’d breathed before. The balcony wasn’t big, just enough for a chair or two, but it gave him a view that made him stop and stare.

Hellfire. That’s what they had called this place. But standing here, all he could see was a landscape that felt alive.

The sky was clear and blue, so vibrant it almost didn’t seem real. Off in the distance, tall buildings formed a city skyline, their glassy surfaces reflecting the sunlight. Closer to the dorms, he could see greenery—trees, fields, and well-kept roads that wound through it all. The streets were dotted with people, and from this height, they looked relaxed, happy.

Ethan leaned on the balcony railing, his fingers brushing the smooth metal. His lips pressed into a thin line as his mind raced.

“So this is Hellfire…” he muttered under his breath. There was no humor in his tone, only quiet disbelief.

He stayed there for a few minutes, his eyes scanning the horizon. The name didn’t fit the place. Hellfire sounded like it should’ve been dark and oppressive, not… this.

Eventually, he sighed and turned back toward the living room. As he stepped inside, his gaze fell on the coffee table. A book was sitting there.

Ethan walked over and picked it up. The cover immediately caught his attention. It wasn’t what he expected—a serious guidebook or manual of some kind. Instead, it had a cartoonish drawing on the front.

It was a chibi-style figure of a god, grinning like an idiot and giving a thumbs-up. The exaggerated features made it look ridiculous, with its round head and silly smile. Ethan stared at it for a long moment before letting out a quiet scoff.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Really?” he said under his breath, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. Whoever designed this had a strange sense of humor.

He flipped it open, his fingers brushing against the smooth, glossy pages. The first thing he saw was a bold title in bright, cheerful letters:

“Welcome to Region 13! Your New Life Starts Here!”

Ethan stared at the words, his expression unreadable. His fingers hovered over the edge of the page, ready to turn it.

But for the first time in what felt like forever, his thoughts were calm.

Ethan turned the page, his eyes scanning the words. It didn’t take long before a brief summary of the realm he was in appeared.

Genesis.

It was a realm created by the gods of ancient times, a place where heaven and hell existed as one. The gods, in their infinite wisdom, had crafted it as a balanced existence. Neither completely pure nor entirely corrupt, Genesis was a realm where everything coexisted—light and darkness, creation and destruction, good and evil—all woven together into a unified whole.

As Ethan read, the simplicity of it struck him. The gods had created Genesis to be a world of balance, yet one where everything had its place. Heaven and hell, it seemed, weren’t as separate as the stories told. In Genesis, they were two sides of the same coin.

Flipping further, Ethan found a section on Region 13. The words were familiar enough, but the place itself sounded a little too strange to be real.

Region 13 was the home of the gods Pluto and Veles, two of the oldest and most powerful beings in Genesis. The gods had once been more active, their influence shaping the realm in ways only a few understood. Lately, however, both Pluto and Veles had remained in the shadows, leaving the world to carry on without their direct intervention.

There was a mention of the 1000-year servants, more commonly known as the Knights. These were beings who had pledged to serve the gods for a millennium, dedicating their lives to missions that stretched across the ages. They weren’t exactly soldiers in the conventional sense, but they were bound by duty and had the power to wield Prana.

The text briefly explained that the majority of Genesis’ inhabitants were unawakened beings, those who had chosen to live in the realm for a thousand years. They didn’t have any special abilities but were granted the opportunity to experience the Genesis War—a controlled, deadly civil war among the realm’s soldiers. The goal? To reach the New Valhalla, a place that promised untold power and glory.

The section on soldiers was vague at best. There was mention of their role in the Genesis War, their powers, and the rewards they could gain. But the specifics were buried in what the book referred to as controlled info, available only to those who became official soldiers.

Ethan closed the guidebook with a small grunt.

“Well, that felt like it answered my questions, but also left me with more questions,” he muttered under his breath.

He skimmed through the remaining pages, which showed a public map of Region 13 and some vague names of other regions. Nothing too detailed, just enough to give him an idea of where he was.

Then, his eyes landed on a note on the coffee table.

It was a simple piece of paper, neatly folded. He picked it up and read aloud:

“Recruit (Rank 0 soldiers) have their uniforms kept in the closet. Wear it and wait for the Squad Supervisor’s call.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Uniforms?” He mumbled, still a little puzzled by the whole situation.

With the note in hand, he stood up and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and glanced inside. The shelves were sparsely filled—nothing too fancy, but enough to survive on.

His stomach growled loudly. He grabbed a packet of something that looked like instant noodles, tossed it into a pot, and turned on the stove.

“I’m fucking hungry after all that bullcrap I went through today,” he muttered, setting a timer for five minutes.

While he waited, he paced around, his mind still turning over the strange new world he had found himself in.

Five minutes later, he grabbed a hot glass of water from the counter, took a sip, and headed back to the bedroom. He opened the closet and found a set of clothes hanging neatly.

They were simple, yet official-looking—dark, fitted gear with insignia on the shoulder. Rank 0, he assumed.

He glanced at the bathroom door and then back at the uniform.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he shrugged off his current clothes.

“Well, here goes nothing.”

He headed straight for the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind him.

And for the first time since he had woken up, Ethan felt like maybe, just maybe, things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.