I was six when it happened.

Before the program, I lived a normal life in Delaware. I had parents, a sister named Julia who was three years older than me, and went to school like a normal kid.

Then one day, my school was visited by a group of scientists. We were told they were doing an experiment of some kind to evaluate the growth potential of children at games. Every kid was called in and played a game against one of the scientists. Apparently it was some popular game among older people called chess, though I had never heard of it until that day.

Despite being a first timer, I won my second game against the scientist I faced, as well as the next one after that. After the three games, they thanked me for my participation and I left. I had thought that was the end of it.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Days later, I was on my way home from school. All I remember was a black car rolling up near me and getting dizzy soon after. When I woke up, I was in an underground facility with several other kids my age that I had never seen before. We were told we were going to become the heroes of our country. Soldiers that would enter Genesis and clear it. All for the single goal of having a specific wish granted. Make our country the greatest in the entire world. So powerful that no other nation on the planet could challenge or defy us.

Compliance wasn’t voluntary. We had to go along with it “or else”. From that day forward, we underwent daily training. We were given a basic education, physical training to refine our bodies, and most importantly training with games. Lots and lots of games. I played so many games of chess during those years I had lost count. All the while, those in charge systematically did everything they could to make us lose interest in our pasts. We were to refer to each other by our ID numbers. If we called ourselves or others by name, we were punished. We weren’t allowed to talk about our lives before the program. Who we were before this didn’t matter. All that mattered was the mission.

That was the purpose of the program. To train an army of elite agents that could complete Genesis for them. Beyond that, we were disposable.

I wasn’t like the others however. I had managed to retain my sense of self and my memories of the past. Of course those in charge didn’t know because I played ignorant and acted like I had forgotten all about it. But every night I would recite it in my head. My life before this. My family. Even my own name.

Nate Mavric

For ten years, that training through hell was all I knew. There were a few times I wondered if it was worth it to even go on. Perhaps it would just be easier to give up and let death take me. But my memories of who I was before this helped me hold on. I was not a puppet to be used by these people. And I was going to prove it.

Then, the graduation exam came.

My entire class was brought to the training course. It had been set up with various terrain. As we stood there in blissful ignorance of what was to come, those in charge of the program spoke to us.

“This is your final exam. Fight to the death. The last one alive will graduate from the program. Fail to comply, and you will all die.”

It was about five seconds before the first of us started attacking. From there, it quickly turned into a bloody hell. Screams of pain and cries of agony echoed throughout that room for the next several minutes. At first, I stood still, not knowing what to do. Then, another boy in my class came at me with the intent to kill.

At that moment, a switch flipped inside my head.

I went into survival mode. I blocked out all of the screams, all of the looks of despair on the faces of my classmates as I killed them. All that mattered was surviving. Whoever was nearby was an enemy I had to kill before they could kill me. I’m not sure exactly how many of them died by my hand, but when I came back to my senses, every one of the people I had spent the past ten years training with was a lifeless corpse.

I spent most of that night hunched over the toilet. What was the reason for this? To see who was the best of the best? To remove our hesitation to kill? To take away our emotions altogether? I didn’t know the reason for this and I didn’t care. All that mattered now was reaching Genesis and getting the wish from the goddess.

But I wasn’t going to make the wish these monsters wanted. I had a different wish in mind. One that would make all of the hardship I had endured worth it. It was a simple wish really.

I was going to wish the creation of Genesis never happened.

Without Genesis, none of it would happen. The program wouldn’t have come to be. I wouldn’t be taken from my family. I wouldn’t have a normal childhood replaced with years of hellish training. I wouldn’t have the blood of my classmates on my hands. Even if I killed from this point onwards, it would all be undone if Genesis never came into existence. Every sin I committed would be nothing but a forgotten memory.

I wasn’t entirely sure it was possible, but if anyone possessed the power to alter time, it would be a goddess. So I buried my emotions and swore that I would do whatever it took to achieve my goal. No matter who I had to betray. No matter who I had to kill. I would make it to the goddess and get my wish. And to do that, I needed to get rid of those who would get in my way. Such as my fellow graduates.

It didn’t take more than ten minutes for me to reach the goal after I left the spot where I had killed Fifty-six and the others. Once I reached it, I was automatically teleported back to the auditorium where the exam had first been explained to us. I was the ninth person to arrive, meaning I had passed the exam. After another twenty minutes or so, the remaining three slots were filled and the exam concluded. All of the items we had gotten from the chests were confiscated by the Admins and we were escorted out of the auditorium and down a hallway by Amane.

“Congratulations on passing the exam.” Amane told us as we followed her. “We will soon send you to Genesis as its newest Players.”

All twelve of us silently followed after her. She led us to the end of the hall and into another room. It didn’t seem anything special. Just an empty room with an odd pattern etched into the floor.

“In a few moments, you will be transported to Genesis.” Amane explained. “Once there, you will receive your Crest and be given a brief explanation on the fundamentals of the city.”

I narrowed my eyes. Crest? I was unfamiliar with that term. Nothing in our explanation of Genesis covered that. What exactly was a Crest? Glancing around, I could tell the others were equally confused by the information.

Before any of us could say something though, the doors behind us opened up. We turned around and watched as a man stumbled into the room.

“Please!” he called out. “Let me into Genesis! I’m begging you!”

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Amane narrowed her eyes at the man. “I believe we already have all twelve who passed the exam already. You were not one of the first twelve to make it back. Ergo, you failed. Now leave.”

“You have to let me in!” the man begged. “I’ll do anything! Please, I-”

The rest of the sentence died on his tongue as a blur rushed past us. In an instant, Amane appeared in front of the man and drove her hand through his chest. By the time I had realized what happened, Amane had already pulled out her hand and the man was nothing more than a corpse lying on the floor.

Had Amane teleported to the man? No, I could feel the rush of her moving past us. But that would mean she covered a distance of roughly twenty meters in the blink of an eye. That was impossible. No human was that fast. Was this the power of an Admin?

Seconds later, another man peeked his head into the room. He had a black jacket like Amane, showing that he was a fellow Admin. He seemed to be in his early thirties and had messy blonde hair, along with a pair of sunglasses resting just above his forehead.

“Sorry about that, boss.” the man said with an innocent grin. “He slipped past me before I could stop him.”

“Are you ever going to take your job seriously, Heinz?” Amane spoke. “You’re an Admin. Start acting like it. What if he had been caught up in the teleportation with us?”

The man known as Heinz waved off her concern. “It’s fine, don’t worry so much. You could have just killed him after that anyway.” he said. “You need to learn not to be so serious all the time. You’ll get wrinkles.”

“Perhaps if you weren’t slacking all the time I’d have more freedom to relax.”

“Come on. Don’t be like that. I’m trying my best here. Honest.” Heinz gave a light grin. “Well then, I’ll be off. Good luck with the newbies. Toodles.”

With that, the door closed and we were left alone again with Amane. The female Admin cleared her throat before continuing. “Now then, as I said, you’ll be given a rundown of the basics when you arrive. A reminder for you all that once you are on Genesis, you are not allowed to leave. You will be stuck there until you defeat the goddess in a game. Good luck, new Players.”

A second later, the pattern on the floor began to glow. This was it. After everything I had done, I was finally going to Genesis. The start line for my goal. And no matter what, I was going to see things through to the end. Or at the very least, die trying.

Those thoughts flowed through my mind as a white light engulfed me.

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As the light died down, I found myself in what felt like a void.

Endless white stretched out as far as the eyes could see. There was absolutely nothing here besides myself. Even Amane or the other eleven people that had passed with me were nowhere to be seen.

Where exactly was I? According to Amane, we were supposed to be transported to Genesis. But this blank canvas of a void couldn’t possibly be the city floating in the sky. Did that mean something had gone wrong with the teleportation?

My thoughts were interrupted as a light began to shine down from above. I shielded my eyes as a figure descended down and landed softly right before me.

It was a girl in her late teens with brunette hair tied up in a ponytail. She had crimson red eyes. Her attire was rather elegant. A long white dress with a blue trim down the middle covered her body, stopping halfway between her knees and feet with small yellow frills.

“I see you’ve finally arrived.” the girl spoke.

Something seemed strange about this girl. I couldn’t quite place what exactly however. “Who are you?”

“Me? You can call me Deus.” the girls said with an innocent smile. “I’m the being who created Genesis.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. This was the goddess? The same one that had caused all of this twenty years ago? She certainly didn’t look like what I had expected, that much was for sure. Her dress fit a divine presence I supposed, but other than that she seemed no different than an ordinary girl. Was she perhaps simply using this as a form to seem more approachable?

“In any case, congratulations for reaching Genesis. You are now officially a Player.” Deus explained. “First, allow me to explain how the city works. Normal currency from your world is worthless here. Instead, you will have points.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Points?”

“Correct. You will start off with one thousand of these points. You can spend them on various things, such as items, food, and even lodging. Be careful though. If the number of points you have reaches zero, it’ll be Game Over for you. Put simply, you’ll die.”

My body tensed up upon hearing this. So points were more than just a form of currency. They were quite literally a lifeline. I was going to need to make sure I didn’t overspend. “I assume there’s a way to get more points?”

“Of course. There’s a few ways to gain points, but the primary way is to win games against other Players. You can challenge other Players to games, and bet your points in them. The winner receives the points bet by the loser. You can also wager other things in games besides points.”

“Like what?”

“Anything, really. The primary rule of Genesis is that the results of games are absolute.” Deus said. “When making a wager in a game, if you lose you have to make good on your word. There is no getting out of it.”

I pondered this to myself. No getting out of it? Did that mean you were quite literally forced to do whatever was agreed upon? If that was true, then defeating Players in games would prove very useful outside of just gaining more points. It was the perfect way to use others for my own ends.

As I continued to think about this, Deus continued. “Anyway, let’s move onto the next topic. Your Crest.”

“The Admin mentioned something about that before.” I said. “What exactly are Crests?”

“It’s something given to every Player in Genesis upon entering. It’s a special ability that’s tied deeply to your soul. Your personality, your experiences, everything about you shapes what your Crest will become.” Deus explained. “It may be simplest to think of it as your very own unique superpower.”

A superpower. Was that what Amane had used to move so quickly before? Was that the power of a Crest?

“Now then, I’ll give you your Crest so stay still and relax.” Deus took my hand and held it with her own. She closed her eyes and suddenly her body began to glow.

Soon after, my own body began to glow with a similar light. I could feel a strange energy welling up inside me. A few seconds later, the light around both of us died down and Deus let go of my hand.

“Now you have your Crest.” Deus told me. “Its ability should come naturally to you. As if you could do it from the day you were born.”

She was right. I couldn’t fully explain it, but I knew exactly what my Crest was and how to use it. It was as if it was wired into my DNA. Not some technique I had learned through training, but… a part of me. On top of that, it was a very useful power. If I could use it properly, I would be more proficient than ever before.

“Lastly, I have a gift for you.” Deus snapped her fingers and suddenly a small metallic sphere that was about the size of a bowling ball appeared out of thin air. “This is a device given to every player known as a Dux. It comes installed with a basic guide of Genesis, the ability to store items for you, allow you to send messages to other players, keep track of the number of points you have, and will automatically translate anything and everything people say into your native language and vice versa. It’s also indestructible, so you don’t need to worry about it getting broken.”

As she finished her explanation, the Dux hovered over to me and stayed at my side. If what Deus said was true, then this was going to be an invaluable asset. The translator alone would make it so I could communicate with anyone I met in Genesis, not to mention some of the other features like item storage and messaging.

“To access the features of your Dux, simply say ‘Menu’.” Deus explained. “That’s everything. Now it is time for you to step into the world of Genesis.” As she said this, a portal opened up behind her, leading out of the void. “It’s time for your game to begin, Player. I’ll be waiting for your challenge.”

After taking a moment to ready myself, I began walking towards the portal. Once I walked through that portal I would be in the city of Genesis with nine hundred and ninety-nine other people that had the same goal as me. Every single one of them was an enemy and I would have to do everything in my power to make sure I defeated them.

“Oh, I almost forgot one last thing.”

I stopped and turned back to Deus. “What is-” Before I could finish however, Deus ran up to me and leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on my forehead.

“Consider that my way of saying good luck.” she said. “I’ll be keeping a close eye on you, Nate Mavric.”

I stood there confused for a moment, but shrugged it off. I didn’t know exactly why she felt the need for the kiss just now, but I doubted it would actually help me in my mission.

Even still… I couldn’t deny I felt a bit warm inside after receiving it for some inexplicable reason.