NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Prologue!
[Beep! Mission Failed!]
[Player FDG398756 has died!]
[Processing… Error! Error!]
[Rebooting Character!]
[Welcome, Player FDG398756, to the Dimensional Sanctuary!]
Amidst the haze of darkness, Ethan's mind buzzed as if someone had struck a gong inside his skull. In the confusion, a faint electronic voice echoed in his ears, snapping him out of the void.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. A piercing white light assaulted his vision, forcing his pupils to contract sharply. It took a long moment before his eyes could finally adjust.
"Where… am I?"
Blinking away the discomfort, Ethan gradually took in his surroundings. White—everything around him was shrouded in an endless sea of white light, devoid of any other detail.
[Welcome, Player FDG398756, to the Dimensional Sanctuary!]
[Detected: First-time player. Beginner's bonus granted—choose one world out of four!]
Just as he was processing the emptiness, a translucent blue panel suddenly materialized before his eyes. It wasn't floating in the air but instead felt as though it was projected directly onto his retinas.
"I'm… not dead?" Ethan stared at his hands, clenching his fists experimentally.
A healthy body—strong and brimming with vitality!
Since the accident, he hadn't felt this kind of energy in his limbs. The sensation was both familiar and alien, sending shivers through him as he struggled to process what was happening.
[World categories classified—please make your selection!]
1. [Resident Evil]
2. [Naruto]
3. [Overlord]
4. [One Piece]
Before he could make sense of the situation, the panel shifted, displaying four distinct options accompanied by images and brief descriptions.
"What… is this?"
Though Ethan still had no idea what was going on, one thing was clear—this wasn't the afterlife he'd imagined.
Ethan was certain of one thing—he had died. And yet, he had been reborn.
This place wasn't hell—at least, not the kind he'd imagined.
His eyes lingered on the blood-red text flashing across the translucent panel: [Please Select a World.] A creeping sense of unease settled in his chest as his gaze drifted toward the first option—[A Plain and Ordinary Test Tube.]
The image showed a shattered test tube, twisted in a spiral design. Its contents—a strange, blue liquid—had spilled across the floor in an ominous puddle.
As a modern man from the 21st century, Ethan's first instinct upon seeing this image was simple—run.
He might have forgotten most of Resident Evil's plot, maybe even how the T-virus came to be, but there was one thing he could never forget—that damned test tube.
The memory struck him like a bolt of lightning. He vaguely recalled sitting in a packed theater, gripping his seat as the movie unfolded. Back then, he'd been just a kid in elementary school.
"A world… selection?"
Ethan's eyes returned to the hovering panel, and an icy chill crept down his spine.
He couldn't be sure of his theory, but even a one-percent chance of being right was too much of a risk. No matter how vague the rules were about what happened after death in this place, he had no intention of gambling with his second chance at life.
He didn't want to die.
He wanted to survive—no matter what it took.
"Can I refuse to choose?" Ethan asked cautiously.
[Refuse the mission: Immediate Termination.]
The stark response made Ethan's breath hitch. After a moment of silence, he forced himself to refocus and examine the remaining options.
Choosing might lead to death, but not choosing guaranteed it. In a situation like this, the choice was obvious.
His gaze shifted to the second option—[A Bloodstained Headband.]
For a brief moment, his eyes lit up. But the flicker of hope was short-lived, quickly giving way to hesitation.
The image depicted a metal headband, smeared with blood. An unfamiliar symbol was etched onto its surface—a symbol Ethan recognized immediately.
"If I choose a world… will I possess a new body, or will I physically cross over?" he asked.
[The host will undergo physical transmigration. Minor adjustments, such as facial features, hair color, skin tone, language, and backstory, will be made to suit the new world. However, these changes will not affect the host's strength, nor will any additional advantages be provided.]
Ethan nodded thoughtfully.
A physical transfer. That meant no shortcuts—no overpowered abilities, no plot armor, and no divine interventions. If he ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, he'd be lucky to survive the first day.
His eyes returned to the bloodstained headband, and he let out a slow breath.
It was tempting—this world had shaped much of his adolescence. He still remembered the characters, the stories, and even the ideals that had fueled his youthful fantasies. But stepping into it? That was an entirely different matter.
What if he arrived during the Shinobi World War? Worse, what if he ended up in a hostile village outside of Konoha?
Or, heaven forbid, what if he was dropped into the timeline during Pain's Assault?
A shiver ran down Ethan's spine. No, this wasn't just playing a game—this was life and death.
The more he thought about it, the more his instincts screamed at him to turn away. With a quiet sigh, Ethan abandoned the second option, pushing aside the nostalgia it stirred.
For now, survival took priority over sentiment.
Perhaps this was the very definition of Ye Gong Hao Long—loving dragons in theory but fearing them in reality. Watching anime was one thing, but stepping into the world itself? Ethan doubted he'd survive more than two episodes.
He'd lost count of how many times he'd bragged online about what he'd do if he ever got the chance to transmigrate. Yet now that the opportunity was staring him in the face, he realized that not getting swatted to death immediately would already be an achievement.
A world built on bloodlines, backgrounds, and inherited power—what could a penniless nobody like him possibly accomplish there? He probably wasn't even qualified to be cannon fodder.