---

Ryan never thought death would feel like this.

Not painful, not dramatic. Just... weird. Like he blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, he was lying on some kind of cold stone floor. He wasn’t even sure if he was awake at first—everything looked like it was inside a dream, but with way too much detail. The air had this thick feeling, almost like mist, but it didn’t make him choke. It actually smelled kind of clean. Earthy.

He sat up slowly, looking around.

Weird trees with long twisting branches rose around him, their leaves glowing faintly green. The sky was pale purple—no sun in sight, but the whole place was lit somehow.

“Okay… either I’m dead or this is some insane VR simulation,” he muttered.

Then a voice spoke—directly into his head.

“You are awake. Good.”

He jerked upright. “Who's there?!”

“I am Ora. I exist within your consciousness. Your soul was transferred here after death, and I am your assigned guide.”

“Guide? Wait, wait—hold on. Transferred? Death?” Ryan stood up, wobbling. “You’re saying I’m… dead?”

“Correct. Your body perished in your previous world. A tragic collision. But your soul was intact. And so, you were brought here—to the Realm of Ascension.”

Ryan didn’t answer right away. Memories hit him like flashes—rain, headlights, a truck, the road twisting, a scream (maybe his own?). Then… silence.

He blinked, stared at his hands. They looked real. Too real. His skin, his scars. The little cut from shaving last week was still there.

“This can’t be real,” he whispered.

“It is. And yet, it is not what you would call ‘Earth-reality’. Here, the laws differ. Energy flows through everything. You must learn to refine it—to refine yourself.”

Ryan exhaled. “Alright, so… what am I supposed to do?”

A shimmer appeared ahead—a gate, black stone with strange glowing symbols etched into it. Mist spilled from the base.

“That is your first step. The Gate of No Return. Once you pass through, your soul will bind to this realm permanently. No going back.”

Ryan looked at the gate. It was massive, silent, and pulsing faintly.

He laughed under his breath. “No going back… like I had a choice in the first place.”

Still, he walked toward it.

Above the gate, the symbols shifted into words he could read:

“ENTER TO REFINE. LEAVE WHAT YOU WERE BEHIND.”

He placed a hand on the stone. It was warm, like something alive.

Then—a pull. Not physical, but like gravity inside his chest. He stumbled forward, and the gate opened not like a door, but like space itself folded.

He stepped through.

---

The world changed.

Now, he stood in a circular stone chamber. There were carvings on the walls—people sitting cross-legged, energy swirling around them. Some were fighting. Some were meditating. Some looked like they were… flying?

In the middle hovered a glowing figure. Vague, blurry, and almost peaceful.

“This is the Hall of Awakening,” Ora said. “The Spirit before you will synchronize your soul with the realm.”

Ryan approached, unsure if this was a boss fight or a spa day.

The spirit glowed brighter as he stepped forward, and suddenly—memories. His mom’s tired smile. His dad’s old guitar. Late nights with coffee and code. Leila laughing in the rain. The moment he’d realized she wouldn’t get better. The quiet, slow crumbling of hope.

He staggered.

“Why… why am I seeing this?”

“Refinement begins with truth,” Ora replied. “You must know your weight before you can lift it.”

The spirit touched Ryan’s chest.

A rush of light exploded inside him—his skin glowed, his heart pounded, and a small flame appeared in his vision, like it was inside him. A blueish-white flicker, steady but small.

“That is your Spirit Seed,” Ora explained. “It is your core. Through trials, it will grow. And with it, you will ascend.”

The warmth faded. The spirit dissolved into glittering particles and vanished into Ryan’s chest.

He dropped to one knee, panting.

“What the hell was that…?”

“Your body adjusting. You are not quite human anymore.”

Ryan laughed again, half out of breath. “Great. So I’m a ghost ninja now.”

“Inaccurate, but not entirely wrong.”

---

A moment later, the room shifted again—more folding space stuff.

Now, Ryan stood before three paths, each marked by glowing symbols above stone arches.

The Path of Flesh, for strength and endurance.

The Path of Mind, for control and clarity.

The Path of Flow, for balance and adaptation.

“You must choose your first path,” Ora said.

Ryan stared at them. Back on Earth, he’d lived in his head—always thinking, analyzing, trying to find meaning in code or philosophy or caffeine. But now… he wanted to be whole. He didn’t want to hide behind logic anymore.

“I choose Flow.”

The path shimmered, then opened.

“Interesting. Few choose that first. Very well. Begin.”

---

As Ryan entered the path, wind swept around him—gentle, like someone breathing slowly. The walls were lined with vines, and the stone beneath his feet pulsed faintly.

After a while, he heard something—like a heartbeat, but outside his body. Then it matched his own. Then it overpowered it.

Suddenly, a shape moved from the shadows.

It looked like a man made of roots and stone, eyes glowing like coals. It didn’t attack, just stood in the center of the path, waiting.

“This is your first trial,” Ora said. “It does not test your power, but your resonance. If you act from fear, it will crush you. If you act with flow, you will pass.”

Ryan froze. The creature took one slow step forward.

Instinct screamed run. But something deeper whispered breathe.

So he closed his eyes. Focused on the air. The rhythm. The pulse. Like syncing to a wave.

He lifted his hands—not to strike, but to move.

A slow, flowing motion, almost like Tai Chi. With each movement, the air shimmered slightly. His body followed the rhythm instead of forcing it.

The creature paused… then slowly stepped aside.

Ryan opened his eyes. The path was clear.

He exhaled in disbelief.

“Did I… actually do that?”

“Yes. You followed flow, not fear. That is the heart of refinement.”

---

After the trial, Ryan emerged onto a cliff overlooking a vast valley. Floating mountains drifted in the distance, rivers curved in the sky, and in the far horizon, a city shimmered with towers made of crystal and flame.

“Whoa…”

“That,” Ora said, “is the outer edge of the Realm of Ascension. You will journey there in time. But for now, your next step is training. You must learn to cultivate—to refine energy into strength.”

Ryan took it all in.

A whole world. New rules. New potential.

And maybe, just maybe… a second chance to actually live.

---