Chapter 9: Who I Am
Ethan sat on the edge of his bed, his hands resting on his knees as the soft glow of the raid countdown hovered in the corner of his vision.
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Raid Countdown: 15 Minutes
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He exhaled slowly, his chest tightening as the minutes ticked away. The Forge was terrifying, unpredictable, and relentless, but it wasn't the first thing in his life that had felt like an impossible challenge.
He thought back to where he'd started—not in the Forge, but in the mess of his early years. A broken family, a father who cared more about his next drink than his son, and a mother who worked herself into exhaustion just to keep the lights on. He'd grown up learning to fend for himself, to get up after every fall because no one was going to pick him up.
School hadn't been much better. Ethan had been the quiet kid—the one who faded into the background, overlooked by teachers and ignored by classmates. He'd learned early on that the world didn't owe him kindness, and he'd spent most of his teenage years building walls to keep everyone at arm's length.
There were moments of brightness, though. His mother, who had always believed in him, even when he didn't believe in himself. The nights they spent laughing over old movies, her tired eyes lighting up as if all the stress melted away, if only for a little while.
But even those moments had slipped away when she got sick. Ethan had dropped out of college to take care of her, juggling part-time jobs and hospital visits until she passed. After that, he'd drifted—working dead-end jobs, isolating himself, and filling his time with video games to escape the gnawing emptiness.
"Guess all those hours gaming paid off, huh?" he muttered, staring at his reflection in the window. "If only Mom could see me now. Fighting monsters in my sleep and barely holding it together."
The truth was, the Forge hadn't made him feel powerless. Not entirely. If anything, it had awakened something in him—a drive he'd thought he'd lost. Each fight, each quest, each step forward felt like a battle against the version of himself that had given up. The kid who'd been too scared to stand up, the young man who'd let grief swallow him whole.
This time, though, he wasn't alone. Not entirely.
The knock on his door came at the exact moment the countdown hit 10 minutes. He smirked faintly, already knowing who it was.
"Come in, Karis," he called.
She stepped inside, her sharp features set in an expression of cool determination. She'd changed into gear that looked much more raid-appropriate: a sleek black jacket reinforced with what looked like light armor, combat boots, and a knife strapped to her belt.
"Ready?" she asked, her tone clipped.
"Define ready," Ethan said, grabbing his metal pipe and standing. "If you mean ready to fight for my life in some bizarre dream dungeon, then sure. Why not?"
Karis smirked. "Good enough."
She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms as her gaze flicked over him. "You're thinking about something. What is it?"
Ethan hesitated, then shrugged. "Just… how I ended up here. Who I was before all this."
Karis tilted her head. "And who's that?"
"Someone who didn't think he could handle this kind of thing," Ethan admitted. "Life was hard enough before the Forge. But now? It's like every part of me is being tested, and I don't know if I can measure up."
She studied him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she said, "You're still here, aren't you?"
"Barely."
"That's all that matters," she said simply. "The Forge doesn't care about your past or how much you've been through. It only cares about what you do when you're cornered. When there's no one to save you but yourself."
Ethan nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm starting to get that."
Karis pushed off the wall, adjusting her knife. "Good. Then don't waste time doubting yourself. The raid's about to start, and trust me—you're going to need every ounce of focus you've got."
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Raid Countdown: 2 Minutes
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The air in the room grew heavy, the faint hum of the Forge's presence vibrating in Ethan's ears. The edges of his vision blurred, and the countdown pulsed more brightly, a glowing reminder of the inevitability of what was coming.
Ethan turned to Karis. "So, what's the plan?"
"Stay alive," she said, her tone deadly serious. "Stick close, follow my lead, and don't do anything stupid."
"That's it?"
"For now," she said, smirking faintly. "We'll figure out the rest once we see what the Forge throws at us."
Ethan tightened his grip on the metal pipe, his palms slick with sweat. "You're really good at pep talks, you know that?"
"Motivational speeches aren't my thing," Karis said. "But if it helps: you've got potential. Don't waste it."
The notification flashed one last time, the countdown hitting zero as the hum grew louder, swallowing the room in an otherworldly vibration.
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Raid Commencing.
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The world twisted and pulled, and Ethan felt the now-familiar sensation of falling. As the Forge claimed them once again, his last thought was simple: Here we go.