The quiet hum of machines filled the sterile room.
Outside, the dawn crept slowly across the horizon, bleeding soft gold into the pale walls.
Inside stillness. Until now.
Ethan Albarado lay unconscious. His frame, once the anchor of a team's heartbeat, now tangled in IV lines and wrapped in bandages. A heart monitor beeped rhythmically, a steady reminder he was still here.
Barely.
His world had been quiet.
Dark.
A void between existence and disappearance.
Until—
[BASKETBALL SYSTEM: LUCID TRAINING COMPLETE]
[Status Update: Ethan Albarado – Awakening Phase Initiated]
[Mental Synchronization: 100%]
[Welcome back, Player.]
A soft ding echoed—not in the room, but within his mind.
His fingers twitched.
A sudden breath hitched in his throat.
Eyelids fluttered.
Then, slowly—
Ethan Albarado opened his eyes.
Light stabbed into his vision, sharp and overwhelming.
But he didn't panic.
