The Story
Mikhail Volkov, a former military engineer from Earth, is torn from his world and cast onto the ruined planet of Minoris, where he awakens beneath a nightmare of shattered cities and dead civilizations.
Above Minoris, unseen higher beings watch every struggle, every death, and every desperate choice. To them, human suffering is entertainment. A gamble. A game.
In a world where gods move lives like pieces on a board, one man must learn the rules, survive the game, and become the move they never saw coming.
King's Gambit is a dark sci-fi fantasy story of survival, war, trauma, strategy, and rebellion.
The World of Minoris
Planet Minoris
Minoris feels almost familiar at first, breathable air, twenty-four-hour days, and a sun that rises in the east. But above its ruined cities stretches the truth of an alien world: a shattered moon, scattered into a pale ring across the sky.
The Ossarians
The dominant race of Minoris. Humanoid, intelligent, and terrifyingly powerful, the Ossarians carry protruding bone structures that store and release Radiance.
Radiance
A mysterious energy found throughout Minoris. The Ossarians can channel it through their bones, gaining strength, speed, and resilience beyond human limits. Humanity cannot use Radiance naturally, but through desperate engineering, they have learned to extract it and turn it into ammunition.
Beacon
The last known human shelter on Minoris. Hidden beneath the ruins, Beacon is part bunker, part military camp. Its people live by strict rules, rationed supplies and brutal training.
The Cast
Mikhail Volkov
A former Russian military engineer torn from Earth and thrown into Minoris. Inside Beacon, he hides behind the alias Ivan Petrovich, concealing his past to avoid any problems down the line. After witnessing the horrors outside, Mikhail knows that strength is the only way to survive in this world.
Victoria Schmidt
A chemistry student from Munich with a calm, detached presence that unsettles those around her. Victoria watches, judges, and moves forward as if fear does not exist within her. Whatever lies beneath her indifference has yet to be revealed.
Alexander Schmidt
Victoria's older brother and a mechanical engineering student. Intelligent and capable, He has unmatched loyalty and love to his kin.
Rashid Mahmoud
An experienced survivor from Baghdad and one of the first humans Mikhail meets on Minoris. Practical, battle-tested, and familiar with the horrors outside Beacon, Rashid becomes Mikhail's first glimpse into the truth of this world.
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Every choice is watched, every death has meaning, and survival is the only right move.
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