The crowd remained frozen.
For several seconds after he vanished, nobody moved.
Then—
"Did anyone get that on video?"
"I did!"
"Send it to me!"
"Bro, that wasn't a filter. I was standing right there!"
Phones were raised toward the empty space where he had stood only moments ago.
People argued over what they had witnessed. Some believed he was an actor. Others thought it was an elaborate promotion for a new game or movie.
One girl stared silently at her phone.
The recording showed him clearly.
A man dressed in strange, dark clothing.
Silver-white eyes.
An expression completely devoid of fear.
And then—
Nothing.
He simply disappeared.
She replayed the recording.
Again.
And again.
"What are you?" she whispered.
Far above the city, standing on the roof of a skyscraper, he heard her question.
He looked down.
"What am I?"
For the first time in an existence longer than time itself, someone had asked him a question he had never considered answering.
Not because he didn't know the answer.
But because he had never needed one.
He looked at his hands.
They appeared human now.
Two arms.
Two hands.
Five fingers.
A face.
A body.
Even a heartbeat.
The heartbeat was artificial.
He had created it because humans had one.
He placed a hand against his chest.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
He remained still.
He had watched countless civilizations develop their understanding of life.
He had seen creatures worship the heartbeat.
He had seen others fear its disappearance.
He had seen beings sacrifice themselves for another person's heartbeat.
Yet he had never experienced it himself.
He wondered what it meant.
Then—
Ding.
A notification echoed from somewhere below.
He looked toward the source.
A young man standing on the street had received an alert on his phone.
The man's expression changed.
"What the hell?"
People around him began receiving the same notification.
Then thousands.
Then millions.
Across the entire planet, phones, televisions, computers, and even emergency communication systems suddenly displayed the same message.
For the first time, Kasta's expression changed.
Not fear.
Not surprise.
Interest.
The message contained only three lines.
[WORLD ALERT]
[The first Dungeon has appeared.]
[Humanity has 30 days to prepare.]
[May the strongest survive.]
Silence.
Then chaos.
---
Three hours later, the world had changed.
News channels broadcast the same images repeatedly.
Governments declared emergency meetings.
Military forces mobilized.
Religious groups interpreted the tower as a sign.
Scientists argued over its origin.
And ordinary people?
They panicked.
But the panic didn't last.
Because another message appeared.
This time, it appeared directly inside people's minds.
[WELCOME, EARTH.]
[THE ASCENSION SYSTEM HAS BEEN INSTALLED.]
[ALL HUMANS HAVE RECEIVED THEIR INITIAL STATUS.]
People screamed.
Some collapsed.
Others laughed.
A few immediately began celebrating.
A translucent blue screen appeared before every human being.
---
Name: Daniel Carter
Race: Human
Level: 1
Strength: 7
Agility: 6
Vitality: 8
Intelligence: 9
Mana: 0
Skills: None
---
The world exploded with excitement.
"Level?!"
"It's real!"
"I have a status window!"
"Look! I have a skill!"
"Mine says [Fireball]!"
Within minutes, humanity discovered that the impossible had become reality.
People could gain levels.
Skills existed.
Attributes existed.
And most importantly—
Power existed.
But nobody noticed the man standing quietly on top of a building.
Kasta stared at the status window floating before him.
Unlike everyone else, his screen contained only one word.
[ERROR]
He tilted his head.
"Error?"
He touched the screen.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Then—
[The system is attempting to identify you.]
A pause.
[Identification failed.]
Another pause.
[Attempting classification.]
Kasta waited.
The system disappeared.
He smiled faintly.
"That was rude."
---
Far away, the black tower continued to pierce the sky.
Kasta looked toward it.
Something about the structure bothered him.
Not because it was powerful.
Power was meaningless to him.
It was because the tower did not belong.
He could see the countless laws surrounding it.
Gravity.
Space.
Time.
Energy.
Causality.
The tower existed within all of them.
Yet somehow, it was also connected to something outside them.
Something unfamiliar.
Kasta narrowed his eyes.
"This shouldn't exist."
He had witnessed every possible form of creation.
Every natural law.
Every artificial system.
Every dimension.
Every layer of reality.
But this structure was different.
It was connected to something he couldn't immediately identify.
For the first time in an eternity—
Kasta encountered something he had not created, witnessed, or understood.
He smiled.
"So…"
He looked toward the tower.
"Someone else is playing."
---
Beneath the earth, far from the eyes of humanity, something opened its eyes.
It had been sleeping for millions of years.
Its enormous body shifted beneath the darkness.
Chains began to break.
One after another.
BOOM.
The ground shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Another chain snapped.
BOOM.
The creature slowly raised its head.
Two enormous crimson eyes opened in the darkness.
A voice echoed through the underground chamber.
"The Creator…"
The creature's breathing became heavier.
"He has returned."
---
Kasta suddenly stopped smiling.
He had heard it.
Not the creature's voice.
Something much quieter.
A whisper buried beneath reality itself.
"Kasta."
He looked around.
Nobody was there.
The city continued moving beneath him.
Cars.
Sirens.
People.
Noise.
Life.
Yet he heard the voice again.
"Kasta."
His eyes became cold.
Almost nobody knew that name.
In fact—
Nobody should know it.
He had never told anyone.
Not gods.
Not Absolutes.
Not creators.
Not mortals.
Not even the beings who claimed to exist beyond reality.
Kasta looked toward the black tower.
Then toward the sky.
For the first time since entering this world, his curiosity was replaced by something else.
Attention.
"Who are you?"
No answer came.
Instead, another message appeared.
Not before humanity.
Not before the world.
Only before him.
A small black window floated in front of his eyes.
[HIDDEN QUEST RECEIVED]
[Title: Find the One Who Remembers]
[Objective: Discover who knows your name.]
[Reward: Unknown.]
[Failure: Unknown.]
Kasta stared at it.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he laughed.
A quiet laugh.
Not because the quest frightened him.
But because something had finally happened that he hadn't already seen coming.
He looked toward the distant tower.
The wind moved through his hair.
"So this is how you want to play?"
His eyes glowed faintly.
"Very well."
He stepped forward.
Instead of falling, he walked through the air.
One step.
Then another.
The city slowly became smaller beneath him.
For the first time in an eternity, Kasta felt something he had almost forgotten.
Anticipation.
He looked toward the tower.
"Let's see what kind of story you've prepared for me."
And somewhere beyond the universe—
something smiled.
To Be Continued.