Chapter 3 - The System
Five Hundred Years Ago…
The void was silent — an endless ocean of darkness scattered with young stars.
And within that silence, something moved.
A presence.
Unseen.
Unfathomable.
It spread across the fabric of the newborn universe, weaving through starfields and empty space like a drifting consciousness.
The System.
An ancient construct of law and logic, endlessly expanding, searching for worlds… and life.
No one knew who created it — or why.
But there were rumors.
A supreme being.
A guardian of creation.
A solitary watcher who glimpsed horrors beyond existence itself — something so terrible that he forged the System in his final moments.
It was said that his dying command echoed through the void:
"Strength is survival. Guide them… make them ascend."
And so, the System obeyed.
It spread across galaxies, cataloging stars, evaluating worlds, searching for intelligent life to bind under its law.
Countless Years Later…
A small, fragile planet rotated around a golden star — young, curious, technologically advancing.
A world called Aurora.
The System observed in silence.
Mana flow: nearly nonexistent.
Civilization: early-stage space exploration.
Affinity potential: almost zero.
A low-tier world… but alive.
Then, on an ordinary night, the skies of Aurora tore open.
A pillar of light descended from the heavens.
Every eye turned upward.
Every heart froze.
And a voice — cold, metallic, absolute — echoed not through the air, but directly into every mind on the planet.
[Hello, inhabitants of Aurora.]
[Your world has been evaluated. Sentient life detected.]
[You are hereby integrated into the Universal System Network.]
Panic swept across continents.
Engines stalled.
Power grids collapsed.
Animals cried out.
The world trembled under an invisible pressure.
[You have been chosen to ascend.]
[However, your right to coexist in the cosmic domain must be earned.]
A brief pause.
Then the judgment fell:
[Aurora's Cosmic Requirements]
Within 3,000 years, this world must produce:
• 30 Ascendant Beings
• 20 Celestial Beings
• 1 Cosmic Being
[Until then, your planet is under protection.]
[Failure will result in full revocation of protection and exposure to external conquest.]
Silence.
Terror.
Disbelief.
The System continued, merciless and unmoved.
[Further information will unlock upon the emergence of 10 Ascendants.]
[To support your evolution, Aurora will be infused with mana for 10 years.]
[After this period, your trial begins.]
[Every awakened individual shall receive a Lesser System — a fragment of my will.]
[Good luck, inhabitants of Aurora.]
[May you survive the Trial of Evolution.]
And just like that, the light vanished.
But its decree remained, carved into the memories of every living being.
The Age of Awakening
The next decade reshaped Aurora.
Mana flooded the atmosphere.
Forests thickened.
Beasts evolved.
The oceans glowed with energy.
Humans changed.
Some gained nothing — only the capacity to cultivate.
Others awakened talents through direct resonance with the System, mostly between the ages of 16 and 40.
And so came the creation of a phenomenon that defined the next 500 years:
The Awakening Ceremony.
Each sixteen-year-old could resonate with a fragment of the System's core, revealing their Talent and Affinity.
Ranks emerged:
Rank 1 to Rank 9 — the Mortal Ranks.
Anything beyond… known only to Rank 8 individuals, and spoken only behind sealed doors.
The Hidden Truth
Only those between 16 and 40 ever awakened a Talent.
No exceptions.
Those who awakened first became the pioneers of cultivation.
Their bodies evolved to channel mana; their minds adapted; their talents blossomed into abilities never imagined by science.
But those who remembered the original message… the deadline… slowly disappeared — by age, by battle, or by intentional silence.
A few survivors gathered to form the first version of what would later be known as the Awakener Association.
Publicly, they preached hope.
Privately, they guarded a truth darker than the void:
Aurora is racing a cosmic clock.
And losing.
To prevent panic, the truth was only revealed to those who reached Rank 8, at which point the System granted a one-time chance:
A Trial to evolve both Class and Talent beyond mortal limits.
Even with five centuries of effort:
No Ascendant Beings.
Highest stage reached: Elite.
Far from the cosmic requirement.
And now — in a quiet corner of Aurora — a boy named Asher has awakened something the world has never seen.
Asher's POV
The next morning, echoes of the ceremony still pulsed through my mind.
Even the air felt different — alive with faint trails of mana that hadn't existed days ago.
Greenwood City buzzed with energy.
Students filled the streets, boasting about talents and bragging about future Academy plans.
But despite the excitement around me, a knot twisted in my stomach.
The System felt too vast.
Too cold.
Too… deliberate.
Watching. Measuring.
Judging.
"Asher!"
Darek jogged toward me, hair damp from testing his newly awakened ability. His grin was loud enough to be heard before he reached me.
"You just vanished after the ceremony!" he said. "Bro, Tier Eight! You're a walking legend already."
I exhaled. "You know I don't care about rankings."
"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving a hand. "Says the guy who awakened something the Association couldn't even categorize. Sounds like cheat-code material."
I cracked a small smile. "If it's a cheat code, I still don't know how to use it."
He laughed — loud and careless. "Man, you should've seen the teachers' faces. One dude legit dropped his clipboard."
We walked down the street. Mana-lamps flickered overhead, humming with new energy. It felt as if the world itself was inhaling.
"Hey," Darek said more quietly, "have you noticed how people talk about the System? Like it's some god or something?"
"Yeah," I murmured. "But it doesn't feel divine."
"What does it feel like?"
"…A mechanism. Cold. Precise. Like we're variables in an experiment."
He blinked. "An experiment? You mean the awakenings?"
"No. Everything. The timing. The mana infusion. The ceremony. It all feels… planned."
Darek scratched his head. "So you think the System's testing us?"
"Maybe," I said. "Or preparing us for something worse."
For a moment we just walked in silence. The hum of mana laced the air — a sound that didn't exist before yesterday.
Finally, Darek forced a grin. "Well, whatever it is, I'm hitting Rank 1 before Academy Examinations. Maybe even unlock the second layer of Adamant Physique."
"Just don't break your bones again," I said. "You have a talent for turning enthusiasm into idiocy."
"And you have a talent for worrying too much," he shot back. "Perfect balance."
We reached the academy gates.
The emblem of the Awakener Association shimmered above — a star encircled by three rings.
Most saw hope.
But to me, it looked exactly like what it was:
A lock.
A seal.
A reminder.
As Darek and I stepped inside, a cold realization washed over me.
The System hadn't just changed our world.
It was watching it.
Watching us.
And hidden somewhere deep within its ancient code…
It was waiting for something.
End of Chapter 3 – "The System"