The world David lived in was called Earth.
But it was not the Earth people used to imagine when they read old history books.
This planet was vast—twenty times larger than the ancient Earth, its surface stretched across unimaginable distances. Seven enormous continents dominated the globe, each functioning almost like a world of its own, supported by twelve smaller continents and countless island chains scattered across deep, resource-rich oceans.
From orbit, the planet looked calm.
From the ground, it was relentless.
---
Each of the Seven Great Continents possessed semi-independent governance systems. While a unified global charter existed to regulate orbital space, climate systems, and intercontinental warfare, continental councils held real power. These councils were heavily influenced—often outright controlled—by corporate alliances rather than elected officials. Laws could vary subtly between continents, especially in taxation, data rights, and resource ownership, creating silent economic battlefields where corporations relocated headquarters overnight to exploit regulatory gaps.
---
On this Earth, scale decided everything.
A single city could be larger than entire ancient nations. Logistics routes crossed oceans daily. Energy grids spanned continents. Orbital platforms managed climate balance, satellite defense, and deep-space communication.
Money existed—but money alone meant nothing without reach.
The truly powerful were not celebrities or politicians, but corporate entities whose influence stretched across continents. The highest-ranked conglomerates were valued in quadrillions, controlling industries so essential that even governments negotiated carefully around them.
Compared to that…
David was insignificant.
And he liked it that way.
---
In this world, wealth was categorized unofficially into tiers:
Tier 5 (Millions): Comfortable individuals, high-ranking professionals, small investors.
Tier 4 (Billions): Regional corporate owners, minor conglomerates, city-level power brokers.
Tier 3 (Hundreds of Billions): Fortune 1000–500 corporations with continental reach.
Tier 2 (Trillions): Fortune 100–10 entities influencing multiple continents.
Tier 1 (Quadrillions): Apex conglomerates whose collapse could destabilize the planet.
David existed between Tier 5 and the lower edge of Tier 4—wealthy enough to disappear into privacy, but insignificant to the true giants.
---
David lived in one of the Seven Great Continents—an upper-tier continent known for stability, financial dominance, and technological leadership. His city was a megacity cluster, a continuous stretch of urban civilization where districts blended into one another, divided not by borders but by economic function.
Finance zones.
Residential towers.
Research belts.
Automated manufacturing sectors.
Vertical agricultural spires.
His apartment sat high above it all.
Not extravagant.
Not cheap.
Just… efficient.
---
Civilian technology had long plateaued into refinement rather than revolution. Artificial intelligence existed, but was tightly regulated. Autonomous systems ran logistics and infrastructure, but true self-evolving AI was forbidden by global charter, its research monopolized by a handful of Tier-1 corporations. Human augmentation was legal only within non-permanent biological limits, ensuring that no individual could easily surpass others without institutional backing.
---
David had money—tens of millions, inherited and invested carefully over the years. Enough to buy comfort, privacy, and independence. Not enough to draw attention from the real giants.
He had no family.
No close attachments.
An orphan who had learned early that relying on systems—financial, legal, social—was safer than relying on people.
Which made the irony unbearable.
---
The moment reality glitched, David noticed.
Not because of flashing lights or dramatic noises.
But because nothing else did.
He had just finished a light workout, towel draped over his shoulder, city skyline reflected in the glass when his vision paused for less than a heartbeat.
Not blurred.
Not distorted.
Paused.
---
Later, David would realize this pause existed only for him. No camera recorded it. No sensor flagged it. Even his own biological data—heart rate, neural activity—continued uninterrupted. Whatever the system was, it did not interrupt reality. It overlaid itself beyond observable dimensions.
---
Then—
A transparent interface unfolded before him.
---
> [SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
The panel floated calmly in front of him, edges clean, text sharp. It didn't behave like holograms used in civilian tech. No projectors. No implants.
It simply existed.
David stood perfectly still.
Years of disciplined self-control prevented panic from surfacing immediately.
> [HOST IDENTIFICATION IN PROGRESS]
His pulse quickened.
> [MATCH FOUND]
[HOST: DAVID]
[STATUS: VERIFIED]
A new line appeared, almost casually.
> [WELCOME, HOST]
David swallowed.
This was not entertainment software.
Not augmented reality.
Not any interface he had ever seen.
And then the words that changed everything:
> [DAILY SIGN-IN SYSTEM: ACTIVATED]
[REBATE SYSTEM: 10× — ACTIVATED]
---
[ Rebate Clarification]
The system did not claim to multiply wealth. It was precise: rebate, not duplication. Spend legitimately, receive returns through indirect channels—rebates, refunds, asset appreciation, tax adjustments, or delayed settlements. The method was opaque by design, ensuring no sudden anomalies that could trigger investigations.
---
The interface expanded, dividing into multiple panels with a precision that reminded him of high-end enterprise software.
No divine proclamations.
No chosen-one nonsense.
Just structure.
Rules.
Options.
---
David forced himself to breathe slowly.
"Okay," he murmured. "Either this is the most advanced hallucination in human history… or my life just changed."
The system did not react.
But another line appeared anyway.
> [NOTE: SYSTEM IS NOT A PRODUCT OF THIS WORLD'S TECHNOLOGY.]
[NOTE: SYSTEM WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH HOST DECISION-MAKING.]
The tone was neutral—borderline dry.
If it had emotions, it wasn't interested in displaying them.
---
David examined the Daily Sign-In Panel.
> [DAILY SIGN-IN AVAILABLE]
SELECTABLE CATEGORIES:
• Attribute Points
• Skills (Within Human Knowledge Scope)
• Assets / Currency / Legal Holdings
• Storage Space
• Miscellaneous Support Rewards
Each category branched further, hinting at depth without revealing too much.
Then he noticed something important.
No superpowers.
No magic.
No fantasy elements.
Yet.
---
[Added Detail – Skill vs Superpower Separation]
David instinctively understood the implication: skills enhanced competence, not impossibility. Mastery, memory optimization, physical coordination—still bound by human limits. Whatever lay beyond that boundary was intentionally locked away.
---
A greyed-out section sat beneath the visible options.
> [CULTIVATION-RELATED SIGN-INS: LOCKED]
[CONDITION: HOST NOT PRESENT IN CULTIVATION WORLD]
David stared at it longer than he wanted to admit.
"So there's another world," he said quietly.
The system didn't confirm.
It didn't deny.
It simply waited.
---
He shifted focus to the Rebate System.
> [REBATE MULTIPLIER: 10×]
[CONDITION: HOST MUST SPEND VALID RESOURCES]
[LIMIT: 10 ACTIVATIONS PER DAY PER WORLD]
[NOTE: TIME DILATION DOES NOT AFFECT REBATE COUNT]
David's mind immediately started calculating.
If this system was real…
Then reckless use would be stupid.
This wasn't a cheat that rewarded greed.
It rewarded intentional expenditure.
And that meant strategy.
---
Outside his window, the city continued to function perfectly.
Markets fluctuated.
Cargo drones moved.
Stock exchanges processed trillions in transactions.
No one noticed that a system capable of rewriting a human's trajectory had just activated.
Which told David something important.
This system wasn't here to shake the world.
It was here to observe it through him.
---
> [WEEKLY BREAKTHROUGH OPTION: AVAILABLE — UNCLAIMED]
[NOTE: BREAKTHROUGH MUST BE MANUALLY SELECTED]
[NOTE: UNCLAIMED BREAKTHROUGH WILL NOT EXPIRE]
David frowned.
Breakthrough?
The word felt out of place in a modern world.
But the system didn't explain further.
Not yet.
---
The lack of explanation felt deliberate. Whatever this breakthrough represented, it was not something meant to be used impulsively. The system was structured to reward patience, not acceleration.
---
He leaned back against the glass, looking down at the city that had defined his life so far.
This world was enormous.
Its economy ruthless.
Its hierarchy unforgiving.
And yet—
For the first time, David felt something unfamiliar.
Not excitement.
Not fear.
But possibility.
Whatever lay ahead was not going to be handed to him instantly.
The system had rules.
Limits.
Waiting periods.
It expected him to survive long enough to grow.
---
Far away—so far that no satellite, sensor, or mind on this Earth could ever detect it—
Something ancient acknowledged a change.
Not with surprise.
But with mild interest.
And then, silence returned.
---
End of Chapter 1