"The Eye of Judgment... the Authority of the Arbiter... what exactly does it do?"
Silas frowned, his mind racing. He closed his eyes, sinking into the dark recesses of his consciousness. There, in the absolute void, a single eye remained, unblinking, eternal, staring back at him from the abyss.
Suddenly, lines of glowing text manifested, bleeding through the darkness in a script he could instinctively understand.
[The Eye of Judgment (Activated)]
Unique Attribute: Authority of the Arbiter.The Arbiter's Authority: The most primordial and authentic power in the universe. Its strength transcends the boundaries of both Rules and Order. (Note: You currently lack 'Divinity'; active invocation is restricted. However, Passive Effects are now functional.)Passive Skill: Upon entering the God-Abandoned Game, you will automatically be granted a Maximum-Tier Talent.
"Primordial Authority..." Silas whispered, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Power that transcends Rules and Order?"
In the Assassin's Creed of his past life, Rules and Order were the ultimate forces players strove to master. Seven years into the global collapse, the strongest survivors had finally managed to break free from the "God-Abandoned Lands" and reach the "Domain of Order," gaining a mere fraction of that power. In fact, in all nine years of his previous life, he had never heard of a single human truly mastering the power of Order.
And now, he held something that stood above it.
"I don't have the Isu-tier energy to activate it manually yet," he realized, "but the passive effect alone is a game-breaker. A guaranteed Maximum-Tier talent..."
He gripped his bedsheets. In his previous life, he had possessed an Emerald-tier talent, the seventh rank on the scale. In this world, everything, talents, gear, skills, was measured across thirteen distinct tiers:
Trash, Common, Bronze, SilverGold, Platinum, Emerald, DiamondEpic, Legendary, Mythic, Ancient, Immortal
"I was in the Global Top 100 with Emerald-tier," Silas's eyes gleamed with a cold light. "If this guarantees the top... does that mean I'll start with an Immortal-tier talent?"
The sheer potential was staggering. He reached under his pillow and checked his phone.
08:00 AM.
The exact moment the God-Abandoned Game began its silent infiltration of reality.
In his past life, he had been at work, getting chewed out by a manager for being late. He hadn't even realized the world had changed until noon. Even then, he had wasted precious hours rushing to the university to find Lucia, apologize for their fight, and beg for her forgiveness. By the time they finally entered the game together, it was nightfall.
He had squandered the most critical day of the new era.
"Not this time," Silas muttered. "No distractions. No wasted seconds."
The mechanics were simple but terrifying: from 8:00 AM onward, any adult who fell asleep would have their consciousness pulled into the "God-Abandoned Lands." While their mind played the game, their physical body would undergo a phase-shift, becoming a ghostly, untouchable image that existed in a different dimension. You could see them, but they were effectively "invulnerable" and "non-interactable" in the real world.
Within hours, the phenomenon would trigger a global panic. Within a day, it would be the only thing that mattered.
"Fortunately, I've always struggled with insomnia," Silas reached for a bottle of prescription sedatives on his nightstand. He didn't wait. He swallowed the pills, lay back, and closed his eyes.
He was going in early. He was going in alone.
Meanwhile, at the Aurelian University of Education.
The autumn leaves swirled across the campus as students hurried to their morning lectures. Among them was a girl in a flowing white dress, her long hair catching the light as she chatted with her best friend. This was Lucia.
"Seriously, Lucia," her short-haired friend whispered, "aren't you going to call your brother and apologize? We skipped the calculus final to sneak off to Fabian's concert yesterday. He's going to be livid."
Lucia let out a shallow, airy laugh. "Apologize? He's not even my real brother. Who gave him the right to tell me I can't see Fabian? He's just a control freak."
Her friend sighed. "But he's so good to you. He's strict, yeah, but he buys you literally everything you ask for. I'd kill for a brother like that."
Lucia pouted, her expression turning indifferent. "I'm the one who inherited the bulk of our parents' estate. I'd be perfectly fine without him. Who cares what he thinks?"
She stepped into the classroom, oblivious to the fact that the "brother" she treated like a servant was gone. She didn't know that the world was currently ending, or that she had just lost her only shield against the coming slaughter.
In the darkness of his room, the sedatives took hold. Silas's consciousness drifted, pulled by a powerful, ancient tide, until he stood in a vast, silent void.
Lines of ash-white text flickered into existence, the interface of the God-Abandoned Game.
[Welcome to the God-Abandoned Game!][Destination: The Lands of the Forsaken...]
[Please Select Your Class!](Note: Upon selection, you will be granted a random Talent compatible with your Class. Good luck.)
The text dissolved, replaced by a massive, rotating wheel of archetypes: Warrior, Mage, Priest, Archer, Assassin...
In his previous life, Silas had chosen Warrior to ensure he could tank damage and protect Lucia. It was a solid, sturdy class, but it lacked the mobility and burst damage needed for a solo predator.
"I have a guaranteed Maximum-Tier talent," Silas mused, staring at the wheel. "It doesn't matter what class I pick; I'll be a god among men. So why settle for the basics?"
At the bottom of the interface, a small, glowing option pulsed: [Random Class].
It was a gamble. Most who picked it ended up with "Trash" or "Common" tier hybrid classes. But for a select few, it was the only way to trigger a Hidden Class.
Silas didn't hesitate. He reached out and struck the Random option.