I. WORLDVIEW: THE ENTROPY HARVEST MATRIX
The Shoddy Stage Theory: The world is not a natural civilization but a "Mortal Purgatory" or "Farm #404" managed by high-dimensional beings known as the Architects. These beings are not omnipotent gods but lazy, greedy bureaucrats who intentionally design Earth's rules to be vague, unfair, and chaotic. This "shoddy" design ensures internal friction (e.g., gender wars, consumerism, and toxic social media), preventing human evolution while harvesting the resulting Entropy (despair and chaos) as pure fuel for their dying dimension.
Neo-Babylon (The Setting): A folded, three-layer metropolis.
Layer 1: The Skin (The Gilded Cage): The neon-drenched surface world filled with plastic surgery clinics, brain-rot media, and corporate slavery.
Layer 2: The Rust Belt (The Glitch): A discarded zone where system textures fail to render. This serves as the squad's hidden base.
Layer 3: The Pantheon (The Server): A floating district in the sky where the Architects' Proxies and the elite live.
II. POWER SYSTEM: CYBER CULTIVATION
The core mechanic of this world is Refinement. Unlike traditional cultivators who absorb natural energy, the protagonist plunders and digests the "malicious scripts" and "bugs" cast down by the Architects.
The Rank System
Rank Name Description
Rank F
The Battery
Ordinary humans used as expendable fuel for the system.
Rank C
The Glitch
Body Refinement: Can refine physical rules. Immune to car crashes, bullets, and falling damage.
Rank B
The VirusLogic Tampering: Can refine information flow. Sees through lies and alters local probability.
Rank A
The Calamity
Concept Stripping: Can refine abstract concepts (e.g., stripping the "Value" from currency or "Beauty" from an idol).
Rank S
The Singularity
Dimensional Ascension: Devouring the Architects themselves and rewriting the laws of physics.
III. THE PROTAGONIST SQUAD: THE NULL SET
A group of "Glitches" bound by a dark destiny. Felix, the leader, indirectly ruined their lives through his past corporate algorithms before his awakening.
Felix (The Refiner - Leader): A former elite actuary for Apex Corp. He possesses the Singularity Reactor, allowing him to swallow high-dimensional attacks and refine them into power. He is cold, hyper-rational, and driven by the secret guilt of his past sins.
Leo (The Thunder - Tank): A delivery driver who died in a storm while racing against an efficiency algorithm designed by Felix. He can convert social and physical pressure into high-voltage lightning via his Suffering Battery.
Zero (The Ghost Hacker - Support): A genius programmer worked to death under Felix's management. As an electronic ghost, he can perform Persona Deconstruction, stripping away any social mask to reveal the "source code" of his enemies.
Aria (The Siren - Mage): A top virtual idol blacklisted because of a risk assessment report signed by Felix. Her voice, the Scream of Truth, shatters beauty filters and illusions, dealing true damage to the souls of the fake.
[TO BE CONTINUED & SUBJECT TO ADJUSTMENT]
Note: Details regarding the "Entropy Sea" and the specific mechanics of the "Singularity Reactor" may be further refined as the narrative progresses into higher dimensions.