The morning sun filtered through the curtains of Anny's room, casting soft rays of light across the floor.
Anny stirred in her sleep.
For some reason, she felt unusually exhausted despite sleeping for hours. Her body felt heavy, as if she had spent the entire night running through endless fields.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
The room was silent.
Too silent.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"That dream again..." she murmured.
She couldn't remember much of it. Only fragments remained in her mind.
A silver throne.
A pair of glowing red eyes.
A mysterious woman wearing a mask.
And a voice calling her name from far away.
Anny.
Anita.
Anita...
The strange whisper echoed through her mind before disappearing.
She shook her head.
"I'm probably overthinking."
Just as she was about to get out of bed—
DING!
A bright blue screen suddenly appeared before her.
Anny froze.
Her eyes widened.
"What...?"
The floating screen remained suspended in the air.
She rubbed her eyes.
The screen didn't disappear.
She blinked repeatedly.
Still there.
"Abby?"
No response.
The screen suddenly flickered.
══════════════════
SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE
Host Detected.
Identity Verification In Progress...
Please Wait...
══════════════════
Anny's mouth slowly fell open.
"System?"
The word escaped her lips before she could stop herself.
She had read enough novels to know exactly what this looked like.
"No way..."
DING!
══════════════════
HOST INFORMATION
Name: Anita Xandra Deshmuck
Age: 16
Race: Unknown
Status: Healthy
Current Realm: Mortal Realm
Threat Level: Dormant
══════════════════
Anny stared blankly at the first line.
Then stared again.
And again.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
"No."
She immediately shook her head.
"No, no, no."
The screen remained unchanged.
Name: Anita Xandra Deshmuck
"That's not my name."
Her breathing became uneven.
"My name is Anita Zedrack."
The system remained silent.
Anny swallowed nervously.
She reached out and touched the screen.
The words did not disappear.
Instead, another notification appeared.
DING!
══════════════════
WARNING
Host Memory Incomplete.
Current Identity Partially Sealed.
Further Information Locked.
══════════════════
"What does that even mean?"
Her confusion only deepened.
Sealed?
Locked?
Identity?
Nothing made sense.
Suddenly, new information appeared.
══════════════════
HOST STATISTICS
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 18
Mana Capacity: 0
Luck: ???
Potential: SSS
══════════════════
Anny blinked.
"Potential SSS?"
Even though she didn't understand most of the system, she knew that sounded ridiculous.
"What does potential mean?"
DING!
══════════════════
Potential refers to the Host's future growth capacity.
Current Evaluation:
Extreme Growth Potential Detected.
══════════════════
Anny became even more confused.
"Future growth?"
Before she could ask another question, the screen changed again.
══════════════════
POWER LEVEL
Current Power Level: 15
Classification: Ordinary Mortal
Danger Rating: Low
══════════════════
Anny's face darkened.
"Ordinary mortal?"
After everything she had gone through, the system had simply called her an ordinary mortal.
"How rude."
The screen ignored her complaint.
DING!
══════════════════
SKILLS
Observation Lv.1
Quick Learning Lv.1
Mental Resistance Lv.1
Charm Lv.2
══════════════════
Anny read every line carefully.
Then another tab opened.
══════════════════
WEAPON PROFICIENCY
Swordsmanship: Lv.0
Dagger Mastery: Lv.0
Archery: Lv.0
Spear Mastery: Lv.0
══════════════════
"Why are they all zero?"
DING!
══════════════════
Host has never received formal combat training.
══════════════════
"...Fair enough."
Another screen appeared.
══════════════════
SPECIAL TRAITS
Silver Pendant Resonance
Unknown Bloodline
Sealed Origin
Hidden Authority
══════════════════
The more she read, the more confused she became.
Unknown Bloodline?
Hidden Authority?
What was all this?
Her gaze stopped at one particular trait.
Silver Pendant Resonance.
Immediately, she grabbed the pendant hanging around her neck.
The pendant felt slightly warm.
A strange feeling spread through her chest.
As if the pendant were responding to something.
Or someone.
Far away.
Very far away.
The screen suddenly flickered.
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
External Observation Detected.
══════════════════
Anny jumped.
"What now?"
Before she could react, her vision blurred.
The room vanished.
Darkness swallowed everything.
For a brief moment, she found herself standing inside a vast silver hall.
A massive throne stood at the center.
Countless crystals illuminated the surroundings.
And sitting upon the throne—
The Silver-Haired Prince.
His silver eyes suddenly opened.
Directly meeting hers.
Anny gasped.
The vision lasted only a second.
Then everything disappeared.
She found herself back in her room.
Sweat covered her forehead.
"What was that?"
DING!
══════════════════
Silver Pendant Resonance Activated.
Connection Established.
Synchronization Rate: 3%
══════════════════
Anny nearly screamed.
"Connection with who?!"
The system remained silent.
Almost as if it had no intention of answering.
Far away, within the Dark Realm.
The Silver-Haired Prince slowly opened his eyes.
The pendant hanging around his neck glowed faintly.
His calm expression finally changed.
Someone had activated the connection.
Someone linked to the pendant.
Someone he had been unknowingly searching for.
His silver eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
At the same moment, another person sensed the disturbance.
Within a hidden laboratory.
Deshmuck abruptly rose from her chair.
Several books fell from the table.
Her masked face turned pale.
"The system awakened..."
For the first time in years, genuine panic appeared in her eyes.
"It shouldn't have happened this early."
She immediately vanished from the room.
Meanwhile.
Anny was still staring at the floating screen.
Her mind was completely overwhelmed.
She thought discovering Ezerus existed was shocking.
Now she had learned that:
Her real name might not be Anita Zedrack.
She possessed a sealed origin.
She had an unknown bloodline.
A mysterious system had appeared.
And somehow she was connected to the Silver-Haired Prince.
Everything she thought she knew was slowly falling apart.
DING!
A final notification appeared.
══════════════════
MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED
Discover Your True Identity
Progress: 0%
Reward: Unknown
Failure Penalty: None
══════════════════
Anny stared at the screen.
Then at the pendant.
Then back at the screen.
For the first time in her life, she felt as though she was standing at the entrance of a door that had remained closed for years.
A door hiding countless secrets.
And perhaps...
The truth about who she really was.
Suddenly, the system displayed one final line.
A line that caused Anny's entire body to freeze.
══════════════════
NOTICE
Host's biological father information detected.
Access Denied.
Insufficient Permissions.
══════════════════
The screen vanished instantly.
Leaving behind a stunned Anny.
And a question that would haunt her for the rest of the day.
If Zedrack wasn't her real father...
Then who was?