Zain jolted in surprise as a book with a black cover materialized in midair, emanating a strange, mysterious energy. Golden lines formed on its surface, weaving intricate patterns before settling into eight dazzling symbols, each unique in shape and color, glowing like stars in the dark sky. His gaze settled on a few familiar shapes—a five-colored dragon, a skeleton clad in green armor, a sword radiating golden light, a roaring lion, an aqua mermaid... and more.
What the hell is this book? His eyes narrowed as he noticed the bold, red letters in the center of the cover.
PANDORA: The Land of Mysteries.
Pandora? Zain frowned in confusion.
A robotic voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[It's the name of this planet.]
Oh, so this world is called Pandora... He murmured under his breath.
His brows furrowed as a thought struck him. "Hey, why are you giving me a book? Can't you just show this on a screen?" He asked, wary that someone might see it and start questioning its origins. The last thing he wanted was unnecessary attention, especially after barely surviving a battle against a Crawler that had almost killed him a day ago—an encounter that had already cost him one of his eyes.
[Don't worry, Host. It can only be seen by you. The system's interface is also invisible to others. Unless you personally reveal its existence, no one will suspect anything. At worst, they'll assume you're suffering from PTSD and experiencing hallucinations after returning from war.]
[And this book contains additional information from Mr. Oberoy, intended to help you survive in this world.]
Why is this system so damn cocky? Zain sighed.
His fingers hesitated before reaching out and grasping the floating book. A wave of coldness seeped through his skin the moment he touched it. Carefully, he pried open the dark cover, revealing an unfamiliar language etched onto the pages. Yet, strangely, he could understand every word as if they had been engraved in his mind.
Before he could even question it, the voice in his head responded.
[I have uploaded the common language of this world into your mind. No need to thank me.]
Zain ignored it and focused on reading. Within an hour, he finished the entire book, closing it with a deep sigh. This world was far more dangerous and awe-inspiring than he had ever imagined.
The book detailed how Pandora was merely a low-level planet in the vast universe. Despite their weak bodies, humans had once stood at the top of the food chain due to their intelligence.
The planet had two moons—one massive, known as Titan, and another, similar in size to Earth's moon, called Uta.
It housed millions of species—plants, animals, insects, aquatic life, and microscopic beings. But among them, none rivaled humans.
For thousands of years, humanity had ruled Pandora—until 980 years ago, when everything changed.
---
Eight meteors had crashed onto Pandora from outer space, shaking the planet to its core. The impact was catastrophic. Once six continents, the landmasses were reshaped, reducing to five as one continent shattered into countless islands and sank beneath the ocean.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, and geographical upheavals ravaged the world. And yet, miraculously, nearly 50% of humanity survived the catastrophe.
But their relief was short-lived.
From the remains of the meteors, a mysterious energy seeped into Pandora, twisting the once-peaceful flora and fauna into monstrous abominations. A mass mutation had begun.
The energy was later identified as "Aether".
No one knew where the meteors had come from or why they carried such an unnatural force. What was certain, however, was that Pandora had changed forever.
As if nature itself had turned against them, newly evolved Mutants emerged—vicious creatures that began hunting humans relentlessly. Within just six months, humanity's population plummeted from 10 billion to a mere 1 billion.
Entire nations fell overnight.
The western and southern human civilizations were completely wiped out. In a desperate attempt to escape, survivors from the western continent fled to the central lands, bringing grim news.
Three new races had appeared on Pandora.—
The Demons
The Undead
The Mutants
As humanity struggled against extinction, a miracle occurred.
Some people began displaying supernatural abilities—moving at the speed of sound, controlling elements like fire and ice, or even forming contracts with mutants. They were called Adapters—humans who had successfully evolved in response to the Aether-rich environment.
However, their emergence was rare. Only 1 in 1,000 awakened. The rest were slaughtered like cattle.
Even with these newfound abilities, humanity was still losing—until a discovery on the northern-west region of central continent changed everything.
A group of powerful Adapters unearthed one of the fallen meteors, hoping to study its origins. Initially, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary rock. But then, one of the strongest Adapters uncovered the truth.
These meteors weren't mere celestial debris. They were Divine Idols, relics belonging to gods from beyond the stars. And each had the ability to form a contract with a suitable awakened being, bestowing them with unimaginable power.
One by one, three Divine Idols were found—another in the southwest and a third in the eastern regions of the central continent.
These idols not only granted power but also introduced something that would change the tides of war—a liquid known as the "Divine Serum".
The Divine Serum drastically increased the chances of awakening, shifting the ratio from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 100.
Humanity finally had a fighting chance.
With this newfound strength, they united under three great factions:
The Holy Kingdom (Ruled by the lineage of the first contractor)
The Defenders (A militaristic system)
The Heavenly Sects (A cult of martial artists)
Together, they formed an alliance known as The "Triangle", with one singular goal—to reclaim Pandora from its invaders.
But just as humans thought they were turning the tide, they realized something terrifying.
The inhuman races had also discovered three other Divine Idols.
The Undead, Corrupted, and Mutants had their own gods.
And the war raged on.
---
The humans worshiped:
Aurora, Goddess of Light (Patron of the Holy Kingdom)
Ragnar, God of War (Guardian of the Defenders)
Divine Blade, Martial God (Protector of the Heavenly Cult)
The Undead revered Virus, God of Disease and Decay—rulers of the cursed wetlands, a land of death.
The Corrupted served Venus, God of Darkness—the sovereign of the Dark Empire, Pandora's most formidable inhuman faction.
The Mutants bowed to Alpha, God of Beasts—rulers of the vast, untamed Greenlands.
Yet, two gods stood apart from both sides:
Tiamara, Goddess of Colored Dragons.
Alyana, Goddess of Metal Dragons.
The dragons, arrogant and indifferent to the war, resided in the northern regions, treating all other beings as ants. Though they had signed a peace treaty with humanity, they seldom interfered.
And so, the endless war between humans and inhumans continued—century after century, slaughter after slaughter.
This was the Divine Era—an age of gods, war, and chaos.
Billions had perished, yet both sides refused to surrender.
---
Zain snapped out of his thoughts, his mind still reeling from the information.
The creature he had fought—was it an Undead?
A Tier-1 being?
He finally understood the term the woman had mentioned earlier.
So, the people with abilities were called Adapters... and he was one of them.
He had awakened with a Regeneration Ability—a Middle-Grade power. Neither impressive nor terrible, but useful enough for survival.
Abilities were classified into five grades:
Lower Grade (Slightly stronger than normal humans)
Middle Grade (Decent, but nothing extraordinary)
Upper Grade (Respected, but not rare)
Top Grade (Elite geniuses)
Perfect Grade (The pinnacle, unique to only one person)
But abilities were only part of the equation. True power came from cultivation.
Nine Tiers existed, from Tier-1 to Tier-9.
Yet, the book mentioned nothing about the path to cultivation.
As Zain pondered over everything, he heard soft footsteps approaching.
He turned his head just as the woman who had saved him stepped into the room.