The light in the auditorium pulsed like a heartbeat. Holographic screens floated in front of each student, casting shimmering blue glows across young, nervous faces. The air buzzed with anticipation and quiet murmurs — today was the day they would meet their fates.
The BeastLink Ceremony.The Cosmic Soul Sync.Age eighteen — the day their lives began for real.
Kairo Veylan sat near the back, silent. While others joked, whispered, or bounced their knees, he barely moved. His fingers clenched the sides of his seat. It wasn't fear that kept him frozen — it was disbelief.
Because Kairo wasn't from this world.
Not originally.
He'd been reborn. Reincarnated. Whatever the correct term was, it didn't matter — he had the memories of a completely different life. A life on Earth, in a quiet apartment, where he'd read light novels and webserials every night.
And one of those novels had been called "Tamer of the Ten Thrones."
This world.
This moment.
This exact scene — he'd read it before.
And now, he was living it.
[Initializing Cosmic Soul Sync Protocol… Please remain still.]
A chime rang through the air. The ceremony had begun. A countdown blinked across every student's screen.
[3… 2… 1…]
Ten glowing orbs of light appeared in front of each student — the Destiny Echoes, a personalized draw from the system's infinite beast database. From a cosmic lottery, every person received ten pets, each locked away behind progression gates.
Only the first pet would be revealed now. The rest required growth, leveling, and power to unlock.
Kairo took a deep breath.
He remembered this. The original Kairo — the version in the novel — had drawn a 2-star insect. Useless. He was mocked, bullied, discarded. His story had been a slow rise from trash to champion.
But that wasn't Kairo's path now.
Because something was wrong.
As the orbs spun and system data loaded, Kairo felt it — a sudden jolt in his chest. A humming, stuttering glitch in the very air around him.
[Error detected: Soul Signature Conflict.][Anomalous temporal residue found. Origin mismatch.][Initiating failsafe… Recompiling draw data…]
His screen flickered violently, then stabilized. The first orb pulsed with wild light.
[Draw 1 Result: Data Mote]Rarity: Common – 1 Star
Mocked for being a teaching tool in pet training schools. No combat abilities. Often discarded.
Kairo's stomach sank. Murmurs rose instantly around him.
"Seriously? A Mote? Isn't that the tutorial pet?"
"Did his draw bug out?"
"Yikes. I'd walk out if that were me."
But the screen didn't stop.
[Soul Conflict Detected. Initiating Forced Sync.]
[GLITCH OCCURRED.]
[Data Mote evolution rerouted.]
[New Result: ??? Star – Potential: Undefined.]
The orb shattered into motes of silver light.
Floating before Kairo was a tiny creature — a glowing digital speck, no larger than a fingernail. It hovered silently, then slowly blinked like a living cursor.
And then—
"Hello, Master."
The voice echoed inside his mind. Cool, synthetic, but layered with awareness.
"I am Mote. System anomaly. Soul-linked to Glitchborn Entity: Kairo Veylan.""Protocol Override: Evolution tree unlocked. Growth parameters removed.""I await your command."
Kairo's eyes widened.
No one else reacted. No one heard the voice. But he did.
And in that instant, he understood.
This wasn't the same story.
This wasn't the same rise from weak to strong.
Something — maybe fate, maybe the glitch, maybe the fact that he wasn't supposed to be here — had changed the rules.
And now, the weakest pet in the world…Wasn't weak at all.
You have obtained: [Mote – Glitchborn Seed]Hidden Trait Unlocked: [Infinite Evolution Path]System Override Active: "Ten Thrones Protocol" initiated...