The hum in the air that Zaylan had grown accustomed to in Aethelburg intensified sharply, morphing into a low thrum that vibrated in his very teeth.
It wasn't just in the city; he felt it even as he hauled the day's last few fish crates from the 'Sea Serpent's Kiss' trawler, the very ground beneath his worn boots seemed to pulse with a new, insistent rhythm.
The chaotic chatter on the docks, usually a cacophony of shouts, curses, and the rhythmic clang of cargo, slowly died down. All eyes, from the grizzled dockworkers like Kael and Borin, to the sleek hover-cab drivers patiently waiting for fares, turned upwards.
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A blinding light, impossibly pure and brilliant white, bloomed directly overhead. It wasn't just a light; it felt like a presence, a colossal, ethereal beacon that somehow managed to eclipse the already bright midday sun without scorching the eyes.
Zaylan instinctively shielded his face with a calloused hand, but the light permeated, a gentle warmth seeping through his skin.
From its radiant heart, a figure began to coalesce. She was tall, impossibly graceful, clad in a gown that seemed woven from pure light itself, shimmering with an inner luminescence that swallowed the sun's harsh glare.
Her features were serene, almost otherworldly, and an aura of immense, quiet power radiated from her, palpable even from hundreds of meters below. She was perfect. Too perfect.
A voice, clear and commanding, yet imbued with a strange, resonant warmth, filled the air. It wasn't just heard; it was felt, a symphony of sound waves that bypassed ears and resonated directly in the minds of billions, crossing every language barrier, every communication device, every static-filled screen.
This wasn't some government broadcast, or a cleverly orchestrated hoax by some ambitious megacorp; this was something entirely new, something ancient and powerful.
"Humanity," the voice began, each syllable echoing with an ancient authority that brooked no argument, "your world is integrating with the Awakening Worlds. The spatial cracks, the anomalies you have witnessed, are conduits for a new energy, mana, and with it, new life. But also… corruption."
A tremor ran through the crowd on the docks. Borin instinctively grabbed Gareth's arm, his large hand trembling, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and awe.
Even the cynical Gareth looked utterly dumbfounded, his jaw slack, his usual sneer wiped clean. Kael, who had seen everything in his decades at the docks, simply stared, his weathered face pale, muttering, "What the hell? What in all the void is this?"
Across the city, in the opulent, reinforced war room beneath the Bradonn's Empire Central Government Building, Admiral Thorne slammed his fist on the polished tactical table.
"Report! What is this interference? Why are all our communications jammed, Minister Rhys?"
Minister Rhys, a thin man whose usual composure had completely evaporated, wiped sweat from his brow.
"Admiral, it's not jamming! It's… it's in our heads! Everyone's getting it! And look at the sky, sir! Our satellites are going dark!" Holographic projections flickered erratically, showing a blinding white spot where the radiant figure stood.
Meanwhile, on the bustling street level, a young woman named Anya, clutching her child tightly, pointed a trembling finger at the sky. "Mama, look! Is it an angel?" Her mother, eyes wide with a primal fear she couldn't articulate, could only nod mutely.
Nearby, a group of teenagers, who moments before had been engrossed in their VR games, stared, mouths agape. "Dude," one of them whispered, Jax, the artist, "is this… is this real? Like, an actual alien goddess?" His friend, Mika, who usually scoffed at anything spiritual, simply shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't know, Jax. I just… I feel so small."
Zaylan, amidst the stunned silence on the docks, felt a chill that had nothing to do with the sea breeze. This might be it, he thought, a strange mix of dread and exhilaration bubbling within him.
This might be the 'system' they talked about in those novels. The one that changes everything. He remembered countless plotlines, countless overpowered protagonists.
Was he one of them now? Was his unique strength simply a prelude to something far greater? And what was this talk of 'corruption'? It sounded... ominous.
The radiant figure continued, her voice unwavering, a steady drumbeat against the world's sudden silence. "Corrupted beings, born of this mana, will soon begin to spawn from these tears. They are not of your world, and they seek to consume. You have two weeks to prepare."
Two weeks. The words hung in the air, a stark, terrifying deadline that etched itself into every mind. Zaylan's own mind raced. Corrupted beings? Monsters emerging from those terrifying black tears he'd seen? The sheer scale of it, the global implications, crashed over him like a rogue wave.
His cultivation, his unique, increasing strength, suddenly didn't feel like a personal mystery or a convenient way to earn BECs, but a vital tool.
A weapon. Was this why he was here? Was his reincarnation meant for this? To fight? To protect? Or simply to survive amidst the chaos?
Then, with a graceful sweep of her hand, the luminous figure performed an act that defied all known physics.
A shimmering wave of light pulsed outward from her, not merely seen, but felt. It washed over Aethelburg, then beyond, engulfing the entire globe in an instant. For Zaylan, it wasn't just light; it was a profound surge of energy, a cascading flood of information that stormed his senses.
The familiar hum within him intensified, then solidified into something tangible, like invisible threads weaving themselves through his very being, connecting him to something vast and intricate, something more.
And then, a voice, clear and distinct, echoed only in his mind, a voice that was both ancient and startlingly familiar, as if it had always been there, waiting:
[System Integration Complete.]
[Welcome, Awakener.]
[Initializing Personal Profile...]
A crisp, translucent screen shimmered into existence before his eyes, a ghostly projection that only he could see. It was exactly like the system interfaces he'd read about in those old webnovels during those long, boring days in the hospital bed, but impossibly, breathtakingly real. His breath hitched, a gasp caught in his throat. It was happening.
His reality, and the reality of every human on this world, had just fundamentally changed. He was an Awakener. And this, he knew with absolute certainty, was only the terrifying, exhilarating beginning.