Kael floated in endless darkness. No air. No sound. No heartbeat. Just the void — and something humming deep within it. Not mechanical. Not biological. Something… other.
He opened his eyes.
Or… tried to. But he had no eyes. No skin. No body. Only thought.
[🟣 SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
A soft purple glow cracked through the darkness like a dying pulse. Then:
[ERROR_001: HOST NOT RECOGNIZED]
[ERROR_002: CLASSIFICATION—NULL]
[WARNING⚠️: UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED]
[BOOTING ASCENDANCY PROTOCOL...]
Suddenly, reality snapped back.
Kael gasped, lungs filling like it was his first breath. Cold metal beneath him. A high ceiling. Flickering white lights. The stale scent of sterile air and burnt circuits.
He sat up. Naked. Confused.
"…Where am I?"
A blinking monitor hovered in front of him. Not attached to anything. Just floating. Lines of text scrolled in glowing script.
[Welcome, Glitch Entity.]
[You have not been registered by any known system.]
[Initiating Emergency Override...]
[🧬 Evolution Path: ASCENDANCY PROTOCOL (CLASS: FORBIDDEN)]
His eyes narrowed. "Glitch entity?" His voice cracked. "What the hell is going on?"
Fragments of memory clawed at his mind. A crash. Lights. Screams. A lab? No… a pod? His name. He remembered his name.
Kael. Kael Zero.
The last Zero. That meant something. He could feel it.
[Status: Incomplete]
[Power Source: Unknown]
[Stability: 17% ⚠️]
[Recommendation: Absorb Nearby System Code]
He stood. The room was empty. No doors. No windows. Just panels, cables, and broken machinery. Like something had torn this place apart from the inside.
Kael walked toward a shattered control panel. Sparks crackled from exposed wiring. His reflection in a dark screen showed a lean, scarred boy with glowing violet irises.
He looked… wrong. Not human. Not machine. Something in-between.
[Data Detected.]
[Would you like to absorb? Y/N]
"…Yes."
The panel disintegrated in his hands — not with fire or force, but code. Like reality itself unraveled. The data streamed into him, not through skin, but through something deeper. His thoughts twisted, stretched, evolved.
[System Code Absorbed.]
[🆙 Power Surge: +7% Stability]
[Skill Unlocked: Phase Echo (Lv. 1)]
[Passive Unlocked: Glitchform – Immune to Class Restrictions]
Kael stumbled backward. Breathing heavy. Heart racing.
"What... am I?"
The system responded coldly:
[You are not meant to exist.]
[You are the result of a broken line. A Glitch. A deviation.]
[You are not in the system...]
[…You are outside of it.]
Kael looked up, eyes glowing brighter.
"Then I'll rewrite the rules."
[End of Chapter 1]