Prologue – The Quiet Life Before the Storm
Kizuki Ren's life had always been ordinary.
A one-room apartment, stacks of unwashed dishes, and the hum of a computer screen were the constants of his world. At twenty-one, he had no job worth mentioning, no family nearby, and no dream he could point to and call his own. Days blurred together in silence, broken only by the clicks of his mouse and the faint buzz of traffic outside his window.
Games had become his refuge. In worlds of pixels and fantasy, he could build cities, slay monsters, and feel like someone who mattered. But every time he logged off, the gray reality of his life returned—empty, dull, and unbearably small.
Sometimes, when he stared too long at the ceiling, he wondered: Is this all there is?
Yet even in his quiet despair, Ren carried a small kindness. He helped his elderly landlady with groceries, fed a stray cat that lingered near his apartment, and offered his seat on crowded trains without a second thought. Nobody remembered those little acts, but they were the only things keeping his heart from turning cold.
One night, as rain pattered against the glass, Ren whispered to himself:
"If only I had… another chance. Somewhere I could start over. Somewhere I could build something real."
The words faded into the empty room. He didn't expect an answer.
But far beyond the veil of worlds, something listened.
A system that waited for a worthy soul stirred for the first time in centuries. And as Ren's tired eyes closed in restless sleep, light swallowed his body whole—pulling him toward the unknown.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in his apartment.
He was lying on soft grass beneath towering trees, in a world brimming with life and danger.
And the first sound he heard was not the rain, but a voice in his head:
[ Eden Genesis System Initialized ]
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