Prologue: Protocol Zero
[0:00:00] — INITIALIZATION
Darkness.
But not silence.
This darkness hums, vibrating like something alive, threads of sound folding in on themselves as if reality is breathing.
Somewhere inside it, Kai Veyren gasps awake.
And then he remembers… nothing.
[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
ERROR_0117: [Identity Conflict Detected]
Searching Variants…
— 1,004 Matches Found.
Kai pushes himself up, knees trembling as his breath fogs in the cold air.
Around him, floating shards of mirrored glass drift lazily, each one showing… himself.
A thousand Kaises.
A thousand timelines.
A thousand silent lives frozen mid-motion.
"…What… is this place?"
[0:00:12] — OMNI-GOD PROTOCOL ENGAGED
A soft chime echoes. Then, a voice — smooth, cold, and inhuman — resonates directly inside his skull:
[Omni-God Protocol Activated.]
Candidate ID: Kai Veyren
Classification: Tier-Zero Anomaly
Status: Rejection Overridden.
[Infinite Evolution Path Unlocked.]
And then… the fragments shatter.
A surge of raw data crashes through Kai's mind. Combat instincts. Mathematical equations for rewriting gravity. Ghosts of magic burned into muscle memory. Screams of dying worlds collapsing under the weight of something monstrous.
But there are… gaps. Missing names. Erased faces. Blank spaces where his emotions should be.
Kai clutches his skull, heart hammering.
"…Why can't I… remember anything?"
The voice answers, detached, almost mocking:
[Warning: Memory Bleed at 12%.]
Every upgrade requires sacrifice.
Proceed? [Y/N]
[0:02:45] — BRANCH COLLAPSE DETECTED
Before Kai can respond, a boom tears through the mirrored void.
The sky cracks open, bleeding violet light as glass shards rain down. Through one fragment, Kai glimpses something monstrous slithering through a dying world — a Glassborn Apex Predator, its jaw unhinged unnaturally, lined with hundreds of inverted teeth.
The system pings calmly:
[Warning: Branch-17 Collapsing.]
Remaining Branches: 43.
Survival odds: 8.1%.
Do not die here, Candidate.
Kai staggers backward — and his foot hits something soft.
He turns.
It's… himself.
Or one of him.
Dead. Burned. Hands frozen mid-reach, claw marks carved deep into his throat.
His stomach lurches violently.
[0:05:12] — VARIANT RECOGNITION FAILURE
From deeper within the mirrored abyss, a voice rises.
Calm. Cold. Perfect.
"Even here… you're still too slow."
Kai spins.
A figure stands on a fractured pillar, hands in his pockets, gravity ignoring him completely.
Catalyst Kai.
Same face. Same eyes. But where Kai's aura is chaotic, Catalyst's Origin Bloom bends reality symmetrically, as if the universe itself obeys him.
"You… you're me?" Kai stammers.
Catalyst tilts his head slightly, silver-blue eyes glowing faintly.
"Not for long."
[0:06:00] — LOCK Ω AUTHORIZATION
A piercing chime interrupts — sharp, urgent.
[Omni-God Notification:]
Origin Shard Detected.
Variant ID: CATALYST_KAI
Synchronization Rate: 23%.
Threat Level: Tier-Sigma.
[Engaging Protocol Lock Ω.]
Kai's vision glitches violently. HUD warnings spiral across his sight:
ERROR_0992: Candidate Misclassified
ERROR_0993: Singularity Instability Detected
…WARNING…
[Candidate Kai Veyren flagged as Rogue Anomaly.]
Termination Authorized.
[0:07:30] — THE FIRST CHOICE
Suddenly, the Omni-God HUD blooms open with blinding light:
[Available Evolutions: 3]
Adaptive Luck [Tier-β]
Neural Overclock [Tier-β]
Exo-Spatial Blink [Tier-β]
Warning: Choosing an evolution will permanently erase one anchor memory.
Confirm Selection: [Y/N]
Kai's breath catches.
An ache gnaws deep in his chest — the instinctive feeling that choosing wrong means losing something he'll never get back.
Catalyst watches him with an unreadable smile.
"Go on," Catalyst says softly.
"Pick something. Or disappear."
[0:08:45] — PROPHECY DROP
Before Kai can move, a distant voice tears through the void:
"The erased one writes the final page."
Kai spins toward the sound — but there's nothing there.
Only collapsing mirrored fragments.
And then Catalyst… vanishes.
[0:10:00] — CLIFFHANGER END
The Omni-God HUD goes black.
[Protocol Zero Complete.]
Singular Candidate Initialization: Failed.
[Branch-Zero Instability Detected.]
Preparing forced divergence…
"Good luck, Kai."
The ground fractures like glass —
and Kai plummets into the infinite void.