The cold, sterile white of the hospital ceiling was the last thing Tom saw. The sharp, metallic tang of blood filled his mouth, a gruesome farewell to a life cut short. He wasn't afraid. He was just tired. He'd lived a short, unremarkable life. What was there to be afraid of? The blackness came, swallowing the pain, the regret, and the fear. Then, a voice, ancient and vast, echoed not just in his ears, but in the core of his very soul.
"Greetings, child of the nexus."
A being of pure, golden light manifested before him, not with a physical form but with the weight of every star and galaxy. It spoke of Earth as the "nexus," the central point from which all stories, all worlds, and all realities branched out. It was a place of endless possibility, a well of stories that fed countless universes. As a being from one of these higher realities, it offered Tom a second chance, a new life in one of these branching worlds.
Tom, with the cynicism of a modern man, accepted the offer without hesitation. Why not? What was there to lose? But he wasn't content with just a new life. He wanted to win. He wanted to be more than just a footnote in someone else's story. So, he made his three wishes.
"I wish for a system, a guide that will help me become a Sequence 0 of the Wheel of Fortune without needing any anchors," he declared, his voice firm despite his translucent, ethereal form. "It will provide me with the necessary stability and knowledge to walk the path of fate."
The golden being, whose name was a concept too grand for Tom's mind to grasp, shimmered with what felt like amusement. "A bold wish. To rewrite the fundamental laws of a universe. It shall be so. The system will act as your anchor, its functions and quests replacing the need for followers and fame."
"My second wish," Tom continued, "is to have the Sefirah of the Key of Light at my command from the beginning. Not as a god, but as a foundation for my power."
The light of the entity brightened. "To take the very source of power for a pathway and make it your own. It is done. The Key of Light is now yours, a part of your very being. Its authority will grow with your own."
"And my third wish," he finished, a grim smile on his face, "is for immense luck. The kind that makes the improbable probable."
"A fitting desire for one who chooses the path of fortune. Your luck shall be a river that flows ever in your favor."
The being of light then sent a pulse of energy through Tom's soul, and the world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of colors. When the dizziness faded, he was no longer a soul. He was a body, lying in a bed of fine silk, bathed in the soft glow of a Victorian-era lamp. The scent of old wood, dust, and something like the sea filled his nose.
His mind immediately presented a holographic screen.
[Welcome, Host! The System has been activated.]
[The Trunsoest family curse has been nullified. All liabilities and karmic debts from the previous family line have been cleansed.]
He took a shaky breath, the air unfamiliar in his lungs. This wasn't a hallucination. This was real. He was in the body of a young man, a noble, judging by his surroundings. His new memories flooded in, a confusing mix of his old life and a new, more refined one.
He was Tom Trunsoest, the last scion of a once-powerful lineage, the Trunsoest Empire, a disgraced family of the Black Emperor pathway. His family had fallen from grace, and their kingdom had been absorbed by the Loen Kingdom. He, a distant descendant, was a minor noble with barely enough coin to his name to maintain his ancestral home.
The system pinged again.
[Main Quest: Reclaim the Trunsoest legacy. Your destiny is not of this world, but it is tied to its past. To start your journey, you must find and repair your family's greatest possession, the warship Specter Empire.]
A mischievous smirk crept onto his face. The system was a goddamn game, and he had been given the ultimate cheat codes. He was a noble in a world of mystery and magic, with the power to manipulate fate itself. And he had a year to get strong before the real protagonist, Klein Moretti, even arrived.
"Right," he whispered to the empty room. "Let's begin."
He swung his legs out of bed, the silk rustling, and strode toward the window. The moon shone over the rooftops of a city that looked like something out of a Dickens novel, and he could feel the faint hum of power from the Key of Light within him, a promise of what was to come. He was no longer a victim of fate. He was its architect. And this game? He was going to win.
The cold, sterile white of the hospital ceiling was the last thing Tom saw. The sharp, metallic tang of blood filled his mouth, a gruesome farewell to a life cut short. He wasn't afraid. He was just tired. He'd lived a short, unremarkable life. What was there to be afraid of? The blackness came, swallowing the pain, the regret, and the fear. Then, a voice, ancient and vast, echoed not just in his ears, but in the core of his very soul.
"Greetings, child of the nexus."
A being of pure, golden light manifested before him, not with a physical form but with the weight of every star and galaxy. It spoke of Earth as the "nexus," the central point from which all stories, all worlds, and all realities branched out. It was a place of endless possibility, a well of stories that fed countless universes. As a being from one of these higher realities, it offered Tom a second chance, a new life in one of these branching worlds.
Tom, with the cynicism of a modern man, accepted the offer without hesitation. Why not? What was there to lose? But he wasn't content with just a new life. He wanted to win. He wanted to be more than just a footnote in someone else's story. So, he made his three wishes.
"I wish for a system, a guide that will help me become a Sequence 0 of the Wheel of Fortune without needing any anchors," he declared, his voice firm despite his translucent, ethereal form. "It will provide me with the necessary stability and knowledge to walk the path of fate."
The golden being, whose name was a concept too grand for Tom's mind to grasp, shimmered with what felt like amusement. "A bold wish. To rewrite the fundamental laws of a universe. It shall be so. The system will act as your anchor, its functions and quests replacing the need for followers and fame."
"My second wish," Tom continued, "is to have the Sefirah of the Key of Light at my command from the beginning. Not as a god, but as a foundation for my power."
The light of the entity brightened. "To take the very source of power for a pathway and make it your own. It is done. The Key of Light is now yours, a part of your very being. Its authority will grow with your own."
"And my third wish," he finished, a grim smile on his face, "is for immense luck. The kind that makes the improbable probable."
"A fitting desire for one who chooses the path of fortune. Your luck shall be a river that flows ever in your favor."
The being of light then sent a pulse of energy through Tom's soul, and the world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of colors. When the dizziness faded, he was no longer a soul. He was a body, lying in a bed of fine silk, bathed in the soft glow of a Victorian-era lamp. The scent of old wood, dust, and something like the sea filled his nose.
His mind immediately presented a holographic screen.
[Welcome, Host! The System has been activated.]
[The Trunsoest family curse has been nullified. All liabilities and karmic debts from the previous family line have been cleansed.]
He took a shaky breath, the air unfamiliar in his lungs. This wasn't a hallucination. This was real. He was in the body of a young man, a noble, judging by his surroundings. His new memories flooded in, a confusing mix of his old life and a new, more refined one.
He was Tom Trunsoest, the last scion of a once-powerful lineage, the Trunsoest Empire, a disgraced family of the Black Emperor pathway. His family had fallen from grace, and their kingdom had been absorbed by the Loen Kingdom. He, a distant descendant, was a minor noble with barely enough coin to his name to maintain his ancestral home.
The system pinged again.
[Main Quest: Reclaim the Trunsoest legacy. Your destiny is not of this world, but it is tied to its past. To start your journey, you must find and repair your family's greatest possession, the warship Specter Empire.]
A mischievous smirk crept onto his face. The system was a goddamn game, and he had been given the ultimate cheat codes. He was a noble in a world of mystery and magic, with the power to manipulate fate itself. And he had a year to get strong before the real protagonist, Klein Moretti, even arrived.
"Right," he whispered to the empty room. "Let's begin."
He swung his legs out of bed, the silk rustling, and strode toward the window. The moon shone over the rooftops of a city that looked like something out of a Dickens novel, and he could feel the faint hum of power from the Key of Light within him, a promise of what was to come. He was no longer a victim of fate. He was its architect. And this game? He was going to win.