The late afternoon sun bathed the university campus in a golden glow, but John barely noticed it. He was hunched over his laptop in the library, fingers flying across the keys as he crushed the latest level of his favorite VR game. The clicks and hum of his gaming rig were the only things that mattered, until a loud thud interrupted him.
A shadow fell across his desk. He looked up. Mia, his girlfriend of two years, was standing there, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "You're still at this?" she asked, half amused, half exasperated. "You've been glued to that screen since lunch."
John leaned back, grinning like he always did when he knew he was bending the rules of reality in his favor. "Just one more level," he said, though his voice carried more excitement than restraint. "I'm about to break my own high score. Besides, it's not like classes are watching me."
Mia shook her head, letting out a sigh that John could read perfectly. "One day, all this gaming is going to catch up with you." She didn't know how right she was—just not about the gaming part.
As he leaned forward to press "Enter," a flicker of light caught his eye from the corner of the library. At first, he thought it was a reflection, but then the glow intensified, a small, almost pulsing object half-hidden under a pile of forgotten textbooks. His curiosity, bold and reckless as always, pushed him toward it.
It was a small device, sleek and metallic, with symbols that seemed to writhe across its surface as if alive. He picked it up. The instant his fingers brushed it, the library around him blurred and bent. A sudden warmth spread through his body, almost like adrenaline, but sharper, sharper than anything he had ever felt.
Before he could process it, the world went black.
---
When John opened his eyes again, the library was gone. The campus outside had transformed—or maybe it wasn't the campus at all. The buildings were intact, but the air shimmered unnaturally. The sun hung low, like a massive golden eye, and the ground beneath him seemed to pulse with energy.
John shook his head. "No way… what the hell just happened?"
A voice, smooth and calm, echoed in his mind. "Welcome, John. You have activated the Phantom Core. System initialization complete."
He froze. "I… what?"
"Don't panic," the voice continued, almost soothingly. "You have been selected as a System Holder. Your life as you knew it is over. Your abilities are now bound to this device. Use it wisely. The world you see is only the beginning."
John's grin returned, wide and unrestrained. "Abilities, huh? This is… insane. I like it."
A small holographic interface appeared before him, neon lines and glowing symbols floating midair. John instinctively reached out, tapping the icons, testing the response. [System Functions: Pending Calibration], [Inventory: Empty], [Skills: None], [Quests: Initialization] flashed across the interface.
"First function activated: Invisibility," the system said. John blinked, then focused on the space in front of him. Slowly, his hands disappeared. He gasped. Then his torso. Then he fully vanished.
Mia, still somewhere in his memories, would have screamed. He laughed, echoing through the invisible space. "This is going to be fun."
---
It didn't take long for John to realize the gravity of his new existence. The system wasn't just about powers—it was a world of possibilities, of quests, challenges, and enemies he couldn't yet imagine. His first real test came quickly.
A shadow streaked across the transformed campus, moving faster than any human could. John barely had time to react. His body flickered into invisibility, narrowly dodging a strike that could have shattered him. System alert: [Threat Detected – Level Unknown].
He leapt, dashing between shattered desks and broken streetlights, using the system mechanics instinctively. [Phantom Dash: Activated] he thought, feeling the pulse of his power. He smiled at the thrill, reckless and confident. This was a world he could shape, bend, and dominate—but it would also shape him.
It wasn't long before he encountered his first system quest. A glowing symbol hovered over a crumbling building: [Quest: Secure Initialization Artifact – Reward: Unknown]. John's pulse quickened. "Reward unknown? That's my favorite kind," he muttered, sprinting toward it.
Along the way, he noticed hints of allies—or potential allies. A figure moved in the distance, agile and calculated. Her hair shimmered with a faint metallic hue, eyes scanning the environment. Susan, as her system-designated name flashed briefly in his interface, would soon become a key player in his harem of friends, allies, and potential romantic connections. He would meet Eve, Crystal, Glory, and others under similarly strange and intense circumstances. Each would join him either through quests, shared danger, or extraordinary circumstance, each bringing skills, magic, or tech that amplified his own abilities.
John's thoughts raced as he approached the artifact. He realized that this world wasn't just about fighting—it was about strategy, human connection, and exploration. The system was his guide, but his boldness, creativity, and recklessness were what would define his path.
---
The first artifact shimmered in midair, pulsing like a heartbeat. As John reached out, the ground quaked, and a figure appeared from the shadows. Not human. Not completely. Its form twisted between mechanical and organic, glowing crimson veins along its massive body.
John smirked. "Guess I'm not getting the first quest for free, huh?"
The system hummed, providing subtle instructions: [Combat Suggested – Use Phantom Dash & Analyze Weak Points]. John nodded, ignoring the blinking neon interface and relying on instinct. He dodged a massive strike, flipping onto a broken lamppost. The adrenaline surged through him. This wasn't just a game anymore. This was life, death, and something far beyond imagination.
He struck, landing a hit on the creature's exposed joint. Sparks flew. It roared, a sound that rattled windows and fractured concrete. The thrill coursed through John's veins. This was what he lived for—chaos, challenge, and the chance to push beyond ordinary limits.
Even as the battle raged, he noticed subtle glimmers—Mia's protective aura, his friends' distant encouragements, the echo of humanity he refused to lose in this new system-driven world. Each fight, each artifact, each system upgrade wasn't just about power. It was about connection, survival, and becoming something more than human.
The fight climaxed with John activating Phantom Core Overdrive, a surge of neon energy engulfing his body. The creature staggered, and he grabbed the artifact. System confirmed: [Quest Complete – Initialization Artifact Secured – Reward: Level 1 System Functions Unlocked].
Breathing hard, adrenaline fading to a steady pulse, John smiled. He looked at the glowing interface, at the transformed city around him, at the first hints of allies and enemies in the distance.
"This… this is only the beginning," he muttered, grinning recklessly. And in the shadows, a faint crimson glow flickered, hinting at a world-level threat he had yet to face.