In a cheap, cramped apartment, Dian sits in his wheelchair, emptily watching TV. His phone lies untouched on the table beside him.
"Breaking news: this morning, around 4:00 AM, several teenagers went missing under mysterious circumstances while having a barbecue party to celebrate their graduation..."
The reporter continues delivering updates on various troubling incidents with a formal and fluent tone.
Dian wasn't someone who typically watched the news—at least, not before his leg was broken. Now that his future seemed entirely bleak, he found himself not knowing what else to do. He had no money, no family, and by next week, this cramped apartment would no longer be his home once the rent expired. All he could do was watch TV. On the screen, he saw people living in miserable conditions—like those children in a country torn by war, among others.
At least by watching the news, Dian could tell himself that his life wasn't that miserable in comparison.
Yet, that realization didn't change the fact that he was utterly lost about what to do with his life. The uncertainties loomed before him, like an impenetrable wall preventing him from moving forward.
As his mind began to wander deeper into despair, his phone's screen suddenly lit up with a pop-up ad.
Dian frowned as he read the ad.
"Lucifer's Legacy?"
I must have forgotten to turn the data off, he thought to himself.
The ad promoted a game called Lucifer's Legacy, featuring an illustration of black and white wings as its icon.
Dian had been a fan of RPG games since his youth and would have liked to try the game—if it were under different circumstances. Now, though, he barely had the energy to even look out the window, let alone play a game.
He immediately searched for the "X" icon to close the pop-up, only to realize that there was no "X" anywhere, nor was there a countdown for the ad to disappear.
Panic set in as he tried several methods to close the ad, but it would not budge no matter how he touched or clicked on the screen.
"A virus?" he muttered.
As he said that, a question appeared on the screen, right beneath the game's icon.
[Hello, young one.]
A confused frown creased Dian's face as he read the words. They started to fade and were replaced by a different message.
[My power, my fate, my throne, my star, my people, my worlds... All are within your reach; by now, you have been chosen.]
"What the—" Dian thought to himself, completely bewildered. He began to suspect that maybe his phone had been hacked by a bored hacker or that someone was playing a prank on him.
'Well, I don't have a penny in my e-wallet or my real wallet, so…'
A faint smile crossed Dian's face as he tried to relax and decided to humor the hacker's game. He had made up his mind: at midnight, he would end his life. With no money and no relatives, there seemed to be no future for a disabled man like himself in this harsh world. So, since he was going to be dead tonight anyway, why not play along with whoever had hacked his phone?
With that mindset, Dian patiently awaited the next message to appear.
The current text slowly faded away and was replaced by new words.
[You can take everything from me.]
The text continued to change.
[Even my identity as a person.]
[My only wish for you is just one.]
[Become strong.]
[As strong as you can.]
[And defeat ****.]
"What?" Dian raised an eyebrow at the use of '****.'
"Why even bother to type it if you're just going to censor it, man?" he sighed.
He almost lost interest in the hacker's 'game' when a new text appeared—this time, it was a question with two selectable options.
[Would you accept Lucifer's request and become a candidate for his heir?]
[Yes.] [No.]
Dian pinched his chin thoughtfully at the options.
"Lucifer?" he muttered. "Like the fallen angel, Lucifer?" He chuckled, "You've got good taste. How do you know I like this kind of stuff?"
Being a big fan of RPG games, and with the genre's heavy influence of fantasy and mythology, he knew a lot about angels. Lucifer, in particular, was a popular name often used by game developers for major character roles—whether as an ally or an enemy boss.
With his curiosity piqued, Dian immediately tapped the [Yes] option. He was eager to see what the hacker would show him next.
However, just then, something unexpected happened.
His entire vision was suddenly engulfed in darkness.
He fell asleep—or so he thought.
Because the next time he opened his eyes, Dian found himself in a completely white space.
A transparent panel appeared before him...
....
[Lucifer's Legacy has been successfully installed!]
Dian stood there, completely taken aback.
"Huh?... What?"
He attempted to convert the situation into something his mind could process, yet he remained confused.
It was only after he looked around and noticed several other people in the white space with him that he began to calm himself slightly. At least he wasn't alone; whatever would happen next, he had them beside him. He refocused on the transparent panel before him.
As he scanned his surroundings, the text on the panel changed.
[Congratulations! Host number 670, Dian, has been successfully assigned as a Heir Candidate.]
"Okay..." He began to read the text that appeared more seriously. He felt that whatever happened next would be important.
[Before you can dive into one of Lord Lucifer's worlds, please set your status and attributes first.]
A new panel appeared before Dian right after he finished reading the last text.
The new panel was a status screen that looked game-like and familiar to an RPG fan like him. It included columns for name, level, attributes, stats, skills, unique skills, titles, and legacy skills.
Although still confused about several things, Dian decided to play along and started filling in his status data instead of overthinking. After all, he was going to end his life tonight anyway, so who cared about what happened next?
For the name, he filled in his real name. It was the precious name his grandma had given him, so he used it every time, whether in a game or in reality, and he would do the same here.
The level was unchangeable, so he left it at the default level 1.
He could choose 2 options from the attributes presented to him. After contemplating for some time, Dian casually selected two out of thousands—Darkness and Time.
[Attribute: Darkness.]
[Description: Born with the Mark of Abyss, you are highly skilled in manipulating and mastering all darkness-related elements.]
[+50% Physical Damage, +50% Magical Damage, +200% Darkness Effectiveness, +20% Comprehension Ability, +200% Darkness-related Comprehension Ability.]
[Attribute: Time.]
[Description: The blood of Hambazell The Knowledge flows in your veins, granting you a unique connection to time.]
[+1000% Luck, +25% to all stats, and +100% Time-related Comprehension.]
Dian didn't fully understand the significance of all this, but since it resembled a game, he picked the options that seemed the coolest and most powerful… Whatever it was for.
As he was about to continue filling in the next column, he noticed that the attributes he had selected lost their color and became gray. It seemed that they could no longer be selected since he had already chosen them. Several other attributes had also faded in color at that moment.
"They all have their appeal, huh!" he exclaimed when his eyes landed on the now grayed attributes like Gravity, Nature, Light, Holy, and Life.
He quickly shifted his focus back to his status.
Next was the Stats section.
He had 100 stat points to allocate as he wished.
For Constitution, Agility, and Magic, he assigned 20 points each because he thought they were the most important. He allocated 10 points to Dexterity and Sense, and 15 points to Endurance and Intelligence.
Now it was time for the Skills column.
Dian clicked on the column and opened the skill options panel. He could choose up to 5 B-Rank and below Skills, 2 A-Rank Skills, and 1 S-Rank Skill.
Since the chosen options would become unselectable after selection, he decided to first look for his S-Rank Skill.
Among thousands of S-Rank skills, Dian picked the one that he found to be the most suited for him:
[Skill: Hell Flame.]
[Rank: S.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Summon flames from the depths of Hell to enhance your attacks, dealing +300% Magical Damage for each hit and 25% Magical Damage continuous Burn damage for 5 seconds. Cost: 50 MP for initial activation and 10 MP per second while the skill is active. Cooldown: 2 Hours.]
After carefully considering his options, he selected additional skills:
[Skill: Shadow Physique.]
[Rank: A.]
[Type: Passive.]
[Description: Half of your body is constructed from shadows of the Shadow Realm, granting you +65% resistance against Physical Damage, +100% Shadow Element Effectivity, +50% Shadow Element Comprehension, and +25% Darkness Element Effectivity.]
[Skill: Undo.]
[Rank: A.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Move time backward. Cost: 100 MP per second reversed. Cooldown: 1 Hour.]
[Skill: Masterful Hands.]
[Rank: B.]
[Type: Passive.]
[Description: Your hands are uniquely gifted, capable of crafting many great things. Grants +75% Dexterity and +25% Chance of crafting greater Tier items.]
[Skill: Slow Motion.]
[Rank: B.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Slow down everything within your vision by 2 times. Cost: 10 MP per second while active. Cooldown: 30 Minutes.]
[Skill: Dark Javelin.]
[Rank: B.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Conjure Dark Javelins, costing 30 MP each to launch. Each javelin deals 200% Magical Damage to the target plus 35% Splash Damage to nearby opponents. Cooldown: 1 Minute.]
[Skill: Shadow Whisper.]
[Rank: C.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Merge with a nearby shadow to become immune to Physical Damage for 10 seconds while continuously inflicting Confuse and Terrify effects on opponents. Cost: 20 MP per use. Cooldown: 10 Minutes.]
[Skill: Blessed by Weapons.]
[Rank: D.]
[Type: Passive.]
[Description: Gain mastery over any weapons faster, with +50% All Weapon Mastery speed ability.]
With skills chosen for high damage, crafting ability, long-range attacks, and crowd control, Dian felt satisfied with his all-rounder build. He then turned to selecting his Unique Skill, knowing he could only choose one. After 10 minutes of careful consideration, he finally made his pick:
[Unique Skill: Abyssal Energy.]
[Type: Passive.]
[Description: Your physique carries corrupting energy from the depths of the Abyss, allowing you a 1% chance to turn living beings and items you've killed or crafted into Abyss-based beings and items.]
Next, Dian focused on selecting a title. Like the Unique Skill, he could only choose one title, so he carefully examined his options. Because most of his chosen skills were darkness-based, he decided on a title that would complement his time-based skills:
[Title: Time Walker.]
[Description: You possess the ability to walk across time, unbound by mortal time barriers. One day, you shall free yourself and walk upon the path many fear to tread.]
Titles did not have explicit effects listed in their descriptions, but this one seemed impressive for someone with a Time Attribute.
Finally, Dian approached the Legacy Skills. Upon opening the menu, he was shocked to see that nearly all of the total of 1,000 Legacy Skills available were grayed out. Approximately half had already become unavailable, and with each second that passed, more skills lost their color.
"What? They're disappearing so fast!" he exclaimed.
Not wanting to miss out, Dian quickly searched for an available Legacy Skill. Skills like Shadow Throne, Seraph Blood Gate, Divine Weapon Materialization, and Dark Power sounded cool and powerful, but many were already grayed out. Only a few powerful options remained, and none of them appealed to him.
Time slipped away as he agonized over his choices, causing him to sweat under the pressure. Ultimately, he sighed, realizing he had to settle for a support-based Legacy Skill instead, which seemed less desirable to others:
[Legacy Skill: Eye of Wisdom.]
[Description: The eyes of the seraph are said to decipher the secrets of heaven, granting the heir the ability to see through the status of living beings and non-living entities.]
Dian couldn't help but feel surprised by this skill's potential. "Well... isn't this a solid choice?" he thought.
Though he'd picked Eye of Wisdom out of pressure from his peers, he felt satisfied with his decision. He wasn't certain whether others could see the status of living beings or not, but this ability seemed valuable.
After finishing with his status settings and locking them in place, another transparent window appeared before him—his current status window.
He felt a subtle surge of power inside his body, but it was barely noticeable at that moment. He began to check his status.
_____
[Name: Dian]
[Level: 1]
[Attributes: Darkness, Time]
[Race: Human · 72%]
[Constitution: 25 (+25%)]
[Agility: 25 (+25%)]
[Dexterity: 18.75 (+25%)]
[Endurance: 12.5 (+25%)]
[Intelligence: 18.75 (+25%)]
[Sense: 12.5 (+25%)]
[Magic: 25 (+25%)]
[Skills:]
•{Active}
- Hell Flame (S)
- Undo (A)
- Dark Javelin (B)
- Shadow Whisper (C)
- Slow Motion (B)
•{Passive}
- Shadow Physique (A)
- Masterful Hands (B)
[Unique Skill:]
- Abyssal Energy
[Legacy Skill:]
- Eye of Wisdom
[Title:]
- Time Walker
**[Detailed Advanced Status...]**
_____
Dian clicked on [Detailed Advanced Status] to see the direct effects of his status.
Another panel appeared over his status window.
_____
[Name: Dian]
[Health Point: 2,500/2,500]
[Mana Point: 2,500/2,500]
[Stamina Point: 2,500/2,500]
[Physical Damage: 375 (+50%)]
[Magical Damage: 375 (+50%)]
[Physical Defense: 125]
[Magical Defense: 235]
[Speed: 300]
[Crafting Capability: 187]
[Luck (fixed): 5,000 (+1000%)]
[Apprehension/Mastery Abilities:]
- Darkness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Time: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Shadow: ⭐⭐⭐
- Holy: ⭐⭐
- Light: ⭐⭐⭐
- All weapons: ⭐⭐
- Spiritual: ⭐
[Special Status:]
- Mark of Abyss.
- Blood of Hambazell.
- Lucifer's Heir Candidate.
As a Heir Candidate of Lucifer, the Black, you possess potential that far exceeds most people. However, compared to other Heir Candidates, you still lack in several areas.
_____