Aris knew he was meant to be eliminated from the system by now.
He took a deep breath...slowly.
Each inhale came with a faint static like hum. The void around him shifted—gray waves of code rolling and folding as if reacting to the rhythm of his lungs.
He exhaled, and fragments of light scattered from his mouth, drifting into the dark.
"…Well this is… new."
Bits of shattered worlds drifted in the endless static: broken weapons, shattered sky fragments, shattered pieces of mountain rubbles, hovered weightlessly, orbiting him.
Still lost at the moment, with a lot of questions on his mind, he reached out to a fragment—no bigger than a pebble as he floated closer. But immediately he got in contact, a rush of sensation tore through his arm.
"Arghh.."
[Skill Created: Code Touch (Lv 1)]
[Effect: Manipulate unstable world data.]
He jerked his hand back, startled. The fragment pulsed, then dissolved into threads of glowing code that wrapped around his fingers. The data didn't burn but had more of a soothing feel to it.
"Wait," Aris muttered. "I just created a skill ? can create skills now?"
[Affirmative. You are not a player. You are a system exception.]
The voice again. Cold, mechanical. Yet this time, it didn't sound distant. It felt… attentive.
Aris narrowed his eyes. He didn't know how but instantly realized the voice as a System's.
"System… open world map."
[Denied. No world loaded.]
He frowned. "Then load one." He commanded.
[Error: Insufficient permissions.]
Insufficient? Aris frowned.
His voice dropped. "Then Modify: Permissions = Full."
He commanded and there was instant Silence. Then—
[Override accepted.]
[Welcome, Administrator.]
The void convulsed.
A shockwave of light immediately rippled outward, tearing the static apart as Aris shielded his eyes, blinking against the sudden blaze. When the glare faded, he saw them—hundreds of glowing spheres floating in an infinite lattice of darkness. Each one shimmered with its own pulse, colors bleeding through their surfaces like molten glass.
And within each sphere, he saw life... He could somehow feel it.
Worlds.
Cities floating above oceans of clouds. Armies clashing beneath burning skies. Beasts the size of continents.
He could feel them—each heartbeat, each soul, each fragment of reality. It felt too much but at the same time enough to pay here to all at once.
A thousand worlds, breathing.
At the farthest edge, flickering weakly, he saw it: Pawn World 819.
His world.
It was dim and hollow. And it had only few embers of light left.
He reached toward it slowly.
(World Status: 99.99% Deleted.]
The message built a surge of rage and despair in him immediately. So much he clenched his jaw until his teeth ached.
"Then we rebuild it." He replied.
[Impossible. World is scheduled for permanent erasure.]
He stared at the message. It felt like being told to give up all over again. That same voice that had watched him fail, watched everything die, now told him no again!?.
"Who is your maker" ! He asked out of rage his eyes glowing with static energy.
{ MADE BY NONE, MAKER OF ALL.}
The voice repeated with voice like thunder sending shivers down Aris's being.
His breath became heavy and slow. As silence filled the space. Uts voice humbled him for a moment.
But Aris doubted and contemplated.
If it was as it claimed why didn't it interfere when he's world was being wiped out. Aris thought but at the moment was too scared to ask. But to his surprise, the voice replied.
{CAN'T INTERFERE WITHOUT ACCESS. YOU'RE WORLD IS SCHEDULED FOR PERMANENT ERASURE.}
"Not this time." Aris replied.
But he understood where this system stood at the moment. Seemed it was something out of the line of existence. Superior in all aspects but still can't operate without a host.
And it dawned on Aris. He was the host. That's why he survived. That was an advantage for him. He could still even if not control it, hold on to a lot it for a lot of advantages in his line of existence.
" I can still do something about my world he muttered then turned to his left in the void. He placed his hand on the dim sphere, but it's surface resisted. He pushed harder, until the world cracked open with a sound like ice breaking.
Light spilled through the fractures—raw, chaotic code spilling into the void. His arm sank deeper, up to the elbow. He felt it thrum against his bones, felt pain, but he didn't stop.
But when he finally pulled back, something came with him—a shard of pulsing light, small but alive. It beat faintly in his palm, like a heart struggling to keep rhythm.
[World Seed Extracted.]
[Warning: This action is forbidden by the Guild of Realities.]
"Guild of Realities?" Aris muttered. "What the hell is that—"
A new notification blinked interrupting his question.
[Overseer Detected.]
The entire void went still.
Then the temperature dropped.
A pressure filled the air—heavy, suffocating. The fragments of shattered worlds scattered as if in fear.
And from the far distance, a golden light approached—slow, deliberate. It wasn't flying. The space moved for it. Power filled in it's aura even from such a long distance away.
As it drew closer, Aris saw its shape: tall, humanoid, but more concept than flesh. Its body was formed from lines of living code that shimmered like molten gold. Its eyes burned white, but there was thought behind them. Old thought. Ancient hierarchy.
When it spoke, its voice was the sound of thunder reduced to a whisper.
"An anomaly," it said. "How… fascinating."
Aris instinctively took a move back. The pressure around him was unreal—every breath felt like inhaling gravity.
He forced a shaky grin. "You're late to the deletion party."
"You exist outside deletion."
"A contradiction."
It tilted its head slightly, studying him like a specimen.
Then its tone sharpened. "You stole a World Seed. Explain."
Aris met its gaze. "Your system failed." He replied as silence followed.
The Overseer didn't blink.
"Amusing." He replied.
Light flared behind it, gathering into a spear of energy. "Let us test the extent of your failure."
Aris barely had time to react before the void lit up.
[Entity: Guild Overseer Lv. 9999.]
[Warning: Combat not recommended.]