In the world of Ardentis, destiny was assigned at sixteen.
Not chosen.Not earned.
Assigned.
Every citizen awakened a System, an invisible authority that governed strength, status, and survival. From soldiers to scholars, merchants to kings—everything revolved around numbers, ranks, and skills displayed on floating blue screens.
Those blessed with high-rank Systems lived lives of luxury and reverence.
Those without… didn't matter.
Eryx Vale stood among the final students inside the Awakening Hall, a massive dome of white stone and glowing runes. His school uniform clung to his back with sweat, though the hall itself was cold. Thousands of eyes watched from the stands—teachers, officials, and recruiters from powerful guilds.
They were here to witness futures being born.
Or destroyed.
"Next candidate," announced the examiner, his voice amplified by magic. "Eryx Vale."
Eryx inhaled sharply.
This was it.
He stepped forward, boots echoing against the polished floor. The Awakening Crystal hovered in the center of the platform, a massive prism of light that pulsed like a living heart. One drop of blood was all it needed.
Please, Eryx thought. Anything is fine. Just don't let me be nothing.
He pricked his finger and pressed it to the crystal.
The light flared.
For a heartbeat, the hall buzzed with anticipation. Screens began forming above the platform—translucent panels of blue text that everyone could see.
Then—
Nothing happened.
The light flickered.
The screens wavered.
A low murmur spread through the hall.
"What's wrong?"
"Is the crystal malfunctioning?"
"Has that ever happened before?"
The examiner frowned and tapped his device. "Hold still."
Eryx's pulse roared in his ears. The crystal suddenly dimmed, then flashed violently.
A single screen snapped into existence above his head.
Name: Eryx ValeSystem Status: ERRORRank: —Skills: —Affinities: —
The silence was suffocating.
Then laughter broke out.
Not loud.Not cruel.
Worse—dismissive.
"Error?"
"Is that a joke?"
"Did he break the System?"
The examiner's expression hardened. He swiped through multiple readings, his brows knitting together.
"…Impossible," he muttered.
The screen glitched once—then shattered into fragments of light.
The crystal went dark.
A single word appeared on the examiner's device.
NULL
The examiner exhaled slowly and looked at Eryx with something between pity and irritation.
"System failure confirmed," he announced. "Candidate classified as Null."
The word slammed into Eryx's chest.
Null.
A person without a System.
A dead end.
Nulls couldn't gain levels.Couldn't learn skills.Couldn't enter dungeons or wield artifacts.
They were excluded from guilds, barred from advanced education, and often pushed into dangerous manual labor—if they survived that long.
Eryx's hands trembled.
"That's it?" he asked quietly. "Just… Null?"
The examiner avoided his gaze. "You're dismissed."
Just like that.
No ceremony.No future.
Eryx turned and walked off the platform as whispers followed him like knives.
"Poor kid."
"What a waste."
"He was top of the class, wasn't he?"
"Doesn't matter now."
He kept his head down and forced his legs to move.
I studied harder than anyone, he thought bitterly. Trained every morning. Believed that effort mattered.
Apparently, it didn't.
As he passed through the massive doors of the hall, the noise behind him faded. Sunlight washed over the marble steps outside, warm and indifferent.
Eryx laughed softly.
"Figures."
That was when the world froze.
Literally.
The breeze stopped.The sunlight dimmed.Sound vanished, as if reality itself had been muted.
Eryx's breath caught.
"…What?"
Blue light flickered before his eyes.
Not above him.
Only for him.
[Hidden System Protocol Detected][Analyzing Host Condition…][Condition Met: Total System Rejection][Condition Met: Absolute Compatibility]
Eryx staggered back, heart slamming against his ribs.
"I—I have a System?" he whispered.
The text continued to scroll.
[All Standard Systems Failed][Reason: Host incompatible with predefined fate paths]
"…Incompatible?" Eryx murmured.
Another line appeared.
[Unique System Authorization Granted][Designation: Last System]
The air rippled.
Eryx felt something click inside him—like a lock finally turning after years of pressure.
[Welcome, Eryx Vale.][You were not chosen first.][You were chosen because you were last.]
His knees buckled.
"What does that mean?" he demanded. "Why me?"
The System responded instantly.
[All other candidates accepted the world as it is.][You did not.]
Images flooded his mind—years of effort, rejection, silent resentment, the refusal to believe that birth defined worth.
[This System does not grant power.][It grants authority.]
Eryx sucked in a sharp breath.
"Authority… over what?"
The answer came slowly, deliberately.
[Authority over rules.][Authority over Systems.][Authority over fate.]
The frozen world shuddered.
Cracks spread through the air like shattered glass, then reality snapped back into motion. Wind rushed past. Voices echoed from the hall behind him.
No one noticed anything had changed.
Except him.
A final message appeared.
[Warning:][You will be hunted.][You will be erased if discovered.]
Then—
[Initialization Complete.]
The blue light faded.
Eryx stood alone on the steps, shaking, heart racing.
He looked down at his empty hands.
Then he smiled.
Slowly.
"So," he murmured, eyes gleaming, "this world already decided I was nothing."
He turned toward the city—toward guild towers, dungeons, and gods who believed they controlled everything.
"Fine," Eryx said softly.
"I'll rewrite it."