One moment, Adam was sitting at his wooden desk, staring blankly at the chalkboard. The drone of his teacher's voice filled the room, talking about equations that Adam had zero interest in. He rested his chin on his palm, his eyelids growing heavy.
He blinked.
When his eyes opened, the classroom was gone. The smell of chalk and old textbooks had vanished.
Adam stood in a void.
It was a boundless white space, stretching out infinitely in every direction. There was no floor, yet he was standing. There was no ceiling, yet a soft, diffused light illuminated everything.
"What is this?" Adam whispered, his voice echoing strangely in the emptiness.
He looked around, panic starting to rise in his chest. Floating in front of him were dozens of glowing orbs. They looked like miniature suns, radiant stars, hovering at eye level. They pulsed with a gentle warmth.
Adam hesitated. There was nothing else to do in this white nothingness. Driven by a sudden instinct, he reached out toward the nearest star.
His finger brushed the surface of the glowing light.
Zoom.
The reaction was instant. A violent force yanked him backward. It felt like a black hole had opened up behind his ribs, dragging him into a deep, dark abyss. The white space collapsed, twisting into a spiral of darkness.
Adam tried to scream, but the air was sucked out of his lungs.
Then, everything stopped.
Adam gasped, his eyes snapping open. He pushed himself up, his hands sinking into something soft.
Grass.
He was sitting in a sprawling grassland. A gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks, carrying the scent of fresh earth and greenery. Adam blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. He looked at the horizon, then down at the blades of grass beneath his fingers.
"Where... where am I?" he muttered.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Something was wrong.
It wasn't that the place was scary. In fact, it was beautiful. But it didn't look real.
The green of the grass was too vibrant, too perfect. The clouds drifting in the blue sky didn't have the chaotic texture of real clouds; they looked like carefully painted shapes. The shadows cast by the trees in the distance were sharp and distinct.
"It looks like a painting," Adam said aloud, his heart pounding. "Or... an anime?"
He held up his own hand. The lines of his palm seemed more defined than usual. The world around him felt like a high-budget animation brought to life. He wasn't just in a different place; he was in a different medium of reality.
He stood up, dusting off his clothes. He was still wearing his school uniform, which looked jarring against this stylized backdrop.
Ding!
A sharp, mechanical sound chimed in his ears.
Adam jumped back. Suspended in the air right in front of his face was a semi-transparent blue window. Text began to scroll across it in white letters.
[System Initialized]
[Unique Ability Unlocked: Art Style]
Adam stared at the floating text. He had read enough web novels to know what this was.
"A system?" he breathed, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
He read the description under his ability.
[Art Style: Allows the host to manifest drawings and artistic creations into reality. The cost of manifestation depends on the complexity and power of the creation.]
[Current Resource: System Points (SS)]
Adam's shock was replaced by a surge of excitement. This was the kind of power he had always dreamed of. He wasn't just a lost student anymore; he had a cheat code.
"Status," Adam commanded, testing the system.
The window flickered and changed to show his personal stats.
[Name: Adam]
[Race: Human]
[Strength: 5 (Average)]
[Agility: 5 (Average)]
[Chakra: Locked]
[SS Points: 100]
He was currently just a normal human with average stats. But looking at that "100 SS Points" balance, Adam knew his life had just changed forever. He looked out at the painted horizon, ready to test what he could do.