BOOM—!!!
A deafening roar erupted as a massive load-bearing wall, destabilized by the earlier tremors, buckled.
A shadow loomed over the rubble where a small boy had tripped.
He stared up, paralyzed by the sight of tons of concrete descending toward him; his scream was strangled in his throat by sheer terror.
"SAVE THAT CHILD!" A blood-curdling shriek ripped through the crowd.
Lawson, Dodge, and Rickman bolted forward. But even with their superhuman reflexes, the speed of gravity was faster.
Lawson's eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he lunged, his hand outstretched in a desperate, soul-deep roar:
"NO! STOP! STOP IT—!!!"
As he screamed, a will that superseded physics locked onto that fragment of spacetime.
The falling wall froze mid-air, as if slamming into an invisible cushion.
Then, a tide of brilliant gold light surged, wrapping around every brick and splinter.
Before the stunned eyes of the survivors, time seemed to reverse.
The broken stones and splintered beams floated upward, reassembling themselves perfectly.
In less than a second, the wall wasn't just restored—it had transformed into a shimmering, reinforced rampart of steel-like alloy, stronger and more majestic than before.
Silence fell, absolute and heavy. The boy sat on the ground, dazed. Every eye turned to Lawson.
He stood there, hand extended, his pupils glowing with a soul-stirring dark gold light.
Halos of divine authority circled his body, making him look less like a man and more like a god walking the earth.
This wasn't just power; it was the Authority to Reconstruct Reality.
Lawson slowly withdrew his hand. The lingering gold reflected in his eyes, but it brought no joy—only a deep cloud of worry.
I... I actually have the power to "reconstruct"?
To confirm it wasn't a dream, he focused on a nearby ruin that was nothing but a foundation.
With a flick of his mind, gold threads shot out.
The debris began to writhe and reassemble like a living thing.
Within breaths, a smooth, new steel wall rose from the ground.
The silence broke into a volcanic eruption of cheers.
"It's a miracle! That golden power is incredible!" "He can kill monsters and build houses instantly—he's a God!"
"The Golden Hero! With him here, Nova Star Town is invincible!"
They cheered and wept. To these civilians, Lawson was their ultimate insurance policy.
The warriors gathered around him. Katie rested her hands on her hips, a teasing smirk dancing on her refined face.
"Lawson, it looks like obtaining this power has officially promoted you to an 'All-Purpose Hero.' When we start rebuilding the town, you'll be a one-man construction crew. You'll never have to lug that heavy old toolbox around again."
Ester, no longer a "stray cat," looked at him with eyes full of worship. She performed a perfect knight's curtsy.
"Big Brother... you are becoming more like System Master every second! I never have to worry about losing a master again. You are my one and only Master."
But Lawson felt a bone-chilling loneliness. He looked at his hands—hands that could reshape matter with a thought—and his body trembled.
To him, this divine power felt like a tightening noose.
Am I... really becoming an NPC? The thought bit his heart like a venomous snake. If I can modify reality like code... if my existence is just to keep this world running... can I still call myself 'human'?
After a fleeting moment of hesitation, Lawson took a deep breath, as if to finally purge the icy chill lingering in his chest.
He tightened his fist, the golden light flashing briefly between his fingers.
If there was no escape from this destiny, he would embrace it entirely—adopting a bold resolve of "it's a waste not to use it." He spun around, facing the crowd, and unleashed a declaration that shook the plaza like thunder:
"Since that stubborn 'System' forced this power onto me, we have no reason to let it go to waste!"
Lawson's gaze swept across his companions. He first glanced at his juniors, Phyllis and Luther, who had remained silent throughout, currently in a state of "social anxiety" as they desperately tried to shrink their presence.
Then, he looked at Dodge, who was grumbling curses while tenderly brushing the dust off the frightened boy's clothes.
Finally, his eyes moved past a starry-eyed Ester to land on Katie, who watched him with a playful, knowing smirk.
In this moment, the haze in his eyes vanished, replaced by a near-maniacal determination.
"My friends, it's time to work! We are launching an unprecedented— 'Town Reconstruction Initiative'!"
Lawson threw his arms wide, as if to gather the entire town into his embrace.
Brilliant golden light erupted with his voice, casting his silhouette in a magnificent, god-like glow.
"I will reshape this place with my own hands! Using this authority, I'll turn this town into the strongest, most unshakeable fortress in this godforsaken world! We will build an apocalyptic paradise that bars all evil and shall never fall—"
He paused, his voice echoing endlessly across the plaza:
"Its name shall be... Armored Fortress: Nova Star!!!"
The cheers erupted once more like a tidal wave. Enveloped in that golden radiance, Lawson closed his eyes. Even if that flicker of unease still haunted the depths of his soul like a shadow, at least for now, he would reclaim the dignity of "humanity" from the cold torrent of data—all for the sake of these living, breathing souls.
A miracle of divine engineering had officially begun.
The first phase of reconstruction had finally ground to a halt.
The clock hands had long since swept past midnight. Lawson and his team dragged their leaden steps back to the base.
With three warriors gone, the usually boisterous headquarters felt piercingly hollow.
Simple "goodnights" dissolved at the end of the corridor as everyone retreated into the sanctuary of sleep.
Everyone, except Lawson. He locked himself in the Factory for "overtime."
Those battered sets of armor were a puzzle he had to solve.
Currently, he was staring at his palm, his mind swirling with doubts about that sudden, inexplicable power: [Reconstruction].
"Let's test it on these 'tin cans' first," he muttered.
He took a deep breath, focusing every ounce of heat in his body toward his palm.
Closing his eyes, he whispered a command that felt more like a prayer: "Fix it... for me!"
WUMMM—!
A miracle descended without warning. A tidal wave of brilliant, golden light surged forth, swallowing the mangled armor.
In seconds, the metal components began to reassemble as if time itself were flowing backward, glowing with a luster even colder and sharper than the day they left the factory.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lawson nearly jumped out of his skin, his lips curling into an irrepressible, manic grin.
"This is a straight-up cheat code... Does this mean I don't even need a toolbox anymore? I can just perform 'Instant Armor Repair' magic shows anywhere?"
Once the brain gets excited, the imagination runs wild. A bold idea struck him like lightning:
That mysterious crystal... the one that wouldn't budge no matter how much I messed with it. If I use this power to 'Reconstruct' it, could I trace it back to its source?