Landen made his choice.
Sadness lingered in his chest as he thought about everything he had left behind. The life he had known, the goal he had chased for years, the version of himself that had once felt so certain was no more. However, beneath that sadness was something deeper, something he could no longer ignore.
Excitement.
This was what he had always dreamed of.
Superheroes. Japanese anime. He had spent years collecting every comic and manga he could get his hands on, losing himself in stories of impossible power and boundless adventure. That was the real reason he played the game. In that world, he wasn't just another person—he was unstoppable.
On Earth, his goal had been simple: become the best gamer in the world.
But here—that goal felt small.
With this power—this new world—he could be more than someone who controlled a character. He could be the character. He could actually live the fantasy he'd spent his whole life watching from the outside.
[ YOU HAVE SELECTED THE CELESTIAL SYSTEM ]
Landen and Bob exchanged a smile. An unspoken agreement.
Then Bob's expression shifted.
His grin stretched wider, slower—something predatory creeping into it. He raised one hand, and a soft glow formed in his palm. Faint at first. Then brighter. Then blazing, like a miniature star had ignited between his fingers, the air around it warping under the pressure of raw energy.
Landen barely had time to register it.
Bob vanished—and reappeared directly in front of him in the same instant, driving his glowing hand straight into Landen's skull.
Everything stopped.
Landen's body locked. His muscles, his breath, even his thoughts—frozen, as if time itself had been cut from the timeline. Then light erupted from him all at once. Pouring from his eyes, his mouth, his ears. Blazing white. Something deep inside him was being dragged to the surface.
Bob hovered just above, watching.
"As I said before," he said calmly, "you have weaknesses that limit your true potential."
The light pulsed in waves.
"But don't worry. This will take care of that."
Slowly, the light dimmed—and a familiar interface blinked into existence.
DING!
[ WELCOME TO THE CELESTIAL SYSTEM ]
Landen stared at it.
"…Okay, hold on." He looked around, eyes wide. "This is sick."
Bob crossed his arms. "I had a feeling you'd say that."
"This is literally a video game UI," Landen said, eyes lighting up. "I'm inside a video game."
"That was the intention," a girl's voice replied.
Landen jolted. "Whoa—who said that?"
It was a strange feeling. The voice wasn't heard through his ears. Instead, it resonated directly in his mind.
"That," Bod said, "is your system. She'll be your guide from now on."
A brief pause. Then the voice returned—gentle, composed.
"Nice to meet you, Landen."
He let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "An AI assistant and a full game interface." He shook his head. "Okay. That's actually pretty convenient."
He quickly dug into the details of the main menu. It provided the following information:
|| Name: Landen Thorne ||
|| Essence Grade: Civilian || [ Level Up +1 ]
|| STATS ||
|| HP: 2000 + (500% of Vitality) + (25% of Strength) ||
|| Total Energy: 0 ||
|| Physical Defense: 1 + (300% of Vitality) + (80% of Strength) ||
|| Evasion: 1 + (80% of Agility) ||
|| Magic Defense: 0 + (200% of Vitality) + (50% of Intelligence) ||
|| Physical Attack Power: 10 + (400% of Strength) + (100% of Agility) ||
|| Magic Power: 0 +(200% of Intelligence) ||
|| Attack Speed: 1 +(200% of Agility) ||
|| Movement Speed: 10 +(50% of Agility) ||
|| Precision: 50% ||
|| ATTRIBUTES ||
|| Strength: 1 ||
|| Agility: 1 ||
|| Intelligence: 0 ||
|| Vitality: 1 ||
Landen's face slowly fell. "…Is that it?"
"What's the problem?" Bob asked.
"I thought I'd be—I don't know—stronger?" Landen said. "I look like a tutorial character."
"You are a tutorial character." Bob's tone was perfectly flat. "Congratulations."
"Wow. Incredible. Very encouraging."
Bob exhaled. "The power is in the Celestial System—but your body can't absorb it all at once. As you grow, the system will unlock it piece by piece." He nodded toward the interface. "You've already earned your first level. See the option next to your Essence Grade?"
[ Level Up +1 ]
Landen thought about selecting it—
And that was enough.
A pulse of light rippled through the interface, and a faint surge of energy coursed through his body, as if something inside him had just been unlocked.
Then a golden Pillar of Light shot upward from his feet towards the sky, while an ascending chime signaled the Level-Up Burst.
SHIIIIIIING!!!
A rush of power hit him, triggering a dopamine hit to the brain.
"I could get used to that," he said, eyes beaming.
Now looking, his stats had changed.
|| Essence Grade: Elementary 1 ||
His Essence Grade has leveled up from Civilian to Elementary 1, a level now comparable to the students at the academy.
More information began to populate the interface, lines of data forming in real time.
An experience bar appeared.
|| Experience points: 0/100 ||
Then something else caught his attention.
|| Attributes: || [ +10 points ]
"What's this '+10 points'?", he said.
"You've leveled up," Bob explained. "Each time you do, you'll be rewarded with ten attribute points. You can allocate them however you choose."
"Take note," Bob continued. "Each attribute affects your abilities in different ways—your strength, your speed, your endurance, and more. Choose wisely. The path you build now will shape how you grow."
Landen studied the options, the weight of the decision settling in.
This wasn't just a game anymore.
Every choice mattered.
Landen looked deeper into how each attribute point affects his stats.
Strength fed his Physical Attack—but also, surprisingly, his HP and Physical Defense—a brawler's path.
Agility sharpened his Evasion, boosted Attack Speed and Movement Speed, and added to his Physical Attack as well. Fast and elusive. The assassin's path.
Then there was Intelligence, which raised Magic Power and Magic Defense—a mage.
Finally, Vitality focused on overall durability, increasing HP, Physical Defense, and Magic Defense across the board—the tank.
He didn't know enough yet. About this world, about what was coming, about what kind of fighter he wanted to be. Locking in points now felt reckless.
"I think I'll hold on to them for now," Landen said.
"Wise choice," Bob replied.
After reviewing all his stats, he noticed a series of additional tabs had appeared.
[ Abilities ] | [ Inventory ] | [ Ranking ] | [ Heroes ] | [ Training ]
His eyes went straight to the first one.
Abilities.
He'd been waiting for this.