Silence.
The kind that exists before sound is born.
I opened my eyes — or thought I did — and found myself standing in a white room so vast it devoured the horizon. There were no walls, no ceiling, only a colorless infinity that seemed to breathe.
And then, I saw them.
Panels.
Thousands. No — infinite.
Suspended in the air like mirrors, each one humming faintly, each one displaying symbols, glyphs, or words that shimmered and changed as I looked at them.
[Knight Class — Rank C]
[Archmage Class — Rank S]
[Beast Caller — Rank B]
[Hero — Unique Class]
[??? — Undefined]
The panels stretched endlessly in every direction, reflecting one another like shards of divine code. Some glowed with steady color, while others flickered violently, unstable, as if aware of my presence.
I took a hesitant step.
The ground rippled beneath me — light masquerading as solid form. My reflection stared back from the surface below, distorted and glitching between faces.
Ben Ashford.
Astaroso Ashford.
Ben again.
My skull throbbed.
"Where… am I?"
The question vanished into the white expanse. No echo. No answer.
Only the soft pulse of the room itself.
Then came the voice.
Not hers.
This one was mechanical — but alive, like an ancient god pretending to be a machine.
[Welcome, Soulwalker.]
[System Calibration: Incomplete.]
[Class Allocation: Pending.]
[Warning: Multiple Soul Signatures Detected.]
The panels flickered violently, rearranging themselves into spiraling constellations of light. Classes began to merge and rewrite themselves before my eyes.
[Warrior → Flame Sovereign → Ashen God]
[Scribe → Dream Architect → Narrative Weaver]
[Soulbound → Reincarnator → ???]
Each transformation distorted the white void into waves of static and color.
I reached toward one panel — Narrative Weaver.
The instant my fingers brushed its surface, agony exploded through my arm.
Memories poured into me.
Stories written. Stories erased. Worlds born and discarded like unfinished thoughts.
I ripped my hand away with a gasp.
[Unauthorized Interaction Detected.]
[Access Restricted to Root User.]
Root User.
The term struck something deep within me.
A word from another world.
A world of screens instead of magic.
"Am I…" I whispered, "…inside the System?"
[Yes.]
The answer came immediately.
The infinite panels dimmed one after another until only seven remained, circling me like silent judges.
Their glow pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.
[Soul Correlation: 99.7%]
[Initiating Custom Class Generation.]
[Warning: External Variable Detected — Entity '@%#' Interfering.]
[Proceed Anyway?]
The question burned directly into my mind.
Yes.
The panels erupted into motion.
Runes spiraled outward in impossible patterns. Lines of code twisted into symbols, symbols into language.
[Generating Soul-Class…]
[Cross-Referencing Memory, Creation, and Faith Matrices…]
[Result: Core Class — GODWRITER.]
[Subclass: Reincarnation Architect.]
[Rank: Undefined.]
Then everything stopped.
The word GODWRITER hovered before me in black letters against white light — a flaw in an otherwise perfect reality.
It pulsed once.
And something behind the panels moved.
Watching.
Then, in the reflection of the nearest pane, I saw a figure standing behind me.
Tall.
Still.
Faceless.
Its body was woven from worn strands of darkness, draped like torn silk across an incomplete form. Its face resembled a translucent porcelain mannequin — smooth, empty, and utterly featureless.
No eyes.
No mouth.
And yet I could feel it staring directly into me.
The panels began to crack.
Thin fractures spread through the white void like broken glass.
The word GODWRITER trembled violently before me, pulsing brighter and brighter as if trying to force itself into my soul.
I felt the class pressing against my mind.
Accept it.
Become it.
Ascend.
Then her voice echoed across the void.
Distant.
Cold.
Absolute.
"The hand that wrote fate now bleeds beneath it."
The words crawled through my thoughts like living things.
And suddenly—
I understood.
If I accepted this class, I would no longer be human.
I would stand above the world once again.
Separate.
Untouchable.
Alone.
I clenched my fists.
"No."
The word shattered the silence.
The glowing letters of GODWRITER distorted violently, their edges cracking apart like fractured glass.
[Input Rejection Detected.]
[Warning: Root Class Override Not Recommended.]
[Proceeding May Cause System Instability.]
"Then let it break."
I raised my head and forced the command into the System itself.
"Class: Dragon Knight."
The void screamed.
Ancient draconic sigils ignited around me in spirals of fire and gold. Heat exploded through my body, burning away the suffocating cold of divinity.
Flames burst from my back in the shape of colossal wings before collapsing into embers.
Golden runic marks carved themselves across my skin.
The System trembled.
But I wasn't finished.
"Subclass: Pyromancer."
A roar thundered from somewhere deep inside me.
My veins glowed crimson-gold. My heartbeat slammed against my ribs like molten steel striking an anvil.
The panels lost stability.
Infinite order descended into chaos.
Then the System resisted.
Hard.
[Unauthorized Evolution Detected.]
[Manual Override in Progress…]
Pain ripped through my body, but I endured it.
I remembered fire.
Rage.
Freedom.
Humanity.
And I forced the final command into existence.
"Evolution Path — Sun God Lineage."
The world exploded.
Light consumed the void.
The infinite white room burned away as if reality itself had been set ablaze.
For the first time since arriving in this world, the warmth surrounding me felt real.
Not artificial.
Not programmed.
Alive.
Then, through the collapsing cracks of the System, I saw her again.
Watching silently.
The faceless porcelain figure tilted her head slightly, almost approvingly.
[Class Registered.]
[Dragon Knight — Pyromancer (Sun God Evolution Tree)]
[Synchronization: 100%]
The System voice trembled now.
Afraid.
[System Integrity Compromised.]
[Reboot Imminent.]
Darkness began swallowing the void.
And just before everything disappeared, her voice returned one final time.
Soft.
Almost gentle.
"You chose to walk among them, Astaroso. Now let us see how far you can go."
Then the world went black.