The world was ending.
Not in the poetic sense—not in a way that could be reversed with time or heroism. No, the sky had split open. The Tier 12 Gate had torn reality, and from it poured nightmares.
Ash drifted like snow over broken towers. Flames crackled where homes used to be. Twisted beasts roamed freely—metal-clad monsters, blood-soaked demons, insect-like horrors with too many limbs and not enough faces. They crushed, hunted, and devoured everything in their path.
Ray stood on what used to be the city wall, his once-polished armor blackened by soot and blood. His sword was cracked. His mana nearly drained. His body screamed at him to collapse.
But he didn't.
Not yet.
Below him, hundreds of human warriors had already fallen. Their bodies littered the shattered roads, barely distinguishable from the rubble. The city's defensive barrier had collapsed hours ago. The central mana tower had been devoured by a machine-beast with a maw of spinning gears. Their last hope—gone in seconds.
Ray's breathing was ragged. He couldn't even remember how many times he'd been wounded. His vision blurred, but he kept standing.
Because if he didn't… no one else would.
A tremor shook the ground. The temperature dropped. Ice formed on the edges of his blade.
A shadow fell across him.
Ray slowly turned to face the creature rising from the gate.
It was at least ten meters tall, an abomination of bone and metal. Its face was a mockery of humanity, stretched and fused with mechanical tendrils. Multiple crimson eyes blinked independently. Its arms ended in weapons—one a spear of burning plasma, the other a massive claw crackling with energy.
A Gate Lord.
Ray's lips curled into a dry, humorless smile. Of course. Why not end with a boss?
The Gate Lord raised its spear. Energy pulsed at the tip, humming with lethal power. Ray didn't have enough mana to dodge, let alone fight back.
But still, he raised his sword.
"For humanity," he whispered.
The world exploded.
Pain didn't even have time to register.
There was only light.
Then darkness.
Then… silence.
---
Ray expected oblivion. Peace. A final rest.
But something else greeted him.
Not fire. Not judgment. Not the afterlife.
A room.
Empty, endless, and white. Like the inside of a dream. Or a glitch in the system.
And then—a voice. Calm. Mechanical. Ancient.
> "Subject identified: Ray Ardent. Human. Mid-tier awakener. Class: Defender. Status: deceased."
Ray opened his eyes.
He wasn't breathing. Yet he could think. Move. Feel.
"Where am I…?" His voice was hollow, echoing.
> "Between Realms."
Another voice spoke—this one warmer, more human. A presence stepped forward from the light.
It wore no form. Just a shadow wrapped in starlight. Gentle, but terrifying in its vastness.
> "You were never meant to survive the Tier 12 breach. And yet, you resisted."
"Not well enough," Ray muttered. "I died."
> "Yes. But you resisted long enough to be noticed."
The figure tilted its head, though it had no head to tilt.
> "I am Seventeen. A fragment of a god long erased. A failed system… abandoned by its creators. And yet, I remain."
Ray narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here?"
> "To offer you a choice."
Seventeen extended a hand. It shimmered with cosmic dust.
> "You are broken. Spent. But not erased. I can restore you. Rebirth you. Not into your ruined world, but into another. A world still breathing. Still struggling. Still alive."
Ray's heart—or whatever echoed it here—skipped.
"You want me to be your… champion?"
> "I want you to live. To grow. To build. What you become is your decision."
He stared at the offered hand.
A second chance. A new life. Maybe even a better one.
"But why me?" he asked, voice low.
> "Because even when all hope was gone… you stood."
Silence stretched between them.
Ray reached out.
Their hands touched.
And the world collapsed into stars.
---
He fell—not through space, but through existence. Time shattered. Thoughts warped.
Memories blurred.
And then—
Warmth.
Softness.
A rhythmic thump-thump of a heart not his own.
Voices.
A woman screaming. A man yelling instructions. Crying. Pain.
And then—light.
Too bright.
Ray let out a startled wail.
Or tried to.
He couldn't form words. His limbs were weak. His body small.
The world around him was huge.
He was… a baby.
---
> [System Seed Embedded.]
[Core Connection Established.]
[Synchronization: 3%...]
Somewhere deep inside his soul, a mechanical chime echoed. A small voice whispered.
> "Hello, Ray. I'm Seventeen. I'll be with you from now on."