The world around Kael Arclight was quiet.
Too quiet.
He stood on a floating piece of land-bare, gray, and dull.
A single island, suspended in endless sky, with no wind, no sound, no life. Just pure silence and flickering code at his feet.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
This was the beginner's zone.
The starting ground for every Creator.
The first step in the world of [Program: Virtual]
He had been here once before-ten years ago.
Back when he knew nothing.
Back when he built his dream world alone, brick by digital brick.
He was powerful.
So powerful, in fact, that he became a target.
But this time?
This time he wasn't just strong.
He was experienced. He had ten years of knowledge in his mind.
Even so-
"Tch. I'm back at zero," he muttered.
The land beneath him shimmered.
Glowing blue code pulsed where he had planted the [Seed of the World]
A gift given to every new Creator.
A single seed to shape an entire world.
But Kael clenched his fists.
He had rushed.
In his excitement, in his determination to begin again, he planted the seed...
without setting a template.
No laws.
No systems.
No rules.
Just a raw, undefined world fragment.
Now the code was unstable.
The ground beneath him flickered as if unsure whether to exist or vanish.
He cursed under his breath.
"Damn it... I forgot how this part works."
In PV, the template you lay before planting the seed was everything.
It determined gravity, time, logic, even the fundamental laws of your world.
Without a template, the seed had nothing to grow into.
Worse, once planted, it couldn't be retrieved.
It was rooted into the void, land, space or in exact coordinate.
Kael looked down at the quivering land, frustration in his eyes.
The flickering code shimmered with uncertainty.
"No rules, huh..." he said.
"Then... I'll be the rule."
He knelt, placing his hand on the earth.
Digital light surged from his palm, sinking into the seed's unstable core.
[FORCING CORE ENGRAVEMENT...]
[INSUFFICIENT STRUCTURE DETECTED...]
[CREATOR ATTEMPTING MANUAL RULE INJECTION...]
Kael's lips curled into a grin.
His heart pounded.
He wasn't afraid.
He was determined.
"If I can't define the rules with logic... I'll define them with will."
The ground pulsed.
Then shook.
BOOM!
[SYSTEM ALERT: ERROR DETECTED. UNDEFINED CODE INJECTION.]
[SYSTEM CHECKING...]
[CROSS-REFERENCING HOST ID...]
[LOGS FOUND: ACHIEVEMENTS, RANKS, COMBAT DATA...]
[ACCESSING AKASHIC RECORDS...]
Kael's mind burned with light.
His memories, actions, creations, they flashed like lightning through the system.
[RECORDS FOUND: TITLES - 'THE LAST HAVEN', 'ONE-MAN KINGDOM', 'CREATOR OF ORDER']
[STATUS: HOST RECOGNIZED AS EXCEPTIONAL ENTITY]
The code beneath him shifted wildly.
[SEED OF WORLD: CORE OVERRIDE DETECTED.]
[SEARCHING FOR SUITABLE WORLD RULE SETS...]
[TWO RULES SELECTED: 'CHAOS' and 'DOMINATOR']
Kael's eyes widened.
"Wait... those rules are too—"
[WARNING: RULE COMBINATION TOO POWERFUL. SYSTEM IMBALANCE RISK 99%]
[DOWNGRADING RULES TO COMPATIBLE LEVELS]
[FINAL RULE ENGRAVED: 'CHAOS-LINK' + 'DOMAIN WILL']
[ALL ENERGY OF SEED OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN USED]
BOOM!
A shockwave of golden light erupted from the seed.
Kael stood back as his land stabilized.
The once gray and broken terrain slowly solidified.
It was still small.
Still just a floating patch in the vast void.
But now...
It pulsed with purpose.
A line of text appeared in front of him.
[WORLD NAME: Undefined]
[RULE TYPE: CHAOS-LINK - Allows random anomaly events tied to host will]
[SECONDARY RULE: DOMAIN WILL - The creator's presence directly influences laws inside the world]
[INITIAL ENERGY: 0%]
[EXPANSION POSSIBLE THROUGH CREATOR ACTIONS]
Kael stared.
Then he laughed.
"So this is how it's going to be, huh..."
"I really did mess up. But maybe... this is better."
No rules?
Then he was the rule.
He looked up at the void above.
Beyond this floating piece of land were countless other players, all starting their own paths.
Some would build paradise.
Others would create empires.
But Kael?
He was building a throne.
And the void was his kingdom.
---
He sat down cross-legged, the new rule logs still floating in front of his face. The air shimmered with code, bright blue lines twitching like veins beneath the soil.
[Rule 1: CHAOS-LINK - Passive Rule Initiated]
[Description: Anomalies that match the creator's subconscious desires may appear randomly. Often unpredictable. Strength tied to emotional resonance]
Kael frowned.
"Chaos-Link... makes sense. It's chaotic, but linked to my thoughts. Still, what the hell is 'linking something'?"
He tapped the description.
A side box opened.
[Chaos-Link in detail: This rule channels the Creator's emotions, intentions, and focus to influence world development. The more unstable or powerful the emotion, the stronger the anomaly]
He blinked.
"So basically... if I get pissed off, my world might spawn a volcano. If I feel afraid, monsters might rise. It reacts to my mental state."
He chuckled darkly.
"Great. A moody god."
Then he looked at the second rule.
[Rule 2: DOMAIN WILL - Active Rule Initiated]
[Description: When the Creator is present in their domain, they exert pressure that shapes minor logic, emotions, and behavior of living or created beings within]
Kael raised a brow.
"Domain Will? Might as well call this Domain Charm..."
He scrolled down.
[Special Passive Effect: 'Presence Pressure' - Those within the domain feel a faint compulsion to obey or align with the Creator's mental state. The stronger the Creator, the stronger the effect]
"Wait... so I can just stand somewhere, and people will feel like obeying me? That's ridiculous."
He paused.
Then grinned.
"No... that's perfect."
His hand slowly clenched into a fist.
"Back then, I had to fight, bleed, and scream just to get others to listen. But now... the world itself will whisper for me."
The rules were clear.
He wasn't just a Creator anymore.
He was the rule.
He was the law.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: CUSTOM NAME FOR DOMAIN WILL ACCEPTED - 'DOMAIN CHARM' ENABLED]
Then-
Kael laughed harder than he had in the past.