Kai stood at the mouth of the cave, the memory of the "System Revelation" still burning in his chest. His fingers tingled—not from pain—but from power awakening. A foreign presence now lingered within him like a coiled serpent, waiting.
"System Activation Complete... Awaiting Host's Command."
The words echoed again, not aloud, but in his very soul.
He fell to his knees, not in worship or fear, but in confusion.
Was this salvation… or a curse?
"Kai!" a voice called.
It was Lia, the girl from the village with ash-blonde hair and emerald eyes. She had followed him from afar, concerned since the fire. He didn't hear her approach — or perhaps the System muffled the outside world?
She knelt beside him.
"Are you okay? I heard—something. It felt… like thunder inside my skull."
Kai looked at her, but her presence didn't trigger the System.
"Only I can hear it," he whispered. "And I think… I'm changing."
Far from the forest, in a spire that pierced the gray heavens, Duke Valeron surveyed a burning map of his territories.
"The boy survived," said a hooded figure beside him.
"He was supposed to die," the Duke muttered.
His eyes were like twin shards of obsidian, reflecting no light.
"Not only did he live… but the relic responded," the figure added, voice raspy.
The Duke gripped the hilt of his ceremonial blade. "Activate the Seekers. I want him watched. If the System chose a vessel… I'll tear it from his corpse before it blossoms."
Across the room, another presence stirred — Princess Seraphine, Valeron's daughter and secret heir to the Order of Astral Flame. Her eyes narrowed. She'd seen Kai once… a street boy with rage in his gaze.
"Let me find him," she said coldly. "If he's truly chosen, I want to be the one to test his worth."
Back in the forest, Kai's body convulsed. The System wasn't done.
[System Trial Initiating...]
[Trial 1: Survive the Curse Beast for 6 minutes.]
From the darkness beyond the trees, a howl shattered the silence. Lia gasped as the wind grew sharp. Shadows danced unnaturally.
"Get behind me!" Kai shouted.
The ground exploded in front of them as a monstrous wolf emerged — not of flesh, but of ethereal curse energy. Its bones glowed red, and it reeked of death and centuries-old hatred.
Kai's hand surged with unfamiliar blue light.
[Skill Unlocked: Soul Guard Lv.1]
His body moved before he could think. He blocked the beast's claw with his forearm, gritting through the pain as ancient energy met raw instinct.
But he wasn't alone — Lia, brave and foolish, lit one of her alchemic bombs and tossed it directly under the creature.
BOOM.
The explosion did little, but it gave Kai a second wind. He lunged, striking the beast's throat with glowing fingers. Something shattered — not physically, but spiritually.
[Trial Complete.]
[Stat: RESILIENCE +3 | TITLE GAINED: FIRST SURVIVOR]
Unbeknownst to either of them, a third party watched from the cliffs above.
Arden, a blind hermit of the Eastern Peaks, chuckled.
"The boy awakens. And the gods… stir in their sleep."
Meanwhile, inside a hollow mountain lair bathed in red crystal light, a masked woman dipped her pen into blood and scribbled into a scroll:
"The God System has chosen its host. Phase One has begun."
She folded the scroll and sealed it with a sigil shaped like a shattered halo.