Light from the interface washed over his face, painting his features in pale glow. Fabio's face became brighter for a second and came to an end at the very next second.
[ BRANCHWALKER INTERFACE ]
[ SYNCHRONIZING WITH WORLDLINE….]
[ CONGRATULATIONS, BRANCHWALKER. YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE BURDEN. ]
Fabio's head throbbed. It felt like a hot needle was being threaded through his temples.
'I didn't accept anything,' he muttered, clutching his skull. 'You gave me a choice between Yes and Yes. That's not a request, that's a mugging. And congratulated me for accepting an order?'
The system ignored his complaint.
[ PRIMARY MISSION UPDATED ]
[ PRIMARY MISSION : SAVE THE HUMANITY FROM FINAL NOON ]
[ CURRENT STATUS : THE ARCHITECT OF VIABILITY ]
Fabio was still trying to understand why such a calamity had fallen on humanity. Final Noon–just the name alone made it clear, this was meant to be the last noon mankind would ever see. Yet what unsettled him most was not the threat itself, but the quiet, clinical detail that it had a progress meter. This was not a random disaster. It was scheduled. It was advancing.
Somewhere, invisible gears were turning toward that fixed point.
He had no idea what exactly would happen when Final Noon arrived. What kind of event could erase an entire species in a single stroke? but every instinct screamed that it would not be something anyone could fight with swords or politics. Still, he wasn't completely blind. Unlike everyone else staring helplessly at the empty sky, he had the private glass pane hovering before his eyes, humming with hidden information.
If there were answers anywhere, they were inside that interface.
Fabio drew in a slow breath, forcing his thoughts into order. Panic would not change the countdown. If Final Noon was coming no matter what, then the only thing left was simple, drag every secret, rule, and loophole out of that panel before time ran out.
Just so he can live a peaceful life.
Fabio returned home, his dream of establishing a Circle shattered in an instant by the Final Noon announcement. The idea of recruiting subordinates and coasting through life under his own banner felt embarrassingly small now. How was he supposed to chase a personal agenda when the sky itself had declared an expiration date for humanity?
The world had slammed on the brakes. The sudden, unexplained proclamation of Final Noon froze everything that used to matter. Recruitment drives, political feuds, Circle rivalries. Every major and powerful Circle shifted its attention to that single phrase, treating it as an unknown but inevitable catastrophe and scrambling to devise countermeasures before it arrived.
Fabio sprawled on his bed, staring at the ceiling as the same thought circled in his mind. 'Even if the world needs me… even if humanity needs me… do I really have to carry this burden?' The word itself tasted heavy, like something that would crush his ribs if he let it settle.
'Burden…' he murmured, eyes narrowing. 'What kind? Why me?
He suddenly pushed himself upright, as if the question had jabbed him in the spine. Hesitation gnawed at him. To keep going, he would have to actually define what this 'burden' was and right now, with Final Noon looming and every answer buried behind cryptic panels and sealed information, even starting to unravel that felt almost impossible.
So he just slept.
Sleeping was the one thing Fabio was genuinely proud of. In his dreams, he could do anything, build a Circle, ignore Final Noon, and live out his days as a peaceful old man.
But this time, Fabio felt something he was unsure of. He was unconscious, but felt his unconsciousness.
'Just what is happening to me? As if all day today isn't enough. What is happening to me when I'm trying to sleep?'
Fabio tried to resist the unknown presence and wake up but couldn't.
At the end, he smirked as he opened his eyes.
The smirk lingered like a reflex, even as the darkness thickened around him. It wasn't sleep anymore. It was a void with edges, sharp and insistent. No ceiling fan hum, no creaky bedframe.
Then, light cracked through. Not the pale interface glow, but something warmer, fractured like stained glass. Fabio's smirk twisted into a grimace as shapes resolved. A vast space, seemingly endless. He stood–or floated? In the center. The void stretched before him, an illusion of an end just a fingertip away, a shimmering horizon that beckoned with false promise, yet recoiled into infinity the moment he reached for it.
Words shaped themselves from thin air again, their pale glow mocking his fading astonishment; he was almost bored of the surprise, just another ghost in the machine.
[Welcome, Architect of Viability.]
'Architect of viability?' Fabio hissed. Checking if he was actually alone and spoke after finally convincing himself.
'Anyway, what is this place and why am I here? Is this a dream?'
Only silence followed.
'By architect, are you referring to me?' He questioned again. This time, the space pulsed.
[Yes]
With a simple answer, Fabio already understood the assignment. No matter how much he may try for the answers, there will be no mercy from the void's cold logic, until he takes them by force.
[Congratulations on being selected as a Branchwalker.]
–Aspect unlocked: Warden of Doomed tomorrows.
(Aspect information: The person is able to travel between reality and doomed tomorrows at will.)
Fabio widened his mouth, not able to understand what he was reading.
The words disappeared into space without any trace and new words came into existence.
[Commencing Doomed tomorrow 1]
Remaining progress to Final noon: 0%
Fabio's world spinned again. The void turned black and he woke up again in his room. But this time, the sound of people crying and screaming in despair replaced the annoying hum of his fan.
Fabio jumped out of bed and yanked open the window. Outside was hell—people running everywhere in panic, dead bodies scattered on the ground like trash, rivers of blood turning the streets red, and a thick black fog smearing the sky. Screams filled the air.
'As expected, here's this sound again.' Fabio reacted to the notification sound that only he could hear.
[ BRANCHWALKER INTERFACE ]
Doomed tomorrow: 1
Clear condition: Stop the Phoenix of dreams from destroying the empire.
'How do I do it?'
There was no response from the system. Fabio couldn't help but wonder about the weird things going around him. 'Is this even real? Or am I hallucinating?'
Fabio noticed that people outside were running horrified. There wasn't an enemy in sight, but there was destruction everywhere, everything was burning and a hint from the system, stop the phoenix of dreams?
He realised that he has to face the sacred mythical bird that is said to live in history and save the city. Such a nuisance, but he is curious, and wants answers.
Fabio snatched his shortsword and bolted outside. If this nightmare was real and not some twisted dream, his lazy sloth life was dead on arrival.
He watched in frozen terror as flames consumed children alive right in front of their slaughtered parents. Wealth, age, innocence—none mattered, fire spared no one. Sprinting through hellish streets thick with screams and smoke, Fabio's kind heart shattered. He couldn't save everyone, and just wished for it to be a dream.
He barreled toward the library, lungs burning from smoke and sprinting. The building was half-consumed by fire, shelves crackling like bones. Heart hammering, Fabio shoved through the haze, straight for the mythical beings section—his one desperate shot at halting the mythical bird. He had no patience for vague clues or system teases. Fabio needed the raw truth. Every step, every weakness, the precise way to rip that Phoenix of Dreams apart before it razed everything. No mercy, no riddles, just the kill blueprint, now.
Smoke choked the air as he ripped a charred tome from the mythical beings section, Feathers of endless night: The phoenix of dreams. The book looked more like a novel than a dry information one. Fabio flipped the pages faster, flames hissing at his boots—expecting kill-spells, finding poetry instead. He hunched over the singed pages longer than flames allowed, eyes burning from smoke and frustration but all he could find is the brief description of the bird and information stating that the phoenix of dreams is dead.