Chapter 1:The world didn't end with a whimper; it ended with a Status Window.
When the Portals opened, the military's finest hardware—Abrams tanks, F-22s, and Tomahawk missiles—became expensive paperweights. The Stone-rank Behemoths simply walked through the fire, their obsidian hides flickering with a mocking, magical resonance.
Then came the "Ping."
Billions of people clutched their heads as the Five Gods—Aluc, Bal, Clin, Den, and Elen—forced the System into the human genome.
"I see it!" a gamer screamed in a crowded evacuation center, his eyes glazed over as he stared at his mental UI. "I'm a Bronze-rank [Berserker]! My Strength is 25!"
He grabbed a nearby fire axe. It didn't just glow; it hummed with a heavy, metallic vibration. He charged a Bone-rank Scavenger monster that had cornered a group of civilians. With one swing, the axe—which would have shattered against the monster minutes ago—cleaved the beast in half.
But for every "Gamer Hero," there were ten thousand people staring at nothing. The "No-Systems" realized they were now obsolete. The rich began frantically hiring anyone who could prove they had a "Class," creating a black market for protection.
The Hidden Anomaly
In the back of the shelter, away from the bragging "Bronze" and "Silver" ranks, a silent notification flickered in the mind of someone the world would soon fear.
Unlike the bright gold of Aluc or the blue sparks of Elen, this screen was a hollow, starving violet. It didn't list a god's blessing. It listed a vacancy.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Class: [NOT FOUND]
Rank: VOID
Hidden Modifier: [DOMINATOR POTENTIAL]
Chance of Manifestation: 0.1%
To everyone else, a "Void" rank looked like a broken sensor or a "Zero" output. Even the Five Gods didn't expect a human to be born with a soul that could eat their gifts.