The voice lingered in Arthur's mind.
"You were not meant to survive this."
His body convulsed as the System's grip tightened, an unseen force pressing down on his soul. It was like being crushed under an ocean—too deep, too vast, drowning in something beyond comprehension.
His status screen flickered, lines of text shifting erratically.
[Class: ERROR]
[Core: ERROR]
[System Alignment: ERROR]
It wasn't just his class—it was everything.
Arthur had heard of rare anomalies during Awakening—people gaining strange abilities or unique titles—but an Error? That was unheard of.
And yet, here he was.
He clenched his teeth, forcing himself upright. His breath came in ragged gasps as his mind struggled to process what was happening.
Then, a new prompt appeared.
[Forceful Integration Attempt Detected.]
[External Entity Interference Confirmed.]
His stomach dropped.
Something else was here.
The shadows in the ruined chamber twisted unnaturally, shapes flickering at the edge of his vision. He could feel it—something watching, waiting.
Then—movement.
A shape materialized from the darkness. Not human. Not system-born. A fragmented form, shifting between reality and something far worse. Its voice slithered into his thoughts like oil.
"You were not meant to be chosen… but now that you are, you will serve a different purpose."
A pulse of energy slammed into him.
The System fought back.
Warnings flashed across his vision, the weight in his mind shifting as two opposing forces clashed over his existence.
Then—pain.
It felt like his soul was being split apart, shredded between the System's rigid laws and the corruption of whatever was trying to claim him.
He screamed.
His body burned as if set ablaze from the inside, his veins pulsing with something that wasn't power—it was rejection.
The System didn't want him.
The entity did.
And he had to choose.