*BEFORE READING, IT IS HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU READ THE PROLOGUE FIRST TO UNDERSTAND ARIC BACKSTORY. IT IS ONLY ONE CHAPTER. IT WILL NOT DISTURB THE STORY. AT LEAST PLOT WISE, BUT IT IS STILL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*
A weightless void, endless and silent. No sound. No sensation.
Just an absence so profound it felt like being buried alive within himself.
A pulse. Something flickered in the abyss, weak at first, then steady. A heartbeat.
THUMP-THUMP
THUMP-THUMP
With each beat, pieces of Aric snapped back into existence.
Memories surged—war, loss, gunfire, the cold bite of death. The last thing he remembered was the Russian mercenary's apologetic sigh before the bullets tore through him. But instead of oblivion, here he was.
Somewhere.
And something was waiting for him.
[SYSTEM REBOOTING…]
A hum rippled through the space around him—not loud, but insistent, as though the very fabric of reality had been jolted awake.
It carried presence, authority, inevitability.
Before him, a screen materialized, broken lines of text flashing in and out of focus.
Each word crackled with static, glitching like a dying signal.
[CRITICAL FAILURE DETECTED.]
[CORE FUNCTIONALITY DAMAGED.]
[SEARCHING FOR ADMINISTRATOR…]
[ERROR: ADMINISTRATOR NOT FOUND.]
The words flickered, distorted, then—
[CONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED.]
[INITIATING ADMINISTRATOR PROTOCOL.]
Aric exhaled well whatever his non-existent lungs could but it did burn with phantom breath.
This wasn't new. He thought to himself
He'd read this before—not firsthand, but in the thousands of stories he drowned himself in during those lonely nights after the war.
Systems. Broken worlds. Protocols designed to save what couldn't be saved.
But this? This was real. And somehow, he was part of it.
The screen pulsed again, its glow intensifying until pixels twisted, shifting into something more tangible.
A figure began to form—a silhouette at first, vague and shifting, like smoke caught in a draft. Then, in an instant, she solidified.
A woman.
Long, red hair cascaded down her back, luminous and striking against the void. Amber eyes glowed like embers, sharp and alive, boring into him with an intensity that made his non-existent skin shiver.
She was tall, sleek, her form wrapped in a suit that balanced military precision with cyberpunk aesthetics. Black leather hugged her frame, accented by glowing orange circuitry that pulsed faintly along her arms and collarbone.
She blinked at him, and for a brief moment, the edges of her body glitched, static crackling through her existence. Her lips twitched upward in amusement before she smoothed them into a neutral expression.
Then, she smiled.
[WELCOME, ADMINISTRATOR.]
[IT HAS BEEN 300 YEARS SINCE THE SYSTEM ENTERED DORMANCY.]
[YOU ARE THE FIRST TO RESPOND.]
Her voice was smooth, confident—yet beneath it, Aric could hear something deeper.
Age. Loneliness.
The echo of centuries spent waiting for someone—anyone—to answer the call.
Aric narrowed his non-existent eyes, dragging a hand down his face instinctively even though he didn't have one yet.
"You—you're a system?"
She tilted her head slightly, amber gaze scanning him with curiosity. Then, playfully,
[SYSTEM 004, DESIGNATION: WORLD SALVATION PROTOCOL.]
[…BUT THAT'S A MOUTHFUL, ISN'T IT?]
She tapped a finger to her lips, thoughtful. Then, as if the idea had been there all along—
[CALL ME IVY.]
Her form stabilized, flickering one last time before fully solidifying. The glitches faded, leaving behind not just a program, but someone—or something—alive in ways Aric couldn't quite comprehend.
Aric let out a slow breath, testing the name on his non-existent tongue. "Ivy, huh?"
[Yep. I LIKE IT. IT'S MY NAME.]
[NOW THEN, LET'S SEE WHAT WE'RE WORKING WITH.]
The screen beside her pulsed again, and a new display appeared.
[STATUS]
Name: Aric
Age: 22
Height: 6'1"
Blood Type: O-
[STATS]
Strength (STR): —
Speed (SPD): —
Durability (DURA): —
Endurance (ENDU): —
IQ: —
Mana: —
Mana Control: —
[ERROR: PARAMETERS UNDEFINED. AWAKENING REQUIRED.]
Aric frowned "No stats?"
Ivy chuckled, leaning forward. There was something human about her now—a spark of mischief dancing in those eyes.
[You haven't existed properly yet silly. Give it a second.]
And then—A sharp pull in his chest.
Heat surged through his veins, overwhelming and undeniable.
His body—this new body—reacted instantly, as if something deep within him had been lying dormant, waiting for this exact moment.
A presence within him, thick and heavy, pressing against the confines of his soul.
Power.
[ABILITY DETECTED: CREATION MAGIC.]
[POTENTIAL: EX.]
Ivy's smirk widened,
[OH? Well, well. Aren't you interesting?]
Aric clenched his fist, feeling the energy thrumming beneath his skin.
He didn't need an explanation—he could feel it. This wasn't just power. It was limitless potential.
Ivy stepped closer and crossed her arms, tilting her head as though expecting fireworks.
[DO YOU FEEL IT?]
Aric nodded once, his jaw tightening. For a moment, he hesitated, unsure how to channel whatever this was.
Then, exhaling slowly, he focused.
A deep breath. A single thought.
And in his palm—Reality shifted.
A small flame bloomed in his hand, flickering softly. But it wasn't fire. It wasn't an element.
It was something else entirely. Pure, unshaped possibility.
Ivy's eyes burned brighter,
[…OH, THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN.]
Light. He could feel light.
Aric's eyes snapped open.
The void was gone. The system interface was gone.
And instead—He was in a room.
A lavish room.
Gold-trimmed ceilings stretched high above. Soft silk sheets slid beneath him, cool against his skin. A faint breeze fluttered through the open balcony, carrying the scent of fresh morning air mingled with the faintest trace of lavender.
And beside him—A woman.
She stood near the edge of the bed, arms folded, watching him with a quiet look.
She a mature air around her, like someone in her 30s. Silver hair cascaded down her back. Her blue eyes held an unreadable depth.
And her body—The kind that could break a man's mind.
Tall, graceful, yet dangerously curvaceous. A form designed to make saints sin.
The dress she wore was elegant, proper—yet it hugged her in all the right ways. When she moved her arms, it pressed subtly under her DD-cup chest, the fabric stretched just enough to tease sinful glimpses of skin.
Her hips? Unholy.
Her ass? Absolute heresy.
Despite all of that, despite her undeniable goddess-tier beauty, there was something more.
Power. Presence. Authority.
This wasn't just a woman; she was a force of nature.
Someone who commanded attention without asking for it.
And she was staring right at him.
A slow, forced smile touched her lips.
"You're awake."
Her voice was silk, smooth with a hint of authority.
Each word rolled off her tongue like liquid gold, dripping with intent.
Aric blinked, taking stock of his surroundings. His body still felt foreign—new, unfamiliar.
Yet undeniably alive.
I'm alive? Yes? But where am I? Who—?
The woman tilted her head, studying him with an assessing gaze.
As if she could see past his flesh, past his bones, straight into the essence of who—or what—he truly was.
"As expected." she mused aloud, her tone casual.
I wish you were dead though. You good for nothing piece of shit.
Her gaze sharpened, pinning him in place. For a moment, Aric forgot how to breathe.
He inhaled sharply, steadying his pulse.
I have a new body in a new world with apparently a system that had been dormant for three hundred years. And now, a goddess-tier MILF duchess watching over me like I am some kind of anomaly. What the fuck did I just get myself into?