VOLUME I: Awakening of the Architect (Ch. 1–20
The world was ending. Not with fire or ice, but with silence.
Cities once filled with noise were now graveyards of ash. Oceans boiled under red skies, and nature itself seemed to weep. Aether stood on the shattered remains of the Tower of Progress, the last bastion of knowledge on Earth Prime, surrounded by swirling embers and the hollow whispers of extinct winds.
He was calm.
"System," he said, his voice cutting through the gloom. "Run last protocol. Activate Project: Multiverse Bridge."
[System: Confirmed. Initiating Protocol 0. Transfer begins in 10...9...]
Aether wasn't always a genius. But after awakening the "Architect's System," he had transcended human limitations. With every unlocked function, his intelligence grew—until he could see the world like a code. Like a machine. Fixable. Manipulatable.
Yet not even he could stop this apocalypse. A cosmic virus had eaten through dimensions, devouring timelines. Earth Prime was just another casualty. He had delayed the end for as long as possible, fighting back the entropy with tech, magic, and pure willpower.
But the world was too far gone. It had ceased to be a planet—it was a rotting echo of what once was.
[3...2...1. Transfer Initiated.]
Reality tore like paper.
Aether's body disintegrated into data and light. There was no pain—only transition. As he drifted between realms, fragments of other realities flashed before his mind's eye.
A boy with a lightning scar facing down a dark lord.
A blonde ninja howling beneath the light of a blood moon.
A girl in armor screaming as she charged into battle with no regard for safety.
A man in a cape hovering above a ruined city, eyes glowing red.
The multiverse.
It was real. And now, it was his to explore.
The transition ended with a thud.
Stone. Cold. A damp chamber lit by flickering torches.
Aether groaned, sat up, and blinked away the disorientation. His body ached in places he didn't know could ache. He instinctively summoned a diagnostic overlay.
[System: Host successfully re-integrated. Environment scan complete. Magic signature detected: High-density.]
"...Where the hell am I?"
[System: Welcome to Universe 1 – Designation: Magic World – Timeline: Dark Hogwarts Variant. Estimated Date: Year 2004. Status: Post-Fall. Voldemort Reigns.]
Aether's eyes narrowed. He stood slowly, scanning the chamber. Moss-lined stone, rusted shackles, and ancient spell runes—he was in a dungeon.
He took a slow breath. Oxygen levels: adequate. Mana saturation: dense. Technology level: medieval.
"Magic world it is."
Footsteps echoed in the distance. He pressed himself to the wall and activated his Neural Map. The system formed a 3D representation of the area around him using mana pulse echoes.
Three figures. Approaching fast. Wands drawn.
He had no weapon, no allies, and no clue where he truly was—yet he smiled.
"Let's see how this world handles a little intelligence."
The door burst open.
"Stupefy!"
Aether dove to the side, his mind slowing time as calculations ran across his vision. Spell velocity. Angle of fire. Wand length. Foot stance. Weak point.
He rolled and grabbed a shattered chair leg. With precise force, he threw it—hitting the attacker's wrist, deflecting the second curse.
The third wizard hesitated. Aether capitalized, rushing forward and disarming him with a move he had once learned from a Shaolin master on Earth Prime.
The three were down.
He picked up a wand and twirled it.
[System: Magic Item detected. Scanning core... Phœnix feather. Yew. 13 inches. Compatible. Synchronization: 83%]
He raised the wand and felt the surge of power flow into his hand like wildfire.
He grinned. "Now we're talking."
To Be Continued...
Chapter 2: The System Awakens
(Coming Next)