Darkness.
Endless, suffocating darkness.
Aiden's eyes fluttered open to nothing. Not a star. Not a flicker of light. Just blackness so absolute it felt like the universe had swallowed him whole. His feet pressed against… something. It wasn't stone, or wood, or earth, but it was solid enough to keep him from falling.
He swallowed hard. His throat was dry.
"Where… am I? 😨"
His voice echoed strangely, bouncing back without walls to catch it. The sound went on, circling until it faded into nothing.
Aiden turned in a slow circle. No horizon. No sky. Not even his hands when he lifted them in front of his face. The more he looked, the more he felt like the void was looking back.
Then he heard it—voices.
First one. Then another. Then hundreds. Then thousands.
"What the hell is this?!""Mom? Mom!! Where are you?!" 😭"It's a dream. It has to be a dream—right?!""Somebody turn on the light!!"
Panic. Confusion. Desperation. The voices pressed closer, overlapping, coming from every direction at once. The air grew heavy with fear.
Aiden's chest tightened. He wanted to shout with them, to scream until his throat tore, but the instinct to stay quiet—to listen—kept him still.
The voices rose and rose until they became a single wall of sound.
And then—
BOOM.
Not sound, but a force. Like invisible hands pressing against his skull, squeezing. The storm of panic vanished into silence so complete it made Aiden's ears ring. His breath froze in his lungs. His pulse hammered in his throat.
A voice spoke.
Deep. Resonant. Heavy as mountains and cold as winter. It wasn't loud—it didn't need to be. Every syllable curled inside Aiden's bones.
"Children of the Blue World… welcome."
The void seemed to lean in, pressing down from all sides.
"All between the ages of sixteen and forty have been summoned here. Your world has ended its chapter. But your fate begins anew."
The silence broke in gasps. Some wept. Some cursed. Some prayed. Aiden could only stand, his legs trembling.
"From this moment, you are Lords of Territory. Each of you will receive land, resources, and one hundred thousand God Coins 💰 with which to shape your destiny."
The words slammed into him, impossible and surreal. Lord? Resources? God Coins? His mind raced, but no answers came.
"You may not act with your own hands," the voice continued. "You may only command. Your vision will guide. Your words will order. Your hands shall not touch. Through your Hero Unit, your champion, you will rule."
Aiden blinked, his fingers twitching unconsciously. Only command…?
The voice was merciless, unstoppable.
"Know this: your territories will remain under protection for ten years ⏳. During this time, no outside force may strike you. Use it well. For when ten years have passed, the Portals of Invasion will open. Through them will come armies of chaos, drawn to destroy. To survive, you must defend your lands, or seek the heart of each portal and destroy the core within. Succeed… or be erased."
The final word slammed down like a hammer, making Aiden's knees buckle. His stomach lurched as whispers broke the silence again.
"Invasions?!""Monsters?!""Ten years—what do you mean erased?!" 😱
Aiden's mouth went dry. The word erased echoed in his head.
And then the void shattered.
Light split the blackness like glass cracking apart, white brilliance pouring through the seams. Aiden threw an arm across his face 😣. His body jolted downward as if gravity had suddenly remembered him.
He fell—then landed hard on his feet. Grass crunched beneath his boots.
Wind rushed across his cheeks. He squinted into the light. The void was gone.
He was standing on a vast green plain beneath a pale sky. The air smelled of earth and morning dew. In every direction, men and women stood blinking, gaping at the sudden change. Hundreds—no, a thousand—peasants in rough tunics, holding nothing but their fear. Behind them: stacks of crates, neatly piled wood and stone, barrels bound in iron.
A chime rang in Aiden's head.
A translucent blue panel flickered into existence before his eyes.
────────────── [TERRITORY STATUS] Lord: Aiden (Blue World) Population: 1,000 Peasants (Lv.0–2) Resources: • Food Crates (10,000 people / 10 years) • Wood: 2,500 units • Stone: 2,500 units Structures: None Hero Unit: Unassigned God Coins: 100,000 ──────────────
Aiden's mouth fell open. He couldn't stop staring.
"This… is mine? 😳"
Another pane slid open, glowing faintly.
[System Shop Unlocked] Available Purchases: • Buildings • Population • Military • Resources • Animals & Beasts • Dungeons
Icons expanded: a peaked-roof house for Buildings, crossed swords for Military, a glowing shard for Dungeons. Lines of text scrolled past—barracks, blacksmiths, mines, chickens, cows, wolves, soldiers, priests. The sheer possibility made his head spin.
He staggered back, heart racing.
"So it's true… We're supposed to build kingdoms."
The murmurs of peasants reached his ears. A woman clutched a child close, her face pale.
"Lord…?" she said hesitantly. Her voice cracked. "Are we safe?" 😢
Hundreds of eyes turned to him. Aiden froze. Their gazes weren't demanding or hostile—they were desperate. Waiting.
A thousand lives. All looking at him for answers.
His pulse thundered. Yesterday—was it even yesterday?—he'd been just Aiden, a twenty-year-old student scraping by on part-time jobs. Now?
Now he was a Lord.
He clenched his fists, forcing air into his lungs.
"Yes," he said finally. His voice shook, but he forced steel into it. "We're safe. We have food. We have wood. We have stone. And we have time. Ten years."
He let the words hang, made himself meet their eyes.
"We'll use it well. We'll build homes, farms, defenses. And when the time comes, we'll be ready." 💪
The peasants exchanged looks. Some straightened. Some nodded. The child peeked out from his mother's shawl. The spark of hope was faint—but it was there.
A chime rang again.
[Name Your Territory] Warning: This choice cannot be changed without cost.
Aiden froze. He hadn't thought about this. A name? For an entire land?
He looked around: the green plain, the wind bending the grass, the frightened faces slowly firming with resolve. A land of nothing. But from nothing, we'll rise.
He drew in a steadying breath.
"This land," he said clearly, "shall be called… Novaterra." 🌍
The [System] pulsed.
[Territory Registered: Novaterra] +10 Loyalty (The people take pride in their home)
A cheer began. Tentative at first, then swelling, rolling across the plain like a wave.
"Novaterra! Novaterra! Novaterra!" 🎉
Aiden's chest tightened. This time, not from fear. From pride.
He wasn't just some terrified boy in a void anymore. He was a Lord.
And Novaterra was his beginning.