It was already 5 p.m. when Anthony finished the snacks his mother had left for him. Rising from his chair, he carried the tray to the kitchen, washed it clean, and returned to his room. By then, Amelia had stepped out to the market with the lady from the flat opposite theirs.
Settling into his study chair, Anthony opened his math book and began working on the questions assigned by his teacher. Time passed quietly. After forty-five minutes, he finished his math homework and moved on to science—first physics, then chemistry.
But soon, fatigue pressed in. His mind felt drained, his eyelids heavy. He glanced at the clock—6:50 p.m. I'll just nap for half an hour… wake up by 7:30, he thought. With that, he climbed onto his bed, stretched out, and slipped into the depths of sleep.
Meanwhile, far out in space, an orb of radiant light hurtled forward at tens of thousands of times the speed of light. Its brilliance spanned wider than the Earth itself, but suddenly it began to shrink, compressing into a tiny sphere no larger than a fingertip.
As though summoned by fate, a portal appeared ahead of it—large enough for the sphere to enter. Without hesitation, it shot through at the same impossible speed.
Had anyone of sufficient power been present, they would have been shocked beyond belief. That portal was no ordinary gateway. More so, the fact that the sphere itself had generated it—and the aura it left behind—was staggering. Countless beings would have slaughtered each other to possess it, knowing instinctively the immeasurable benefits it held.
But by fortune—or perhaps fate—no one witnessed it. No one saw what happened next.
Back in Anthony's now darkened room, where only a sliver of streetlight seeped through the curtains, a small portal opened silently above his head. Out of it slipped the shrunken sphere of light.
It drifted down, then sank directly into Anthony's body without the slightest resistance. It went straight to his brain, beginning to fuse with it. At the same time, it released countless strands of pure white energy that flowed through his veins along with his blood.
As the energy circulated, it fractured into microscopic particles, merging with his blood cells and strengthening them without altering their fundamental nature. His blood glowed faintly before surging through his heart. For a brief moment, his heart itself turned translucent—then returned to normal, stronger than before.
His bones and marrow too were reforged, reinforced to an unknown degree. Every part of his body was upgraded, elevated to an unimaginable level.
But the greatest change occurred in his brain. While its structure remained the same, its very foundation was being rewritten. How—and to what extent—remained a mystery.
While the changes continued within Anthony's body, the true extent of his transformation remained unknown. What was clear, however, was the terrifying phenomenon unfolding outside his body.
Had a third person been present in the room, they would not merely have been shocked—they would likely have been consumed by the force radiating around Anthony. A shimmering white void had formed around him, swallowing the very space itself. The pull it generated was absolute; anything alive caught within it would have been devoured, erased without a trace.
And yet, the objects in his room remained untouched. That was only because a protective white barrier encased the void, shielding the surroundings from destruction. It was evident that the changes wrought upon Anthony by the mysterious white sphere were of such magnitude that they distorted the very laws of space itself.
The transformation was not simply physical—it was cosmic. The upgrades to his body were so profound they rippled through the fabric of the universe, bending it to accommodate what was being forged.
Despite the chaos, Anthony lay asleep, undisturbed. The assimilation kept him in a deep slumber, ensuring he would not awaken until the process was complete.
As the fusion of the sphere with his body neared completion, something stirred in his mind. Though unconscious, had Anthony's eyes been open, he would have seen it: a luminous white panel of light floating just above his head.
Strange words appeared upon it:
"Divine System Assimilation in Progress."
Beneath it, a percentage counter began climbing steadily—10%… 30%… 40%… 60%… 80%… 90%… 95%… 99.9%… until finally—
100%.
The words shifted again:
"Divine System Assimilation Complete."
With that declaration, the countless particles of white energy that had been surging through his body and brain reached their purpose. Their glow dimmed, faded, and eventually vanished, leaving Anthony's room once more cloaked in silence and stillness.
A new sound rang out, and the words on the glowing panel shifted once more:
"Environmental analysis complete. The surroundings are barren. Current conditions are unsuitable for the newly constructed body of the host to function optimally."
More lines followed in quick succession:
"Living environment determined to be desolate. No origin energy or supplementary energies detected."
"Risk of host body collapse: High."
"Host's natural ability to generate internal energy: Dormant."
"Proceeding to activate natural energy-generation ability…"
Suddenly, the panel flickered.
"Error. Error. Error."
The words repeated endlessly. At once, multiple screens manifested around Anthony, filling his small room with blinding white light. He, however, remained deep in his dreams, blissfully unaware of the phenomenon. In his sleep, he wandered through yet another fantasy—this time of wealth, success, and a future far brighter than reality.
Meanwhile, the divine system pressed on, continuing its attempts to activate the hidden function within Anthony's body—the very ability it had reconstructed for him. Yet, despite its immense authority, the same errors echoed over and over.
At last, the system halted its direct attempts. Its approach shifted. Instead of brute forcing the activation, it began to analyze the cause. This was abnormal. By its very nature, the divine system was not a creation of others. It was creation itself. For such errors to exist defied its essence.
As it probed deeper, countless error messages vanished one after another—yet just as quickly, a new screen emerged, displaying the reason for the anomaly.