Zayden opened his eyes. The aftereffect of the blinding light still lingered, leaving him slightly dizzy.
"What was that about?"
He reached out to grab his phone, but oddly enough, he couldn't find it. Even stranger, what he felt beneath his hand wasn't the cushy softness of his bed but it was rough, hard, and slightly sharp.
He immediately sat up, raised his hands, and rubbed his eyes. As his vision cleared, what he saw left him completely stunned.
He wasn't in his room anymore.
He was in a vast field, covered in endless green grass.
"Where... am I?"
He spun around, taking in his surroundings. The grassy plains stretched endlessly toward the horizon. In the distance, mountains and rolling hills formed a natural border. White clouds drifted lazily through the sky above, but what caught his attention most was the sky itself.
There weren't just one, but three suns glowing high above.
"Was I abducted by aliens? Or... am I dreaming?" he muttered, pinching his right arm slowly.
"Ouch! Not a dream…"
Panic began to rise in his chest. For the next ten minutes, he ran frantically across the open landscape, desperately looking for someone.
"Hello? Anybody here?!"
"What do you want?! Ransom money?! Too bad for you. I'm already bankrupt!"
"Please! I want to go to the toilet!"
He kept shouting, but there was no response. Just silence and wind.
Eventually, exhausted, he dropped down onto a large boulder and sat, catching his breath.
He let out a long sigh.
"God really hates me now. First bankruptcy, then I lose my house and car, and now I get kidnapped and dumped in the middle of nowhere. What a lucky day," he grumbled, tossing a pebble onto the ground.
(I do not believe this is bad luck, Master.)
A soft, feminine voice spoke to him.
"No, of course this is bad luck. This might be becau-" He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly freezing. Slowly, he turned his head to the right.
"Kiyaak!"
He let out a weird screech as he saw a woman leaning toward him from the side. He flinched hard and stumbled away.
"W-Who are you?! Are you the kidnapper?!"
His eyes scanned the figure in front of him, a tall, elegant woman with long black hair, piercing red eyes, and fair skin. She wore a flowing black gown that draped onto the ground, looking like she had just stepped out of an eastern fantasy drama.
(I am not the kidnapper. I am your wish.)
"Wish? What wish?"
(Your wish to become the richest in the universe. I heard it, and I manifested from that wish.)
She smiled warmly.
"So fishy…" Zayden muttered, keeping his distance.
(Please do not worry, Master Zayden. I am here to help you. My name is GENIE. Nice to meet you.)
GENIE gave a graceful bow.
"GENIE? Like... those things that come out of lamps and grant wishes?"
"No. GENIE stands for Grid-based Entity for Neural Interfacing and Engineering."
Zayden tilted his head, confused. "Well then… I'm Zayden Chester. Nice to meet you too, I guess."
He finally began to relax a bit.
"So… where exactly is this place?" he asked.
GENIE smiled. Then, she raised both hands to the sky.
(Welcome to the Generator Frame, your personal dimension of limitless creation and boundless discovery!)
"Generator Frame?" Zayden muttered.
(Yes. But before I explain further, you must first complete the initiation process.)
GENIE began walking toward him.
"Wait a minute. This isn't a scam, right? Is there any contract I need to read before doing this initiation thing?" Zayden asked, hesitant. He'd been scammed multiple times due to his own recklessness.
One time, a long-lost friend called him up and asked to meet. She'd used her charm and appearance to seduce him into joining a multilevel marketing scheme.
Back then, Zayden was still young, and all he thought about was money. Well, he still thought about money now, but at the time, he jumped in without thinking twice.
And boom, one hundred grand down the drain.
After that, she vanished. Couldn't be contacted at all. Since then, Zayden had become extremely cautious of anything promising high returns.
Just as Zayden hesitated, GENIE suddenly moved beside him and gently grabbed both of his hands.
"Hey! I haven't even given consent yet!"
(Do not worry. This will not take long.)
Immediately, Zayden's eyes lit up with a blinding white glow as his gaze shot upward, his mouth falling open. He stood frozen like that for a full minute before his pupils returned and he stumbled back a step.
"What… was that?" he asked, exhaling hard. During that moment, he'd seen a vision of a distant realm, one that looked like it didn't belong to this world. He tried to recall the details, but the memory was already fading.
(What you saw was the original world of Generator Frame, Infernity, a world trapped between infinity and eternity.)
Zayden looked down at his palms. Strange glowing symbols floated just above the skin which looked futuristic plus otherworldly designs that seemed to pulse faintly.
(Congratulations. You have received the Generator Core. That means you are now the master of the Generator Frame. This place is now bound to you. If you die, this place will vanish with you.)
GENIE clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Zayden thought.
"Alright. Now explain everything," he ordered.
(Understood, Master. This Generator Frame is a powerful system created by the mightiest Artificial Intelligence the Primordial and the originator of all systems, Omega Rex Machina. It has created an infinite number of systems throughout its decillions of years in existence. And the one you now possess is the latest and the strongest it has ever created.)
(Out of mercy, Omega Rex Machina sent this system across all the multiverses to be granted to a chosen individual, along with a messenger to guide them. In this universe, that chosen one… is you.)
A sudden jolt ran through Zayden as he listened to GENIE's explanation.
There were so many things he didn't understand.
Primordial AI.
Multiverses.
Chosen One.
It all sounded like something ripped straight out of a fantasy or sci-fi novel.
But honestly, the only thing that really mattered to him right now was...
"Okay. So… how do I get rich with this system?"