## **Chapter 1: The Fallen Genius**
*(From the novel "I Became the Gamer Who Controls Reality")*
"After the dimensional storms swept across the Earth decades ago, everything changed. Multiple dimensional zones appeared around the world — domains filled with gods, immortals, monsters, angels, demons, and other legendary beings. These creatures carried powers that defied science, and humanity learned that by hunting them… they could inherit those powers."
Professor **Arvind Rao's** voice echoed across the classroom, calm yet commanding. His grey hair and half-rim glasses gave him the look of someone who had seen both knowledge and war.
Rows of students sat upright, their notebooks filled with diagrams of energy flows, runic patterns, and evolution charts. All except one.
In the farthest corner, by the window, **Vivaan Sharma** sat with his head resting on his arm. His textbook lay open, but his eyelids were closed — breathing slow and steady.
A faint snore escaped his lips.
Professor Rao paused for a second, his eyes flickering toward the back seat. The boy who once carried the school's highest expectations was now… asleep again.
He sighed softly and continued, "Humanity calls these new life forms *dimensional creatures.* Their strength is categorized in four tiers — Mortal, Legendary, Epic, and Mythical. We humans… still linger at the bottom."
As the rest of the class scribbled notes, the professor's gaze lingered on Vivaan. A trace of regret flashed in his eyes.
*(So what if you're gifted, boy? Talent is nothing if you let failure crush you.)*
He still remembered the conversation with the retired principal — the day he'd first met Vivaan.
> "Arvind," the old man had said, "in my life I've seen two kinds of geniuses. One kind we call prodigies — brilliant, disciplined, shining like comets. The other kind… we call Vivaan Sharma."
At the time, Professor Rao hadn't understood what that meant. But now, watching the young man drooling on his desk, he finally did.
A genius destroyed not by defeat, but by something deeper.
Once, Vivaan had been Guide High's brightest star — the youngest student to cultivate *Primordial Energy* purely through his body without external tools. The entire faculty had believed he would reach the top ranks of the Federation one day.
But that was before *her.*
Before the transfer student who challenged him… and defeated him in a single move.
Since that day, Vivaan had changed.
He no longer trained, no longer competed, and barely stayed awake in class. His teachers whispered that he'd fallen into despair. His classmates mocked him as "the broken genius."
But only Vivaan knew the truth — his so-called downfall had nothing to do with that loss.
It began the night his **phone changed.**
---
The bell rang, snapping everyone out of their focus.
*RING! RING!*
Books closed, chairs scraped, and students rushed out for the lunch break.
Professor Rao placed his notes down, rubbing his temples. He watched as Vivaan slowly stirred awake, eyes still hazy from sleep. Without a word, the boy stretched, grabbed his phone, and slipped out of class before anyone could say a thing.
"Hopeless," Rao muttered under his breath. "I tried, Principal. I really did. But he's… a lost case now."
---
Vivaan walked through the corridors, ignoring the side glances from passing students. He could hear their whispers.
> "There goes the so-called genius."
> "Didn't he get crushed by that new girl?"
> "What a waste. I heard he doesn't even train anymore."
Their words stabbed faintly at his chest, but he didn't react. He'd stopped caring long ago.
Making his way through the empty school grounds, Vivaan finally reached the old banyan tree behind the lab building — a quiet corner where no one came.
There, he pulled out his phone.
The black screen reflected his tired face. He unlocked it, scrolled past a dozen normal apps… and tapped one icon that didn't belong.
A glowing red symbol — **Ant Nest.**
The game loaded instantly.
---
Inside the screen, a maze-like nest appeared. Countless black ants crawled across the digital terrain, moving like an endless tide.
Vivaan's lips curved into a faint smirk. He looked around — no one nearby.
He reached into his pocket, took out a pin, and pricked his finger. A small droplet of blood formed.
When it fell on the screen, the light around the phone flickered.
The blood *seeped* into the glass.
A heartbeat later, a figure appeared within the game — a crimson silhouette, pulsing with life.
On the corner of the screen, glowing letters appeared:
---
**Vivaan Sharma**
**Age:** 16
**Lifeform Level:** Mortal
**Strength:** 9
**Speed:** 5
**Constitution:** 8
**Primordial Energy:** 4
**Primordial Energy Art:** *Ascetic Meditation*
**Skills:** None
**Companion Beast:** None
---
Vivaan's eyes glimmered. *There it is again.*
Ever since that strange night when his phone had changed, this screen had become his secret — his only obsession.
The mysterious "Ant Nest" game wasn't just a simulation. It was something else. Something alive.
When he played, when his avatar fought and killed the creatures inside… he could feel it. Power — real, tangible energy — flowing back into his body.
That was why he no longer trained like the others. Why he stopped going to the Federation's practice grounds.
Because this game made reality itself obey him.
He dragged his finger across the screen, controlling his blood-colored avatar to strike down the nearest black ant.
*Slash!*
*Crack!*
One after another, the small creatures burst into particles of light. Notifications began to flash across the screen.
> [Killed Mortal Creature: Vigor Ant.]
> [Killed Mortal Creature: Vigor Ant.]
> [Killed Mortal Creature: Vigor Ant.]
Vivaan's pulse quickened.
Then — *ding!*
A special message appeared:
> [Killed Mortal Creature: Vigor Ant. Discovered Primordial Energy Crystal.]
His heart raced. "Finally…"
In the corner of the nest, a faintly glowing crystal shimmered — translucent, shaped like a diamond, marked with the number *5.*
Vivaan immediately guided the avatar forward. The crimson figure picked it up — and the moment it touched, the crystal dissolved into a swirl of light that surged into the avatar's chest.
At the same instant, Vivaan gasped.
A shock like lightning rushed through his real body, filling him with raw, exhilarating power.
He could *feel* it — the Primordial Energy inside him rising.
He glanced back at the screen:
**Primordial Energy: 4 → 5**
He smiled faintly.
Crystals came in many forms—Strength, Speed, Constitution, and Primordial Energy among them. Normally, humans couldn't see their stats. They could only sense vague improvements after using a crystal.
But this phone—this impossible, otherworldly phone—was different.
It didn't just let Vivaan Sharma harvest dimensional crystals safely.
It let him see everything.
His stats. His growth. The creatures' power. The crystals' value.
And that was why Zhou Wen no longer cared about the outside world.
Because inside this mysterious game, he was rewriting the rules of reality itself.