Kael felt the familiar, dull ache in his neck as he leaned back from his monitor. Another all-night
binge of web novels, another dawn breaking over the smoggy silhouette of the city. He was 24,
worked a dead-end data entry job, and his only escape was in worlds of immortal cultivators and
all-powerful systems.
"If only," he mumbled, closing the browser tab.
He never saw the flash of light. He didn't feel the truck. There was no pain, no dramatic farewell.
One moment, he was in his cramped apartment, and the next... he was floating in an endless,
star-dusted void.
[Welcome, Wanderer, to the Threshold.]
A voice, neither male nor female, echoed not in his ears, but in his very consciousness. In front
of him, a colossal, translucent blue screen flickered to life.
[Your soul has been deemed compatible. You are granted a new life and a new Path. Your
choice is final. Choose wisely.]
The screen populated with a list that scrolled for miles.
● [Path of the Celestial Cultivator]: Harness the Qi of the Heavens and Earth. Refine your
body, forge your spirit, and ascend to immortality.
● [Path of the Star-Forge Technologist]: Wield the power of a lost empire. Build
technology indistinguishable from magic. Create fusion cannons, mechs, and warp drives.
● [Path of the Arcanist]: Master the fundamental laws of reality. Bend space, time, and the
elements to your will.
● [Path of the Primal Tamer]: Form bonds with mythical beasts. Evolve with your
companions and command an army of monsters.
Kael's heart hammered in his chest. This was it. This was the dream. He scrolled, his mind
racing. "Cultivator" was the obvious choice. He'd read hundreds of novels; it was the path to
power, to being the protagonist.
But he kept scrolling. The list was endless, filled with every fantasy archetype imaginable. He
scrolled so far down that the text became sparse, the options less flashy. And there, at the very
bottom, in a dim, greyed-out font, was a single entry.
● [Path of the Knight (Guardian's Path)] (Warning: Obsolete. 0.0001% compatibility
with the Central Plane.)
He tapped it. A new window popped up.
[Description: A Path of Steel, Vow, and Will. This system does not use Qi, Aether, or
Arcane Energy. It relies on the user's conviction. Uphold Oaths to gain power. Protect the
weak, defend the innocent, and stand firm. A forgotten path in a world of Qi.]
Kael paused. No Qi? In a cultivation world? It was suicide. It was the "trash" path, the one the
protagonist's idiot rival would pick.
And yet... he thought of the novels. The "Celestial Path" was a world of backstabbing, of
arrogant young masters, of slaughtering whole families over a single insult, of thousand-year-old
grandpas preying on teenagers. It was a path of profound, cosmic loneliness.
"Protect the weak, uphold Oaths..." he murmured. It sounded so simple. So... solid. In a world "It's boring in the novels," he thought, a slow smile spreading across his face. "But maybe it's
exactly what I need. A challenge. Something different."
He pressed his finger to the dim text.
[Are you certain? This Path offers no shortcuts to power. It is a Path of struggle.]
"I'm certain."
[Path Confirmed: THE KNIGHT. System integrating... Transmigration commencing. Good
luck, Wanderer.]
The void dissolved. Kael's consciousness was ripped away, and for the second time in an hour,
his world went black. He awoke to the smell of pine and damp earth, the hilt of a simple,
unadorned longsword cold against his palm.