For fourteen years, Aerin had believed his life was ordinary. Born in a small settlement near the forest's edge, he was neither talented nor remarkable. Just another weak child in a world where strength decided everything.
His body was fragile, his progress painfully slow. While other children drew energy with ease, learning and growing with each day, Aerin struggled to maintain balance. No matter how hard he tried, his body refused to respond.
People called it a lack of talent. He accepted it. Until the day everything changed.
It began without fanfare. No thunder shook the skies. No pain tore through his body. Just a sudden, piercing clarity that struck deeper than any lesson or training ever could.
Memories flooded him—memories that could not belong to this life. Another life, another body, another ending.
He gasped, vision blurring as fragments stitched together. He remembered dying. Not dramatically, not heroically—just ending. Then, rebirth. Twelve years ago.
"…So that's it," he whispered. This was not sudden reincarnation. This was delayed awakening.
His hands trembled, not from fear but realization. He had lived twelve full years unaware, constrained by limitations that were never meant to be permanent.
And then—
[World Resonance System detected.] A translucent screen shimmered before his eyes.
[Host consciousness synchronized.]
[Awakening age confirmed: 12 years.]
Aerin stared at the floating text, oddly calm.
"A system…" he muttered.
[Existence Rank: F]
[Physical aptitude: Low]
[Cultivation compatibility: Below average]
He let out a dry laugh. "So even after awakening… I'm weak." The system did not deny it. [Notice: Host does not grow through conventional cultivation.] Aerin's expression sharpened.
[World Resonance System activates through influence, interaction, and change.]
[The greater the impact upon the world, the greater the growth of the host.]
He slowly clenched his fist. He finally understood. Others in this world grew stronger by forcing power into their bodies—meditating, training, pushing limits through pain.
His path… was different. "So instead of changing myself," he said quietly, "I change the world." The air around him shifted. Not violently. Not visibly. Yet something responded.
[Minor resonance achieved.]
[Synchronization: 0.01%]
His rank did not rise. Yet instinct told him—this was the first step of a path no one else walked.
Far beyond the settlement, beyond forests and lands still unknown, the world had acknowledged his existence..And Aerin's true journey had finally begun.