The rain over Sector 4 of the metropolis fell with a monotonous rhythm, drumming against the glass walls of the high-rise office like the ticking of a clock that refused to speed up. Elian Vance stared at his reflection in the window—a sharp, angular face with eyes the color of tempered steel, eyes that currently held the distinct glaze of profound boredom.
At twenty-four years old, Elian suffered from a peculiar affliction: he was good at everything, yet passionate about nothing.
In his teenage years, he had picked up Kendo, reaching national level proficiency within six months before quitting because the patterns became predictable. He had moved to coding, cracking complex security kernels just to see if he could, then abandoned the keyboard when the logic became too linear. Cooking, painting, underground fighting—it was always the same cycle. He would struggle for a week, understand the underlying mechanics, master the execution, and then the crushing weight of apathy would return.
To Elian, the world was a game with fantastic graphics but terrible gameplay loops. The difficulty curve was non-existent, and the rewards were lackluster.
"Mr. Vance? The quarterly projections?"
Elian blinked, the reflection shifting as he turned his chair to face his supervisor. The man looked like a squeezed sponge, gray and withered by the corporate grind.
"Sent them ten minutes ago, sir," Elian said, his voice smooth, lacking the deferential tremble the supervisor usually fed on. "I also optimized the logistics algorithm. It should save the department roughly twelve percent in overhead costs next quarter. I'm leaving early."
He didn't wait for a response. He stood up, grabbing his coat. He knew he wouldn't be fired. Competence was a currency, and Elian was distinctively wealthy in that regard, even if he hated the market.
Stepping out of the climate-controlled lobby and into the humid, neon-lit streets, Elian took a deep breath of the city air—a mix of ozone, wet asphalt, and frying oil. The crowd moved like a singular organism, a river of tired souls flowing toward the subway stations. He stepped into the current, moving with the fluid grace of someone who subconsciously analyzed the gaps in the crowd.
Left. Step. Pivot. Avoid the tourist with the umbrella. Sidestep the puddle.
It was rhythmic. It was easy. It was maddening.
"Is there really nothing else?" he muttered to himself, looking up at the smog-choked sky.
As if the universe had been waiting for that specific question, the atmosphere shifted.
It wasn't a sound at first. It was a pressure. The air suddenly grew heavy, pressing against the eardrums like the drop of an elevator. The rhythmic drumming of the rain stopped instantly. Not because the clouds had cleared, but because the raindrops had frozen in mid-air.
Elian stopped. The crowd stopped. Thousands of people in the busy intersection froze, eyes widening as they looked around in confusion. A car that had been speeding through a yellow light was now suspended, its tires caught in a motionless blur, the driver's terrified expression trapped behind the windshield.
"Gravity anomaly?" Elian whispered, his mind instantly racing through logical possibilities. Magnetic field disruption? Mass hallucination?
Then, the sky shattered.
It didn't break like glass; it tore like wet paper. The gray smog ripped open to reveal a void that was not black, but a swirling, chaotic tapestry of colors that the human eye wasn't designed to process—violent violets, burning golds, and abyssal cyans.
From the tear, a sound emerged. It was a hum, deep and resonant, vibrating through the bones of every living thing on the planet. It wasn't just happening here. Elian knew it instinctively. This wasn't a local event. This felt... absolute.
[Synchronization Initiated...]
The words didn't appear on a billboard or a screen. They appeared directly on the retina of Elian's eyes, burning in a translucent blue text box that hovered in his peripheral vision no matter where he looked.
Screams began to erupt from the crowd as the paralysis broke. People clawed at their faces, swiping at the hallucinations only they could see.
"It's the rapture!" a woman screamed nearby, falling to her knees.
"Aliens! It's an invasion!" a man in a suit yelled, dropping his briefcase.
Elian didn't scream. He didn't panic. A strange, cold calm washed over him, a sensation he hadn't felt in years. His heart rate picked up, not out of fear, but out of interest.
He watched the floating text box as it updated.
[Scanning Target Planet: Earth-992 (Iteration: Beta)]
[Mana Density: Negligible.]
[Civilization Level: 0.7.]
[Potential: Calculating...]
"Earth-992," Elian murmured, analyzing the data. "Iteration Beta. Implication: There are others. Many others. A multiverse structure?"
The chaotic colors in the sky began to coalesce, forming massive, ethereal chains that seemed to wrap around the skyscrapers, phasing through the concrete and steel as if they were mist. The world groaned, the ground trembling not with an earthquake, but with the strain of being anchored to something new. Something massive.
[Integration with the Great Omniversal Nexus confirmed.]
[Protocol: "The Descent" is now active.]
A second text box appeared, overlapping the first.
[Notice to all Sentients: Your reality has been annexed by the Nexus. The old laws of physics are now secondary to the Laws of the System. To ensure the survival of your species within the infinite hierarchy of the Omniverse, you have been granted the 'Player' status.]
Elian watched as the frozen raindrops suddenly turned into particles of blue light and dissolved. The suspended car crashed to the ground, the physics engine of the world seemingly rebooting.
"A game?" Elian's lips curled upward. A smile, genuine and sharp, cut across his face. "Are you telling me reality is becoming a game?"
[Initializing Awakening Procedure...]
[Step 1: Data Digitization.]
Elian felt a sensation akin to an electric shock running through his nervous system. It wasn't painful, but it was invasive. He felt every scar, every memory, every muscle fiber being scanned, categorized, and quantified.
[Step 2: Class Assignment.]
Around him, pillars of light began to slam down from the sky, striking people at random.
A man near the subway entrance was hit by a red beam. [Warrior] appeared above his head in bold, floating letters.
The screaming woman was struck by a white light. [Cleric].
A teenager holding a skateboard was hit by a green light. [Scout].
The world was dissolving into chaos. Cars were crashing, people were rioting, fleeing from the lights or chasing them. But Elian stood still in the center of the intersection, his eyes fixed on the countdown that had appeared in his vision.
[Calculating Player Elian Vance's Aptitude...]
[Analysis: High Intelligence. Abnormal Adaptability. Lack of Specialization. Extreme Proficiency in Analysis.]
[Scanning Latent Desires...]
Elian closed his eyes. Give me something complex, he thought. Give me something that isn't linear. Give me the tools to break the rules.
[Error. Standard Classes insufficient for User Specifications.]
[Rerolling...]
[Accessing Hidden Pool...]
[Jack of All Trades? No. Too weak.]
[Mimic? No. Too dependent.]
The system seemed to be arguing with itself inside his head, the text scrolling so fast it was a blur. The humming noise grew louder, turning into a deafening roar.
[Match Found.]
A pillar of light didn't hit Elian. Instead, the shadows beneath him erupted. Darkness, laced with threads of gold and silver, spiraled up his legs, wrapping around his torso like living armor. The air around him distorted, the temperature dropping to absolute zero for a split second before snapping back.
[Congratulations. You have Awakened the Unique Mythic Profession: Skill Master.]
[Trait Generated: The Sovereign's Efficiency.]
Description: You may use any active skill for free (0 Mana/Stamina Cost) once every 10 minutes. This limit increases by +1 use every 10 levels.
[Passive Generated: Nullification of Self.]
Description: You are immune to all damage and negative effects resulting from your own skills.
Elian opened his eyes. The world looked different. He could see the structural weaknesses in the asphalt. He could see the health bars flickering into existence above the panicked crowd. He could see the mana flowing through the air like invisible currents.
But the System wasn't done.
[System Anomaly Detected. Player Soul Resonance exceeds parameters.]
[Granting Personal Cheat Module...]
A final, blood-red notification box shattered the previous blue ones.
[Unique System Ability Unlocked: The Finisher.]
Effect: Every 10 levels, you may select one random skill in your possession. That skill will be permanently modified into an "Ultimate Finishing Move." The modification will ignore logic, scaling limits, and cooldown restrictions of the original tier.
Elian looked at his hands. They looked the same, but they felt different. They felt... capable. For the first time in his life, the boredom was gone. The suffocating grayness of the world had been replaced by a canvas of infinite potential.
"Status," Elian commanded.
A holographic screen materialized instantly.
[Name: Elian Vance]
[Level: 1 (0/100 EXP)]
[Race: Human (Earth-992)]
[Class: Skill Master (Mythic)]
[Title: None]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 150/150]
[Stats: STR: 8 | AGI: 9 | INT: 15 | VIT: 8 | LUK: ?]
[Skills:]
[Skill Copy (Lv. 1)]: Allows the user to copy one skill from a target upon witnessing its execution. Success rate depends on INT and target level difference. Current Slots: 0/3.
Elian read the description of his starting skill. A slow, predatory grin spread across his face.
"Skill Copy," he whispered. "And the ability to turn them into Ultimates?"
High above the city, the fractured sky pulsed once more. The countdown to the synchronization hit zero.
[Tutorial Beginning in 5... 4... 3...]
The ground beneath the city began to rumble, cracks forming as ancient stone structures—dungeons—began to push their way up through the subway lines and shopping malls. Monsters, creatures of nightmare and legend, began to manifest in the shadows.
[...2... 1.]
[Welcome to the Nexus. Surviving is mandatory. Thriving is optional.]
Elian Vance cracked his neck, the sound satisfyingly loud in the sudden quiet of the awestruck crowd. He looked at a massive, wolf-like beast materializing just down the street, its eyes glowing red.
"Finally," Elian said, stepping forward while everyone else stepped back. "A game worth playing."