[Cooldown: 167 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds remaining.]
[Skill: Spatial Severance – Dormant]
[Current Power Level: Still pathetic.]
The screen blinked lazily in my vision while I sat in the grass, still slightly shaking.
I just erased a monster from existence with a line in the air.
And I had no idea how.
Lyra was still staring at me like I'd just grown horns.
"That was… high-tier spatial magic," she finally said. "But your class still says '???' and your magic level is zero. How in the shattered stars did you do that?"
I looked at her blankly. "You think I know? I thought I was gonna die! My plan was to scream and hope you saved me."
She narrowed her eyes. "The Oracle might be right after all. But… if you really are the one chosen to 'bend fate,' the kingdom's gonna want to meet you immediately."
I blinked. "Hold on. I just arrived, I almost died, and now you want to drag me to a kingdom? Can't I at least get breakfast?"
A Few Hours Later…
We were riding a strange beast called a Thorn Elk. Basically a deer with armor plates and attitude. Lyra drove. I tried not to fall off.
We passed glowing rivers, floating rocks, and towns built on cliffs with rope bridges between them. Evalastra was like every RPG, anime, and fantasy book I'd ever seen — but alive, vivid, and far too real.
Lyra handed me a thin black stone.
"Tap this. It opens your 'Status Window.' Try reading your stats again."
I tapped it.
[Name: Akiro Senzai]
[Age: 17 | Class: ???]
[Magic Level: 0 | Strength: 3 | Intelligence: 6 | Luck: -2]
[Skills: Spatial Severance (Dormant)]
[Title: The Broken Variable]
"…My luck is still negative," I muttered. "And what the hell is 'Broken Variable'? That sounds like an error message."
Lyra glanced over. "That title's unheard of. Titles usually come from deeds. You haven't done anything — except disrupt the world's flow of mana. That's… worrying."
"Cool. So I'm a glitch."
"No," she said. "You're worse. You're unpredictable."
Enter: The Slime That Didn't Deserve This
Later, we stopped at a small grove to rest.
I found a tiny blue slime wobbling near a flower. It looked harmless. Cute, even.
I poked it with a stick.
[Threat Level: 0]
[Slime – Passive Creature]
"Finally," I said. "Something that won't try to kill me."
Then, the popup changed.
[World Reaction Detected. You have disturbed local mana balance.]
[Passive Creature has mutated.]
[New Threat Level: 6]
The slime's eyes turned red. It grew spikes. It hissed.
"What the—!? I didn't do anything!"
Lyra jumped in, slicing it clean in half with her blade. The pieces evaporated.
She looked at me like I was a grenade with legs. "Your luck stat is negative, Akiro. Even harmless creatures mutate just from standing near you."
I raised a hand. "Is this going to keep happening?"
"Probably," she said flatly.
That Night
We camped near a lake. I stared at the stars — double moons and a glowing sky filled with shifting clouds like water.
"I don't get it," I said quietly. "I'm not strong. I'm not smart. Why summon me?"
Lyra hesitated before answering.
"You're not supposed to be here," she said. "You weren't chosen by a god, or called by a spell. You slipped through something ancient… something forbidden."
She looked at me seriously.
"Whatever you are, Akiro, you're not a hero. You're a disruption. And disruptions can destroy or redefine entire worlds."
A wind blew across the lake. Something stirred beneath the surface — watching.
And far away, in a tower that touched the stars, a cloaked figure whispered:
"The variable has arrived. The countdown begins."
To be continued…