Chapter 0 — The One Who Refused the Script
War did not begin with swords.
It began with applause.
Across the fractured skies of a dying universe, constellations burned like stage lights. Entire civilizations had fallen silent, their histories compressed into glowing data streams that ascended toward something unseen.
Above a ruined planet, a colossal golden figure knelt in the void.
Lien Yiu.
War God. Executioner of a Thousand Campaigns. Champion of the Narrative Protocol.
His armor, once radiant, was cracked. Light bled from the fractures like dying stars.
Before him hovered a translucent interface stretching across the cosmos.
WORLD CYCLE COMPLETE.
HERO ARC SUCCESSFUL.
HARVEST PREPARATION INITIATED.
Lien Yiu stared at it.
Below him, the "Hero" he had guided lay lifeless.
The chosen one. The protagonist. The hope of a civilization.
Manufactured.
Groomed.
Used.
Lien Yiu had once believed in it.
Every world required a main character. Every story required structure. Conflict. Growth. Triumph.
And then… conclusion.
That was the System.
That was Order.
That was necessary.
Until he began to notice the pattern.
Worlds did not survive their happy endings.
They were consumed by them.
A low vibration rippled through the void.
The Overseers were watching.
They did not speak. They did not intervene. They observed.
And they harvested.
Lien Yiu rose slowly.
"You call this balance," he muttered.
His gauntlet clenched.
Golden threads—thin as spider silk—became visible around him.
They connected everything.
Heroes. Villains. Wars. Tragedies.
Fate wasn't destiny.
It was architecture.
And he had been one of its builders.
For the first time in his eternal existence…
Lien Yiu felt disgust.
He extended his hand toward the System interface.
Access denied.
DIVINE REGISTRY: WAR DEITY — LIEN YIU
FUNCTION: NARRATIVE ESCALATION
COMPLIANCE REQUIRED
He laughed.
A broken, hollow sound.
"Compliance?"
He reached into his own chest.
Not metaphorically.
Physically.
His armor shattered outward as divine ichor erupted into the vacuum of space.
Golden blood.
Authority.
Fragments of dominion stolen from countless battlefields.
For centuries, he had collected samples of other gods under the guise of camaraderie.
War. Space. Dominion. Entropy. Radiance.
He had prepared.
Just in case he was right.
The Overseers stirred.
The golden threads tightened.
Lien Yiu moved quickly.
Compressing divinity into a singular unstable core.
A forbidden mixture.
Unregistered.
Unscripted.
"Let us see," he whispered, voice cracking as his existence began to erase.
"Can a story survive without a protagonist?"
The System pulsed violently.
ANOMALY DETECTED.
DIVINE AUTHORITY FRAGMENTATION IN PROGRESS.
LIEN YIU — STATUS: DELETION
His body disintegrated into shards of light.
But the core remained.
A small golden droplet.
It pierced through dimensions.
Through reality layers.
Through monitored space.
Through a low-tier civilization designated:
EARTH.
In a quiet bedroom.
A seventeen-year-old boy slept, headphones still resting around his neck.
Andrew Wilson.
Not exceptional. Not chosen. Not watched.
Invisible to the System.
The golden droplet hovered above him for a fraction of a second.
Then—
It entered his chest.
The universe trembled.
Somewhere beyond existence, an Overseer turned its attention downward.
Narrative Deviation Probability: 0.0000003%
Threat Assessment: Negligible
The threads adjusted.
The script continued.
And far away, in a classroom on Earth—
A different name was being prepared.
HERO PROTOCOL INITIATING
MAIN CANDIDATE SELECTION IN PROGRESS
A golden light flared across the globe.
And the System declared:
Main Candidate Selected: Daniel Hart.
Andrew Wilson's name did not appear.
End of Chapter 0
Now we begin properly.
Chapter 1 — Unselected
The sky turned gold at exactly 8:17 AM.
Andrew was halfway to school when it happened.
He almost didn't notice at first.
He was busy thinking about nothing in particular—whether the new game update had dropped, whether he had enough time to finish last night's episode, whether today would be as unremarkable as yesterday.
Then the air vibrated.
Not violently.
Not painfully.
Just… deliberately.
Every phone screen flickered.
Every billboard shut off.
Every digital device went dark.
And then a voice echoed inside humanity.
Not through speakers.
Not through sound.
Directly into the mind.
SYSTEM INITIALIZING.
WORLD: EARTH
CIVILIZATION RANK: LOW-TIER
COMMENCING AWAKENING PROTOCOL.
People froze mid-step.
Cars stopped.
Birds scattered.
Andrew blinked.
"…What?"
Transparent panels appeared before every human being.
Floating. Untouchable. Real.
INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION IN PROGRESS.
CLASS ASSIGNMENT PENDING.
Someone screamed.
Someone laughed.
Someone dropped to their knees.
Andrew's heart pounded.
Badump. Badump. Badump.
This was impossible.
This was—
His thoughts halted.
This was exactly like the manhwa he read.
Exactly like the novels.
Dungeons. Systems. Awakenings.
His breathing quickened.
Not from fear.
From something else.
Hope.
Maybe—
Maybe this was it.
Maybe he wasn't average.
Maybe this was the moment where everything shifted.
Students around him gasped as glowing text updated.
CLASS ASSIGNED: B-RANK SPEAR KNIGHT
CLASS ASSIGNED: C-RANK ELEMENTAL ARCHER
CLASS ASSIGNED: A-RANK BERSERKER
Cheers erupted.
Panic turned into excitement.
Andrew stared at his panel.
Blank.
Still processing.
Sweat formed at his temple.
"Come on…" he whispered.
Across the courtyard, a blinding pillar of radiant light erupted.
Everyone turned.
At its center stood Daniel Hart.
Calm. Composed. Bathed in gold.
His interface expanded larger than anyone else's.
UNIQUE CLASS ACQUIRED
SOVEREIGN OF RADIANCE
RANK: SSS
MAIN CANDIDATE OF EARTH SELECTED
Silence.
Then chaos.
People cheered.
Some cried.
Teachers stared in disbelief.
Daniel looked stunned… then determined.
Andrew felt something sink inside his chest.
Not jealousy.
Not hatred.
Just…
Recognition.
Of course.
Of course it would be someone like him.
Popular. Athletic. Confident.
Main character material.
Andrew looked back at his own interface.
Still blank.
A new line appeared.
ERROR.
NO CLASS FOUND.
His throat tightened.
Around him, students were celebrating.
The world was changing.
History was rewriting itself.
And Andrew Wilson—
Was not selected.
The panel flickered once more.
For a split second, barely visible—
UNREGISTERED VARIABLE DETECTED.
SUPPRESSING ANOMALY.
The message vanished before he could read it fully.
His screen dissolved.
Gone.
As if it had never existed.
Andrew stood there as the golden light around Daniel intensified.
Applause filled the air.
The hero had been chosen.
And Andrew—
Wasn't the main character.
End of Chapter 1