Chapter 1: The Zero-Rank Scavenger
The air inside the E-Rank dungeon smelled of ozone and damp moss. To most Hunters, this place was a training ground. To Ethan Thorne, it was a graveyard where he earned his breadcrumbs.
"Stay at the back, Glitch," the party leader sneered, not even looking back. "Just pick up the mana scraps and try not to get stepped on."
Ethan didn't argue. He couldn't. At twenty-four, his mana resonance was so low it didn't even register on the Association's crystalline testers. He was a 'Rankless'—a mistake in a world where power was everything.
Suddenly, the green glow of the dungeon walls turned a violent, abyssal violet. The temperature drped forty degrees in a heartbeat.
[WARNING: SYSTEM INTERFERENCE DETECTED]
[Dungeon Rank shifting: E → S]
"Shift? That's impossible!" the leader screamed, but his voice was cut short as a massive, obsidian claw tore through his chest.
The party scattered in a panic, leaving Ethan behind. As the massive Void Sentinel turned its many glowing eyes toward him, Ethan felt the cold grip of death. But as the monster's claw descended, time stopped.
A screen appeared, shimmering with gold and black light.
[Conditions for 'The Final Defiance' have been met.]
[Analyzing soul... Compatibility: 100%]
[The 'Grand Architect System' is initializing.]
[Would you like to rewrite your destiny?]
[YES / NO]
Ethan's blood dripped onto the screen. With his last bit of strength, he whispered, "Yes."
[Class Granted: The Void Architect]
[Level 1]
[Skill Unlocked: Deconstruct]
The world transformed. The monster wasn't a living thing anymore—it was a series of glowing blue lines and structural vulnerabilities. Ethan reached out and touched the beast's leg.
"Deconstruct," he breathed.
With a sound like a million glass windows shattering, the S-Rank monster turned into pillars of pure light.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[You have obtained the 'Heart of the Void'.]
Ethan stood up, his wounds closing instantly. The "Glitch" was gone. The Architect had arrived.
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