There's an upside to staying at an Elite GEAS Base. The best part of my new living quarters? The simulated training room at my disposal—a perfect place to push these drones to their limits.
I tapped a few commands, switching the drones to combat mode. One darted across the room, weaving through obstacles at blinding speed. Its reflexes were insane.
I watched it fire a few test shots. The lasers sliced through the air with deadly precision. The power behind them was staggering.
But what impressed me most was the customization. These drones weren't limited to one configuration anymore. I could change their abilities, their features—tune them to my exact specifications—all from the Codebreaker HUD.
Future upgrades have become limitless with the EX rank Advanced Drone Manipulation blueprint. This is truly a godsend.
I let out a soft laugh. "Now, this is more like it."
This wasn't just an upgrade—it was an entire shift in strategy.
Every challenge that lay ahead?
Another puzzle to solve. And with this, I knew I could conquer it.
I decided to test out the full deployment of the Armada drones in it's advanced combat mode.
Without hesitation, I hit the command to deploy. The room seemed to hum with energy as the first drones materialized, instantly taking to the air in perfect formation. More appeared, joining the swarm.
"Deploy," I ordered, and they scattered. Some soared above, others low, scanning for threats, moving with eerie precision. It was like having a fleet at my command.
"Let's see what you can do," I muttered, toggling combat mode.
The drones kicked into high gear, darting through obstacles, taking out targets with deadly accuracy. Even the layout of the room couldn't slow them down.
I was ready for anything now. With this kind of power, no one could touch me.
I leaned back in my chair, watching the drones perform flawless maneuvers. They were no longer just tools. They were partners—extensions of my will.
"Now, this is power," I said with a grin, already planning the next move.
GAIA better watch out. The game was changing. And this time, I was the one writing the rules.
Suddenly, my private comms buzzed. I answered, and it was Cason.
"Hey, Top Rookie. Are you free to meet?" he asked casually.
"It depends on what it is," I replied, raising an eyebrow.
"How about you join my squad for a secret tower mission?"
A secret tower mission? My interest was piqued.
Then, as expected, Codebreaker chimed in with a notification.
[Hidden Mission: Conquer the Tower Guardian]
[Objective: Conquer level 10 Tower Guardian.
Mission Rank: SS
Mission Completion Rewards:
Tower Crystal x 1,
?????,
?????,
?????
Failure: Death]
Do you accept this mission?
My heart skipped a beat. This wasn't just a regular mission. A Tower Guardian at level 10? That was huge, and the risks… well, the penalty was clear.
"So, what do you say, Top Rookie? You in?" Cason grinned, his confidence unwavering.
I matched his energy with a wide grin of my own.
"Yeah, count me in," I said, clicking Accept.
**************
When I first woke up in this world, I was lost. And to be honest, a little scared.
One moment, I was bleeding out in my old life, and the next, I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling, trapped in a body that wasn't mine. Sixteen years old. Weak. Fragile. The only similarity between us? Our name—Noah.
The first thing I saw was a man clinging to me like I was his lifeline.
"Oh, thank god. You're okay. You're okay," he kept repeating, voice thick with emotion.
His arms were wrapped around me in a crushing embrace. I barely had the strength to push him away—not that I knew if I should. My mind was still spinning, my body drained.
Who… is this guy?
Before I could process anything, another figure burst into the room. A girl. Younger than me.
"Noah!" She ran straight to my bedside and hugged me, tears streaming down her face. "You scared us! You were out for so long…"
She kept crying, holding onto my arm like I'd disappear if she let go.
Who were these people? And why were they crying for me?
Then I saw it—the mirror next to my bed.
My breath hitched. My body stiffened.
The reflection staring back wasn't mine.
The pink hair. The blue eyes. The unfamiliar yet strangely youthful face.
That wasn't me.
I felt sick. My mind screamed denial, but the evidence was right in front of me. I wasn't in my old body. I wasn't in my old world.
It took a while—too long, really—before I got answers.
I had been in a coma for three weeks. The reason? An accident.
Apparently, "I" had saved a child from being run over by a malfunctioning driverless car. The traffic light had been red, but the vehicle sped through anyway. Witnesses said I pushed the kid to safety, but in doing so, I got clipped and slammed into the pavement.
I should've died.
But I didn't.
Instead, I ended up here—in this body, in this life, in a world I didn't understand.
Damian—my new older brother—never gave up on me. The hospital bills had been brutal, but he worked three jobs to keep me on life support. When the doctors wanted to pull the plug, he fought back.
"My brother is still breathing," he had told them, his voice unwavering despite his exhaustion. "Even if his body is weak, his will is strong. I will not let you stop his treatment."
Hearing that… It did something to me.
I wasn't alone in this world. I had a family—one that cared.
And for the first time, I wanted to live.
Two months. That's how long it took me to accept my new reality. To adjust. To stop flinching every time I looked in the mirror.
Apparently, the previous Noah had been labeled a genius in school. His Data Accumulation (DA) scores were ridiculously high. The only problem? His body. Weak. Lacking in strength.
That… hadn't changed much.
But I learned quickly. From my so-called classmates, from Damian, from Brixley, my new little sister.
I fed them a simple lie: memory loss.
And they believed it. They were patient. Understanding.
Still, the more I learned about this world, the more I hated it.
Something was wrong.
The GAIA system—this all-powerful AI that ruled everything—felt off.
At first, I thought it was incredible. A world managed by an omnipotent system? No rulers, no kings, no corrupt politicians? It sounded like something out of a utopia.
But the more I looked, the more cracks I saw.
GAIA was too rigid. Too controlled. Too… unnatural.
There were rules. Too many rules. Restrictions upon restrictions. The system dictated who lived where, what jobs people could have, even who was allowed to wield power.
And at the top of the hierarchy?
Five powerful families—the MODS families—blessed by GAIA itself.
They weren't rulers in the traditional sense, but they were the closest thing to it. Unlike the rest of us, they had special privileges. They could override certain system protocols, bypass limitations, and even gain direct access to GAIA's system facilities.
And today, standing right in front of me, was a member of one of those families.
Cason Linus. The God of Death. My senior at the academy.
The Linus family was one of GAIA's highest-ranking MODS. They had unrestricted access to the towers—privileges that even most awakeners could only dream of.
Their missions? Classified.
Their authority? Absolute.
And now, Cason had an offer for me.
A secret tower mission—the kind only MODS were allowed to undertake.
Their objective? Conquer the Tower Guardian and gain control over its level.
A secret mission? Inside the tower?
Yeah, damn right. I'll take that offer anytime.
This was the perfect opportunity to learn more. To find the secrets that GAIA's hiding. And to do that, I must conquer that Level 10 Tower Guardian first.