Chapter 1: The Beginning of Chaos
What would you do if, one day, everyone on the planet suddenly had a system UI screen appear before them with a notification? What do you think would happen?
The afternoon sun blazed in the clear Jamaican sky, casting a warm glow over everything in its reach. Horraine Pinto was lounging in a chair under the generous shade of a mango tree in his backyard. With short black hair, deep brown eyes, and dark skin glistening from the heat, he sat clad in a black T-shirt and shorts, scrolling through his phone absentmindedly. The serene atmosphere was interrupted when a translucent blue screen popped up right in front of his face.
Horraine blinked. Then blinked again.
"The hell?"
The words on the screen were as bizarre as the screen itself:
"Congratulations, humanity! The gods have decided to spice things up. You will each be granted a power of your choice. You have five minutes to choose or one will be chosen for you at random. Use it wisely—or don't. Either way, good luck!"
A timer started counting down:
4:59
Horraine stared at the screen, rereading it several times, his brain struggling to keep up. A single thought broke through the chaos:
"What kind of divine weed were these gods smoking?"
It was a valid question. His mind raced through every possible scenario. Were they drunk? Bored? High out of their celestial minds? Or worse—was this some unholy combination of all three? He let out a disbelieving chuckle.
4:30
"This has to be a dream," he muttered. "Or maybe a heatstroke hallucination? Nah, the sun's hot, but it's not that hot."
As absurd as it seemed, Horraine couldn't deny the reality of the situation. The midday heat pressed against his skin, and the vibrant colors of the yard felt all too real. No, this wasn't a dream.
4:00
"So, let me get this straight," he said aloud, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Every single person on the planet gets a power. Everyone. Not just the smart ones, or the chill ones, but everyone—including those conspiracy nuts who think the Earth is flat and vaccines have microchips? Yeah, that's going to end well."
The absurdity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. This wasn't just bad. This was apocalyptic. He rubbed his temples, a headache brewing at the sheer stupidity of what was about to happen.
His attention returned to the screen, which now displayed a near-endless list of abilities. The choices ranged from classic powers like flight and super strength to reality-bending monstrosities like time manipulation.
The timer ticked down.
3:30
Horraine frowned. "Wait… could I… create an ability?"
As if on cue, the screen glitched momentarily before responding:
Yes. You must name and describe the ability in detail within the remaining time.
A wicked grin spread across his face. "Oh, this just got interesting."
3:00
"Alright, let's do this." He cracked his knuckles. "Name of ability: Infinite Arsenal. Description: The power to create or recreate any ability, provided I have enough knowledge about it and the energy to sustain it."
The screen blinked.
Ability creation in process…
 Ability creation complete. Applying restrictions…
Horraine's grin faltered. "Yeah, saw that one coming."
"Status."
The screen shifted, showing a new window:
Status
 Name: Horraine Pinto
 Race: Human
 Age: 17
 Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
 Titles: None
 Ability: Infinite Arsenal
Stats
 STR: 30
 SPD: 59
 DEX: 40
 NRG: 90
Ability
 Infinite Arsenal
 Mastery Level: 1
 Restrictions:
The wielder must have a deep understanding of the ability they want to create.
Recreating an ability requires precise knowledge of its mechanics.
Energy consumption varies based on the complexity of the ability.
Only one ability can be created at a time.
Horraine snorted. "Oh, sure, this is so balanced. But give me YouTube, Wikipedia, and a quiet room, and we'll see how long that lasts."
A new screen appeared, interrupting his thoughts:
System update in progress. While the update is ongoing, only basic functions such as ability display and status checks will be available. Duration: 64:00:00.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, the system's half-baked? Makes sense. Typical divine laziness. But if this is their idea of a game, I'm going to break it."
For the next two days, Horraine stayed in his backyard, experimenting with energy manipulation. Turns out, it wasn't as hard as he thought—thank you, anime and manhwa. By the time Sunday rolled around, he had a basic grasp of the concept. Energy flowed through his body like a faint, second heartbeat—steady and growing stronger with practice.
Horraine's stats had improved slightly from his efforts, and though it wasn't much, it was a start.
He stood under the moonlight that night, staring at his hands. The faint hum of energy coursing through him was intoxicating, a promise of what was to come.
"This," he whispered, clenching his fists, "is only the beginning."
Because while the world was busy blowing itself up with laser beams, super strength, and all manner of chaos, Horraine Pinto had a plan.
And humanity's greatest strength?
Cheating the system.
Chapter 1: End