The final bell rang.
Lucian let out a long sigh, stretching his arms as students poured out of the school building like a flood finally breaking through a dam.
"Finally."
The day had been endless—teachers droning on, exams creeping closer, and the same dull routine repeating itself. He wasn't a bad student, but he wasn't a great one either. Just… average.
But right now, none of that mattered.
Because today, he was finally going to finish "Aethernia: The Last Chronicle".
A fantasy novel he had been reading for weeks, dragging himself through its endless twists and betrayals. It wasn't a lighthearted adventure. It was a story about an empire teetering on the edge of ruin, where the protagonist clawed his way through blood and tragedy, only for the world to still collapse in the end.
And Lucian was just a few chapters away from the climax.
"Hey, Lucian!"
A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
His friend, Devin, jogged up beside him, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "You coming to the arcade?"
Lucian shook his head. "Nah, I got something to do."
Devin groaned. "Man, you're still on that depressing novel?"
Lucian grinned. "I need to know how it ends."
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't stay up all night again."
With a casual wave, Devin took off, disappearing into the crowd.
Lucian barely noticed—his mind was already elsewhere, lost in the intricate schemes and betrayals of Aethernia.
As he walked home, he pulled out his phone, scrolling to where he left off.
The protagonist was one step away from achieving his goal. The final battle was upon him.
But Lucian already knew.
No matter how hard the protagonist fought—he would still lose.
That was what made the story so frustratingly real.
The world was not fair.
No matter how much you struggled, sometimes, you just weren't meant to win.
He clicked the next page—
A loud honk snapped him back to reality.
Lucian looked up—
Blinding headlights filled his vision.
---
Lucian's mind drifted.
A moment ago, he was walking home.
Now, he was falling.
Endless, weightless falling.
No ground. No sky. No sense of time.
Then—a voice.
"Lucian Ardentis."
The sound did not echo, nor did it feel like a whisper in his ear. It was everywhere, pressing against him from all directions.
Lucian's body—if he even had one—froze.
"I'm dead, aren't I?"
The realization sent a cold weight through his chest.
He wasn't in a hospital. He wasn't dreaming.
He was gone.
His life, his future—all of it ended because he was too busy reading a damn novel.
Lucian laughed bitterly. "What kind of joke is this?"
The void rippled.
And the presence spoke again.
"Your death was an accident. An unfortunate twist of fate."
Lucian's chest tightened. "So what now? Am I just… gone?"
"Not necessarily."
A shift in the void. And then—a world unfolded before him.
Towering castles, sprawling cities, fields drenched in war and blood.
Lucian's breath hitched.
"No way—"
It was Aethernia.
The very world he had been reading about.
But more than that—he knew what this meant.
This world was doomed.
Lucian swallowed hard. "Why are you showing me this?"
The presence did not hesitate.
"Because this is where your existence shall continue."
Lucian's mind reeled. "You're reincarnating me?"
"Not reincarnation. You shall inhabit a vessel that has already perished."
A noble's corpse. A ruined fate.
Lucian felt a dull dread settle in his bones.
"That body… Who was he?"
A name resonated in his mind.
Lucian Ardentis.
His breath stilled.
The same name as his own.
And then—it all clicked.
Lucian Ardentis. A minor, forgettable noble who barely appeared in the novel.
A background character.
"So I'm not even getting a protagonist role?"
Lucian let out a harsh breath. "And what, I'm just supposed to survive in this doomed world?"
The voice did not answer his frustration.
"As compensation, you may make a single wish."
Lucian froze.
His mind raced.
A wish.
Anything—as long as it did not break balance.
That meant no infinite mana, no invincibility, no easy systems.
Lucian gritted his teeth.
"I need something unstoppable. Something that can't be countered."
His thoughts narrowed to one concept.
A force that existed in every world, in every reality.
Lucian took a slow breath.
And then—he spoke.
"Atomic Manipulation."
The presence did not speak for a long time.
Then—
"A fascinating choice."
Lucian barely had time to process those words before—
The void collapsed.
---
Lucian gasped awake.
Pain.
It ripped through him, sharp and suffocating, like his body was barely stitched together.
His vision blurred, the ceiling of a crumbling wooden room coming into focus.
Dust. The scent of decay and death.
Then—memory crashed into him.
His name. His death.
And the reality of where he was.
Lucian Ardentis.
A noble's disgraced son.
And this body had already died once.
A sharp chime rang through his skull.
---
[System Initialization Complete.]
[Host: Lucian Ardentis]
[Core Ability: Atomic Manipulation (Sealed – Unlock Progress: 0%)]
[Warning: Physical state critically unstable. Engaging in combat is highly inadvisable.]
---
Lucian stared at the glowing text in his vision.
A system.
Not a game-like leveling system. Just a functional, analytical interface.
Before he could process any of it—
A sound.
The door creaked open.
Lucian's breath stilled.
A shadow stepped inside. A knife glinted in their grip.
Lucian's mind raced.
"Oh, come on. I just got here."
(End of Chapter 1)