The smell of grilled mackerel lingered in the air, soft steam rising from the miso soup, and the crunch of pickled radish echoed across the small wooden table. For a moment, everything felt perfectly normal. The clinking of chopsticks, the faint hum of the ceiling fan, and the smiles on his parents' faces—it was ordinary. It was peaceful.
Katsuro Amano, seventeen, leaned back in his chair, letting the warmth of his family's laughter soak into him. His younger sister, Yui, was going on about some school drama, while his father gave half-hearted nods in between bites. His mother was fussing over the rice being slightly overcooked. It was just another night.
Until it wasn't.
The first sign was a ringing in his ears—a low, constant frequency that drowned out the world around him. Then came the pressure, like the air itself had become heavy. Katsuro blinked once. The world flickered. He blinked again. Everything turned white.
Silence.
Not the kind of silence you get in a library or at night, but the terrifying kind. The kind that consumes. The kind where you can't even hear your heartbeat. The world he knew was gone. The table, the food, his family—erased.
He stood now on a floor of seamless white marble, surrounded by infinite void. The sky above him was a dome of blank, luminous white. Ahead, an impossibly massive throne carved from what looked like celestial stone sat atop a staircase of light. And flanking that throne, dozens of statues, each towering over fifty meters, shaped like gods of every mythology Katsuro had ever heard of—and many he hadn't.
And seated upon the throne was something that defied explanation.
The being wore no face, only a crown of spiraling galaxies in motion. Its body shimmered like it was made of liquid glass, and its voice came not from its mouth, but directly into his thoughts.
"Welcome, Hero of the 73rd Cycle."
Katsuro froze. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. His mind was trying to catch up. Was he dead? Dreaming? Drugged?
"I have chosen you," the being continued, its voice neither masculine nor feminine, but perfectly balanced. "Not for your achievements. Not for your virtue. But for your capacity."
"My... capacity?" Katsuro finally managed to croak.
The being stood, and with its movement, the entire space trembled. "You possess a soul that can adapt to the System without collapse. You are a candidate for Unlimited Potential."
"I don't understand."
"You will."
Without warning, a golden panel burst into existence before him.
[Initializing System Interface…]
[Scanning Soul Integrity… 100% Compatible]
[Assigning Unique Status…]
[You have received the Title: Hero of Paradox Realms]
[You have acquired: 1000 Unique Abilities, 20 Mystical Attributes, 50 Standard Skills]
[System Modifier Installed: Infinite EXP | Infinite Stamina]
Katsuro staggered back as data streamed into his mind like a dam had burst. Knowledge, instincts, combat skills, arcane symbols, manipulation of laws—he could feel it flooding every corner of his being.
He dropped to one knee, panting.
"Why... me?"
The god tilted its head. "The world you are going to, the Abyssal Layers, is collapsing. Entropy has begun to devour its foundations. If the 25th Layer falls, the boundary between Realms will rupture. This… is your role."
Katsuro tried to stand again, and the panel continued updating in the corner of his vision, like a game interface brought to life.
[Quest Initiated: Cleanse the Abyssal World]
[Requirement: Reach Level 1000]
[Optional Quests Unlocked: Defeat the Demon King at Level 5000 | Annihilate the Demon God at Level 9999]
[Failure Condition: Realm Convergence Event | Collapse of Physical-Metaphysical Balance]
He forced himself to stand. It was either obey... or watch reality crumble. Yet he had a question that wouldn't leave his mind.
"Why did I die?"
"You did not die," the god answered. "You were displaced. A glitch, as your kind would call it. A sudden entropy leak during a temporal junction. Your presence was erased from one reality and rewritten into another."
"A glitch… while eating dinner?"
The god's tone changed—almost amused. "Fate is not always grand. Sometimes, it is absurd."
Katsuro shook his head. "What if I refuse?"
"You cannot. You were chosen. And refusal is equal to nonexistence. Your soul has already been bound."
A mark lit up on the back of his right hand. A spiral sigil—pulsating with energy. He could feel it. The connection. The power. And beyond that… the weight.
"I'm supposed to go to the 25th dimension?"
"When you are ready. You will awaken in the Surface Realm of Arkenstahl. A place where many before you have risen and fallen. Learn. Grow. Use what has been given."
Katsuro turned toward the space behind him. There was no door, no exit, no way home. The life he knew was simply… overwritten.
He looked up again. "Is this a second chance? Or a punishment?"
The god gave no answer. Instead, the floor beneath him began to vanish in radiant light. The interface beeped again.
[Transference Process Starting…]
[Target World: Arkenstahl (Surface Layer)]
[Transfer Method: Dimensional Encoding | Hero Path Unlocked]
[Welcome, Katsuro Amano, to your beginning.]
And then the light swallowed him.
He fell—not like gravity had taken him, but like space itself rejected his presence. Through stars, through layers of fractal time, through echoes of screams and laughter, until…
He opened his eyes to a sky of violet.
Grass—silver in color—rustled beside him.
He was lying in a field.
But it was not Earth.
Far above him, two moons hung in place, and an aurora that defied physics painted the sky with words he could barely understand.
His system interface appeared again.
[Welcome to Arkenstahl.]
[Hero Class Confirmed: Absolute System Invoker]
[Skill Tree: 1000 Unique | 20 Mystical | 50 Normal]
[Modifiers Active: Unlimited Experience | Unlimited Stamina]
[Level: 1/∞]
[Status: Safe Zone]
Katsuro sat up slowly, eyes wide.
So this was real. A new world. A god's plan. A system beyond reason. And a mission that could determine the fate of all creation.
His fingers trembled—not from fear, but from anticipation.
"I guess… this is it."
And far in the distance, a dark silhouette loomed beyond the horizon. A fortress of obsidian. The first sign of the Abyss.
And so, his journey began.