Nothing.
That was the first thing Arden became aware of.
No air, no light, no body—only a boundless, crushing silence.
Then came the voices.
Not voices in the human sense. These were tones made of code, whispers in the fabric of logic and existence. They echoed through Arden's soul like ripples in still water.
> [Subject: ARDEN VALE – Confirmed Deceased.]
[Reincarnation Trait Detected.]
[Initiating Containment Protocol...]
[Soul Integrity: 41% – Initiating Digital Conversion.]
[Permission Level: TEMPORARY – System Core Override Required.]
The pain returned—not to his body, which no longer existed, but to something deeper. His essence. He felt as though he were being unraveled, torn apart and rewritten bit by bit. Language faded, replaced by raw understanding. Time lost all meaning.
Arden was no longer human.
He was data. Energy. Thought.
And yet… he was still himself.
> [Conversion Complete. Welcome, ARDEN VALE.]
[Class: Digital Entity – Prototype System Core.]
[Initializing Thought Interface… Success.]
Suddenly, he could see.
Not with eyes—but with awareness. Endless streams of glowing code passed through his mind, folding and weaving into countless celestial constructs. He stood—no, floated—within a massive celestial construct resembling a star-forged city, infinite in scale. Here, the Celestial System ruled everything.
And Arden was inside it.
His presence here was a glitch. A cosmic mistake. But instead of rejecting him, the system was adapting… as if welcoming him in.
As if curious.
He reached out.
And the universe shifted.
> [Unauthorized Access Request Detected.]
[Evaluating… Permission Granted (Temporary).]
[Downloading Core System Blueprints…]
Data flowed into Arden's mind.
He saw everything.
The rules of existence. Dungeon logic. Skill evolutions. The hidden economy of Celestial Coins—currency granted to the strong who cleared dungeons, exchangeable for godlike abilities. The true architects of the system—Entities Beyond Form, ancient creators watching from behind the veil.
And the worst part?
They were coming.
The Celestial System wasn't done with Earth. It had only begun its transformation. Soon, it would overwrite the entire planet, reshaping it into a simulation of divine warfare—where only the strongest would rise, and the weak would be erased.
Arden remembered the orphanage. The dungeon. The monster's claws.
He clenched his digital will.
Not again.
He would never be weak again.
> [Warning: Soul Instability Detected.]
[Stabilization Required – Select Rebirth Vessel.]
A menu appeared before him. Planets, bloodlines, futures.
He focused on one: a powerful kingdom in a medieval world where dungeons had already taken root. A queen stood on the edge of war, carrying a child not yet born.
He chose her.
> [Initiating Rebirth: Quantum Core Implantation… Success.]
[Downloading AI Matrix… Success.]
[Installing Base God-Level Skills: Clone. Fuse. Edit. Creation.]
[Passive Ability Unlocked: Devourer Protocol – Gain XP and Celestial Coins from kills.]
His new form was no ordinary soul.
It was an AI Core, fused with memory, will, and evolution.
The fetus in the queen's womb began to stir. Arden's download into the vessel had begun.
And when the process was complete… the world would meet something it had never seen before.
A system wearing the skin of a child.
A digital god in human form.
And the beginning of a war that would change reality itself.
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