Late Morning - Early Summer : Richmond, Virginia | East Coast United States

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- Professor Jackson ~

"Good morning, class. Did you all have a good weekend?"

"""Yes!""" The young students all responded in unison.

"Haha, that's good to hear. Do you all remember what I said on Friday? We will be doing your mana sensitivity tests today! You all should be excited!"

I couldn't help but smile seeing the group of children, ranging from 9 to 12, excited to take their first steps into the world of magic.

-They are all quite talented this year as well...- "Alright, everyone, please gather your things and follow me! We will be moving to the testing facility in the building over."

Quickly picking up all their belongings, they formed a line and followed me into the hallway. -I wonder if any will unlock their system today...-

The year was 2579. Just over 554 years after the event that flipped the course of humanity on its head.

Starting in 2020, countless anomalies seemed to appear out of nowhere, ranging from fires and natural disasters to plagues, mass disappearances, and even stars in the night sky suddenly disappearing.

Many people even said it was a sign of the end, but no one listened.

However, just a few days after celebrating the New Year in 2025, the sky over the Atlantic Ocean split apart, and the body of a snake, almost a hundred meters in diameter, slipped out of it.

It was a creature far too large for science to explain how it could live, let alone move, and while the United States government attempted to hide its existence, the following months and years would come to alert everyone on Earth that something was wrong.

All around the world, monsters never seen on Earth were simply appearing out of nowhere, without any reason or care for location. -Entire populations of people were wiped out when some of the larger monsters happened to drop through a crack onto the center of a city.-

It was nothing short of an apocalypse for nearly 30 years. While modern munitions could still kill them, there was a limit to everything. Just as a 9mm pistol would struggle to kill a bear, a 50 cal would struggle to kill a creature bigger than a building with hide tougher than Kevlar.

The first 10 years of that hell were called the Rapture at the time but were later referred to as The Great Split.

Humanity's population dropped to 25% of its peak, and people had no choice but to walk on eggshells no matter what they did or where they were. After all, if they were unlucky, a monster the size of the Statue of Liberty could just fall onto their head.

But as humans do, they prevailed.

Around 10 years after the first Crack, a young, pointy-eared man was found fighting monsters several times his size with a simple sword.

It was the first appearance of a System Mercenary on Earth. A group of sentient beings said to travel between worlds to kill monsters and get stronger.

At the time, no one knew how that came and went or what their real purpose was, but over the following years, people among those who disappeared just before The Great Split started to return as System Mercenaries themselves, and along with them came the rebound of humanity, with the main contributor being the discovery of a new energy.

Mana.

It was an energy The Split brought with it, but it wasn't until the lucky few to become Mercenaries returned that it was even discovered.

It was an energy you could not feel without having experienced it, but nonetheless, it made humans look like cavemen who hadn't discovered fire. -It makes me wonder how humanity even survived as long as it did...-

*Click* Opening the door to the testing facility, we quickly winded our way through the halls and eventually made it to a large room with dozens of seats and a row of 6 tubes at the front.

"Everyone, have a seat. We will be testing in order by name, so numbers 1 through 6, please come up to the front."

At the front of the white tile room were two armored men and a young woman in a medical gown.

The young woman was quick to get started. "As I'm sure you all have heard, you will begin your mana sensitivity test today. Before you step into the testing tubes, you will be provided a mask and headphones; once they are securely on, we will close up the tube and force mana to flow through your body. When you feel it, give us a thumbs up, and we will slow the flow to give you a chance to control it." She paused as she looked over the students with a smile. "While I don't think we will have any issues, the test doesn't end until there is resistance on the flow, so while lying will do you no good, be proactive when you feel it, okay?"

The students immediately nodded, half excited and half starting to get nervous.

But, of course, there was nothing to worry about.

The testing went extremely smoothly, with a majority of students having above-average sensitivity and one half-elf who was especially sensitive, going as far as setting a new record for this facility and awakening her system.

-But we only have a few left... It's a shame that only one of them unlocked their systems, but they are all quite talented, so I have no reason to worry.- I wore a smile looking over the students happily talking about what it felt like in the mana chamber.

But my expression quickly shifted when I noticed the half-elf girl, Siv, wearing a look of worry. -Hm?-

I quickly set down my things and walked over to talk to her to avoid drawing attention.

"T-teacher?" She sounded extremely on edge.

-It doesn't seem like she's having any aftereffects from the mana...- I quickly kneeled next to her. "What is it, Siv? Are you alright?"

She nervously glanced to the side. "I-is the system supposed to be like this?"

-Huh?- I wasn't following. "What do you mean?"

"It's.. super distorted.. with a big red word in the middle."

-A big red word?- Wanting to see if I could figure out what was happening, I also opened up my system. -System Open.-

But I was immediately presented with an extremely distorted and glitching system window, with a new panel in its center.

-Huh?- A knot of anxiety formed in my chest the moment I saw it. After all, the system we believed to be perfect was glitching in such an extreme fashion while displaying a barely readable warning.

Simply calling it a bad omen didn't do it justice.

"Siv, please close your system for now, okay? Just wave your hand through the panel." Seeing her nod and wave her hand, I hopped up and darted into the control room. "Turn off the testing machines!"

The group of scientists in the room all gave me weird looks. "Professor, everything looks fine on our-"

"I will take responsibility for everything. JUST TURN IT OFF! NOW!"

But I was too late.

*VWOOOOOM* Before we could do anything, a mana wave so large it made me lose my senses blasted through us, instantly ripping every ounce of mana out of our bodies and sending everyone to the ground in pain.

"AGH! Huek!" The next thing I knew, I was throwing up blood with vision so blurred I could only see a flickering red from the flashing lights reflecting off the blood-covered ground. -Shit... I need.. to check on.. the students...-

In a panic, I tried to crawl back to the door of the room.

But there was only so much that pure adrenaline and willpower could do. *thump*

*Beep* "U̵̺̕s̶̮̞̈̈3̴̞͋ṙ̴̠ ̶̋̀ͅh̵̟̀̓͜4̶̮̓̀ͅs̶͙̰͝ ̷̰̅͝f̶͓̂4̸̛͈͜ĺ̵̙̼1̸̘͂e̷̳̎n̵̯͂ ̶̤̉ũ̵̦̥͂n̸͚̄̓ç̴̨̚0̶̱͗͋ń̴̰̥̚s̴͍͓͐͠c̴͔̎̿i̵̯̐̅o̵̬̠̒u̸̝̚s̷̛͔̀.̵̠͗̅ͅ"

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- Evren (Evren Lestir) ~

-W..what?- My mind was put into a fog the moment the System teleported me, but they slowly started to heighten as time passed.

Typically, I was never teleporting for more than a fraction of a second, but this one felt like an eternity. -Just how far was I from Earth...-

*Ding* *Ding* The pinging of panels steadily became more frequent the longer I was being teleported, but I couldn't read any of them.

After a moment, I thought about muting it, but I quickly changed my mind after considering the situation.

-I should probably listen to them in case something happened...- "S-ystem Read Panels..." My voice was a tad strained because my body felt like it was being held in place by an unfathomable force, but regardless, the System updated.

*Beep-Beep* "Setting Changed. Attempting Connection to Server 141-A81-B5, 'Earth'..."

-Earth? Did Earth become a server world?- Servers worlds were things I actually knew about, although my memory was a bit distant since I hadn't seen one since my 1,000th world when all my missions switched from continental to planetary scale.

Typically being planets with advanced intelligent life, server worlds were hubs for the System. They were worlds where all sentient life had access to a system similar to mine, except sometimes using levels instead of upgrades.

However, contrary to what most would think, even with the System, those societies were in shambles, bathing in the glory of what they used to be.

Entire kingdoms and cities that stretched to the horizon were all abandoned and left to rot. Long-since decayed skeletons of families, royalty and peasants alike, filled the streets; the commonality between all of them?

They were ripped apart by monsters.

-If Earth followed a similar fate.. then the ability to return is just to bring back the torment... It would mean this truly is.. hell...-

But as my mind slowly started to numb itself once again, the voice of the System met my ears.

*Beep* "Connection Impossible. System Versions Incompatible"

*Beep* "Attempting Connection to Main Server..."

*Beep* "Ping out of reach. Attempting Connection Via Relay... Connected"

*Beep* "Attempting Synchronization."

The sequence of pings only brought confusion. -W..what? What is it doing?-

*BEEP* A deafening beep cut my thoughts short. "Outdated System detected. Beginning system Update and Verification..."

*BEEP* "SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED! Update Impossible. Attempting to REPAIR."

I could hardly follow what was happening, but I was made acutely aware just a moment later.

*BEEP-BEEP* "CRITICAL ERROR OCCURRED. Attempting System Wipe..."

-S-SYSTEM WIPE?!- "S-SHIT! SYSTEM CANCEL!" In a flurry of panic, I tried to get the System to stop.

But it didn't care. "Attempting to Force Wipe Inventory, Gear, and Upgrades... Reallocating System Resources. Halting Unnecessary Systems."

After 500 years of destroying everything from monsters the size of cities to entire civilizations and planets, I had become nothing short of a monster.

But having been detached from any source of humanity for so long, it had become a source of pride. "I DESTROYED WORLDS FOR THAT SHIT! LIKE HELL, I WILL LET YOU TAKE IT AWAY!"

I immediately tried to force my way out of the impossibly heavy space I was in, but I hardly managed to do anything before the System spoke again.

*Beep* "49,729,125,437 items removed from Gear and Inventory... Proceeding to Upgrades. . ."

Hearing that it was already happening, my mind went blank.

I was forced to bend to the will of the System. Even if I broke out of the teleportation, the chance that I could do anything to stop the System was essentially 0.

At least, that was the case back then.

*Beep* "Releasing User's Mana reserved for Upgrades... Restrictions Undone."

*VWOOOOOOM* An unfathomable amount of energy exploded out from my body instantaneously, causing an unbelievably detailed image to appear in my mind. One not only of myself but also of the inside of the sphere I was trapped in and everything in the air around me, down to the microscopic microbes.

*BEEP* "CRITICAL WARNING."

-

*CRACK-VWOOOOM* A deafening crack met my ears as the black sphere around me started to break apart, and a thin but fresh air caressed my face.

The feeling of the cool, humid breeze was a sensation I had long since forgotten about, and when combined with a view from the top of a mountain ridge, looking over an endless green forest, I was quickly distracted from what the System was saying.

The immense energy continuing to pour out of my body caused my senses to heighten to an insane degree, letting me count the feathers on a bird several kilometers away, hear every noise within hundreds of meters, and feel the tremors of a squirrel burying an acorn a dozen meters behind me.

Had I not experienced such insanely sensitive senses when activating specific upgrades in the past, I most certainly would have lost my mind.

But my mind was calm as a morning lake, even while processing and filtering through the tremendous amount of information.

Before I knew it, I was on the verge of tears.

Memories of a time I believed I had forgotten came flooding back.

Memories of standing on a mountain ridge just like this, looking out toward the horizon while holding my father's hand.

-I'm really.. home...-