The world felt cold. That was the first thing Aaryan noticed.
"What... happened to me?" he whispered, his voice cracking like dry parchment. His memory was a blurred mess of gray concrete and a whistling wind. He remembered the edge. He remembered the 10th floor. He remembered the feeling of gravity finally claiming him. He should be a broken mess on the pavement right now.
Instead, he was standing. But he wasn't alone. Floating in the dim light of the alleyway was a translucent, glowing blue rectangle.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
"Am I alive?" Aaryan reached out, his fingers trembling as they passed right through the light. "Is this a dream? A hallucination caused by the impact?"
He waited for the pain to hit, but it never came. He felt lighter, as if the weight of the world had momentarily forgotten he existed. "Ha... I think I'm finally free from this world," he muttered with a hollow laugh. But as he looked at his hands, they were solid. The ground beneath his feet was real.
He walked out of the alley. People passed by him—salarymen rushing to the station, students laughing about their exams. Not one of them looked at him. To them, Aaryan was a ghost, a flicker of dust in the wind.
"Nothing has changed," he thought, a familiar bitterness rising in his throat. "Even after jumping, I'm still the Invisible Boy." He checked a nearby clock. Panic flared. "I'm late for dinner. If I don't go home now, the one person who actually sees me—Mom—will worry."
THE HOME LIFE
Aaryan pushed open the door to his small apartment. The smell of spices and home-cooked dal hit him, a sharp contrast to the cold air of the 10th-floor rooftop.
His mother, Kavita, stood by the stove. She looked tired; her eyes had the permanent shadows of someone who worked too hard for too little. When she saw him, she didn't see a "God" or a "System User." She just saw her son.
"Aaryan! I was getting worried," she said, wiping her hands on her apron. "Sorry, Mom," Aaryan looked down at his shoes. "I just... got lost in thought. I'm late coming home."
"It's okay, beta. Now come and eat before it gets cold."
Dinner was quiet. Aaryan watched his mother and his sister. They were his only anchors in this world. While they ate, he felt like a fraud. How could he tell them he had just tried to end it all? How could he tell them about the glowing box hovering near the salt shaker that only he could see?
THE SYSTEM'S REVELATION
Later, lying in the darkness of his bedroom, Aaryan stared at the ceiling. The blue screen was still there, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
"Why do I even exist?" he asked the empty room. "I am like the floor—everyone walks on me. Others are like the rooftop, seeing the sun, being noticed."
[SYSTEM: THIS IS A SYSTEM DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU, AARYAN.]
Aaryan sat up fast, his heart hammering. "So it wasn't a dream. I saw you while I was falling, didn't I?"
[CONFIRMED.]
"What are you? What are your abilities?" Aaryan's mind raced. He had read enough manga to know what this was, but reality felt much heavier than paper.
[ANSWER: I DO NOT HAVE POWER OF MY OWN. HOWEVER, YOU CAN EARN 'SC COINS.' WITH THESE COINS, YOU CAN PURCHASE ANYTHING WITHIN THE MULTIVERSE DATA-BANK.]
Aaryan's breath caught. "Anything? Like... super powers? Magic?" He laughed nervously. "I know that's impossible, but—"
[YES. YOU CAN PURCHASE THEM.]
Aaryan stared at the screen, his mouth hanging open. "🤯 You're joking, right? This is a prank."
[THE SYSTEM DOES NOT JOKE. EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE.]
"So... how do I get these coins?" Aaryan asked, his voice low and serious. He knew nothing in life was free. "I have to do something difficult, don't I? More than I can imagine?"
[YOU MUST IMPROVE YOURSELF. OR COMPLETE QUESTS.]
Aaryan felt a spark of something he hadn't felt in years: hope. "So, if I improve, I get coins? If I complete your tasks, I get power?"
[YES. YOU ARE CORRECT.]
Aaryan looked at his thin arms and the reflection of his plain, tired face in the window. "Okay. Then I start tomorrow."
THE FIRST QUEST
The next morning, the sun hadn't even fully risen when the blue screen woke him up.
[DAILY QUEST: THE PATH TO STRENGTH]
100 Push-ups
100 Pull-ups
100 Squats
REWARD: 5 SC COINS
"Are you serious?" Aaryan groaned. He could barely do ten push-ups in gym class. But he thought of the 10th floor. He thought of being invisible. He started.
One hour later, Aaryan was collapsed on his floor, drenched in sweat. His lungs burned, and his muscles felt like they were on fire. But then, a chime rang in his head.
[QUEST COMPLETED. 5 SC COINS AWARDED.]
He immediately opened the System's shop. His eyes scanned the list until they stopped on a name that made his blood run cold with excitement. Kiyotaka Ayanokōji. The masterpiece of the White Room. The man who was truly invisible because he chose to be, not because he was weak.
"I can buy his abilities? His intelligence? His stoic personality?"
[PURCHASE: AYANOKŌJI PERSONALITY FRAGMENT (TIER 1) - COST: 6 SC COINS.]
"Six coins..." Aaryan gripped his bedsheet. "I'm only one coin short."
"Aaryan! You're going to be late for school! Hurry up!" his mother shouted from the kitchen.
"Coming, Mom!"
CLASSROOM OF THE ELITE
Walking into AKPS, the school felt the same, but Aaryan felt different. He had a secret. In his mind, he wasn't just a Class 10 student anymore. He was a player in a game no one else knew was happening.
"Once I get that personality... I'll never be hurt again," he thought as he walked to his desk. "No one will notice me, but this time, it will be my choice. I'll be the one in control."
The bell rang—a loud, jarring sound that usually signaled the start of a boring day.
[NEW QUEST: THE REACTION TEST] [OBJECTIVE: REACH YOUR CLASSROOM IN 2 MINUTES.] [WARNING: LATE ARRIVAL WILL RESULT IN STAT DECREASE.]
"What?!" Aaryan looked at the crowded hallway. The classroom was on the other side of the building. "What is happening?!"
He took off running, weaving through the students like a shadow, his heart pounding with the first real adrenaline he had felt in years. The "Invisible Boy" was starting to move.