---
Chapter 1: The Shattered Sky
Kael groaned as consciousness dragged him back from the void.
Pain came first.
It spread through his body like fire beneath the skin—sharp, unrelenting, impossible to ignore. His fingers twitched weakly against the ground, brushing over rough dirt and splintered wood. Tiny fragments dug into his palm as he forced himself to move.
"…ugh…"
A strained breath escaped him.
Slowly, unsteadily, Kael pushed himself upright. His arms trembled, barely supporting his weight. His muscles screamed in protest, as if they had been torn apart and stitched back together.
The world swayed.
Then steadied.
And what he saw made his chest tighten.
Ruins.
Everywhere.
Broken trees lay scattered like fallen giants, their trunks twisted and torn apart as if something monstrous had ripped through them. Branches snapped like brittle bones. Leaves were coated in gray dust, stripped of life.
The air felt wrong.
Heavy.
Still.
Not even the wind moved.
Frayed ropes hung from shattered branches nearby, swaying faintly—not from wind, but from the lingering instability of the land itself. Dust lingered thick in the air, burning his throat with every breath.
"What the hell…" Kael rasped, coughing harshly.
"…What is going on?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
A suffocating, unnatural silence.
Then—
It returned.
The memory.
"That voice…" he whispered.
That morning had been normal.
Too normal.
He had been in the mountains near his village, gathering firewood beneath a calm sky. The sun had been warm. The wind had been gentle.
And then—
Everything stopped.
The sky darkened.
Not with clouds.
But with something deeper.
Something ancient.
And then the voice came.
Not heard.
Felt.
"From this day onward… the Age of Shattered Truth shall begin."
Kael's breath hitched.
"Those who slumber since ancient times shall awaken…"
His fingers clenched.
"And the laws of this world… shall wither into something new."
"No…" Kael muttered, shaking his head weakly. "That's not real…"
But it was.
Because he remembered what came after.
The sky—
shattered.
Cracks spread across it like glass breaking under pressure. Light bent unnaturally through those fractures, twisting the heavens into something alien.
Then came the meteors.
Fire rained from above.
The earth roared.
The mountains broke.
And then—
Darkness.
"I'm alive…" Kael whispered.
A faint glow flickered before his eyes.
Lines of light began forming in the air, weaving together into a translucent panel.
---
[System Notification]
Name: Kael Thorn
Race: Human
Rank: Mortal
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Level: 1
EXP: 0 / 10
HP: 50 / 50
---
[Attributes]
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Stamina: 5
Wisdom: 5
Spirit: 10
---
[Affinity]
• Dark
→ Enhances control over shadow, decay, and concealed energies.
→ Increases efficiency in low-light environments and reduces presence detection.
→ Grants higher compatibility with corruption, absorption, and destructive processes.
• Nature
→ Enhances vitality, growth, and regeneration.
→ Increases harmony with natural environments and living organisms.
→ Grants improved recovery, adaptability, and resistance to external factors.
---
[Talent]
Unification (Unique)
→ A rare and fundamental ability that allows the user to combine and merge different forms of energy and matter.
→ Enables the seamless integration of compatible elements while preserving their stability.
→ Grants the ability to maintain active connections with merged or linked targets, preventing natural separation.
→ Can be applied to living beings during early stages of development, allowing gradual assimilation or influence with reduced resistance.
→ Mastery increases the complexity, range, and permanence of unification.
---
[Skills]
Linking Lv.1 (Evolvable)
→ Allows the user to establish connections between objects and living beings.
→ Enables binding and partial merging of non-living objects.
→ Grants basic mental communication with linked living targets.
Appraisal Lv.1
→ Reveals basic information about targets.
→ Accuracy depends on level difference.
---
[Status]
Healthy
---
The panel shimmered faintly.
Kael stared at it, his heartbeat accelerating.
"…This… is real…"
Another notification appeared.
---
[System Notification]
Adaptation Period Initiated
Time Remaining: 6 Days 23 Hours 58 Minutes
---
[Main Quest]
Survive 7 Days & Reach Level 10
Reward: Unknown
Failure: Unknown
---
[Remark]
The Earth Spirit wishes all system holders rapid adaptation in this Age of Shattered Truth.
---
"…Seven days…" Kael exhaled slowly. "This is insane…"
Instinctively, he pulled out his phone.
Cracked.
Flickering.
"Come on…" he muttered, tapping quickly. "Just call… anyone…"
No signal.
He tried restarting it.
The screen froze.
Then—
Went black.
Dead.
Kael stared at it for a long moment.
"…Of course."
He slipped it back into his pocket.
"Guess it's just me now…"
His legs gave out.
He dropped heavily to the ground.
Crunch.
He froze.
Slowly, he looked down.
A small black insect lay crushed beneath his hand.
A faint notification appeared.
---
+0.01 EXP Gained
---
Kael blinked.
"…You're kidding…"
He focused.
"Appraisal."
A new panel formed.
---
[Appraisal Activated]
→ Target analysis initiated.
→ Displaying complete information.
---
[Target Information]
Name: Common Ant
Type: Insect (Mutating)
Rank: F
Level: 1
HP: 3 / 5
---
[Attributes]
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Stamina: 5
Wisdom: 4
Spirit: 4
---
[Mutation Stage]
→ Early Mutation
→ Initial exposure to foreign energy
→ Slight structural reinforcement of exoskeleton
---
[Traits]
• Basic Colony Instinct
→ Maintains instinctive coordination with nearby ants.
• Minor Strength Amplification
→ Capable of carrying slightly heavier loads than normal.
---
[Weakness]
→ Extremely fragile body
→ Limited individual intelligence
→ High dependence on swarm structure
---
[Status]
In Process of Mutation
---
Kael's expression slowly hardened.
"…Even ants…"
His gaze lifted.
The ruined world stretched endlessly before him.
Dust hung in the air like a veil.
Silence pressed down from all sides.
"…Everything is changing…"
A cold realization settled deep within him.
This wasn't just destruction.
This was evolution.
And whatever came next—
The silence didn't last.
At first, it was faint.
So faint Kael almost thought he imagined it.
A whisper.
A distant, low hum—like the world itself breathing.
He frowned slightly.
"…What is that…?"
The ground beneath him trembled.
Not violently.
Not like before.
But subtly.
Unnaturally.
As if something far larger than him was shifting… somewhere beyond sight.
Kael slowly pushed himself to his feet again. His legs still felt weak, but they held.
Barely.
Dust shifted under his boots as he steadied himself. The air felt heavier now, thicker—like it carried something unseen.
Something watching.
His eyes scanned the surroundings.
Broken forest.
Collapsed earth.
Jagged cracks ran across the ground like scars, some deep enough to swallow entire trees. Others glowed faintly from within, as if something beneath the surface pulsed with a dim, unnatural light.
"…This place…"
It wasn't just destroyed.
It was wrong.
Kael took a step forward.
Then another.
Each movement felt uncertain, as if the ground might betray him at any moment.
The silence returned again—but this time, it wasn't empty.
It was tense.
Waiting.
A faint breeze brushed past him.
Kael froze.
Wind.
Finally.
But something about it felt… off.
It didn't flow naturally.
It came in uneven bursts—short, sharp pulses, like the air itself was struggling to move.
The dust around him lifted slightly, swirling in slow, unnatural spirals before settling again.
"…Even the wind is broken…"
He swallowed.
Then he noticed something else.
The ground ahead… ended.
Not gradually.
Not with a slope.
It simply—
Stopped.
Kael slowed.
A strange unease crept into his chest as he approached. Each step felt heavier than the last, his instincts screaming at him to stop.
But he didn't.
He needed to see.
Carefully, he moved closer.
Closer.
Until—
He reached the edge.
And froze.
His breath caught in his throat.
"…What…"
There was no ground.
No continuation.
No valley.
Nothing.
Only sky.
Endless.
Vast.
Terrifying.
Clouds drifted far below him, slow and distant like a silent ocean. Sunlight broke through in scattered beams, illuminating patches of emptiness between them.
And beyond—
Floating land.
Kael's pupils trembled.
Massive chunks of earth hung suspended in the air, scattered across the sky like fragments of a broken world.
Some were small—barely large enough to hold a few trees.
Others—
Gigantic.
Entire forests clung to their surfaces, roots exposed along their edges like veins torn from the earth. Waterfalls spilled from some of them, streams pouring endlessly into the void below—vanishing into mist before ever reaching anything solid.
"…Floating… islands…?"
His voice barely came out.
In the distance, one of the larger landmasses shifted slightly.
Not falling.
Not drifting freely.
But… adjusting.
As if it existed within invisible boundaries.
Kael's breathing grew shallow.
"This isn't… possible…"
But it was happening.
Right in front of him.
He took an unconscious step back.
Pebbles slipped from the edge beneath his foot.
They fell.
Faster than they should.
Vanishing into the clouds below in seconds.
Kael's heart pounded.
"…Gravity…"
It wasn't normal.
It wasn't stable.
It was—
Different.
His gaze moved again, scanning the horizon.
More fragments.
Dozens.
No—
Hundreds.
The sky was filled with them.
A shattered world… suspended in layers.
And then—
His eyes dropped lower.
Through the drifting clouds.
Through the gaps of floating land.
Far below—
He saw it.
His village.
Or what remained of it.
Kael's entire body went still.
"…No…"
The familiar layout was gone.
The houses—
Destroyed.
Reduced to scattered debris and broken wood.
The small paths he used to walk every day—
Gone.
The fields where crops once grew—
Torn apart, buried beneath cracks and ash.
"…That's… my home…"
His voice trembled.
Nearby—
The town.
Once filled with life.
Noise.
People.
Now—
Nothing but ruins.
Collapsed buildings layered over each other like a graveyard of stone.
Smoke no longer rose.
No movement.
No sound.
"…Everyone…"
His fingers tightened at his sides.
His mind searched desperately.
For survivors.
For movement.
For anything.
But there was nothing.
Only stillness.
Only death.
"…No…"
A hollow feeling spread through his chest.
Heavy.
Cold.
Unavoidable.
For a moment—
He couldn't move.
Couldn't think.
The world felt distant.
Muted.
Like he was watching everything from far away.
"…It's gone…"
The words barely formed.
The weight of it pressed down on him.
Everything he knew.
Everything familiar.
Gone.
Not slowly.
Not over time.
But instantly.
Without warning.
His jaw tightened.
"…Damn it…"
His breathing grew uneven.
A mix of anger.
Fear.
And something deeper.
Something he didn't want to face.
But then—
Something shifted.
A sound.
Faint.
Far away.
Kael's head snapped up.
His eyes scanned the floating landmasses again.
There—
Movement.
On one of the distant islands.
Something large.
Too large to be human.
It moved along the edge of the landmass slowly… deliberately.
Even from this distance—
Kael felt it.
A presence.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
His instincts screamed.
Danger.
His body reacted before his mind could.
He stepped back.
Then another step.
"…I can't stay here…"
His voice was quiet.
But firm.
For the first time since waking—
There was clarity.
Fear alone wouldn't keep him alive.
Shock wouldn't help him survive.
If this world had changed—
Then he needed to change too.
Fast.
His eyes sharpened slightly.
The system.
Levels.
Skills.
That wasn't a coincidence.
It was a chance.
A system designed for survival.
"…Seven days…"
His gaze hardened.
"…Then I'll survive seven days."
His fists clenched.
"I don't care what this world has become…"
A slow breath filled his lungs.
Then released.
"I'll live."
The words weren't loud.
But they were steady.
Resolved.
Kael turned away from the edge.
The floating world remained behind him—vast, broken, and terrifying.
But no longer paralyzing.
Now—
It was a battlefield.
And he had just taken his first step into it.
Ahead of him—
The shattered forest stretched into the distance.
Dark.
Silent.
Unknown.
Kael took a step forward.
Then another.
This time—
There was no hesitation.
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