[Character Profile]
★★★
[Name: Aiden Valero]
[Age: 17]
[Gender: Male]
[Origin: Earth]
[Class: Wishbound]
[Rank: Unranked]
[Alignment: Unregistered]
★★★
[Attributes]
[Physique: 7]
[Mind: 10]
[Essence: 2]
[Recovery: 4]
★★★
[Class Insight: Wishbound]
[A unique class tied to the latent power of desire and unrealized potential. Its strength grows not through conquest, but through the choices of others. Power manifests by the will of the people. The class has a hidden curse that users must avoid triggering.]
★★★
The windows lined his vision, obstructing his view of the living room. Aiden furrowed his brows as he tried to make sense of them. After a moment or two, he realized this was his Status, showing him information about himself.
"Wait, it says here that I'm Wishbound. Does that mean I have to fulfill other people's wishes?" Aiden questioned. "Did that man make me his apprentice or replacement?"
This was a nightmare.
Aiden wished to stop existing because he loathed others. And now, he was expected to grant them wishes? The only wishes he was willing to grant were putting an end to their misery.
Aiden stared at his attributes, which showed the status of his current body. The first two made sense, and he could figure out the fourth. However, he had no idea what Essence was. It must be something related to this world, he realized.
There were more things he didn't understand, like ranks or alignment, but he guessed those were for later use. He closed his status menu and opened the next one.
★ [Desire Meters] ★
Four meters appeared in front of him, each with varying values. One of them was blinking with a violet light, with warning signs flashing over it.
[BOND: 1%]
[Description: Wishes that connect, heal, and strengthen relationships between people.]
★★★
[RISE: 0%]
[Description: Wishes for power, success, achievement, and personal advancement.]
★★★
[RIFT: 11%]
[Description: Wishes that break rules, defy logic, and fracture the natural order.]
★★★
[VOID: 99%]
[Description: Wishes to remove, destroy, or erase unwanted elements from existence.]
[APPROACHING MAXIMUM THRESHOLD!]
"Do these meters depend on what kind of wishes I grant?" Aiden muttered. "If so, then my wish has caused the void meter to spike."
Aiden noticed something different about the void meter. It had a more solid window than the rest. This made him think it was clickable, which he did—and a new window appeared.
[VOID Meter: 100% Consequences]
[Effects: Reaching 100%: Unlocks "Perfect Erasure" - eliminate anything from reality and memory.]
[Consequences: Nihilistic tendencies, reality decay, existential void expansion.]
"Oh, that's bad, bad," Aiden muttered. "I'm only one percentage away from reaching that… let's hope I can lower it somehow."
Then, Aiden remembered that there was an exchange menu.
★ [Exchange] ★
Three rows appeared.
[Ability Upgrades]
[Constraint Upgrades]
[Interface Upgrades]
Aiden accessed the first.
Five separate windows appeared at the same time.
★★★
[Gale Stride]
[Passive Skill: Increases movement speed, allowing faster travel and evasion.]
[Cost: 12 RISE + 8 RIFT]
[Requirement: Physique ≥ 12]
[Linked Stat: Physique]
[Status: LOCKED]
★★★
[Mendwell]
[Active Skill: Restores a moderate amount of health over time to self or allies.]
[Cost: 18 BOND + 15 RISE]
[Requirement: Recovery ≥ 12]
[Linked Stat: Recovery]
[Status: LOCKED]
★★★
[Mindlash]
[Active Skill: Deals magical damage and briefly disrupts enemy focus.]
[Cost: 20 RIFT + 18 VOID]
[Requirement: Mind ≥ 15]
[Linked Stat: Mind]
[Status: LOCKED]
★★★
[Emberflame]
[Active Skill: Ignites a flame, causing fire damage and illuminating surroundings.]
[Cost: 22 RISE + 20 VOID]
[Requirement: Essence ≥ 14]
[Linked Stat: Essence]
[Status: LOCKED]
★★★
[Soulbind]
[Active Skill: Links health and spirit with an ally, sharing damage and boosting both.]
[Cost: 30 BOND + 25 RIFT + 25 RISE + 25 VOID]
[Requirement: Physique ≥ 14, Recovery ≥ 14, Mind ≥ 14, Essence ≥ 14, Bond Affinity ≥ 20%]
[Linked Stat: Bond]
[Status: LOCKED]
"Are these… magical abilities?" Aiden muttered. "Am I a wizard now?"
Aiden read through each of them. They didn't give him laser-beam eyes, but they were useful and gave him an advantage if a monster appeared.
He didn't want to be defeated by another rabbit.
Aiden noticed that all of them were locked. If he wanted to obtain them, he would need to raise his stats to fit the requirements. He sighed and returned to the other menus, which happened with a thought.
[Constraint Upgrades]
[?????]
[?????]
[Cost: 0 BOND + 0 RIFT + 0 RISE + 0 VOID]
[Requirement: Unknown]
[Linked Stat: Unknown]
[Status: LOCKED]
"Um, I'll pretend that didn't freak me out."
Aiden closed it and then opened the Interface Upgrades.
[Wishbound Upgrade]
[System Upgrade: Enhances the core Wishbound interface, unlocking deeper layers of power and perception. Fueled by every type of desire.]
[Cost: 100 BOND + 100 RIFT + 100 RISE + 100 VOID]
[Requirement: All Attributes ≥ 100, Affinity Balance Required]
[Linked Stat: N/A — System-Level Upgrade]
[Status: LOCKED]
"Is this an upgrade to this entire thing?" Aiden muttered with a raised brow. "That makes it seem like this is a machine. Do I have an implant in my mind now?"
Aiden closed it and didn't think about it. He returned to the last menu, which he dreaded the most.
★ [Wish Log] ★
"This sounds like a curse."
Aiden opened it.
He found a single entry.
[Desire Fragment: Rabbit Jack]
[Type: BOND]
["I just hope my brother is safe—somewhere out there."]
[Reward: +10 BOND, unlocks minor protective charm tied to sibling bond]
[Failure: TERMINATION OF CHARACTER: Aiden Valero.]
[Time Limit: 1 year to fulfill the wish before failure triggers.]
"Pardon me?" Aiden blinked. "Termination… of who? Me?"
Aiden had to recheck the windows twice. He read every line before he sat there, feeling a little dizzy. Although he wished to never exist, it was still a little sudden to be terminated after coming to a new world.
At least, Aiden wanted to explore a little.
"This can't be right. Am I not allowed to reject wishes?"
[You have uncovered the hidden curse for the class Wishbound.]
[Hidden Curse: Slave of Dreams.]
[Slave of Dreams: Any wishes registered by the Wishbound System must be fulfilled, or they would result in termination of the system and user.]
Aiden gulped as he read the screens.
This new power now felt like a collar around his neck.
At that moment, the door swung open, and Jack—a name that Aiden learned from the system—returned, carrying a large wild boar on his back. Aiden looked at the man.
"I hope you didn't eat anything here," Jack said with a frown. "I don't tend to the sick."
"Um, sir," Aiden muttered. "Can I know your name?"
"My name? Jack. People call me Rabbit Jack, for obvious reasons."
"Oh, shit."
"What's that?"
"Nothing."
Aiden swallowed hard.
The system knew his name.
This system existed outside of Aiden's knowledge and capabilities. If it could even know other people's names, it must have some level of authority over this world—which meant it could kill Aiden with a thought.
"Seriously, tell me if you ate something bad," Jack said after throwing the large boar on the cutting table. "You look like rabbit shit."
"I'm fine," Aiden said. "I just… feel a little unwell. Forget about that… tell me more about your brother—as much as you remember."
Jack looked at Aiden like he was a lunatic but didn't mind the company he offered. The hunter began skinning and draining his prey of blood while telling Aiden more about his brother.
As he listened to the information, Aiden realized that he had been thrown into a world of unknown dangers, beginning with the edge of the world. And if Aiden had any desire to explore this world, or find the wish master who cursed him with this fate, he would have to become…
A Slave of Dreams.