Winston stared at the glowing pendant. Its faint pulse was like the ticking of a countdown clock, and he couldn't help but feel that something in the universe was waiting for him to decide. His legs were jelly, his breath short. Outside the cave, the world had devolved into chaos. And in his hands—this heirloom, this relic of family pride that once hung on his grandfather's chest like a badge of honor—sat glowing like the embers of a sleeping dragon.
He swallowed hard.
This was not the kind of moment he had ever envisioned for himself. He wasn't a chosen one. He wasn't the protagonist of some anime, where systems fall from the sky or gods gift cheat codes to bored teenagers. He was just Winston. Seventeen. With a slight caffeine addiction and an unhealthy obsession with nature documentaries.
And yet, here he was. Stuck in a cave. Rat monsters outside. A wolf pup inside. No exit strategy.
He clutched the pendant tight.
Why did it save him during the bear attack? What triggered it? Why not when that demonic rat almost burned his eyebrows off with acid?
He thought back—to that moment with the bear. He hadn't run. He had tried to protect Liam. He had chosen someone else's safety over his own. Could it be... the pendant responded to sacrifice? To intent?
"That's stupid, even the universe is not stupid enough to reward those who literally try to offer themselves to certain death", He at the thought shivered.
'or may be it is like an exchange, pay a prize and get something in return, I tried to save life and I got saved ' he pondered.
But he didn't have anything to offer. He wasn't a hero. He had no money. No sword. No ancient bloodline or divine lineage. All he had was a half-dirty hoodie, sore legs, and a lot of panic.
The pup stirred. Its soft, rhythmic breathing was like a metronome of vulnerability.
He clenched the pendant harder.
"Alright," he whispered. "If it takes sacrifice... then take something. Anything. Just help me survive."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the pendant flared. A blinding white light filled the cave, a pulse that went out in all directions . He felt warmth rise in his chest, followed by a piercing cold, as if someone had reached in and tugged at his very soul.
And then—emptiness.
It wasn't pain, but it wasn't pleasant either. Like something had been quietly stolen when he wasn't looking.
He could feel it, a hole that was not there before in his consciousness.
He lost something, something very important. And the worst part was he could not find what he lost no matter how hard he tried.
He gasped and staggered, his back hitting the cave wall.
A blue light greeted him then he read.
[SYSTEM INITIATING ...]
[LINKING ENTITY: The PENDRAGON PENDANT...]
[INITIATING THE PENDRAGON SYSTEM]
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST. WELCOME TO THE ABILITY OF UNIVERSE .]
[DESCRIPTION: Every thing has a cost, greator the reward, more the cost to pay]
The words appeared mid-air, glowing like neon script. Winston blinked, dazed.
Winston did not know whether to cry in pain or laugh with joy, he asked for a system and he got one but how will it even help him survive this deadly forest. He wanted something O.P. even if it was for limited time. He just wanted to go to a safe place.
'where are those human settlements, what if I don't find any on this planet, no I can't think like that, I need to be positive or I will go crazy'.
He looked down at the pendant. It had stopped glowing. Now, it looked almost ordinary. But something inside him had changed. He could feel it. Like a door had opened inside his mind.
He tried to remember what exactly he had given up.
But there was... nothing. A blank spot. A hole in his memory he couldn't patch.
"No. No no no," he muttered. "What did you take?"
[UNKNOWN TRAIT LOST. RECORD BLOCKED BY SYSTEM.]
[SUGGESTION: HOST ADAPT TO CURRENT CONDITIONS. SYSTEM LEVELING COMMENCES ON EXPERIENCE GAIN.]
[CURRENT STATUS:]
NAME: WINSTON GRACE
CLASS: COMMONER
LEVEL: 1
CURRENT SATS:
STRENGTH: 4
AGILITY: 6
STAMINA: 5
FORTITUDE:1
[EXP: 0/20]
Winston leaned back against the stone wall, eyes wide.
"Okay... breathe," he told himself. "You didn't die. You have a system now. And probably a traumatic hole in your soul. "
He glanced over at the wolf pup again, which had opened its violet eyes and was now watching him like he had grown another head.
He then eyed the beats cores laying beside the cub and smiled.
"Maybe I can get something from the system in exchange" Winston mused.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Far away, beneath a sky swallowed by eternal dusk, a citadel of obsidian loomed like a forgotten wound in the land. Towers twisted toward the heavens as if trying to strangle the stars. Thunder cracked, yet there was no rain. Only silence... and fear.
Inside the citadel, a vast throne room carved from black stone.
The air was thick—oppressive. Shadows clung unnaturally to the walls, crawling, shifting, alive. And at the center of it all sat a figure upon a throne of bones and darksteel.
Not man.
Not beast.
Something in between, and beyond.
His face was almost human—too perfect, too symmetrical, like a statue carved by a mad god obsessed with beauty and fear. His eyes were pits of endless black, no iris, no soul. Just gravity. A perfection so flawless it disturbed the eye, it was too perfect that made it scary. None dared to meet his gaze. His very presence was like standing at the edge of a bottomless pit.
He sat with elegant stillness, yet the entire hall felt on the verge of collapse from the weight of his aura. His cloak was not fabric, but moving shadow, wrapping around him like loyal hounds. Even the torches dared not flicker near him.
Around him, armored figures knelt—warped creatures in humanoid shape, cloaked in darkness and fear. Silent. Trembling. Waiting.
Then—he moved.
His fingers flexed.
And a voice, cold as a blade said:
"It's back…" he smiled, appearing like a personification of the devil.
"After a thousand years of silence… he dares use it again."
The subordinates flinched. One dared to raise his head slightly. "My Lord… could it truly be—"
"The Pendragon's heirloom," the dark one cut in, voice like velvet soaked in venom. "The artifact that cursed my reign. The relic he thought could never be touched again..."
He rose from the throne, and the ground beneath cracked—the shadows recoiled in ecstasy, like worshippers sensing their god's movement.
"He hid it in the shell of another world. Thought it would rot with time. But fate… is a funny, little traitor."
He stepped forward. The hall darkened further. Time itself seemed to hesitate.
"Send the Hellhound " he said, each syllable echoing like thunder in the minds of his followers. "The game begins anew."
Then—he laughed.
Like thunder, that could make a any man's heart stop, it echoed in the room and beyond and thunder cracked as if the sky itself feared, and he accidentally released just a fraction of his aura which made the people feel as if the weight of the universe fell on them, the stones and the castle itself trembled.