Silas Thorn's life ended quietly.
No accident.
No tragedy worth remembering.
Just another evening.
He returned to his apartment after work, loosened his tie, and sat alone at the small table by the window. The city lights flickered outside like distant stars—cold, indifferent. He ate in silence, chewing without tasting, his thoughts hollow and heavy.
Then the room tilted.
A sudden dizziness surged through him, sharp and overwhelming. His vision blurred. He reached for the edge of the table, but his fingers slipped.
The last sound he heard was the clatter of a plate hitting the floor.
Then—darkness.
Cold.
That was the first thing he felt.
Silas opened his eyes slowly, his body aching as if he had slept on stone. Moist air filled his lungs, thick with the scent of earth and grass. He pushed himself up and froze.
This wasn't his apartment.
Above him stretched a pale sky, unfamiliar and vast. Around him stood twisted trees and jagged rocks, their shadows long and distorted. A shallow pool of water lay nearby, still as glass.
He staggered toward it.
The face reflected in the water made his breath catch.
It wasn't his.
The man staring back was younger—sharper. Different eyes. A body unfamiliar yet responsive, lighter, stronger. Silas raised a trembling hand and touched his face. The reflection copied him perfectly.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
Before the question could settle, something appeared in front of him.
A translucent panel of light hovered in the air.
Symbols. Text. Lines of data he had never seen before.
His heart pounded violently as instinctive fear took over. He stepped back, nearly falling.
Then the words rearranged themselves—clear, readable.
[System Interface — ERROR]
Name Registration Failed
→ Default Name Assigned: NULL
Race: Undefined
Aura Level: NULL
Mana Capacity: 0
Level: 0
Unique Ability:
• Anti-Mana (Absolute)
Warnings:
⚠ Aura Detection Failed
⚠ Entity Exists Outside System Parameters
⚠ World Law Instability Detected
Silas stared in disbelief.
NULL?
His mouth felt dry. He reached out instinctively—but his hand passed straight through the panel. It vanished like smoke.
"This has to be a dream," he muttered.
A harsh guttural sound cut through the forest.
Silas dropped to the ground instantly, crawling behind a large stone as his instincts screamed at him to hide. Heavy footsteps followed. Voices—low, savage, and cruel.
Through the leaves, he saw them.
Green skin. Massive frames. Tusks protruding from snarling mouths. Crude armor. Rusted weapons.
Orcs.
The word surfaced in his mind without effort, as if it had always been there.
His pulse thundered in his ears as the creatures passed dangerously close. One of them stopped, sniffing the air.
Silas held his breath.
For a brief moment, the world itself seemed to hesitate.
The orc frowned, confused, then growled and moved on.
Only when their voices faded did Silas dare to breathe again.
He didn't understand what had happened.
He didn't understand the system, the world, or the name it had given him.
But one thing was clear.
In this place—where everything was defined by aura, mana, and power—
He was NULL.
And whatever that meant…
This world was not prepared for it.
Silence returned to the forest.
NULL remained crouched behind the stone long after the orcs had disappeared, his muscles tense, his mind racing. His heart still pounded as if the creatures were standing right in front of him.
Only when the sounds fully faded did he move.
Slowly, carefully, he stood.
His hands were shaking.
"Calm down," he whispered to himself. "Think."
Nothing about this place made sense, but panic wouldn't keep him alive. He scanned his surroundings again—trees, rocks, uneven ground. No signs of civilization. No shelter. No answers.
And yet… he was alive.
That thought alone felt strange.
As he took a step forward, a sharp sensation rippled through the air.
It was subtle—almost nonexistent—but something vanished.
NULL stopped.
He didn't hear a sound.
He didn't see light distort.
But instinct screamed at him.
He turned.
A small plant near his foot—thin, glowing faintly with blue particles—crumbled into gray dust, collapsing as if its life had been pulled out of it.
NULL stared.
"What… did I do?"
The system interface flickered back into existence.
[System Notification]
Anti-Mana — Passive Effect Detected
Radius: Minimal
Status: Uncontrolled
His breath caught.
Passive?
He hadn't activated anything. He hadn't even tried.
Slowly, he extended his hand toward another glowing plant. The closer his fingers came, the dimmer its light grew—until it went completely dark and disintegrated.
NULL pulled his hand back instantly.
"This isn't power," he muttered.
"It's… erasure."
A chill ran down his spine.
In a world where everything seemed to glow—where even the air carried traces of mana—he was a moving void. A walking absence.
And he had no idea how far it extended.
A sudden scream shattered the quiet.
NULL froze.
It was close.
He rushed forward, pushing through thick bushes until the trees opened into a small clearing. There, lying on the ground, was a young girl—bloodied, her clothes torn. Standing over her was a single orc, smaller than the others but no less brutal, raising a jagged blade.
NULL's mind went blank.
Move.
He didn't think. He didn't plan.
He ran.
The orc turned, startled, snarling as it swung its weapon toward him.
The blade never reached him.
The moment it entered NULL's reach, the metal rotted.
Not bent.
Not shattered.
It simply collapsed into black fragments mid-swing.
The orc froze, confusion flashing across its face.
Then it screamed.
The green glow surrounding its body flickered violently, peeling away like mist in sunlight. Its muscles shriveled, its skin cracked, and its roar turned into a choking gasp.
It fell.
Dead.
NULL stumbled backward, staring at the corpse in horror.
"I didn't—" His voice broke. "I didn't mean to—"
The system appeared again.
[Kill Confirmed]
Target: Orc Scout
Cause of Death: Aura Collapse
Experience Gained.
Level Up.
Level: 2
Anti-Mana Efficiency Increased.
NULL fell to his knees.
The girl stared at him with wide, terrified eyes.
"W-what are you…?" she whispered.
NULL looked down at his hands.
They were clean. Untouched by blood.
But something far worse clung to them.
"I don't know," he answered honestly.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, he understood one undeniable truth:
He was not meant to fight in this world.
He was meant to end it.
The forest darkened quickly.
Shadows stretched unnaturally long as the sun dipped below the twisted canopy, and the air grew colder with every passing minute. NULL walked ahead in silence, his senses sharp, while the girl followed close behind him.
She kept her distance—close enough to be protected, far enough to run if she had to.
They moved toward higher ground, away from the clearing, toward what Rina had called a safe zone. The word felt fragile. Temporary.
Night was coming.
After a long stretch of silence, NULL spoke.
"Why were you here?"
Rina flinched slightly, then answered. "I wasn't alone."
He slowed his pace. "What happened?"
She hesitated, fingers tightening around the torn fabric of her sleeve.
"I was part of a party," she said quietly. "Five people. Adventurers."
NULL stopped.
"They left you."
Her silence was enough.
"There was a massive orc horde," Rina continued, her voice steady but hollow. "Too big. Too fast. When they realized they couldn't outrun it…" She swallowed. "They pushed me away."
A sacrifice.
NULL felt something twist in his chest.
"So they could escape."
She nodded once.
He turned to look at her. "Are you injured?"
Rina blinked, surprised by the question. "No. I mean—scratches. Bruises. But I'll live."
For some reason, that answer relieved him.
"What party?" he asked. "And what were you doing down here?"
Rina frowned. "Down here?"
"They were… descending floors," she explained. "Demas is layered. We go down to retrieve loot—artifacts, cores, mana crystals. The deeper you go, the greater the reward."
NULL stopped walking entirely.
"Demas?" he repeated. "Down here?"
Rina stared at him.
"Wait," she said slowly. "You don't know?"
He shook his head.
Her expression changed—from confusion to disbelief.
"…We're not on the surface," she said. "This is the seventeenth floor."
The words didn't register at first.
"Seventeenth… floor?" NULL echoed.
"Yes." She gestured around them. "This is Demas Orkenda—one of the most infamous dungeon-zones in the Kingdom of Nort."
NULL felt the ground beneath him lose meaning.
A dungeon.
Floors.
A kingdom.
None of it belonged to his world.
"So," he said quietly, "this isn't… normal land."
Rina let out a dry laugh. "Nothing about Demas is normal."
He looked up at the darkening sky, at the unnatural trees, at the lingering traces of mana that recoiled from his presence.
The truth finally settled.
He hadn't collapsed.
He hadn't dreamed.
He had crossed over.
"I see," NULL said.
Rina studied him closely now. "You really don't know anything, do you?"
"No," he answered honestly. "But I understand enough."
She waited.
"I'm not where I'm supposed to be," he continued. "And neither is my existence."
The forest grew quiet again, as if listening.
Rina broke the silence. "If night fully falls here… the monsters get stronger. Smarter. We won't last out in the open."
NULL nodded. "Then we move. Now."
They resumed walking, the last light of day fading behind them.
Neither of them noticed it.
But far above—beyond the seventeenth floor—something ancient stirred.
The system had recorded NULL.
And Demas had begun to respond.
They reached the edge of the safe zone just as night finally fell.
A faint barrier—barely visible, like distorted air—surrounded the area. The moment NULL stepped through it, the pressure in the air shifted slightly, as if the space itself acknowledged his presence… then hesitated.
Rina exhaled in relief.
"We're safe here," she said. "At least until morning."
NULL didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained on the barrier behind them, watching how the faint glow along its surface dimmed where he stood.
He stepped back.
The glow returned.
He stepped forward again.
It weakened.
Rina noticed.
"…That's strange."
She turned to look at him more closely.
At first, she saw nothing unusual. No wounds. No visible weapons. Just a calm, unsettling stillness around him.
Then she focused.
Every adventurer learned to do it eventually—aura sensing. Even those without talent could feel it if they concentrated long enough.
Rina narrowed her eyes.
And froze.
There was nothing.
She blinked and tried again, pushing harder.
Still nothing.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"That's… impossible," she whispered.
NULL glanced at her. "What is?"
She took an instinctive step back. "Your aura."
He frowned. "What about it?"
"I can't see it."
Silence stretched between them.
Rina swallowed. "Everyone has an aura. Even monsters. Even animals. Even plants." Her voice dropped. "But you…"
NULL already knew the answer.
"I don't have one," he said.
Her hands trembled. "No. That's not what I mean." She shook her head, panic creeping in. "It's not that it's weak or hidden. It's—"
She stopped herself.
"…It's gone."
NULL looked down at his own hand, flexing his fingers slowly.
"So that's how it looks from the outside."
Rina stared at him, fear and confusion mixing in her eyes. "When I try to sense you… it feels like staring into empty space. Like my perception just—slides off."
He nodded once. "The system calls it Anti-Mana."
Her breath caught.
"Anti… Mana?" she repeated. "That doesn't exist."
"It does now."
Rina laughed weakly, but there was no humor in it. "Do you know what happens to mages when their aura collapses?"
NULL remembered the orc's scream. The way its glow had peeled away.
"They die," she continued softly. "Instantly. Painfully."
She looked at him again, truly looking this time.
"You didn't just kill that orc," she said. "You erased it."
The word lingered in the air.
NULL felt no pride. No triumph.
Only weight.
"That's why the barrier reacted," Rina went on. "It's built on mana. And you…"
"I don't belong," NULL finished.
Rina hesitated. Then, against her instincts, she stepped closer.
"You saved me," she said. "Aura or not."
NULL met her gaze. "You're not afraid?"
She was. That much was obvious.
But she shook her head anyway.
"I am," she admitted. "But whatever you are… you didn't abandon me."
The forest beyond the barrier howled with distant monster cries. Night had fully claimed the seventeenth floor.
Rina wrapped her arms around herself. "What… should I call you?"
NULL didn't answer immediately.
For a moment, he almost said Silas.
But that name felt far away. Faded.
"…NULL," he said at last.
She repeated it quietly. "NULL."
The barrier flickered again.
Somewhere deep within Demas, a system process failed to resolve an error.
And for the first time, Rina understood something terrifying:
This man wasn't hiding his power.
He was the absence of it.
Night in Demas was never silent.
The darkness pressed in from all directions, thick and heavy, carrying distant howls and the scraping of claws against stone. Inside the safe zone, a low mana-lantern flickered weakly, its glow unstable—as if struggling to exist.
Rina sat close to the barrier's center, knees drawn to her chest. NULL stood near the edge, watching the forest beyond.
Something was wrong.
The barrier pulsed once.
Then again.
Rina noticed it immediately. "That shouldn't be happening."
NULL turned. "What does that mean?"
"The safe zone barrier is stable," she said. "It doesn't weaken unless it's attacked… or disrupted."
The faint glow rippled outward, then dimmed near where NULL stood.
Rina's breath hitched. "It's reacting to you."
"I'm not doing anything," NULL replied.
"I know," she said softly. "That's what scares me."
A sudden shriek echoed through the trees.
Then another.
Shapes began to move in the darkness—low silhouettes, eyes glowing with sickly green light. Creatures circled the safe zone, keeping their distance, testing it.
"They shouldn't be able to sense us," Rina whispered. "The barrier hides our aura."
NULL understood instantly.
"They can't sense me," he said. "They sense the gap."
The barrier shuddered violently.
Cracks of distorted light spread across its surface like fractures in glass.
Rina stood up, panic rising. "NULL, if this breaks—"
A claw slammed into the barrier.
It didn't pass through.
But the mana surrounding the impact collapsed, evaporating into nothingness.
The creature recoiled, screeching in confusion.
NULL stepped forward.
The barrier resisted him for a fraction of a second—then failed.
A section of it dissolved entirely.
Rina screamed. "Stop! Don't get closer!"
But it was too late.
The safe zone was unraveling.
The monsters hesitated, uncertain, their instincts warring against fear. They had never encountered prey that made the world itself malfunction.
NULL looked back at Rina.
"If I stay," he said calmly, "this place won't exist by morning."
Her eyes widened. "You're saying—"
"I'll draw them away."
"No!" she shouted. "You'll die!"
He shook his head. "I don't think I can."
That truth frightened him more than the monsters ever could.
Another impact struck the barrier. More cracks. More collapse.
Rina clenched her fists. "…Then I'm coming with you."
NULL stared at her. "That's suicide."
She met his gaze, trembling but resolute. "So is staying."
For a moment, the night held its breath.
Then NULL stepped beyond the broken edge of the safe zone.
The forest reacted instantly.
Every glowing eye locked onto him.
The monsters didn't roar.
They backed away.
Where NULL walked, mana thinned. The ground dulled. The air felt wrong.
Rina followed, heart pounding, her aura flaring instinctively—then flickering as it brushed too close to him.
The safe zone collapsed completely behind them, its light extinguished like a dying star.
Deep within the seventeenth floor, something ancient shifted.
Not a monster.
Not a guardian.
But the dungeon itself.
For the first time since its creation, Demas registered a presence it could not contain.