The last thing James remembered was the light.
That impossible brilliance, colors colliding and dancing within a single stone, brighter than anything he had ever seen. Red bled into blue, blue fractured into gold, black swallowed them all before bursting into something new. And then-
darkness.
He fell into a dream that wasn't his.
He stood nowhere and everywhere at once, weightless, watching scenes unfold like broken reflections. People stared at glowing rectangles in their hands, phones, screens eyes hollow, fingers twitching. One by one, they were pulled forward, sucked into the light of their own devices, screaming silently as the world devoured them whole.
The scene shattered.
Five shadowed figures appeared, towering and indistinct, their forms warped as if reality itself refused to define them. They didn't move. They didn't speak. Yet James felt their gaze pierce through him, ancient and judging, as though they had been waiting.
Then the dream shifted again.
A child stood alone.
Small. Fragile. Face blurred beyond recognition, like a memory the mind refused to fully recall. The child reached out, toward James, or perhaps toward someone else—and the world trembled.
James gasped.
His eyes snapped open.
Pain crashed into him like a tidal wave.
His back burned, every breath scraping against torn flesh. His abdomen throbbed dully, the wound deep and unforgiving. Blood had dried in sticky patches beneath him, the metallic scent thick in the air. For a brief moment, panic threatened to rise, until memory slammed into him just as violently.
The goblins.
The rage.
The knives.
The screams.
He was alive.
Barely.
James clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stay conscious as his vision swam. I need to heal, he thought desperately. Now. But before he could command the system, something tugged at his awareness, something warm, heavy, real.
His hand.
Resting against his palm was the stone.
The same one.
The brilliant, impossible stone he had seen just before blacking out. It pulsed faintly now, like a living heart, its colors slower but no less mesmerizing. The moment his eyes locked onto it, a familiar window materialized before him.
Unknown Rune Detected
Absorb?
[Yes] [No]
James didn't hesitate.
With trembling fingers and the last scraps of strength he had left, he pressed Yes.
The stone exploded into light.
Radiance swallowed him whole, lifting his body slightly from the ground as symbols burned themselves into his skin, his bones, his very soul. He screamed, not in pain, but in something closer to awe, as power surged through him, ancient and overwhelming.
Rune Engraving in Progress…
Engraving Complete.
The light vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. The stone dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind a strange warmth deep within James's chest.
Then the system spoke again.
Unknown Class Acquired.
James sucked in a sharp breath.
A class.
An unknown one.
Before he could even summon his status window, two more windows appeared unprompted, overlapping his vision.
Unique Achievement Unlocked
The First One to Get a Unique Class
Description: First player on Earth to acquire a unique class.
Effect: Allows the player to have two classes.
James froze.
Two classes.
His heart pounded violently as the angel's words echoed in his mind—only one class per person. And yet here it was, defying even that rule. His lips parted in disbelief.
"This… this is broken," he whispered.
Another window slid into view.
Unique Achievement Unlocked
The First One to Get a Class
Description: First player on Earth to acquire a class.
Effect: Can steal other players' classes.
James's breath hitched.
Steal… classes?
This wasn't just power anymore. This was dominance. The implications sent a chill down his spine, excitement and unease twisting together in his chest.
And then—the third.
Unique Achievement Unlocked
The One Who's Conquering / Dominating
Description: First player on Earth to obtain three unique achievements.
Effect: Increase your stats and EXP gain by 100%. Increase your clan's stats and EXP gain by 100%.
James blinked.
"Clan?" he muttered weakly.
Confusion flickered across his face, but he brushed it aside. Probably just means a team, he reasoned. I'll deal with it later.
More windows followed, this time, normal achievements.
Achievement Unlocked
Defeated 5 Monsters While Below 10% Health
Effect: Allows the player to see monsters' HP and shield bars.
Achievement Unlocked
Class Acquired
Effect: All stats increased by +30.
Achievement Unlocked
Obtained a Unique Rune
Effect: Lucky Chest Selection Box.
James let out a shaky laugh, half-delirious, half-exhausted.
His body still hurt. He was still bleeding. Monsters could still be nearby. But for the first time since the world changed, since his world had fallen apart, he didn't feel helpless.
Power hummed quietly beneath his skin.
Whatever that dream had been… whatever those shadows and that child meant… James knew one thing with terrifying clarity.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was becoming something else entirely.