Chapter 3 — "First Ability: System Override"
The academy never felt the same again.
Not for Aren.
Not for the system.
And definitely not for the world watching him.
Aren stood in the empty corridor.
The same place where he should have been forgotten.
But now…
He wasn't alone inside his own body.
His hand still carried a faint blue glow.
Controlled.
Stable.
Wrong.
"…System Error Host," he muttered.
The words felt foreign in his mouth.
Like they belonged to someone else.
[SYSTEM ACTIVE]
A faint screen flickered in front of his vision.
Not broken.
Not glitching.
Waiting.
[STABILITY CHECK: 62%]
[CORE LINK: ACTIVE]
Aren frowned.
"…Why is it stable now?"
Silence.
Then—
A new line appeared.
[BECAUSE YOU STOPPED RESISTING]
Aren's eyes narrowed.
"I didn't stop resisting."
[YOU DID]
[YOU ACCEPTED YOUR CLASSIFICATION]
Aren clenched his fist.
"…I didn't accept anything."
The air around him shifted slightly.
Like the system was thinking.
Then—
[INITIATING FIRST FUNCTION]
Aren froze.
"…First function?"
The corridor lights flickered once.
Then died.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Something awakened inside him
A sound echoed in his head.
Not the system.
Not the void voice.
Something deeper.
THUMP.
His heartbeat.
But it wasn't just his anymore.
The blue glow on his arm spread across his fingers.
Lines of light formed like circuits under his skin.
Then—
The system spoke again.
[UNLOCKING ABILITY: SYSTEM OVERRIDE]
Aren staggered.
"What does that mean?!"
But no answer came.
Because the world around him had already changed.
Reality glitch
The corridor split into layers.
One moment it was stone.
The next it was code.
Then both.
Aren reached out—
And touched the wall.
It reacted.
[OBJECT: WALL]
[STATUS: REAL]
Then his hand pulsed.
The system responded instantly.
[OVERRIDE AVAILABLE]
Aren's breath stopped.
"…I can change it?"
The system didn't answer.
It simply waited.
Like it was testing him.
First choice
Aren swallowed hard.
Then focused.
"…Move."
The command wasn't spoken loudly.
Just thought.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The wall shifted.
Not breaking.
Not exploding.
Just… obeying.
It slid aside like a door opening where no door existed.
Aren's eyes widened.
"…I actually did that."
The system responded calmly.
[CONFIRMED]
[YOU HAVE AUTHORITY OVER STRUCTURAL CODE]
Aren stepped back slightly.
"…Authority?"
The word felt dangerous.
Somewhere far away
Deep inside the system network—
Alarms triggered.
[ANOMALY DETECTED IN HOST UNIT: AREN VALIS]
[STRUCTURAL OVERRIDE EVENT]
[CLASSIFICATION: IMPOSSIBLE]
A voice echoed in the system core.
Cold.
Ancient.
"So it has begun."
Another voice responded.
"Should we terminate it?"
A pause.
Then—
"No."
"Observe the error."
Back in the corridor
Aren didn't know any of that.
He only knew one thing—
The world was listening to him now.
Every movement felt heavier.
Like reality itself was waiting for his next command.
He lifted his hand again.
The blue glow pulsed.
"…System Override."
The air trembled.
For a split second—
Time slowed.
Then the corridor rebuilt itself in reverse.
Walls returned.
Lights reignited.
Space corrected itself.
Aren stepped back in shock.
"…I didn't even command that…"
The system responded.
[SECONDARY RESPONSE LEARNED]
[ADAPTATION SPEED INCREASING]
Aren's breath became uneven.
"…So it learns too."
Silence.
Then—
A new message appeared.
[WARNING: OTHER SYSTEMS HAVE DETECTED YOU]
Aren froze.
"…Other systems?"
The lights above him flickered.
Far away in the academy…
Something turned its attention toward him.
Not human.
Not student.
Something that hunts errors.
Aren looked at his hand.
The glow was stronger now.
Not unstable.
Not chaotic.
Focused.
"…If the world is going to reject me again," he whispered.
His eyes darkened slightly.
"…Then I'll rewrite the reason it can."
The system responded one final time.
[HOST AMBITION DETECTED]
[CORE ALIGNMENT SHIFTING]
[ERROR STATUS DEEPENING]
And somewhere far beyond reality…
Something opened its eyes completely.
🔥 End of Chapter 3)