Chapter 7: System Error

The battlefield had fallen silent.

Zane stood over the broken remains of the Reaper-class construct, the dust settling around him. Its armored body lay motionless, its once-glowing red slits now faded into darkness.

He exhaled slowly. The fight had been difficult, pushing his Absolute Domain beyond its limits, but he had won.

Yet something was wrong.

There was no system notification.

No surge of power.

No EXP.

Zane's brows furrowed as an uneasy realization settled over him. The Cataclysm System had always followed a simple rule—defeat an enemy, gain strength. The stronger the opponent, the greater the reward.

But nothing happened.

His Status Panel remained unchanged, the same as before the battle.

Frowning, he willed it to appear. A glowing blue interface flickered into his vision.

[ Status Panel ]

Name: Zane Vexis

Class: SSS-Class – Sovereign of the Infinite Realm

Rank: Iron (Eligible for Advancement)

Level: 1 (EXP: 0%)

System Level: 1 (Next Unlock at Level 5)

Authority: Incomplete (System Restrictions Apply)

Attributes:

▸ Vitality: 200

▸ Force: 200

▸ Dexterity: 200

▸ Perception: 200

▸ Willpower: 200

▸ Mana: 200

Abilities:

▸ Domain Perception [Passive]

▸ Extreme Mana Regeneration [Passive]

▸ Absolute Domain [Active]

▸ Spatial Manipulation [Locked]

▸ Rank Advancement Trial [Pending]

▸ [Corrupted Entry]

System Store: [ Locked – Unlocks at System Level 5 ]

System Notifications:

▸ New Awakening Recognized – System Override Detected.

▸ Warning: System Recognition Pending.

▸ Potential Threat Level: Unknown.

Zane's gaze darkened. Nothing had changed.

His EXP bar was still at zero.

How was that possible? He had just fought a Silver-Rank construct, an enemy that should have given him a massive boost in strength.

His fingers curled slightly.

"…Why didn't I get EXP?" he muttered.

The moment the words left his mouth, his Status Panel flickered.

A new system message appeared.

[EXP System Locked: System Level Too Low]

[Eligible Enemies: ???]

[Conditions for EXP Gain: ???]

Zane stilled.

His system had conditions for gaining EXP.

That explained everything. The Reaper-class construct hadn't been a recognized target.

And worse—his system hadn't even unlocked EXP yet.

A slow realization crept into his mind.

He had just fought beyond his rank. He had pushed his Absolute Domain to the brink, rewritten space itself, and landed a decisive blow against an opponent that should have been beyond him.

And none of it had counted toward his growth.

His chest tightened, frustration clawing at him.

Then how the hell am I supposed to get stronger?

A sharp breath from behind him broke his thoughts.

"You—" the girl started, stopping herself.

Zane turned to face her.

She wasn't looking at him the same way anymore.

Before, she had been wary, sizing him up like a potential threat. But now?

There was something else.

Recognition.

Maybe even fear.

"You're not Silver-Rank," she muttered, almost to herself. "You're not even Bronze."

Zane didn't answer.

"You fought that thing like you knew what it was," she continued, her voice low. "Like you've done it before."

Zane tilted his head slightly. "And you knew what it was before it even showed up."

The girl's jaw clenched. "That's different."

"Is it?"

She hesitated.

Zane didn't press further. He had bigger concerns than figuring out her secrets.

His eyes flicked back to the Reaper's corpse.

He needed to test something.

Taking a slow step forward, he extended his hand, focusing.

His Domain Perception activated, stretching over the fallen construct. He reached out, searching—not just physically, but through his control over space itself.

Nothing.

The system still didn't recognize it.

Whatever had sent this thing, it wasn't connected to dungeons or anomalies. It was a separate entity.

Zane exhaled slowly. That confirmed one thing—not everything in this world was bound by the system's laws.

Which meant whoever had created this construct had access to power outside the system.

And that made them dangerous.

Behind him, the girl shifted slightly. "You really have no idea what's happening, do you?"

Zane turned back to her, expression unreadable. "Then tell me."

She studied him for a moment, as if debating whether to trust him.

Then she sighed. "Killing that thing? You didn't just win a fight."

Her voice was quiet, but heavy.

"You just declared war."

Zane's fingers twitched.

The girl's words hung in the air like a silent threat, heavy with meaning. But Zane didn't flinch. His mind was still processing the real problem—his system wasn't letting him level up.

His gaze drifted back to the Reaper's broken corpse lying in the dust.

The battle had been real. The damage was real. The pain in his body, the exhaustion creeping into his limbs—all of it was real.

But to the system?

None of it mattered.

Zane clenched his jaw. Then what did matter?

He pulled up his Status Panel again. The glowing blue interface hovered in his vision, unchanged.

His EXP bar was still at zero.

The words from earlier blinked at him.

[EXP System Locked: System Level Too Low]

[Eligible Enemies: ???]

[Conditions for EXP Gain: ???]

A slow, controlled breath left his lips.

His system wasn't just different—it was incomplete.

No level-ups. No EXP. No clear way forward.

Even worse, he had no idea what counted as an "eligible" enemy.

His mind raced. If he had to unlock his ability to gain EXP, then that meant—

I have to meet some unknown condition before I can even start growing stronger.

That was a dangerous realization.

If he had been a normal awakened, this fight would have already boosted his stats. But instead, he was stuck at Level 1.

And that meant he was fighting blind.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

"You're not reacting the way I expected," the girl's voice broke through his thoughts.

Zane turned his gaze back to her.

She was still watching him, arms crossed, but her expression had changed. She wasn't just analyzing him anymore—she was trying to figure something out.

"You're not asking what I meant by 'war,'" she said. "Most people would be panicking by now."

Zane exhaled, tilting his head slightly. "You already decided you weren't going to explain, so why ask?"

Her lips twitched, almost like she wanted to smirk. "Smart."

She took a step forward, glancing at the fallen Reaper.

"Do you know what that thing actually was?" she asked.

"Reaper-class construct," Zane replied evenly. "A designed execution unit."

She gave him a sideways glance. "And yet, you're still standing."

Zane didn't respond.

She was right. The Reaper should have outclassed him completely.

By all logic, an Iron-Rank shouldn't have survived.

And yet…

He had.

Not because of raw power, but because Absolute Domain let him control space itself.

That was probably what was bothering her.

Zane wasn't fighting like a normal Iron-Rank. He had reacted, adapted, and countered techniques that shouldn't have been possible for someone at his level.

She had noticed.

And that meant she was trying to figure out what he really was.

He let the silence stretch before speaking. "You knew what it was before it even appeared. Why?"

The girl's jaw tensed slightly, but she didn't look away. "Because things like that don't just show up randomly. Someone sent it."

Zane narrowed his eyes.

"Who?"

She exhaled through her nose. "If you don't know that already, then you're in more trouble than I thought."

Who Sent the Reaper?

Zane looked down at the fallen construct. Its body was still intact, aside from the shattered core.

He crouched beside it, pressing his palm against the cold metal.

His Domain Perception activated, stretching through the construct's remains, searching for anything that might give him an answer.

There was no mana signature. No dungeon residue. No familiar system connection.

This thing wasn't created by the Cataclysm System.

It was outside of it.

And if that was the case—who had built it?

Zane withdrew his hand and stood.

"You're not going to get anything out of it," the girl said, watching him.

"You know that for sure?"

She hesitated for a second before nodding.

"Yeah. They don't leave traces."

They.

Zane caught the slip immediately.

She had just admitted she knew exactly who had sent it.

His expression remained neutral. "So who's 'they'?"

She let out a dry laugh. "I just told you—you don't want to know."

Zane's patience was wearing thin. "You're wrong."

She raised an eyebrow.

Zane met her gaze evenly. "I need to know."

She studied him for a long moment, as if debating something.

Then she sighed.

"Alright," she muttered. "But you're not going to like it."

She turned away, motioning for him to follow.

"Come on. We need to move before more of them show up."

Zane glanced at the destroyed Reaper one last time.

Then, without a word, he followed.

---

A System That Doesn't Obey the World

As they moved through the ruins of Sector F, Zane's mind remained focused on one thing.

His system was different.

It didn't let him gain EXP normally. It didn't acknowledge his strength.

And yet, it still gave him Absolute Domain.

That meant something.

It meant that his power wasn't bound to the same laws as the other awakened.

His level didn't matter.

What mattered was unlocking the full potential of his system.

Whatever was happening—**whoever had sent that Reaper—it didn't change one fact.

He wasn't going to wait for the world to recognize him.

He would force it to.

No matter what it took.