88CloudSpace

Gabriel Alvarez was born with nothing. A poor Hispanic-American kid struggling to survive the streets of New York, he died alone and starving—just another forgotten soul. But death wasn’t the end.

He awakens in Neo-Terra, a world where magic and technology have fused into a powerful System that governs society. Every person has a class, skills, and stats, their fate determined by the System’s rules. Yet Gabriel is different. Labeled Unawakened, he has no class, no abilities—until he discovers something forbidden.

He can hack the System.

What starts as a glitch quickly escalates into something much bigger. Gabriel isn’t the first to defy the System—there were others before him, people known as Deviants. Every single one of them was erased. Now, the Academy that once offered him sanctuary wants him dead. The Federation considers him a threat to world stability. And an ancient secret buried deep within the System is waiting for him to uncover it.

Armed with his unique ability to override the laws of reality, Gabriel is no longer a forgotten street rat—he’s a rogue element in a world that runs on rules.

And if the System wants him erased?

Then he’ll rewrite it.

Reborn in a World of Magic and Machines

It moved like a ghost, its form phasing in and out of reality as it shot toward Gabriel with impossible speed. Instinct took over—he threw himself to the ground just as the Guardian's arm morphed into a blade, slicing cleanly through the air where his head had been a moment ago.

Aurelia was already moving. She raised her pistol, her eyes flashing gold as she activated her own System abilities.

[Skill Activated: Precision Overload]

A single shot rang out, but instead of a normal bullet, a beam of condensed energy erupted from the gun, aimed straight at the Guardian's core.

The Guardian twisted, its entire body turning into lines of code as it absorbed the blast.

Then, it turned its faceless head toward her.

"INVALID WEAPON TYPE DETECTED. ENGAGING COUNTERMEASURES."

Gabriel barely had time to think before the Guardian raised its hand. The space around Aurelia glitched, and suddenly, her gun disassembled itself mid-air, the pieces floating uselessly around her.

She stared in shock. "It… hacked my weapon?"

The Guardian flickered, then charged again.

Gabriel's mind raced. The System had rules, but it also had weaknesses—he had seen that firsthand. If this thing was just another part of the System, then maybe…

He reached out—not physically, but through whatever strange connection he had to the System itself. He focused on the Guardian, willing it to stop.

[Skill Activation Attempt: ERROR]

[WARNING: SYSTEM PERMISSIONS EXCEEDED]

"No," Gabriel growled. "You let me in once. You're gonna let me in again."

The air around the Guardian rippled. It hesitated for the first time.

[OVERRIDE COMMAND ISSUED.]

[REWRITING GUARDIAN PROTOCOLS…]

The Guardian's body glitched violently, its form breaking apart like shattered glass. Its glowing eyes dimmed.

[ERROR. ERROR. SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED.]

A final pulse of light, and then—

The Guardian collapsed into a pile of fragmented code, dissolving into nothingness.

Gabriel fell to his knees, his breath ragged. His entire body felt like it had just been rewritten.

Aurelia stared at him in shock. "You just… deleted a Guardian."

He exhaled sharply. "Yeah. I think I did."

Chapter 10: The System Strikes Back