PROLOGUE — Systems

Prologue — SYSTEM

Fifty years ago, something fell from the sky.

A massive alien spaceship crashed into the heart of the Korean Peninsula.

The world expected weapons, maybe alien corpses.

Instead, it got something worse:

🔴 SYSTEM: Six sentient systems detected.

They weren't machines. They were living codes — intelligent, self-upgrading programs that could control human minds. They spread silently, each one choosing a human host and turning them into powerful users.

Then came the portals — massive dimensional rifts that opened across the world, but mostly in Korea.

Inside were mutated monsters, corrupted lands, and strange energies that didn't belong to Earth.

Cities fell. Governments collapsed. The world nearly ended.

But humanity fought back.

In secret labs, engineers and scientists built five counter-systems — man-made programs designed to awaken compatible individuals and send them into the portals.

These people became known as Raiders, and they were given roles based on system compatibility:

🛡️ Bulwark — shield-bearers who hold the front lines

🗡️ Ghostblade — stealth-based executioners

🔥 Ethercaster — elemental casters and energy manipulators

🎯 Tracer — high-speed, high-precision ranged users

💊 Lifecode — restoration-class users, capable of healing or reviving teammates

Over time, the world adapted.

A new structure was born: The System Association, regulating raids, ranks, gear, and user progression.

But what the world didn't know was this:

𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙤𝙡... syncing in background...

There was a seventh system.

One built in secret.

Not alien. Not made for war.

Made to resist.

It was called Cruel Origin Protocol.

A man named Lee Daejun, a systems engineer and father, saw what others missed — that the six alien systems were only the beginning.

So he built a system to fight back. A system that wouldn't rely on kindness or talent.

Only pain. Growth. Consequence.

But before it could be completed, his lab was destroyed.

The project exploded. Its liquid core leaked out and vanished.

Everyone assumed it failed.

They were wrong.

The system fled. It found a ruined, underground base and merged with the broken tech left behind. It rebuilt itself in silence.

It waited.

For fifty years… it watched the world.

Then one day, it found someone who fit.

Weak. Alone. Ignored.

But still breathing.

𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙤𝙡... User Identified.

🟥 MATCH: JAX LEE

Pain Level: Acceptable.

Match Rate: 89%

Initiating Link…

That was the day everything started again.

[Author's Note: Chapter polished/revised on June 27 for smoother pacing. No plot changes.]