A new era

Moen, the Ideal City. A certain high school.

The teachers' office.

"There's a response resembling telekinesis, but it's nowhere near a Lv.1 rating... unfortunately, your telekinesis can't even bend a spoon."

The elderly teacher glanced at the glaring "No ability" assessment in the experiment file in his hands, then looked at the plainly dressed boy before him with a complicated expression. His voice was full of regret.

"I remember you came to the Ideal City through the Outer City talent development program, right?

I know you aren't willing to give up. You want to try a few more ability awakening experiments and gamble on awakening an ability.

But you've already participated in three ability awakening experiments. Even with your excellent grades, another experiment would max out your loan limit.

You need to understand that if you don't get into the Three Great Academies, the megacorporations won't let you delay repayment of your student loans by even a single penny...

There are only a dozen or so days left until the College Entrance Exam. Have you decided what to do?"

Looking at the regret in the elderly teacher's eyes, Ron wished he could say he had a solution.

But in the eighteen years since he had transmigrated into this near-future world ruled by the Superpowered and megacorporations, the first thing he had learned was that human effort had its limits.

No money, no talent, no luck-

For an ordinary person lacking all three, like him, unless he awakened a personal reality and became Superpowered, he was doomed to become one of the most basic cogs keeping the Ideal City running, spending his entire life scraping by at the bottom of a megacorporation.

When Ron remained silent, the elderly teacher sighed and turned his gaze aside.

A girl with short, tea-brown hair leaned against the wall, chewing bubble gum and occasionally blowing a pink bubble.

Pale silver arcs of electricity flickered through her hair like silver fish swimming through a forest of seaweed, giving off faint crackles.

She had awakened the rare "Magnetic Field Rotation" ability. The personal reality she had constructed was already powerful enough to constantly affect her surroundings, putting her ability level at Lv.2 at least.

A student with such potential in high school would either receive guaranteed admission to the Three Great Academies and take an important position at a megacorporation after graduation, or join the Moen Municipal Government and pursue a political career. Life would be a breeze.

The thought left the elderly teacher weary. Both his prized students had come from the Outer City, and both possessed exceptional talent and computational power far beyond that of ordinary high school students.

Yet because Ron had still failed to activate his personal reality, their futures were already visibly worlds apart.

"If only you were as gifted as An Hui. With your computational power, as long as you awakened an ability, you'd definitely reach Lv.2 and get into the Three Great Academies."

He sighed, but still tried to find Ron a way forward.

"You don't need to worry too much, though. The school has a few guaranteed admission slots for Noah Pharmaceuticals' vocational school. I can try to secure one for you.

I know your grades are good, but a good vocational college isn't necessarily worse than a university!

This is a specialist school jointly run by subsidiaries of Noah Pharmaceuticals. If you seize the opportunity, you'll only need a week of study before starting an internship and becoming a megacorporation employee. You'll save yourself years of detours."

That was skipping rather too many steps...

At a megacorporation, someone with a vocational diploma had no hope of a promotion or raise for the rest of their life, and the average lifespan of Noah Pharmaceuticals' lowest-ranking employees was under thirty.

Sure, he wouldn't have to worry about being sent to a megacorporation's laboratory and sliced up because he couldn't repay his loans, but it would only be a slower death.

The Ideal City really had no sympathy for tears.

If he couldn't become Superpowered, his only choice was between execution and a suspended death sentence.

Luckily, Ron had a cheat.

He shook his head. "Sir, I actually have another way to become Superpowered."

The elderly teacher was taken aback.

"Another way? You're a penniless... er, what could a student like you possibly do?"

Everyone at the school knew Ron was not only poor but completely alone. He couldn't even find an emergency contact to apply for a quick loan. Squeeze him dry, and he still wouldn't yield much supernatural potential. How could he possibly hope to construct a personal reality?

"Have you ever heard anything about the previous epoch, sir?"

Yet Ron seemed quite confident.

"Decades ago, Heavenly Hearing Media successfully deciphered the writing of the previous epoch and interpreted the relics and texts it left behind.

Through those texts, people learned that before the historical gap caused by the Great Cataclysm, multiple supernatural entities with unimaginable power existed in this world.

Human civilizations once revered them as gods and followed in their footsteps. With their blessings, people concocted a substance that could grant supernatural power when consumed. It was called a [sequence potion].

Heavenly Hearing Media generously added all its translated documents to the municipal grand library. Apparently, they include potion formulas.

Maybe I can use the information they released to concoct a potion for myself and become Superpowered."

"..."

Listening to Ron's idea, which amounted to a daydream, the elderly teacher's gaze changed.

His regret for a good student became pity for an idiot.

He fell silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

"Well... have you considered that everything you're talking about is hopelessly vague, and dates back to a previous epoch countless years ago?

After ten thousand years of upheaval, everything from the old days has changed beyond recognition.

Even if you really could disregard all those years and concoct this so-called sequence potion... it would have absolutely nothing to do with the Superpowered.

After all, we all know that the first Superpowered was [Alpha], the chief executive of Moen Commerce.

She conducted the first ability awakening experiment in human history and constructed her own personal reality, ushering in our current new era of the Superpowered.

I suggest you focus on something more realistic instead of indulging in such baseless fantasies..."

But Ron paid no attention to the elderly teacher's advice. Instead, he asked him with an odd expression,

"So you know about the previous epoch, and you know it was an age when people could become supernatural beings through sequence potions, right?"

The elderly teacher paused, unsure what Ron meant by that question.

"Of course... the history of the previous epoch was already in the textbooks when I was in elementary school.

I may be getting on in years, but I'm not some forgetful old man. That's all the verifiable information we have about the previous epoch. How could I possibly forget it?"

Ron turned toward the brown-haired girl beside him. "You know about it too, Huihui?"

An Hui popped her bubble and gave Ron a puzzled glance.

"We both got full marks in history. How could I not know? Why ask such a pointless question?"

Why?

Ron lowered his head, hiding the slight upward curve of his lips as he glanced at the screen only he could see.

Because this previous epoch, mysticism, potions...

Before yesterday, before Ron chose to alter this world, none of it had existed!

"Dimensional Update Manual." That was the screen's name.

It had been stuck loading ever since Ron first transmigrated here, and had only finished a few days ago.

Heaven knew how hard he had struggled. After transmigrating into this world, he spent every day either forcing himself to study with everything he had, or surviving on cheap nutrient paste while working himself to the bone at odd jobs, all just to scrape by in this world where the Superpowered reigned supreme...

By comparison, he had even begun to miss the "blessing" of working nine to nine, six days a week in his previous life!

So the moment he saw the manual finish loading, tears filled his eyes. He wanted to open a command console, type "whosyourdaddy," and immediately bully the entire world to vent his wrath as a player, the fourth calamity.

But after a little investigation, he discovered that it couldn't quite support his ambition to dominate the entire world just yet.

The manual's screen contained only two options and a player panel-

[Create new world]

[Enter world save]

[Player panel]

Name: Ron

Level: Lv.0

Class: Superpowered

Setting: [Fantasy dissolution]

One look at the panel made it clear that Ron was just a pitiful level-zero player, too weak to truss a chicken. Even a stray dog by the roadside could fight him to the desolate reaches of the curb, and he couldn't win even with everything he had.

The other two options were rather unusual. When the manual first finished loading, neither could be selected.

It wasn't until Ron accidentally knocked over the bookshelf in his dorm and picked up a long-neglected, dusty copy of "Tarot Divination and Medieval Herbalism" that the manual responded again.

[Setting anchor detected. World settings generated-"Mysticism," "Potions."]

[Please select world settings to fill the blank world framework and create a new world.]

[Current world setting capacity-2]

The [Create new world] option lit up. Only then did Ron understand that this manual could use the generated world settings to fill out and create a new world.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he searched afterward, he couldn't find another setting anchor. The only thing the manual favored was that mysticism novel he had bought from a roadside stall.

Figuring he might as well give it a try, Ron selected the only two settings available, [Mysticism] and [Potions], and pressed [Create new world] on the manual.

A moment later, a little speaker icon appeared on the manual-

[Version update announcement: Version 3.000. We have extinguished the first flame, banished everything from the Age of Gods beyond the stars, and added the new setting "Potion sequence" to the world.

People can now become supernatural beings by consuming potions.]

But aside from that baffling notice, nothing happened.

He had thought his cheat was an unfinished product, all show and no substance. But when he discovered that the mysticism novel serving as the anchor had become a magic book he couldn't open, and that his history textbook now contained a new chapter about the previous epoch, he realized he had misunderstood.

"Creating a new world" didn't mean creating something from nothing. It meant rewriting this world, fabricating an entirely new era in its impossibly distant, untraceable past!

Unfortunately, the manual's [Enter world save] option still hadn't lit up. It merely displayed a new prompt concerning the magic book now in Ron's hands.

[Infuse the setting anchor-"Introduction to Mysticism"-with supernatural power to charge it and open the gateway to the created world, "Potion Era."]

[Current charge: 0%]

Which raised a problem.

Where was he supposed to find power to charge this magic book?

He absolutely couldn't let anyone else discover it. Presumably, he could only rely on his own telekinesis, which could barely lift a sheet of paper...

Recalling all this, Ron sighed after leaving the teachers' office and returning to his classroom. He held his breath, focused, and touched the ornately decorated magic book with his feeble telekinesis-

[Charge increased by 0.01%]

[Current charge: 0.03%]

All right. Looks like reaching the Potion Era is still a long way off...

He gathered his guaranteed admission agreement and test records, stuffed them into his schoolbag along with the magic book, and walked out through the school gates to head home. Looking up, he saw a lead-gray sky.

He climbed onto his somewhat battered electric scooter. Streams of hovercars glittering with neon hemmed Ron in, sweeping him forward like a surging tide.

Glancing through the traffic toward the distance, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the Ideal City-

Here, steel and concrete covered the entire land. Skyscrapers pierced the clouds on either side of the road, while sleek skyrail trains flashed past from time to time. Together with the hovercar traffic Ron had joined, they formed an unceasing river through the gaps of the megacity.

In 2077, humanity completed its first anti-gravity engineering project.

Using that as their foundation, the three great megacorporations invested in and launched the "Ideal City Plan."

Unending steel swept nature aside, and stacked layers of city covered half the planet.

This was Moen City-the singularity of the world, a city of ideals.

Here, technology and supernatural power advanced side by side, leading humanity to conquer nature and seek a foothold among the stars.

Even those at the bottom of the Ideal City who survived by selling their blood couldn't help puffing out their chests when discussing this industrial miracle built by the combined efforts of the three great megacorporations.

Even the harshest critics would call this an age of progress. Humanity's next great leap seemed just within reach...

But none of that had much to do with ordinary people like Ron.

Any leap forward belonged to the Superpowered. For mortals, the Ideal City's ideals were nothing but empty dreams. Simply staying alive took everything they had.

As he passed through one cramped alley after another, the cloud-piercing buildings around him gradually grew shorter, and the bright neon lights became sparse and flickering. The clamor of voices faded away, leaving a sense of desolation.

Ron rented a student apartment in District D of the Ideal City. The surroundings and facilities were poor, the room was small, and the soundproofing was terrible-he could hear the young couple next door "playing doubles" every day. But it was cheap enough that his after-school jobs covered the rent, so he was fairly satisfied.

But this place was usually such a mess... why was it so quiet today?

Screeech-

Ron squeezed the brakes and planted a foot beside the road, frowning.

The hum of outdoor air-conditioning units, the drip of condensation, the chirping of sparrows overhead...

But not a single human voice.

District D of the Ideal City was a notorious slum, with a population density far higher than any other district. How could there be no voices at all?

Something's wrong. Run first.

The unease in Ron's heart made him turn his scooter around without hesitation, intending to return the way he had come. But a burst of green light suddenly erupted in that alley. Illegally piled scaffolding and steel plates beside it were blasted apart and toppled into a tangled heap, blocking his escape.

He had nowhere to retreat.

"Sharp perception. Just what I'd expect from the master thief who stole the Forbidden Codex."

A hoarse voice sounded behind him. Ron turned and saw a hunched figure in a cloak approaching, clapping his hands.

The man lifted his hood, revealing a gaunt, pale face. He offered Ron an awkward imitation of a gentleman's bow and smiled without a trace of warmth.

"I set up a people-repelling barrier. A simple, convenient little piece of magic to ensure that the two of us won't be disturbed for a while.

The barrier plants a suggestion in every ordinary person unaware of mysticism, driving them away... unfortunately, your Ideal City's law enforcers wouldn't spare a glance for a lowly slum like District D.

Otherwise, if a Superpowered member of the Discipline Patrol happened to pass by, they might have been able to save your life."

What does he mean, save my life?

Feeling the venomous gaze sweep across his throat, Ron shuddered instinctively. A chill crawled up his spine.

He realized something grave-

Although the man's words sounded almost like the ramblings of a daydream, he clearly wasn't filming a prank show, nor was he some lunatic who had escaped a psychiatric hospital.

He truly wanted to kill him.

The old man paid no attention to Ron's increasingly grave expression. He simply stared at him coldly and continued.

"You slipped into the Ashen Church without a sound and stole the original Forbidden Codex, the 'Key of Beginning.' A deed worthy of a master thief, yet you sealed it in no container and repeatedly attempted to activate its mysticism...

I cannot understand whether such behavior stems from sheer confidence or deliberate provocation of the Magician Association. But now that I am here, you have only one choice left."

As he spoke, he rubbed the emerald ring on his finger. Its dark-green gemstone gradually began to glow, and one symbol after another appeared on the alley walls, flickering with sinister green light.

"Morti vocatum meum audiunt..."

The incomprehensible muttering brought a bone-chilling cold. Rings of magic arrays blossomed out of thin air around him, and vivid green magical markings lit up across his body as his face twisted into a ferocious grimace.

A moment later, the concrete ground before him suddenly split open. A swollen, rotting hand reached out of the fissure...

A shambling corpse crawled out. Its cold gaze fixed on Ron as it opened its mouth, an eerie green light rising from its throat.

His face visibly paler and his footing unsteady, the magician coughed twice and spoke in an icy voice.

"Return the Forbidden Codex to me... or die."

What Forbidden Codex? What magic?

Ron could not understand a word of it.

If you want the Forbidden Codex, go look in a church or a museum. If you want to do magic, stick to performing onstage. Why come after me?

But looking at the corpse nearby, reeking of rot and roaring hoarsely, Ron decided this sort of performance was better kept off the stage.

At the very least, it would never pass Ideal City's all-ages content review...

Despite those thoughts, Ron did not simply wait to die.

He calmed down and swept his gaze over his surroundings-

Knock that scaffolding askew, and the steel pipes illegally stacked on top would shoot down like arrows, riddling the man with holes;

Snap the bars on that window and knock loose the long-neglected outdoor air-conditioning unit, and it would fall like a boulder, striking dead center and crushing the man half to death;

That manhole cover... that streetlight...

In an instant, Ron thought of countless possibilities. His computational power rivaled that of a Lv.2 Superpowered, allowing him to devise all sorts of ways to turn danger into safety, but...

No matter how many solutions he had, no matter how full of openings this strange man who so clearly looked down on him appeared, Ron had absolutely no ability to defeat him.

Because his Telekinesis could only lift a sheet of paper. It could not knock scaffolding askew or snap the bars on a window.

Because he was a powerless Lv.0.

For a moment, Ron could not help gritting his teeth. This man was so arrogant, yet he could command supernatural powers with ease.

If only I could have that power...

No, even something weaker would do. Even if I were only a Lv.1 Superpowered, this man would have no chance of beating me!

Such powerful supernatural energy... wait, supernatural energy?

Watching the green light grow brighter in the zombie's throat, Ron suddenly remembered Introduction to Mysticism.

Whenever his Telekinesis touched that book, it would instantly vanish, drawn into the handbook as supernatural energy to charge it...

Then what about this zombie?

It hardly took any thought. Even though Ron had never seen real magic, he knew the zombie would probably spit out some death shriek or soul blast any second and turn him into a corpse.

But if I used it to charge the magic book...

Watching Ron's expression shift, with no idea what he was thinking, the Magician finally lost patience and sneered:

"I know the Forbidden Codex is in your backpack. The magic Scream of the Withered Dead won't affect it, so I'm not worried about damaging it.

The forbidden arts of the Necromancer School inflict damage no living person can possibly withstand. A single breath from it will reduce you to ashes... you don't want to die without even a body left to bury, do you?"

As he spoke, he held out his hand to Ron:

"I'm giving you one last chance. Hand over the Forbidden Codex!"

But Ron had calmed down:

"If you want it, come get it yourself."

The Magician could not find the fear that should have been on Ron's face. He only heard him say coolly:

"That is, if your magic actually works."

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

A flicker of anger crossed the Magician's face. He abandoned his pretense of being a gentleman and drove the spell at full power, making the Magic Array flare with blinding green light.

The zombie opened its mouth wide and let out a piercing shriek, spewing a blast of green breath toward Ron-

But Ron was already prepared.

Without hesitation, he swung his backpack up in front of him. The instant the dark green sound wave touched it, the backpack rotted into scraps, revealing an ornately decorated magic book.

In an instant, the chilling magical energy abruptly froze.

Then the frigid breath reversed course as though drawn into a siphon, and the magic book swallowed it all in a heartbeat, as if it had never existed.

The handbook's notification sounded in his ears-

[Charge progress +99.97%]

[Current charge progress: 100%]

[Setting anchor "Introduction to Mysticism" fully charged. Its seal has been unlocked. World "Potion Era" anchored according to the charging energy's attribute alignment. Its gateway has been opened.]

The last unavailable option on the handbook's light screen finally lit up. Without hesitation, Ron tapped [Enter World Save].

"..."

In an instant, Ron felt a faint wave of dizziness. His vision went black for a moment before dim lamplight came into view.

He smelled the acrid odor of coal smoke and saw the soft glow of a kerosene lamp.

When he looked up, he no longer saw Ideal City's layers of concrete high-rises, but towering walls of cold stone brick. Slimy moss crawled over them, giving off a faint, foul odor.

By the wall, a shriveled corpse hung in cold bronze shackles. There was no telling how long it had been dead. Its flesh had rotted and teemed with maggots, mosquitoes and flies swarmed around it, and white bones were faintly visible beneath the decaying flesh.

Ron frowned. Cold shackles had somehow appeared around his ankles, where he felt a faint, knife-like pain. Clearly, there were sharp edges inside the shackles.

Turning his head, he saw a small window sealed with cold bars. Through it, he could make out a towering clock tower and a church. A steam train roared past, belching clouds of coal smoke.

Gentlemen in top hats hurried by, while ladies lifted their skirts and stepped gingerly over the mud. Public carriages raced along the road.

The church bells rang, reminding Ron that he had arrived in a new era, an era of mysticism-

But as a prisoner.