"The leveling system transcends the gods. It was here before the dawn of this world and it will be after it is gone. The level in system generally means number of skills one can possess but I think it is the capacity of a soul. As you may have read on my paper, I have found 3 individuals who had more skills than their level would indicate. Is it a mistake by the system? I don't think so. Then why do the level and number of skill becomes same in almost all individual. What does levelling up increase? "
"That is the question we must ask ourselves. We are individual at forefront of system research. We have found countless secrets on system and skills that was thought to be unknown. We have moved forward the way we view the status screen. We have found out that the system hasn't been the same through the ages."
"With that being said I would like to put forth my hypothesis on the meaning of level. I hypothesised that the level indicate the strength and capacity of one's soul. As one's level increases so does their soul. The experience we gain from combat is a part of deceased soul fused into the victor's soul. Due to this we cannot level from defeating one's with lower level, as the quality of soul is different between them. So I concluded that if we can increase our soul strength and capacity independent of leveling we can house more skill than the level. In lieu to this I also hypothesise that skills are stored in soul."
-A lecture by an unknown scholar on unknown world
"...and intervenes not out of power, but necessity. The Protector, as the fragments describe, is not a god nor a ruler. They are something older. Something bound not by divinity, but by responsibility. Their role was not to shape the world, but to guard it, from what, we are not told. Only hints remain, etched into ruins lost to time, where reality flickers and the system's laws fray at the edges."
"Some scholars say the Protector watches over the cracks between worlds, ensuring that what lies beyond never seeps in. Others believe the Protector is the one who maintains the System itself, a caretaker rather than a creator. They operate not on emotion, not on faith, but on purpose."
"And yet, the Protector is absent. No scriptures tell of their fall. No monuments mourn their silence. Only the oldest and most fragmented of texts suggest that they exist, not as a savior, but as a judge, when the balance is truly broken."
"And if the System really is a construct of all thoughts and souls across existence…Then maybe the Protector is not a being at all but a consequence."
- Palsik of Madness
"In the early era of the System, there were no titles. Only skills and levels defined one's existence. Simpler times, when power was earned and measured in simpler terms."
"But everything changed during the War."
"No, not just any war. The war that was meant to define the fate of two universes… until he arrived."
"A being so corrupted, so saturated with eldritch knowledge, he didn't belong to any known universe, let alone ours. His presence bent the very fabric of logic. The laws of our universe... twisted merely to accommodate his existence."
"I still remember him, even now… after a few thousand years. A boy. Fragile. Looked like the wind might break him."
"But behind those eyes, or perhaps beneath them, was a storm we were never meant to witness."
"...He didn't speak like a destroyer. He didn't even understand what he was."
"But the moment he appeared, the very core of the System began to fracture. Even the Transcendents and the gods could not ignore it."
"A universal quest was issued, one that appeared only to the highest seats of existence."
[Universal Quest: Terminate the Corrupted Catalyst]
Target Status: Unknown — Observation Denied
Reward:
1. Promotion to System Observer
2. Lifespan increase
3. Permanent Access to The Library of Knowledge
"We tried to read his status. Just a glance… and even the strongest among us screamed. Madness, entropy, endless recursive loops of thought. He was a paradox that fed on understanding. The more we tried to know him, the more we unraveled ourselves."
"We fought. Together. Transcendents, divine avatars, system-forged archons. We all failed."
"And then, just like that, it ended. No explosion. No corpse. He was simply… gone."
"Was he destroyed? Did he retreat to whatever realm he came from? Or was that battle just another part of his unknowable plan?"
"We still don't know."
"But the System changed. The corrupted fragments of the old interface were purged… and a new layer was born."
"Titles , A reflection not of strength, but of meaning. Purpose. Consequence and Self."
"And some say… it was his presence that forced the System to evolve. To adapt. To defend against whatever he was."
"We only call him one thing now."
"Catalyst Zero"
- Transender Satao