On a planet where the clouds carried deep shades of gray, bolts of red, blue, and yellow tore through the sky in a chaotic, unending spectacle. Thunder echoed like the roar of ancient beasts, shaking the atmosphere and making the very air tremble.
At the heart of this world stood a colossal palace. Its structure was so vast and imposing that, if someone gazed from outside the planet, they would see it piercing the clouds and scratching the stormy sky. Made of black stones and adorned with sharp towers that pierced the mist, the palace seemed more like a living entity, breathing in the energy of that cursed land.
Inside the throne room, silence reigned absolute. The space was vast, with twisted columns rising to a ceiling hidden in shadows. The walls were adorned with ancient tapestries and symbols forgotten by eras. At the center, atop a platform of obsidian steps, rested a gigantic throne, forged from bones and black steel, radiating an oppressive aura.
Then, without warning, a voice cut through the silence like a gentle melody, contradicting the stormy environment raging beyond the walls. It was a voice of uncommon beauty, sweet and hypnotic, as if each word were a carefully played note from a celestial harp, capable of calming even the most violent storms.
"There was a disturbance in space-time..." — the voice whispered, almost as if speaking to itself, though the sound spread throughout the vastness of the hall.
Slowly, her eyes opened. They were an intense pink hue, like the petals of rare flowers bathed in dawn's light. Eyes beautiful enough to paralyze any creature, yet at that moment, they held only confusion and uncertainty.
"Akashic… what is this?" — the entity questioned, her voice sounding like a soft lament lost in the wind.
In response, a translucent screen materialized before her, with golden letters shining like constellations in the darkness.
[An anomaly.]
Akashic — the enigmatic entity, mentioned in sacred texts and ancestral records of countless civilizations. For ages, sages and oracles tried to comprehend its essence, never reaching the truth. Some believed Akashic was a living consciousness, created to guide races toward universal progress and balance. Others claimed it was nothing more than a concept, a will-less force acting only in critical moments to correct deviations in the tapestry of fate.
And yet, there it was, responding directly to someone. An unexpected act, for those who studied it, Akashic had never shown signs of true consciousness or sensitivity. To many, it was merely a mechanism of the cosmos. But perhaps… perhaps it wasn't as indifferent as they believed.
Anomaly…
The entity reflected, her pink eyes fixed on the ethereal screen that slowly dissipated into the air. Sitting atop the colossal throne of bones and black steel, her expression grew distant, thoughtful.
Then, with a simple snap of her fingers, her body vanished in a faint beam of light, as if reality itself had swallowed her.
When she reappeared, the scenery around her was entirely different. A grove of pale flowers and petals resembling cherry blossoms in eternal spring stretched as far as the eye could see. The air was thick with a sweet perfume, and the breeze carried petals dancing silently beneath the gentle light of an orange moon.
At the heart of that abundant garden, ancient relics rested in discreet corners — artifacts of such colossal power that a single one, if wielded, could reduce entire worlds to dust. Each treasure, a slumbering legend, waiting for the right moment to awaken.
With firm and serene steps, the entity walked across the carpet of petals until she crouched before a colossal tree. Its trunk was wide enough to house entire cities, and its leaves shimmered in shades of blue and violet.
Plucking one of the leaves, the entity applied slight pressure between her fingers. The delicate structure instantly crumbled, dissipating into particles of purple light. That residual, ethereal, volatile energy seemed to take on a life of its own, slithering through space-time like a ravenous shadow, vanishing toward an unknown point.
Upon witnessing the energy's reaction, the entity's body shuddered. A chill ran down her spine, and for a moment, she couldn't even process what she had just witnessed. Her long white hair, once impeccably arranged, slid in a cascade over her face, partially obscuring her expression.
Behind that curtain of white strands, the pink eyes shimmered — but not with the serenity from before. In them now burned an insane glow, a madness repressed for centuries. The eyes of someone who, after an eternity of waiting and solitude, finally glimpsed what they always desired — and it drove them to the brink of insanity.
Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, a vivid contrast against her porcelain-like pale skin. Her lips, trembling with contained emotion, parted. And even struggling to restrain the whirlwind of emotions and growing madness, a phrase escaped, like a whisper carrying promises of obsession and destruction.
"He… awakened…" — she murmured, and the madness in her voice was so clear that even the garden itself seemed to fall silent in reverence of that moment.
Trying to follow the trail of the purple energy, the entity extended her perception through the fabric of space-time. But to her surprise — and irritation — the energy had simply disappeared, as if it had never existed. Not even she, a being of immeasurable power, capable of bending reality with a gesture, could locate its origin or destination.
Her expression, once marked by insane euphoria, contorted into confusion and annoyance. Delicate eyebrows furrowed, lips curved in a faint, restrained snarl, and the intense glow in her eyes darkened, like a beast denied its prey in the final moment of the hunt.
"Akashic… what is this?" — she muttered sharply, demanding an answer that never came.
The silence persisted. Not a single word, not a warning. Only the soft sound of the wind carrying petals around. The absence of a response filled her chest with a cold rage.
"Tch." — she clicked her tongue in disdain and contempt.
In an instant, her body disintegrated into fragments of pale light, reappearing in the throne room, where shadows and ancient echoes awaited her. The colossal hall seemed to tremble slightly with her abrupt return.
Seating herself once again on the throne of bones and black steel, she raised her hands before her, and in them began to condense pure energy. A shapeless light, in violet and bluish hues, crackled at her fingertips, dancing like living flames as the air around her distorted from the growing pressure.
"If you won't help me… then I'll deal with this myself." — she muttered, her voice laden with determination and contained madness.
The energy in her hands expanded, and her eyes grew even wilder, like those of someone on the verge of breaking a long-imposed limit. Only she knew what she was preparing. Meanwhile, Akashic, that invisible, unfathomable presence, continued only to observe, impassive, as if the unfolding of that instant were yet another tangled thread in the infinite tapestry of fate.
Noah – Dungeons.
As soon as Noah crossed the dungeon's portal, something imperceptible slid through the environment and infiltrated his body. A dense, oppressive purple energy enveloped him for a moment, but he didn't even notice. No physical sign, no pain…
Then, without warning, notifications began popping up in his vision.
+10000
+10000
+10000
+10000
+10000
+10000
...
[Changes have been made]
[Host must grow as quickly as possible]
[Dungeon Rank D »»»» Rank C+]
"What the hell is this...?" — he murmured, his eyes scanning the messages, suspicious.
That's when a familiar voice sounded in his mind. Calm, but this time with a slight hesitation — something rare.
["I have no idea what exactly happened… But these notifications appeared the moment a strange — and at the same time, familiar — energy entered our body."]
"What do you mean 'familiar'? Explain it properly." — Noah demanded, keeping alert to his surroundings.
["It's hard to describe. All I know is this energy… it's part of our power. Like a lost fragment, a forgotten shard that just returned. I don't know how or why… but it affected your attributes and, as a consequence, the dungeon seems to have leveled up."]
Before even responding, Noah watched the notifications appearing in sequence. The numbers climbed frantically.
+10000
+10000
+10000
…
He frowned. Those numbers… he knew them very well. They were affection points. Only it didn't make sense.
"What the fuck…? These affection points… why are they going up now?" — he whispered to himself, a chill running down his spine.
He knew those points only increased when someone with feelings for him — and the more intense, the more points — directed those feelings somehow. Devotion, obsession… twisted love. But who? From where? How?
["No idea…"] — the dry voice replied in his head.
["I just noticed it started when that strange energy entered our body. Maybe it's related, maybe not."]
Noah took a deep breath, trying to calm his thoughts. He wanted to investigate more, understand where that came from, but knew that here, in the middle of a dungeon newly promoted to Rank C+, any distraction would be fatal.
"Shit… Now's not the time for this. I'll figure this out later." — he murmured, turning his attention to the barren land ahead.
But even saying that, the unease didn't leave him. Because deep down, he knew it could only mean one thing: someone out there, somewhere, was thinking about him with absurd intensity. And that someone… was getting closer.
But don't be mistaken. He wasn't afraid… Not at all. In fact, he felt excitement coursing through his veins like an addictive drug. Because if there was something Noah enjoyed, it was dangerous women — and nothing was more addictive than an obsessed yandere.
With a crooked smile tugging at the corner of his lips, he murmured, chuckling softly:
"Heh… nothing better than someone capable of loving me… or killing me."
And deep down, he could hardly wait to find out who it was.