"They say invention is born from chaos. If so, I should've been a god by now." – Liam Vance
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The world was ending—again.
Sparks crackled overhead, casting jagged shadows across the ruined lab. The air stank of ozone, molten plastic, and blood. Panels hung from the ceiling like vines, swinging loosely as alarms blared from every direction. Red lights strobed across broken equipment and shattered glass, painting everything in hues of panic.
Liam Vance didn't need a readout to tell him the reactor was unstable. The blinding light surging from its containment unit was enough.
He was dying, and he knew it.
"Figures," he muttered, coughing up blood. "Die making something revolutionary... poetic, really."
The experimental plasma reactor, meant to generate infinite clean energy, had ruptured containment. His own invention—his greatest failure. He tried to crawl, but a steel beam pinned his legs. Blood oozed from a gash along his ribs, warm and sticky. Pain blurred his thoughts, but even as his heart slowed, his mind kept racing.
He wasn't afraid of death.
He was afraid of wasting potential.
His vision blurred. The fusion core, overloaded and unstable, pulsated with a blinding azure hue. In its last moments, it let out a shriek like the cry of a dying star—and then everything went white
[System initializing...]
Liam expected oblivion.
What he got was cold.
He jolted awake with a sharp gasp, eyes flying open to an unfamiliar sky—crimson and gold, with two suns blazing overhead.
He was lying in snow.
Bitter wind tore through his ragged clothes. His limbs were thin and frail, fingers trembling with weakness. This body wasn't his—he'd been over six feet tall, sturdy from years of welding, engineering, and working in labs. Now he was barely five-seven, skinny, and probably a teenager.
He sat up slowly, coughing hard. His chest ached with each breath, and his lungs burned from the cold air.
"What the hell...?"
Snow crunched nearby.
He turned his head—and froze.
A pack of wolves had emerged from the trees. But these weren't ordinary wolves.
They were jet-black with icy blue eyes and long, jagged horns growing from their foreheads. Mana beasts. Even without prior knowledge, the term surfaced naturally in his mind.
The largest one snarled and padded forward, saliva dripping from sharp fangs.
"Right. Of course I get isekai'd into a death trap."
He struggled to stand, but his legs gave out. He collapsed into the snow with a grunt. The wolves were circling now.
This was it.
He was going to die again, less than five minutes after reincarnation. The universe had a sick sense of humor.
And then it happened.
A soft ding echoed in his mind.
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[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
Welcome,
User: Liam Vance
Reconstruction Complete. Host Body: Compatible.
System Type: [Blueprint System]
Energy Signature Detected: World Mana Field [Tier 1]
Emergency Defense Construct Available: [Kinetic Deterrent v0.1]
Deploy? Y/N
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"What in the goddamn... YES!"
The words weren't even fully out of his mouth when the copper ring on his wrist—one he hadn't noticed until now—flared with light.
A circular shockwave erupted from his body, slamming into the snow and blasting outward in every direction. It hit the wolves mid-lunge. The smaller ones yelped and were flung into trees. The leader was thrown several feet, landing with a thud.
For a moment, the forest went silent.
Then the pack whimpered and retreated into the trees.
Liam sat frozen.
"...Did I just... make a railgun airburst wristband?"
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[Construct Deployed: Kinetic Deterrent v0.1]
Design Credits: Earth-Tech Conversion – 3%
Blueprint Saved. System Level: 1.
Mana Affinity: Latent (Triggering...)
Integration Complete. Welcome to the Arcane Frontier.
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A glowing blue interface hovered in his vision—sleek, minimal, and far more responsive than anything he'd seen in a VR HUD. Panels drifted and organized themselves with a thought.
His brain immediately filed away a hundred possibilities.
"This is... engineering," he whispered. "Magic engineering."
He blinked and pulled up the system status window.
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[Status Window – Basic Overview]
Name: Kai (Host Identity)
Age: 16
Class: None
Affinity: Unawakened
System Type: Blueprint
System Level: 1
Known Materials: Snow, Iron (trace), Mana Residue
Blueprints Available:
[Kinetic Deterrent v0.1][Basic Heat Coil] (Locked)[Arcane Spark Core] (Locked)
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"Name: Kai, huh?" he murmured. "Fine. I can work with that."
The system responded to his thoughts as naturally as breathing. He didn't need to speak—just will, and blueprints appeared in his vision like holograms. He opened the one he'd just used.
The schematic for the Kinetic Deterrent was rudimentary: a copper coil, compressed air reservoir, a crude mana crystal as the catalyst, and a release trigger bound to his wrist pulse.
It was tech. But it was also magic.
He grinned, despite the cold biting into his skin.
"Alright. We're playing this game? Then I'm not going to be some background character. I'm building a goddamn empire."
But first he needed shelter.
And food.
And heat.
His current state: near starvation, freezing, and wearing peasant clothes with barely a layer of padding. His fingers were purple at the edges.
A weak chuckle escaped his throat.
"Typical isekai nonsense. Overpowered system... no food."
He scanned his surroundings.
Trees. Moss. Basic stone. If his system could replicate even the simplest constructs, he could make a heat source.
He opened the [Blueprint Creation] tab.
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>> Initiating New Blueprint [Manual Mode]
Selected Construct Type: Utility → Heat Source
Material Availability: Local Wood, Stone, Iron Fragments
Mana Availability: Trace Residue
Auto-Balancing Settings: ON
Prototype Name: Basic Heat Coil
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He started dragging components into the schematic using his mind like he would in CAD software. He layered wood as a fuel chamber, stone as a base, and coiled iron fragments into a makeshift conduction loop.
It wasn't elegant—but it would work.
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[Prototype Created: Basic Heat Coil v0.1]
Error: Mana Circuit Unstable
Solution Suggested: Add Rune: [Warmth Sigil] (Basic Tier)
New Feature Unlocked: Rune Editor
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"Wait... Rune Editor?"
He opened it and gawked.
It was a programmable glyph interface—each rune like a code symbol, controlling output. Like writing embedded firmware, except the syntax was magic.
"This is... spell programming," he whispered, awed.
He dragged the warmth sigil onto the core.
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Stability: 42%
Efficiency: Low
Mana Draw: Passive + Ambient Draw Enabled
Construct Complete: Deploy?
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"Deploy."
A small device materialized in front of him—clunky, handmade, but functional. It glowed red. Heat radiated outward in soft pulses, warming the snow immediately around it.
He held his hands to it and nearly cried.
For the first time since dying, he felt like himself.
Not a victim.
Not a mistake.
But an engineer.
Several hours later, a small plume of smoke caught his eye. In the distance—between two snowy hills—he spotted a cluster of stone cottages and firepits.
A village.
He bundled the device into his arms and staggered forward.
By the time he reached the outskirts, he was delirious.
A child pointed at him. "Mama! There's someone in the snow!"
Voices rose. Torches were raised. Footsteps rushed toward him. He tried to wave but collapsed into the mud.
His vision flickered.
A woman's voice murmured, "He's half-dead... get him inside!"
Then...darkness.
When Liam next woke, he was wrapped in fur blankets beside a stone hearth. Herbal steam filled the room. A kindly old woman dabbed his forehead.
"You're awake," she said softly. "Praise the Flame."
He blinked. "I didn't know… the Flame needed praise."
She chuckled. "And sharp, too. You're lucky we found you before frostbite took your limbs."
He sat up groggily. "Where am I?"
"East Hollow. Small village by the Ashen Woods."
He nodded slowly, cataloguing the name. He still had no idea what continent, kingdom, or era he was in. But this—this was a start.
He smiled faintly.
"Thanks for saving me. I owe you."
"No debt between the living, child. Just survive."
As she left the room, Liam pulled the system interface up again.
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[System Notice]
You have entered a Stable Zone. Ambient Mana Density: Low-Moderate.
Material Detected: Ash Wood, Clay, Tin, Animal Hide.
New Crafting Tier Unlocked: Village Tools I
Blueprint Suggestions: Water Filter, Basic Loom, Heated Boots, Mana Infuser (Crude)
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He laughed quietly, eyes gleaming.
"Let's get to work."