I Awakened The Most Powerful System

One

Leap years were no longer something people celebrated.

Leap years had come to be dreaded because they were the signal that it was time for the next big monster outbreak.

Once, the arrival of a new year meant fireworks, laughter, and a collective sense of hope. It was a time when people stayed up late, made empty promises to themselves, and believed that the future might somehow be better than the past. But those traditions had lost their meaning a long time ago. In this world, when a leap year arrived, it was not greeted with joy. It was greeted with fear.

A leap year was no longer remembered as the year with an extra day in February. That definition had faded into obscurity, remembered by almost no one. Violet suspected she might be the only person left who still recalled what the term once meant.

To everyone else, a leap year had earned far darker names.

It was called the Year of Death.

It was called the Year of the Grim Reaper.

Throughout recorded history, the largest and most catastrophic monster outbreaks from the Tower of Ascension had always occurred during leap years. No exceptions. No deviation. Every major calamity that reshaped cities, erased populations, and scarred nations could be traced back to those cursed years.

The pattern was common knowledge. It was taught in schools, discussed on news channels, and whispered about in households every time February approached with an extra day attached to it. From the moment humanity had begun recording encounters between monsters and mankind, leap years had marked the bloodiest chapters.

This world, a parallel version of Earth, was nothing like the one Violet remembered.

That fact haunted her more than the monsters ever did.

One day, without warning, everything had changed. History books rewrote themselves overnight. Words that once held familiar meanings now meant something else entirely. Events Violet clearly remembered had never happened, while events she had never heard of were now considered common knowledge.

And she was the only one who noticed.

At first, she thought she had lost her mind. She wondered if stress had finally broken her, if she was fabricating memories of a world that had never existed. For a while, she even entertained the idea that she had been transported to another reality entirely.

But none of those explanations were correct.

The truth was far stranger.

Violet had been chosen.

One of the most powerful gods presiding over the Tower of Ascension, the god known as Gemini, had selected her as his champion. She did not know when it happened, or why she had been chosen, or what criteria had been used. All she knew was that something within her had changed.

There was a presence inside her now.

A dormant voice.

And it was counting down.

“Show system screen,” Violet said quietly.

A translucent blue interface appeared in front of her, hovering in the air as if it belonged there.

[ Time until the system successfully binds itself to the host

00y:23h:59m:56s ]

The first time she had seen that notification, the countdown had been set for ten full years.

Now, it was down to less than a day.

Twenty three hours.

Fifty nine minutes.

And counting.

By this time tomorrow, the system would fully bind itself to her.

“One day left,” Violet murmured, releasing a slow breath.

She dismissed the system screen and reached for her phone instead. The familiar glow of the display grounded her, even as the world outside felt increasingly unstable.

“Hey, Xene,” she said. “Call Rhys.”

Her phone’s AI responded instantly, recognizing her voice and initiating the call.

The dial tone rang.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

No answer.

Violet frowned, unease creeping into her chest. Her brother was not the type to ignore her calls, especially today of all days.

In this world, the people admired most were not athletes or actors. They were not singers, entrepreneurs, or public figures in the traditional sense.

The most respected individuals were Ascenders.

Politicians and policymakers often came from their ranks. Entire nations shaped laws around them. Children grew up idolizing them, not astronauts or heroes from history books, but those chosen by the Tower of Ascension.

A Ascender was more than a title. It was a privilege.

Those selected by the Tower were allowed to enter its grounds and challenge the countless dungeons hidden within. No one knew how the Tower chose its candidates. There were no tests, no bloodlines, no warning signs. One day, you were ordinary. The next, you were chosen.

Women were selected between the ages of sixteen and twenty.

Men between eighteen and twenty two.

Only one in ten were ever chosen.

And those who were not chosen would remain second class citizens for the rest of their lives.

Even the weakest Ascender typically gained wealth beyond imagination, physical strength that surpassed human limits, and health that made sickness almost irrelevant. It was no surprise that nearly every child dreamed of being chosen, even though most never would be.

Rhys wanted it more than anyone Violet knew.

He had obsessed over the Tower since childhood, counting the days until his eligibility began. And today was the day.

January 1st, 2024.

At midday, Rhys would officially turn eighteen. For most, it was just a birthday. For him, it was everything. Many Ascenders were chosen the moment they came of age, sometimes within hours. If the Tower was ever going to pick him, today was the day it would happen.

Violet herself had been chosen years earlier.

At twenty years old, she was already known worldwide as the Brightest Prospect of Gen Z. She held the position of Core Member within the Tiger guild, one of the most powerful organizations on the planet. Millions followed her career. Her name carried weight. Her talent was undeniable.

None of it mattered to her.

Not the fame.

Not the wealth.

Not the admiration.

What mattered to Violet was vengeance.

The phone finally connected.

“Hello?” Rhys’s voice came through.

Violet let out a breath she had not realized she was holding.

“Rhys, are you okay?” she asked, worry slipping into her tone despite her attempt to stay calm.

“I’m fine. What do you think would happen to me?” he replied, irritation clear in his voice. In the background, Violet could hear news anchors discussing updates on Tower activity.

“Why aren’t you home yet?” she demanded. “You know your curfew is midnight. Do you want to be grounded?”

“Relax,” Rhys said. “You’re twenty. It’s New Year’s. Go get a boyfriend and open a bottle of wine. Also, I officially turned eighteen today. You’re not my guardian anymore. I can do whatever I want.”

Violet’s grip tightened on her phone.

“Oh no, you are not talking back to me,” she snapped. “I want you home in fifteen minutes. Do you understand me?”

There was a pause.

Then Violet’s voice shifted.

“How did you get in here?” she said slowly. “Who are you?”

The anger drained from her tone, replaced by something sharp and nervous.

On the other end of the line, Rhys froze.

A loud crash echoed through the phone as Violet dropped it. Rhys heard her gasp, then scream. There was the sound of struggling, furniture scraping against the floor.

“Violet!” Rhys shouted. “Sister, are you okay? Hello? Answer me!”

The line stayed open, but Violet did not respond.

Rhys did not think. He bolted out of his friend’s house barefoot, sprinting through the streets toward their apartment. His heart pounded violently as dread clawed at his chest.

He was only five minutes away.

He pushed himself harder.

Then it happened.

A deafening explosion roared through the phone.

KABOOM.

Rhys stumbled as the sound tore through his ears. He looked up just in time to see his apartment building engulfed in fire. Windows shattered outward. Flames swallowed the structure in seconds.

His phone slipped from his hand.

“No!” he screamed, his voice breaking as he stared at the inferno.

Fear consumed him as one thought echoed louder than the explosion itself.

Violet was inside.