2026-04-16 19:02:38The grand banquet hall buzzed with laughter and the soft clink of champagne glasses under sparkling crystal chandeliers. The air was thick with expensive perfume, roasted meat, and the kind of wealth Ethan Kane had only ever seen from the outside.
He stood awkwardly near the entrance, tugging at the sleeves of his old black suit. The fabric was starting to feel tight across his shoulders after two years of hard use. In his hands, he held a simple chocolate cake he had baked himself after finishing a double shift as a delivery rider. The icing was slightly crooked, but he had written “Happy Birthday, Sophia” with all the care he could manage. For four long years, Ethan had poured everything into this relationship. When Sophia Reed’s family hit financial trouble, he dropped out of university without hesitation. He took every low-paying job he could find — waiter, cleaner, night delivery — just to help keep them going. He even moved into their villa as a live-in helper, swallowing insult after insult from her relatives who called him “the useless freeloader” and “parasite son-in-law wannabe.” He endured it all because he truly loved Sophia. She used to look at him with soft eyes and say he was her hero. Those memories were what kept him going through the humiliation. Tonight was her 25th birthday party. He hoped the cake would remind her of the simpler times before money and status changed everything. “Ethan?” Sophia’s voice cut through the noise like ice. She walked toward him, looking stunning in a flowing red designer gown, her arm locked tightly with a tall, confident man in a tailored Armani suit. Marcus Sterling — the young heir of the powerful Sterling Group. He glanced at Ethan the way one might look at dirt on expensive shoes. Ethan forced a smile and lifted the cake box. “Happy birthday, Sophia. I baked your favorite chocolate cake. I worked extra shifts all week just to afford the ingredients. I thought maybe we could share a moment like the old days—” Before he could finish, Marcus snatched the box from his hands and tossed it carelessly onto a nearby table. The lid flew open, and the cake splattered across the polished marble floor in a sad brown mess. Laughter erupted from the surrounding guests — mostly rich young masters and socialites. “Oh my God, he actually brought a homemade cake?” a girl in a sparkling dress giggled. “How cute… and pathetic.” Another guest sneered loudly. “Does he really think he still has a chance with Miss Reed? The guy is delusional.” Sophia’s face flushed with embarrassment. She sighed heavily, avoiding his eyes. “Ethan, I already told you yesterday on the phone. We’re done. Completely done. Please stop embarrassing both of us.” Ethan felt his chest tighten. His voice came out shaky. “Done? After four years? I dropped out of school for you. I borrowed money from friends, worked until I couldn’t feel my legs, lived like a servant in your house while your family treated me like dirt every single day. How can you just say we’re done like that?” Marcus laughed loudly and wrapped his arm possessively around Sophia’s waist. “Four years? Come on, man. She was just using you as a temporary toy while she waited for someone with real status and money. Someone like me.” Right in front of everyone, Marcus pulled out a sparkling diamond engagement ring and slid it onto Sophia’s finger. “We’re getting engaged tonight. Both families have already approved the alliance. You’re no longer needed, trash. Time to disappear from her life.” Sophia finally glanced at Ethan, but her eyes held only irritation and pity. “Just leave quietly, Ethan. Don’t ruin my night.” The words stung worse than any physical blow. One of Sophia’s cousins stepped forward and shoved Ethan hard in the chest. “You heard her, loser! Get the hell out before we throw you out like the dog you are!” Ethan stumbled backward. Another guest stuck out a foot and tripped him deliberately. He crashed to the floor right beside the smashed cake, his hands landing in the sticky mess. The laughter grew even louder and crueler. “Useless parasite!” “Look at that cheap suit — probably from the flea market!” “Pathetic live-in servant thinking he’s part of the family!” Marcus walked over slowly, towering above him. He raised his expensive leather shoe and stomped down hard on Ethan’s right hand. Crack! Sharp pain exploded through Ethan’s fingers. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream in front of all these people. “Know your place, you worthless loser,” Marcus spat. “People like you were born to be stepped on by people like us. Now crawl out of here before I make you regret ever meeting Sophia.” Security guards appeared immediately. They grabbed Ethan roughly by the arms and dragged him out of the hall. They threw him violently into the dark, rainy alley behind the luxury hotel. Cold rain poured down heavily, soaking him to the bone. Blood from his split lip mixed with the water running down his face. His broken fingers throbbed with every heartbeat. Ethan curled into a ball on the filthy ground, tears mixing with the rain. “Why, Sophia…?” he whispered brokenly. “I loved you more than anything. I sacrificed my entire future for you. My education, my savings, my self-respect… Everything. Was it all just a lie?” Flashbacks flooded his mind — the late nights delivering food in the rain, taking blame for her family’s mistakes, the way she once hugged him and called him her only real support. All of it felt meaningless now. As the cold seeped deeper into his bones and darkness began to pull at the edges of his consciousness, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly echoed directly inside his mind. [Ding! Almighty System has detected a highly suitable host.] [Host: Ethan Kane — Extreme Betrayal, Humiliation, and Despair Detected.] [Almighty System binding… 100%!] A transparent blue holographic panel appeared in front of his eyes. 【Almighty System】 Host: Ethan Kane Level: 1 (0/100 EXP) Strength: 6 Agility: 5 Vitality: 4 Intelligence: 7 Charm: 3 Core Feature: Pain-to-Power Conversion Every insult, every humiliation, every physical pain will be converted into Experience Points and Attribute Points. Starter Mission: Deliver your first revenge slap against an enemy within 24 hours. Reward: 300 EXP + Beginner Gift Pack (Random God-tier Skill + $20,000) A powerful surge of warm energy flooded Ethan’s battered body. The pain in his broken fingers disappeared. His bruises began to fade. For the first time in years, a dangerous fire ignited in Ethan’s eyes. He slowly pushed himself up from the muddy ground, rain still pouring down. He stared back at the brightly lit banquet hall where laughter continued as if nothing had happened. “Marcus Sterling… Sophia Reed… the entire Reed family…” His voice was low and cold. “You all humiliated me tonight. Stepped on me without mercy.” A slow, icy smile spread across his face. “Thanks to all of you… the Almighty System has awakened.” The first face to be slapped had already been chosen.
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CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR -The First Test Of The Long Watch
The Long Watch did not begin with an army. It began with silence. Three days after the Builders’ final protocol activated, every outer portal connected to the Dominion went quiet at the same moment. Not closed. Not attacked. Simply… muted. Trade caravans reported that the usual background resonance of the bridge had vanished. Messages between realms arrived with strange delays. In two distant worlds, people claimed the sky itself had dimmed for eleven seconds. Ethan felt it immediately. The seventh key, which had settled into a steady rhythm, suddenly beat out of sequence. A cold pressure spread through his chest and up into his skull. For a moment the map of the bridge in his mind went dark at the edges. Then the System panel appeared, its text sharper and more formal than usual. **[Long Watch Protocol – First Test Initiated]** **[Designation: The Silence]** **[Nature: Mu
CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE -The keystone Burden
The seventh key did not sleep. Ethan learned this on the sixth night after the siege. He had finally forced himself to lie down in the small private room behind the Core Chamber — the first time he had tried to rest since returning from the First Forge. Mira had refused to leave and sat in a chair against the wall, arms crossed, watching him the way she watched enemy lines. The lights were low. The city outside was as quiet as a wounded place could be. Sleep took him quickly. The key did not allow it to last. He woke choking on the sensation of a portal failure three realms away. Not a vision. Not a report. A direct, physical awareness — the way a man might wake from the pain of a cut on his own hand. The portal in question belonged to a minor mining world called Orrell’s Drift. A routine trade gate had begun to destabilize because of residual damage from the war. Left alone, it would have collapsed in under
CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO-The weight of the seven
The light of the Sevenfold Resonance faded slowly from the Dominion, leaving behind a city that no longer knew how to be quiet. Ethan stood in the ruined Core Chamber long after the last enemy portal had closed. The seventh Seed Key beat inside his chest with a steady, alien rhythm. It did not feel like power. It felt like a chain that had been locked from the inside. Outside the shattered windows, smoke still rose from the outer districts. Medical teams moved through streets that had been battlefields only hours earlier. The portals that remained active glowed with a cleaner, steadier light than before — as if the bridge itself had finally stopped straining. Mira sat on a broken console a few meters away, her bandages dark with fresh blood she had refused to let anyone fully treat. She had not spoken since the siege ended. Sophia worked in silence at a secondary terminal, her burned hands wrapped in cooling gel, eyes flicking between casualty reports and structural integrity scans
CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE -The First Forge
The portal closed behind Ethan like a mouth swallowing light. He stood alone in a place that should not have existed. The First Forge was not a realm. It was the memory of a realm — the original workshop where the First Builders had hammered raw multiversal energy into the first Systems. The ground beneath his feet was a flat plain of black metal etched with circuits the size of rivers. Above him hung a sky of molten gold and white-hot star-stuff. Massive anvils the size of mountains floated in the distance. Rivers of liquid time flowed upward into the void. The six Seed Keys on his wrist flared as if recognizing their birthplace. The System panel appeared, but the text was different — older, heavier, written in a language that hurt to look at before the System translated it. **[Welcome, Bearer of Six]** **[You stand in the First Forge]** **[The Seventh Key is not given]** **[
CHAPTER SEVENTY - The siege of the Dominion
Forty hours was not enough time to prepare for a multiversal war. But it was all they had. Ethan stood on the highest balcony of Kane Tower as the first enemy portals tore open across the skyline. Dozens of them. Then hundreds. Black and crimson rifts split the air above the outer districts, and through them poured the combined forces of the rival alliance. Kael Voss was not among the first wave. He was waiting for the final key, just as Ethan was. The hosts who came instead were the ones who had decided the Unifier must die before the seventh key could be claimed. The System panel burned with constant updates. **[Dominion Under Full Assault]** **[Enemy Hosts Detected: 17]** **[Enemy Forces: Approximately 40,000]** **[Estimated time until outer districts fall: 3 hours]** **[Seed Keys 6 of 7 status: Stable but drawing enemy attention]** **[Recommendation:
CHAPTER SIXTY NINE -The sixth key
Five days. That was all the time the System gave them. Ethan stood in the highest observation spire of Kane Tower, watching the first true war reports scroll across the sky-projected map. Outer portal stations burned. Three allied realms had already gone dark. The rival alliance was no longer hunting in secret. They were dismantling the bridge piece by piece. Behind him the five Seed Keys floated in their containment field, brighter and heavier than ever. Their resonance had begun to affect the tower itself. Walls hummed. Lights flickered in patterns that matched the keys’ orbit. Ordinary citizens in the city below reported dreams of black and gold fragments calling their names. Mira entered the spire with her side still heavily bandaged. She moved carefully but her eyes were sharp. “Sophia’s latest count puts the rival alliance at fourteen confirmed high-level hosts,” she said.
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