The air smells wrong.
No—it's familiar.
That's the issue.
It smells like grass. Real grass.
I had almost forgotten what that felt like. In my previous existence, even the wind carried a metallic taste. We adapted to breathe lightly, using our lungs to filter out the toxins until they could no longer endure. Each morning, I would cough up dark residue, just like everyone else.
But here…
This air—it feels warm, gentle, slightly sweet. And it's clean. As if someone had washed the sky with water and cleansed the clouds with soap.
Where am I?
The recollections do not strike me suddenly; instead, they seep in like water through a crack. Fast, messy, painful.
One second, I'm staring at the sky. The next, my head feels like it's being split open from the inside. My knees give out. I fall, hands sinking into warm dirt. My nails scrape something soft—grass again. I clutch it, as if it is evidence that I am not merely dreaming.
I remember everything.
The screaming skies. The dying seas. The humans who dug too deep, burned too fast, wanted too much. I remember how Earth turned to smoke. How our machines continued to operate even after our hearts stopped.
I died. That part is unmistakably clear.
Yet, I find myself here now. Somehow. Reborn. Not in a paradise, nor in a hell, but instead in a body that feels unfamiliar, in a world that still thrives.
As I gradually inspect my hands, I notice they are younger. Smooth, devoid of calluses, as if they have never wielded a tool or collected waste for credits.
"What's going on?" I mutter, trying to comprehend my surroundings.
"Hey, Ethan! Are you alright?" a voice interrupts.
I flinch.
A young man squats beside me. He wears the same school uniform: a grey coat with a silver emblem on the left chest. His brown hair is neatly styled, and his wide eyes reflect concern.
"Sorry," I reply. "Just… feeling a bit dizzy."
He smiles and extends his hand. "Looks like you're feeling the pre-ceremony jitters too, huh? It's a big day!"
I take his hand, allowing him to help me up. "Yes. Quite a big day."
I have no idea who he is. but he seems to know me.
Right, I remind myself. This body belongs to Ethan.
But it's mine now.
The schoolyard is massive. Clean stone walkways. Tall white walls with blue trim. Transparent pillars that glow faintly in the sun. Floating drones quietly hover above. Groups of students gather—boys and girls, all around eighteen years old. Some are laughing. Some are pacing. Some are praying.
We're all waiting.
Above us, a floating platform hums softly. The Awakening Altar. Shaped like a hexagon, glowing lines carved into it pulse faintly. That is where our awakening ceremony will be held.
My mind drifts.
So this is how it starts in this world. At 18, everyone can awakens a fragment of divinity. A realm. A blank world of their own.
My chest tightens.
What if it's the same?
What if my realm is dead too?
Filled with black rain and broken trees and poisoned soil?
Would I have the courage to fix it?
Would I even want to?
"Attention students," a calm voice echoes from the speaker tower.
"The Awakening Ceremony will begin shortly. Please gather in front of the platform in your assigned order."
The boy from earlier taps my shoulder. "We're in Group B, right? Let's head over."
"Sure," I respond with a nod, following him quietly as the atmosphere buzzes with anticipation.
A girl walks past us. Her eyes are sharp, her uniform crisp. She moves with the confidence of someone who knows her significance as if she's already on the finish line.
"That's Claire," the boy whispers. "Her family is well-off. She'll likely awaken a high-tier realm."
I blink. "High-tier?"
He laughs lightly, "You are really nervous, huh? Don't worry. Most individuals receive something decent. A few unlucky ones get rough terrain, but that's rare."
I remain silent. I am already aware that I may be one of the rare cases. My luck tends to be less than favorable.
The line progresses fast.
One by one, students step onto the altar. Light wraps around them. Their eyes close. They stand still for a few minutes, then reopen their eyes.
Some smile. Some shed tears. Some simply nod and walk away.
Then it's my turn.
My legs feel heavy, as if the very ground is pulling me back. With each step closer, my stomach tightens.
When I finally step onto the altar, it feels like stepping myself in a shimmering sea of light. It envelopes me, warm and heavy, pressing against my chest like a thousand unshed tears.
"Ethan Moore," the announcer calls. "Begin your awakening."
As the light swirls around me, a mix of hope and dread floods my senses, consuming everything in its embrace.
Then, in an instant, everything fades away.
I find myself standing alone.
In an abyss of darkness.
At first, I wonder if this is merely the void before the realm forms. But then the smell hits me.
Smoke. Rotten water. The acrid scent of burnt oil.
The sky above is gray-black. Thick clouds cover the whole horizon. The ground is cracked, dry, and black. In the distance, dead trees stand like skeletal sentinels. Pools of thick, dark liquid lie motionless, stagnant in the shadows.
This isn't like Earth, tales woven with hope but a wasteland, at the end of the world.
My eyes burn with the sting of reality.
"Is this some kind of twisted joke?" I gasp, my heart racing as fear grips me.
"No," I whisper to myself.
This world… It reflects me.
It mirrors my origins. It carries the weight of my burdens.
Just then,
The [System] pinged in my vision, polite and uncaring:
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[Divine Realm Awakened]
Realm Name: [Undecided]
Starting Size: [1.00 km²]
Status: [Unstable - High Pollution Detected]
Resource Index: [Low]
Environmental Modifier: [-70% Growth Efficiency]
**Recommended: Fire/Metal/Decay Type Race Cards]
**Warning: Other Races types may suffer extreme penalties.]
----------------------------------------------
I dropped to my knees.
This... This was no coincidence.
This wasn't punishment. It was a reminder.
In my past life, we did this to the world. I had lived through the end—breathed its smoke, watched green vanish, watched oceans turn black.
And now?
Now I stood as a demi-god of my own tiny apocalypse.
"...But maybe I get to do something different this time."
I looked out across the wasteland. It wasn't beautiful. It was broken.
But so was I.
The screen shifted again:
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[Please return to the real world. You have 24 hours to choose your Race Card.]
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And then I was back.
I stumbled off the platform. A few students clapped automatically, not even noticing my expression. I probably looked like everyone else to them—shocked, breathless, overwhelmed.
They had no idea.
"Ethan," I muttered to myself. "You're not saving a world. You're building one. From rot."
Back at the benches, the others were buzzing with excitement.
"I got a volcanic realm!"
"Mine's all crystal and caves!"
"There were glowing lakes in mine!"
I sat quietly.
Somewhere beside me, a boy with spiky hair was miming an explosion with his hands. "Boom! Lava everywhere! I'm definitely picking a Flamekin card."
Another girl was scribbling notes in a journal, her brow furrowed. "Does anyone know if sand-type realms favor insectoid creatures? I think I saw dunes for miles."
"Hey," someone asked me. "What was yours like?"
I smiled.
"Smelled like home."
They blinked. "Cool...?"
Yeah. Real cool.
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You have 24 hours to select a Tier 1 Race Card. If no choice is made, the school will assign one randomly.]
Available School Tier 1 Race Cards:
[Slimekin]
[Goblinkin]
[Stoneborn]
[Insectoid Crawler]
[Fluff Beast]
[Sparkling Wisp]
[Mudgrub]
[Fungal Drone]
[Grassy Sprite]
[Ember Pup]
[Scaleling]
[Rubble Golem]
...
----------------------------------------------
My eyes scanned the list.
I already knew what I would choose.
Despite the odds. Despite the -70% growth. Despite everything.