He stared at the air for a long while before he dared speak.
"…Status."
The moment the word left his lips, a soundless chime rang in his skull, like the quiet flicker of an unseen switch. Then, the world rippled. Not outwardly—but in his mind. The air shimmered faintly, and a transparent panel opened in front of him, hovering weightlessly, its text glowing with a pale silver light.
He blinked.
[SYSTEM BOOT: COMPLETE]
[WELCOME: ANOMALY DESIGNATION #C-0000001]
[USER ID: ARMAN VALACRE]
[TUTORIAL DATA SYNCHRONIZED – 100%]
[SKILL DATA AVAILABLE]
[STATUS PANEL UNLOCKED]
"…Anomaly?"
So it was real. He wasn't just in someone's body—he had been integrated. And the system knew it. Acknowledged it.
His fingers moved through the floating text instinctively, as if the muscle memory had been ingrained during the tutorial.
A familiar tab blinked at him:
[TITLES]
He tapped it.
TITLES:
• The One Who Refuses
— A soul that clings to survival. The result of countless deaths and an unshakable refusal to yield.
— Effect: Mental Resistance +80%, Emotion-based Skill Synergy (Hidden)
• Anomaly
— You are not meant to exist. The system cannot classify you, and thus assigns no proper ID.
— Effect: Skill Evaluation Delay, Stat Display Suppression, Potential Growth +???%, Detection Immunity (Low-tier)
• Bloodied Survivor
— Granted to those who complete a Trial at level 1 without assistance.
— Effect: Natural HP Recovery +15%, Wound Resistance +10%
He felt his throat tighten. The "Anomaly" title— that must have been why the system didn't show everything. It was suppressing information because he wasn't following its rules.
But it was also the reason he survived.
He flicked to the next section.
STATS:
(Ranked: Iron → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond → Ascendant)
• Strength: Bronze (Low)
• Dexterity: Bronze (Mid)
• Intelligence: Iron (High)
• Constitution: Bronze (Low)
• ???: Hidden
• ???: Hidden
Level: 1
HP: 20/20
Mana: 10/10
"…Still level 1."
No matter how many times he said it, it didn't make sense. He'd killed monsters that could end whole villages. He'd died — over and over again. He'd beaten the Trial Guardian and the Warden.
And still…
His fingers hesitated above the question marks.
"Those must be… willpower and instinct," he muttered. "Too high to classify… or too wrong to show."
The system wasn't denying his strength — it was hiding it.
His thumb hovered over the next tab:
[SKILLS]
SKILLS:
• Feral Flow Lv. 1 (Passive – Combat Instinct)
— You move before you think. During battle, movement chains and responses flow naturally from muscle memory.
— Grants partial access to Auto-Battle mode based on survival-driven instincts.
— Effect scales with emotional resonance.
• Auto-Battle (Dormant – Conditional Activation)
— A glitch-born function. Engages full instinctual combat response when HP hits 1 or user is incapacitated.
— Currently restricted: Full Awakening requires External Trigger.
• Trapcraft Lv. 1
• Crude Poison Handling Lv. 1
• Weapon Improvisation Lv. 1
• Sword Proficiency Lv. 4
• Parry Lv. 3
He read through each one slowly, his heart beating harder with every line.
It wasn't just that he had rare skills.
Some of these — like Auto-Battle — weren't even meant to exist.
And it was dormant. Waiting. Like a second heartbeat beneath his skin.
He slid to the final tab.
VOW ECHOES:
• Vow Echo: Refusal to Die
— Not born of love. Not born of fear. A vow screamed into the void: I will not fall.
— Effect: Enables Auto-Battle Threshold, Mental Fortitude Surge, Echo-Linked Sword Art Synergy
— Classification: Glitched | Unique | Unreplicable
— Other Vow Echoes: LOCKED [6/7]
"…So this isn't even part of the original seven."
The heroines. The seven vows. The seven emotions tied to them.
This — Refusal to Die — was something entirely different. A bug. A system flaw born from surviving the tutorial with a broken body and mind.
It was his starting point.
Not their gift.
And maybe his curse.
Then, just as he was about to close the window, a final message blinked at the bottom.
[Pending Reward: Final Warden Clear Drop Acquired]
[Claim Reward? Y/N]
His heart skipped a beat.
"…What kind of reward comes from a glitched boss fight?" he murmured.
He reached forward.
[Y]
The light began to glow.