I stood before a strange, pitch-black core—so vast, I was no larger than an ant in its presence. As I stared deeper, galaxies of blank cores swirled inside—each drifting in its own isolated void.
But one of them pulsed.
It wasn't empty.
Shaped like a Yin-Yang symbol, it shone brilliantly, radiating a star-like glow. I didn't realize when the words left my lips.
**"Galaxy of cores…"**
I was completely mesmerized. Suddenly, an invisible force wrapped around me, dragging me out of the scene and snapping me back into reality.
---
**\[Race Change Complete]**
**\[Touch Learned]**
**\[Origin Eyes Gained]**
**\[Origin Core Awakened]**
**+10 Physique**
**+10 Strength**
**+5 Mana**
**+100 Origin**
---
My eyes shot open.
The woman who had tried to steal my sword was gone.
I sat up slowly, bones cracking like splintered wood reshaping themselves. A familiar voice echoed in my mind—Inerous.
**\[Congratulations on becoming the Origin Eater.]**
Then, the system screen appeared before me:
---
**\[The One Who Devoured the Origin Whale]**
**\[As the first Origin Eater and first offspring of Origin, you've been granted the title: *Father of Origin.*]**
---
**Father of Origin...**
I frowned. *What exactly is "Origin"?*
As if in answer, multicolored threads appeared, covering the world like an invisible tapestry. I reached out, but my fingers slipped through—it existed, yet defied substance. A phantom thread.
Shapes formed within the strings—beasts, monsters, entities unknown. They didn't approach. None dared. Their heads remained bowed, as if in reverence.
**Tina.**
Her tiny head popped out from my shirt, nuzzling against my cheek. I placed her on my palm, observing the colored threads around her. In her chest, a green flame flickered.
**"This is the source…"**
My gaze dropped to the ground—then through it.
And suddenly, I stood before a **cyan flame**, pulsing like it was alive… breathing. Threads of every color spiraled around it in chaotic harmony.
**"World Core…"** I muttered.
A violent pressure slammed into me. It gripped my body, crushing, suffocating—like the planet itself had wrapped around me.
**"Is this how I die again…?"**
System alerts flooded in:
---
**+20 Mana**
**+20 Mana**
**+20 Mana**
**+20 Mana**
**+20 Mana**
**+100 Fire Affinity**
**+100 Water Affinity**
**+100 Earth Affinity**
**+100 Wind Affinity**
---
My body started glowing, shifting through colors—red, blue, brown, and white—as elemental energy surged through my veins. The suffocating grip began to ease.
**"It's an honor to house the Child of Origin,"** a voice said softly, like a whisper on wind.
I looked around—no source.
**"Where are you?"**
I looked down.
A tiny girl with twin blue pigtails stood on the glowing earth. Her aura… otherworldly.
**"Sorry, didn't see you there."** I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
She pouted.
**"Child of Origin, you're so disrespectful."**
Then, without warning, she reached up, cupped my face with her cold, gentle hands, and kissed my forehead.
The world shattered.
---
I reappeared cross-legged before my core. As I'd suspected—**six cores** now orbited my Origin Core.
Each danced like celestial bodies in perfect rhythm:
A water-bodied core, a fire core, an earth core of pure density, and a wind core—each elemental, each powerful.
**"This is insane… I have mana."**
The grin on my face was unstoppable.
I closed my eyes, willing the mana to flow. Cyan energy surged around me. I tried to summon a fireball… nothing happened.
*Crude.* I shifted strategy.
Focusing on the flame core, I willed the strings of my mana core to intertwine with it. I felt it instantly—the flow of energy in my **newly formed mana Veins**.
The moment I directed it to my palm, it burst into flames. The heat surged rapidly.
I snuffed it out before I roasted myself alive.
I began channeling a technique from my past life—a masterpiece I had once created.
**Galaxy Gathering.**
Modeled after a black hole's pull, the technique drew everything inward—raw, uncontrolled, and hungry.
I activated it.
The trait core spun first, dragging the others into rhythm. Together, they devoured.
Hours passed.
When I opened my eyes again:
---
**\[STATUS]**
**Name:** Dax Godfall
**Race:** Origin Eater
**Bloodline:** None
**Title: Father of Origin**
**Traits:** Origin Devourer, Synthesis
**Attributes:**
Strength: 15
Intelligence: 2
Mana: 105
Aura: 0
Agility: 5
Physique: 11
Dexterity: 2
Luck: -1
Origin: 100
**Skills:** Air Step, Touch, Origin Eyes
**Meditation Art:** Dark Gathering
— *A technique that keeps the core in a constant state of absorption.*
**Origin Eyes:** See all traces of origin. *(Nothing escapes its gaze.)*
**Touch:** Interact with anything the user can see.
**Father of origin: You have domination over the strings of Origin. Father of ####**
---
"Tch… This system just keeps getting better at feeding my madness."
I skimmed the screen again, gaze lingering on "Father of Origin."
"I suppose I'll keep the name."
I stood, stretching. My bones cracked in rhythm like an orchestra of rebirth.
I activated **Origin Eyes**—threads exploded into my vision, painting reality in woven strands of power. I observed the region. Places with denser mana? That's where powerful beasts roamed.
So I moved in the opposite direction—toward the calm.
Soon, the sound of flowing water greeted my ears.
**"A stream up ahead."**
I rushed forward—and paused.
Six goblins stood by the water, bone knives clutched in their dirty hands.
Hiding in the thick underbrush, I picked up a stone and flung it, smacking one in the head.
**"Teru Ilak,"** it growled, pointing to my location.
It approached cautiously.
As its hand reached into the bush—I grabbed and yanked it in, plunging my sword into its heart.
**Store.**
My gaze locked on the next one. I willed my sword to float, guided by telekinesis.
**"Pierce."**
It darted through the air like lightning—straight through a goblin's heart.
**"Kirik Targulag!"**
The biggest goblin let out a fierce war cry.
Then… something strange.
A small white orb floated out from the goblin's corpse. It shattered—coating the remaining four goblins in a strange, eerie glow.
Their eyes glowed as the orb's energy surged through them—veins lighting up like circuits.