Chapter 2: New Reality
When Elion woke up, his heart was racing. As soon as his eyes flickered open, he knew something was wrong.
A lot of damage was done to his small, dark room. The walls that used to keep him safe from the outside world were falling apart, leaving a huge opening.
Elion stayed still on his old, creaky bed and looked out the big hole. When his eyes got past the broken walls, he saw a scene that numb his body: broken buildings as far as the eye could see, cracked roads, burned trees, and a thick, gray sky full of smoke.
Once-straight rows of houses were now nothing but piles of broken pieces left over from a world that was broken. Now, skyscrapers that used to be very tall were just bones, like the bones of giants that have been lost.
The air was filled with black smoke and dust that was moving around. A few cars that had flipped over were on fire, and there was no one else around.
Even his mother was nowhere to be seen.
The wind blew through the ruins and made a sound that sounded like a weak, scary cry. The chaos was so genuine and horrifying.
Elion blinked, checking to be sure he wasn't dreaming.
He stood up slowly, his steps sluggish, and walked toward the wall that was falling apart. The cold wind blew through the big hole and chilled him all over.
"What happened? How could the world be destroyed like this?" He muttered silently.
Elion stared at the destruction with growing confusion. But what baffled him even more was himself—he was perfectly fine. No wounds, no scratches, while everything outside was in ruins.
Why am I the only one left?
As the questions flooded his mind, suddenly, something strange appeared before him.
Ding!
In the midst of the devastation, floating in the air in front of him, a glowing, transparent box materialized. It emitted a soft yet powerful light, and slowly, text began to form on its surface.
[Imagination System Activated.]
Elion moved back, his gaze widening. An interface floated in the air, defying gravity.
Elion blinked, attempting to understand what he was seeing. Imagination System? What does this mean?
He stared at the glowing screen in front of him, his heart pounding. The strange words seemed to carry a terrifying clarity, as if they were rewriting his fate.
[Congratulations, Elion Viro!]
A brief pause made his breath catch in his throat, as though time had stopped just for him.
[You are the only person left in this world!]
His blood ran cold. The world around him had perished, yet here he was—alone, surrounded by destruction.
His thoughts began to swirl with dread about what had happened, but before he could fully process it, the next message appeared, colder and emotionless:
[Start from the scratch to survive!]
[Your imagination has always been your refuge. Now it is your weapon.]
[With the help of the system, all your imaginations can become reality.]
More text continued to appear.
Elion's body tensed, his mind racing. "Turning imagination into what?"
But before Elion could process everything, the next screen appeared:
[To survive in this world, you will require food, water, and shelter.]
[First Quest: Survival]
• Find food and water.
• Build a shelter.
Elion stood frozen, his thoughts spinning between confusion and fear. The ruined world before him, the system that suddenly appeared... it all felt absurd, yet so real.
The message from the mysterious system kept echoing in his head.
"All your imagination can become reality."
The sound of those words was both scary and exciting. Was it true? With his thoughts, could Elion change the whole world?
A small part of him doubted, refusing to believe it. However, everything around him—the shattered buildings, the split roadways, the dark smoke-filled sky, and the silence creeping into his consciousness—was too real to ignore.
The world had truly been destroyed.
He was the only one left.
"They're all gone," Elion mumbled.
Elion's body quickly filled with adrenaline, which made his heart beat faster. He had a big smile on his face, but his eyes were shaking very badly.
He could not explain how he felt.
For the first time in his life, no one was there to mock him, hurt him, or humiliate him. He was free. Yet, that freedom pressed down on him like a crushing weight. What was freedom worth if no one was left to witness it?
On the one hand, he was relieved to learn that he was finally free of any shame in his life. On the other hand, he was afraid.
But now he has to face his new reality.
Elion breathed in deeply and felt the cold air fill his lungs. He had to try this system to get rid of his doubts.
"If my imagination can really turn into reality," he whispered, staring at his trembling hand, "then I'll start with something simple."
As Elion focused, he closed his eyes.
A simple thing came to mind for him: a fresh loaf of bread that had just come out of the oven. Soft on the inside but crispy on the outside.
He tried to picture everything about the bread, from how it would feel to the way it would be warm when he ate it.
The moment Elion opened his eyes, his heart was beating fast. A sound filled his ears, and a flash of light filled his view.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have successfully created an imitation of bread!]
On his palm, the bread appeared out of nowhere.
Elion could smell the bread, and it made his nose tingle. The smell of something familiar made his stomach growl, and he could not stop drooling. In an instant, Elion tore off a piece of bread and put it in his mouth.
But as Elion started to chew and taste the bread with his tongue, he got the feeling that something was not right and quickly spit the bread out near his feet.
"Ew! That's disgusting!" With a frown, Elion yelled. "It tastes worse than pee."
It was horrifying how bad the bread tasted. It was not only bland, but worse. It tasted like eating someone else's vomit or a dead rat that had been dead for days.
Elion stared at the bread in his hand, confused. He had imagined it in detail, but what he tasted could hardly be called a success in his experiment. He then looked up at the floating screen in front of him, asking,
"Hey, system! You said I succeeded, but why does it taste so disgusting?"
Elion took a deep breath and waited for the answer. When the bright, glowing screen came back after a moment, it broke the quiet and gave a cold, unclear answer.
[You successfully created an imitation of bread.]
Seeing the message from the system, Elion grated his teeth. "What does that mean? I asked-" Before he finished his sentence, Elion realized something and quickly reread the system's message.
"Imitation of bread?" Elion muttered, his mind filled with several possibilities until he finally reached a conclusion. "So that's it. It's just an imitation, not the real thing."
Could it be because I only imagined the finished bread, and not the process of making the bread itself?
Elion became lost in thought. It would not hurt to try again. If his idea was accurate, he was one step closer to comprehending the system and the power given to him.
Elion closed his eyes again. This time, he saw himself standing in a large kitchen. Before him, numerous bread-making ingredients appeared one by one. Begin with flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs.
In his imagination, Elion muttered, "500 grams of flour, 300 ml of water, 2 teaspoons of yeast, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 1 egg."
He knew these details from a TV program a few years ago. With his perfect memory, not a single small detail would be missed in his recollection.
Then he got a few containers ready. He put warm water and sugar into one of them and then mixed yeast into it. He stirred flour and salt together in another container until they were evenly mixed.
Elion went through the steps one by one until finally a sound woke him up.
[Congratulations! You have successfully created bread!]
[Skill: Creation Lv.1 Successfully acquired!]
[Skill description: The ability to create simple, real-world objects from imagination.]
[Note: Details of the creation process of an object must be imagined for the skill to be used perfectly.]
A lot of messages from the system filled Elion's eye, making him feel stressed. It took him a short time to read them and try to understand what they said.
"Hmm... so for now I can only create simple objects that don't have a difficult manufacturing process, huh."
The system made Elion grumble. He wanted to ask it many things, but the warm bread in his hand was more interesting to him. Once again, the fragrant aroma filled the air in the half-destroyed room.
Elion ate the bread right away, and the combination of crunchy and soft textures filled his mouth instantly. And this time it tasted wonderful. Like the way bread from well-known bakeries tastes.
"It worked! It really worked!" Elion shouted happily.
He never thought that the world of imagination that had been with him and kept him safe from all kinds of bad things would suddenly appear and be real to him.
His imagination had truly turned into reality.
However, a cold wave of fear quickly overcame the euphoria. If this power was real, then everything else the system said must be real too.
"You are the only person left in this world."
That's what the system had said.
The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. He wasn't just alone in this very moment. He was alone in the world.
And as much as he had wished for it in his darkest moments, now that it had come true, the weight of that wish crushed him.
He felt very lonely for a moment, but he quickly pushed it away. He did not have time to be scared all the time. The next word from the system made that clear.
[Hurry up! Find water and build a shelter!]
Elion was confused when reading the message from the system. Why was the system asking him to hurry?
But Elion decided that if this was the world he had to live in, then staying alive was the most important thing. The system had every right to tell him to hurry up and finish the quest.
Based on what the system had told him before, he now had a skill called "creation" that let him make simple objects out of imagination.
Of course, Elion was not yet aware of what the system meant by "simple objects."
"System, what do you mean by the word 'simple' in the skill description? Are there any specific limitations in using the creation skill?"
There was silence for a moment after he asked the question. Elion started to think that this system might not give him a straight answer, but all of a sudden, he heard a cold, flat electronic voice.
[Skill Explanation: Creation]
[This skill allows the creation of simple, non-complex objects such as food, basic tools, and static items using the host imagination.]
[Living beings, advanced technology, or complex mechanisms cannot be created at this level.]
[Objects that don't exist on Earth or defy natural laws are also cannot be created at this level.]
[A skill level up is required to create more complex objects.]
Elion pondered the explanation. "So, the objects I create must be simple—no complex moving parts or objects with mechanical functions.
A loaf of bread or a hammer, maybe, but not a watch or a vehicle. That makes sense, though it's a bit disappointing."
Elion snorted because he wouldn't be able to instantly create a complete living space with all modern comforts in an instant.
However, there is one point that truly caught Elion's attention: he cannot create objects that do not exist or go against the laws of the world at his current skill level.
"That means I'll be able to create things that only exist in fantasy if this skill levels up," Elion muttered excitedly. But he quickly refocused.
Because it was just the beginning. Now that he was aware of his limitations, he could begin to work with greater clarity.
Elion took a deep breath. Although he hadn't fully mastered his power, he felt that at least he had one thing he never had before: control.
This world was now his to change, and although it came with risks and limitations, for the first time in his life, he could do something for himself.
"Alright," he muttered softly, "I'll start with water."
He walked out into the open streets through the broken wall of his house. The damage around him was too much for him to handle.
There was a thick layer of smoke over the sky, and buildings were reduced to ruins. Cars were flipping over and on fire.
People used to live in the city, but now it was just a tomb of broken metal and concrete.
Elion's mind was working very hard to figure out what could have caused such destruction.
Was it a natural disaster? A war? Or...
Did I… did I really do this? The thought clawed at his mind, but he pushed it away. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. But the memory of his wish—the desperate, whispered plea for the world to disappear—echoed in his head like a ghost refusing to leave.
"No time for questions," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "I have to focus."
As he wandered through the empty streets, the silence pressed down on him. There were no voices, no footsteps, no signs of life.
It was just him and the ruins. The eerie quiet only served to remind him of how alone he truly was.
Suddenly, a new message appeared in front of him.
Ding!
[Hint: The nearest water source was discovered!] [Go east.]
Elion let out a shaky breath. Even if it was only in small steps, the system was leading him. He could not just use his imagination to figure everything out.
He had to use common sense. He might be able to stay alive if he could use both the real world's resources and the system's power.
Then Elion went east because the system told him to. He looked around the area with his eyes. Even though most of the buildings were destroyed and could not be used, he could still find pieces of wood, metal, and cloth.
He might be able to build something that could work as a shelter, at least for a short time, if he could gather enough.
Once more, Elion's stomach growled. The bread that he had made was already gone, and he understood that getting food would always be hard.
It was not possible for him to call it every time he was hungry. It is possible that the system would limit how much he could make at once.
He eventually found a small grocery shop. The windows were broken, and most of the shelves were empty.
There were, however, some food cans lying around, and he quickly grabbed as many as he could take. It was not much, but it was something.
As he continued his search, a strange sound cut through the quiet—a low, resonant hum that seemed to come from deeper in the city. Elion froze, his heart pounding. Slowly, he turned toward the noise, his curiosity outweighing his fear.
The hum grew louder as he followed it, leading him to the heart of the devastation.
When he turned the corner, his breath caught in his throat.
In the distance, they waited—shapeless creatures that defied description. Their forms twisted and shifted, as if the nightmares of a thousand minds had been stitched together into flesh. One had translucent skin, its pulsating veins glowing faintly. Another resembled a withered tree with human faces etched into its bark, their mouths moving soundlessly.
Elion's legs locked in place as one of the creatures turned toward him.
Its eyeless face seemed to see him.
"System," Elion whispered, his voice trembling. "W-what are those?"
[They are monsters.]
A chill ran through his body.
"They're alive? But you said I was the only one left—"
[You are the only person left.]
The creature began to move toward him.
Elion swallowed hard, his hands trembling.
"Damn…"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone