Dream of a Labyrinth of Fate

I found myself inside a hospital room and saw my best friend, Ryan, lying in bed. As a healer, I possessed the ability to heal him, but first, I had to summon his fate card, a component of his soul system.

The second step was to grab the fate card, which transported me to the Labyrinth of Fate, where I faced a monster representing Ryan's illness - a dragon.

To my surprise, I discovered that I was an Archwizard, capable of using the four elements to attack. With my newfound abilities, I defeated the dragon and successfully healed my friend.

But it was all just a dream, and I woke up feeling both exhilarated and bewildered. You know how dreams give us false memories and false history.

***

Lee Sungjun opened his eyes to find himself lying in his bed. It was all just a dream, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than just that. As he got out of bed, he glanced at his hand, half-expecting to see if he has the ability to use the four elements. But there was none. In this world, awakeners exist with innate soul abilities. And he hasn't awakened yet. The only thing he can do as unawakened is to manipulate pure and external mana.

His dream of having the ability to heal people by summoning their fate card and entering the Labyrinth of Fate felt familiar. It was like he had always known how to do it or the concept of it. And the fact that he was an Archwizard in the dream was even more puzzling. He had never even thought about being a mage before. Or maybe it is something like a false memory. Who knows. And why did his dream create someone like Ryan? Upon waking up, he also realizes that this is a false history.

And he was reminded of the five minute hypothesis for some reason. It is a philosophical thought experiment which suggests that the entire universe, including our memories and perceptions, may have come into existence just five minutes ago, complete with an appearance of age and history. This hypothesis challenges the reliability of our past experiences and memories as indicators of reality, proposing instead that they may be a product of our current state of existence.

***

The nameless god hovers above Sungjun's bedroom ceiling, "What an interesting concept. He is still an unawakened yet a great potential lies on his soul system. Author's Soul.. What an interesting ability. He never knew that Labyrinth of Fate is a concept he had written using his past life as an author. His author soul is an ability to use the power of the characters he had written."

As the nameless god floated closer to Sungjun's face, he pondered, "He can use my omnipotence as a fuel for that Labyrinth of Fate. As he is now, he would not be to use it with his system alone as it is not strong enough to handle it. And the concept is fair. We can deceive the █▓▒░ ███ ████ ░▒▓█ system, not that we are tricking it. The concept of Labyrinth of Fate is part of his Author Soul ability anyway. But it seems like his soul system needs a repair."

The nameless god floated closer to Sungjun's face and spoke, "Hey, unawakened human." he was startled at the orb and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am here to help you awaken your soul ability. I am a god who can make your dream a reality," the nameless god replied.

Sungjun felt suspicious but knew that in this world, a god's blessing could be added to his soul system to help him. The catch was that he had to spread the name of the god. "What is your name?" he asked.

"I am yet a nameless god, but I can be the god of Fate Labyrinth," the nameless god said.

"If that is your blessing, what is my soul ability?" Sungjun asked.

"I am not allowed to say, but if you accept my blessing and integrate me into your system, I can repair your damaged system and you will awaken later. You should have a clue about your ability," the nameless god explained.

The nameless god looked at Sungjun and said, "Isn't it your first day as grade 11? Hurry up and go to school."

Sungjun agreed to accept the nameless god's offer and become his servant. "It's good to start my high school with a god's blessing! I will be your prophet," he said.

"Okay, then I shall grant you a title, Servant of the Fate Labyrinth God," the nameless god said. "Stay safe and good luck to your journey!"

Sungjun finally saw the first window of his own soul system.

[Your Soul System has started repairing.]

[Name: Lee Sungjun]

[Title: Servant of the Fate Labyrinth God]

[Status: Unawakened]

[Soul Ability Locked: █▓▒░ ███ ████ ░▒▓█

Supporting Ability Locked: Labyrinth of Fate ]

"It really felt weird. I haven't awakened yet but my soul system has been damaged. It was pure luck that a nameless god, tried to merge with my soul system and grant me a blessing." Sungjun mused to himself.

From his memory, this is the academic year where students will be trained for combat curriculum.

***

Lee Sungjun quickly got dressed and headed to Maryking Soul High School, feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension about what the day would hold. He couldn't wait to see what kind of abilities his classmates had and what kind of combat training they would undergo.

As he arrived at the school gate, he saw groups of students chatting excitedly and displaying their soul abilities. Some were wielding weapons made of pure energy. One of the weapons he saw felt like from a game. While others were surrounded by elemental auras like of dark flame or even ice fairies! Sungjun felt a pang of envy as he looked at their impressive abilities.

He walked into the classroom and saw his classmates sitting at their desks, chatting and laughing with each other. He took his seat and tried to blend in, feeling a little out of place among his more talented peers. But he reminded himself that he had just started his journey and that everyone has their own pace.

The homeroom teacher, Mrs. Estrella Choi, walked in and greeted the class. "Good morning, class. I hope you all had a good vacation. As you all know, this academic year is the start of the combat curriculum. We will be training you to become skilled awakeners who can defend our city against the monsters that threaten us."

The class erupted in cheers, excited about the prospect of becoming heroes. Mrs. Choi continued, "But before we can begin, we need to assess your soul abilities. Please make your way to the training grounds for the first test."

Sungjun felt a rush of excitement as he made his way to the training grounds with his classmates. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for. If worse comes to worst, he will just manipulate external mana and shape it as a ball and arrow. He trained using pure mana during his junior high school days.

As they arrived, he saw a group of teachers standing at the front, each of them with a clipboard and a serious expression.

Mrs. Choi addressed the class, "You will each be given a chance to showcase your abilities in a series of tests. The first test is a simple one. We want you use your soul ability and hit this target with all your might."

She pointed to a large wooden target at the other end of the field. Sungjun watched as his classmates took turns showing off their skills, each one more impressive than the last. One of them is Lee Kaizen, his cousin who has the soul ability called the Ice Prince Soul. He could summon an Ice Palace with a lot of fairies, but for this test, he used a simple ice bolt to hit the target. Sungjun felt nervous as his turn approached, wondering if he would be able to perform as well as his peers. Another classmate is Kim Taeyang, who has bandages wrapped around his arm. He has the Dark Flame Soul, which allowed him to summon orbs of fire. For this test, he summoned a dark ball of fire and shouted "Dark Fireball."

Finally, it was his turn. He took a deep breath and focused to gather external mana, trying to shape it like a ball. But nothing happened. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized he had failed the test.

Mrs. Choi approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Sungjun. This is just the beginning. Your soul system is still repairing, and it will take some time before you can awaken your ability. Just keep practicing, and you'll get there."

Sungjun nodded, feeling grateful for her encouragement. He was surprised that Mrs. Choi knew of his predicament. He knew that teachers were rankers. Could rankers peek on the status of an unawakened like him?

Suddenly, a notification appeared.

[Your Soul System has finally been repaired]

[Initializing awakening process]

[Enabling Title Effect]

[Unlocking Soul Ability]

[Unlocking Supporting Ability]

[Name: Lee Sungjun]

[Title: Servant of the Fate Labyrinth God]

[Status: Awakened]

[Soul Ability: Author Soul]

"Mrs. Choi, please let me try again!" he pleaded.