The Anomaly's Path

[Leo’s POV]

”Status... screen.”

The moment the words left my mouth, the air in front of me shimmered. Blue and black panels folded into existence, layers snapping together like glass plates locking into place. Symbols flashed. Lines of text stabilized.

Soon, a familiar screen hovered before my eyes. The one I had only ever seen in games.

—『 STATUS SCREEN 』—

NAME→ Leo von Celestial

RACE→ Human (High Noble)

AGE→ 17

BLOODLINE→ Not Awakened

CURRENT RANK → Initiate (Mid)

CORE → B-Rank

PATH → Pending

『 TITLES 』

∟ Heir of the Celestials

∟ Scum of the Human Domain

∟ Human Domain’s Failure

∟ Anomaly

『 AFFINITIES 』

∟ Lightning

∟ Space

∟ Black Flame (Dormant)

『 ATTRIBUTES 』

∟ STR (Strength) → F

∟ AGI (Agility) → F-

∟ VIT (Vitality) → F

∟ END (Endurance) → F

∟ INT (Intelligence) → S-

∟ WIL (Willpower) → A

『 SUB-ATTRIBUTES 』

∟ LUCK → Unpredictable

∟ CHARM → S-

『 ENERGY RESERVE 』

∟ Mana Capacity → F

『 MANA BREATHING 』

▸ [None]

『 WEAPON ARTS & MASTERY 』

▸ [None]

『 REGISTERED SKILLS 』

▸ [None]

『 ACTIVE QUESTS 』

▸ [!!!!!]

—『 STATUS CLOSED 』—

I stared at the screen, my eyes twitching. A curse escaped my mouth before I could stop it.

”...What the actual fuck is this?”

The first thing that caught my eye wasn’t the stats. It was the titles. Those damn titles.

”Hey, System... are you sure these are mine?” My voice was shaking with a mix of anger and disbelief.

A familiar voice echoed inside my head.

[Yes, Host. These titles are a direct reflection of your current existence.]

Something snapped inside me. I felt a surge of heat crawl up my neck. I mean, come on! I knew Leo didn’t have a good reputation, but this was absurd.

”Are you serious?” I rubbed my face. ”Heir of the Celestials and Scum of the Human Domain at the same time? Pick one.”

No response.

”And ’Scum of the Human Domain’?” I continued. ”Was this guy running a hate campaign or something?”

I moved my eyes down.

”...Scum of the Human Domain. The Human Domain’s failure.”

I laughed. It came out sharp and humorless.

”Wow. Just wow. What the hell are these titles?”

The headache was already coming back. I didn’t even need to click on the descriptions to know what they meant. I could already imagine the whispers, the stares, the disgust.

I sighed and moved my eyes to the next title. This one actually piqued my interest.

”...Anomaly.”

That one felt different. I clicked it, and a small box appeared.

∟ Anomaly

You are a being who should not exist here.

You are a glitch in the script of this world.

Your presence deviates from the natural order of this world.

You are an... Anomaly.

I stared at the description longer than the rest.

”...Yeah,” I muttered. ”That tracks.”

I wasn’t Leo. I wasn’t even from this world. I was an outsider wearing someone else’s life. If anything deserved that title, it was me.

Moving on, I looked at the Affinities section and was truly shocked. Lightning—expected. Then my brain stalled.

”...Space?”

And below it—

”...Black Flame?”

I frowned, rubbing my chin. ”Hold on. That’s not right.”

As far as I remember, Leo only had Lightning in the game. One affinity. That was it. Now he has three?

”Hey, System, are these really my affinities?”

[Yes, Host. These are your confirmed affinities.]

”...My affinities?”

[Correct.]

”The hell you mean my affinities?”

[The Black Flame is a dormant trait associated with the Anomaly title.]

I exhaled slowly. ”Haaa.... this is truly absurd.”

In the world of Aetheris, most people spend their entire lives with just one affinity. They cultivate it, they grow with it, and they die with it—and that’s it. Then you have the special geniuses who have two—but those are rare. Usually, only the main cast or the ”chosen ones” have two.

Even the protagonist of this world only had two affinities.

But me?

I had three. And two of them were legendary-tier.

I don’t need to tell you how rare Space is. You could count the number of Space users on your fingers. One of them is the Academy Principal, who is considered the strongest Space user alive.

”Heh.” A small grin appeared on my face.

Suddenly, the System’s voice interrupted my happy thoughts.

[Stop that! You are being creepy Host.]

I froze. I realized I was probably making a weird face in the empty room. I cleared my throat, feeling a bit embarrassed.

”Ahem... let’s look at the next thing.”

I looked back at the top of the screen, specifically at two lines that made my head hurt.

CORE → B-Rank

CURRENT RANK → Initiate (Mid)

”Are you kidding me?” I groaned.

A B-Rank core. I knew all about it—after all, it was the very thing that drove the original Leo mad. But my rank? Initiate (Mid)?

I let out a dry, hollow laugh. ”No wonder everyone calls him a failure.”

Then, I forced myself to look at the attributes, and immediately regretted it.

”Wow,” I muttered. ”This is... pathetic.”

I knew Leo was weak, but this was pathetic. In The Hero Chronicles, an ’F’ rank was basically the level of a common civilian. A random old grandma walking to the market probably had better Endurance than I did right now.

And that Agility? An ’F-’? I was basically a turtle in human skin. No wonder I tripped over a root in that memory.

”This body is a disaster,” I sighed. ”If I don’t fix this, I’m dead.”

At least Intelligence and Willpower were high. That matched the memories. Leo wasn’t stupid—he just wasted himself.

Then I looked at the sub-attributes. My Luck was ”Unpredictable.”

”...That sounds ominous.”

”Hey system,” I asked cautiously, my voice low, ”What does ’Unpredictable Luck’ mean? Am I doomed?”

[Unpredictable Luck means you are a wildcard. Sometimes, great things will happen. Other times... the world will try to crush you.]

”So, in short, I am truly screwed.”

[Yes.]

”Fantastic.”

I rubbed my temples. Fate was already a bitch to me, and now even Luck wanted a turn? Is the world trying to kill a poor soul like me?

[You are not a poor soul.]

I paused. ”...Excuse me?”

”Can you kindly shut up?” I snapped. ”Don’t think I forgot what you did to me before.”

The System suddenly shouted back.

[It wasn’t my fault! I warned you already! If you really hate me that much, fine. I’m going back. You can survive this world on your own!]

I froze. My eyes widened. ”Wait! Oh, dear mighty System, I was just kidding! It was a joke! Don’t take it so seriously. Haha!”

[Flattery doesn’t work on me] the System muttered, though it sounded a bit smug. [But still, if you are acknowledging my might, maybe I should help you a little.]

Flattery my ass! He literally sounded like he had a smug smile on his face. Damn bastard.

[D-did you just call me a bastard? You forgot I can read your thoughts!]

Ah, crap.

An awkward laugh escaped my mouth. ”Ahaha! I-I wasn’t calling you a bastard. I was talking about myself! How could you be a bastard? Only a foolish person would say that. Not me. I would never call you a bastard. Even if I did by mistake, you’re so great you would forgive me, right? Because a person as great as you couldn’t be a bas—”

[Okay, okay, STOP! You called me a bastard more times in that apology than I can count!]

I looked at the glowing eyes innocently. ”How could I? I was talking about how great you are. You can’t be a ba—”

[SHUT UP!] the System shouted. [Just... shut up! Damnit, why does it feel like you’re insulting me even when you’re being nice? Do whatever you want!]

”So... you aren’t leaving me, right?”

[...Yes, I am staying. Now shut up!]

A tiny, evil grin appeared on my face. The System stayed quiet, probably wondering how it had just ”lost” that argument.

I sighed and looked at the last few stats. Charm: S-.

”Hey, at least I have a pretty good face.”

Well, that made sense. Leo was the son of the Celestials—a family known for being ridiculously beautiful. A true noble look.

But the rest was empty. No mana breathing, no skills, no weapon arts. Even the bloodline was locked. And the Path. The trial was coming soon, and I had to survive it.

”...So it all starts at the Path Awakening.”

I stared at the screen quietly. ”All I have to do,” I muttered, ”is survive.”