The Ascent of Wrath: Genesis of the Anomaly

The universe of Virtual Dimension did not die with a whimper, but with the roar of an update no one asked for.

Originally, that world was governed by the laws of logic; a place where conflicts were resolved through the laws and politics of men.

But, like a digital infection manifesting in the flesh, reality began to crack.

Overnight, the architecture of cities was challenged by the architecture of the abyss and the Dungeons.

Cyclopean structures erupted from the earth like the fangs of a forgotten god, vomiting creatures that biology could not explain and that fear could not name, emerged.

... It was a period filled with chaos.

However, with the arrival of supernatural elements, a new caste emerged: the Users.

Humans who, by a whim of fate or an anomaly in their DNA, awakened invisible interfaces and capabilities that defied physics.

Thanks to this, they became the new pillars of society: heroes-for-hire who cleared lower levels and collected "drops" to fuel an economy that now depended on magic crystals and materials from another plane.

But this raised a question in every conscious being of that world regarding how such a thing had happened...? Nevertheless, that question was never answered, and humanity, with the passing of time... adapted.

However, despite that, there was something the living beings of that world had not been able to adapt to or even understand... There was a phenomenon... "something" capable of deranging living beings without them being able to offer any resistance... That world was a vibrant plane of existence, where reality had fractured under the weight of an invisible and absolute mechanic known as the Choice Window.

For the inhabitants of that world, life no longer belonged to natural causality. Nonetheless, the phenomenon did not affect everyone; instead, it only affected a limited number of the population, with the total number of humans worldwide in that world suffering from the phenomenon being only 15%.

But despite that, those windows did not nullify the soul; instead, they presented paths that, once selected by an external hand, became accomplished facts. Faced with these, the individual could only sigh and accept under the logic that: "Since it is already decided, there is nothing to be done about it." Due to these scenarios, society had learned to coexist with the supernatural.

The appearance of dungeons and humans with special abilities, named Users, redefined the structure of the world.

Those who awakened psychic or physical powers became key pieces on a global chessboard, where Rank was based on a System that dictated each individual's position based on talent and capability.

And as if an invisible hand had rewritten the code of existence, while the urban landscape began to be devoured by the appearance of Dungeons—spatial rifts harboring impossible ecosystems and bloodthirsty creatures—the world manifested a compensation system, granting certain individuals the ability to interact with this new reality through skills and statistics.

But to maintain order in that new and chaotic system that governed the world's reality, ranks ranging from E to S were implemented:

Ranks E and D: The base of the pyramid. Users with capabilities barely superior to those of a human athlete, in charge of logistical tasks or clearing the most superficial levels of the dungeons.

Ranks C and B: The actual combat force. Individuals capable of facing threats that would decimate a conventional military squad, considered the protectors of cities.

Rank A: The recognized elite. Those whose names are etched into history, capable of clearing high-difficulty dungeons on their own.

And finally, Rank S: The level of the "Incomparables." Beings who have transcended human limits, treated as national treasures or living deities, capable of altering the course of a war with their mere presence.

Surpassing Rank S was not just a matter of accumulating statistics; it was a metamorphosis. Throughout the centuries, only a handful of individuals have managed to leave the S category behind to enter the higher ranks, each with an implication more terrifying than the last:

Rank SS (Disaster Rank): Those who reach this level are no longer considered "heroes" but are treated as natural phenomena. A single Rank SS User possesses the destructive potential necessary to wipe a megacity off the map in a matter of hours. Their mere presence alters the local climate, and dungeon fauna flees from their energy trail.

Rank SSS (Annihilation Rank): At this level, the User becomes an existential anomaly. They are capable of facing entire armies of Rank S Users without breaking a sweat. Their abilities often ignore the basic laws of magic or physics, allowing them to manipulate concepts such as space or time on a limited scale. They are living legends who usually live in isolation, as their power is too unstable for civilization.

Rank EX (Transcendence / Anomaly Rank): The rank that defies all measurement. A Rank EX User is not only powerful; they are irrational to the rules of the world. They are considered glitches in the system's matrix or beings who have attained divinity. Their statistics cannot be calculated by conventional methods, and their actions often have consequences across the entire universe of Virtual Dimension.

Because of this, the world watches with a mixture of absolute veneration and dread anyone who dares to cross the boundary of Rank S, for rising in rank is not just an increase in strength; it is the process of becoming something the world can no longer contain.

It is thanks to this that the free will of these beings becomes the most dangerous force in the universe.

For, although Choice Windows continue to appear before their eyes, the magnitude of a Rank SSS or EX's decisions can determine the survival or extinction of entire races with a single "click" of fate.

And it is for all these reasons that, within the limited historical record of Virtual Dimension, only a few names have managed to break the sound barrier of Rank S to enter the domains of SS or SSS. However, in the current era, a single name etched its stigma into the collective memory of society, becoming an enigma that defied all sociological and military logic.

That name was Raina.

But from the perspective of the civilian population and the high commands watching from the safety of their offices, Raina's trajectory was an epic of light that ended in the most absolute and abject darkness.

At that time, when the entire system of ranks and users following the world's change was stabilizing, for a society that did not yet know the horror of the Choice Windows, the sudden transformation of a winner who seemed to have gone mad made no sense at all. To the average citizen, the media, and her own colleagues, Raina was a "Winner" by nature: a woman of unshakable dignity, possessing a severe beauty and a psychic power that knew no defeat despite her youth.

During years, she was the gold standard of what a special human should be.

However, because the existence of Choice Windows was an extremely rare phenomenon and unknown to the vast majority of the population at that time, no one could anticipate her fall.

For this reason, to a society ignorant of this, Raina's change was interpreted as a moral aberration.

In the judgment of public opinion, her unexplained change—in which the world's most powerful psychic abandoned her post—led people to fill the void with contempt.

Upon seeing her inexplicably renounce her status to surrender herself to prostitution and dealings with criminals of the worst kind, the world sentenced her as a nymphomaniac who had lost her mind, and the very people who once idolized her now used her name as an insult.

For the high commands and lower-ranking Users, Raina became the perfect example of how absolute power could corrupt the human psyche until it became something unrecognizable and vulgar.

In the eyes of everyone, she became nothing more than a mere "toy"; society watched with contempt and disgust as the woman who was once "Incomparable" transformed "voluntarily" into a nymphomaniac obsessed with masochistic pleasure.

However, the reality she was unable to share was that she carried the weight of choices made by a sadistic being from another plane, which had destroyed her life.

Under the implacable logic of reality, Raina's story was sentenced to be a cautionary tragedy, an obscene footnote in the annals of that world; a natural destiny where the "Former Winner" was meant to wither away in despair, becoming a residue of glory consumed by social hatred and constant abuse...

<<What do you want to do?>>

... Or, at least, that is how it should have been.

"Who are you? Why are you speaking now?"

Her life should have ended there, with her name tarnished for eternity.

<<I am the 'new' player in charge of you.>>

However, the system—that cold machinery that dictated her misery—experienced a disturbance that Raina felt in the deepest part of her being.

"Player...?"

In the midst of the degrading loop in which she was trapped, the choice windows that always appeared with humiliating orders came to a halt.

<<It’s as if I am in charge of influencing your decisions to guide you down one path or another.>>

A digital silence, heavy and expectant, filled her vision.

"Then you are the ones to blame for my current state?!"

At that moment, discovering the truth behind why her life had hit rock bottom, she felt pain, anger, and resentment threatening to explode.

<<You're wrong. Each player is randomly assigned a 'PC' at the start of the game, and I simply inherited your save file.>>

She stood paralyzed.

"....Eh?"

Before her were truths she could not easily process, but...

<<That’s why I’m asking you: what do you want to do?>>

What kept her from losing her mind at that moment was the fact that, for the first time in what felt like an eternity of servitude, the black frame of the window flickered, asking her what she wanted to do.

"I-I..."

Before her, the presence of the "New Player" manifested not as an oppressor, but as an entity that, after inheriting a ruined save file, took the trouble to consult its "character."

"What... I want... is..."

And it was that nuance of respect, that small crack of human consideration in the midst of her condition, that she clung to like a red-hot nail; it was what broke the dam of emotions Raina had kept locked away to keep from losing her mind.

"REVENGE!!"

The contempt of society, the betrayal of her friends, and the disgust she felt for her own body channeled into a single thought: a spark of pure will that finally found its voice.

(¡¡BOOOOOOM!! — ¡ZAP!)

In that instant, the reality of Raina fractured.

[Unleash your revenge] [Live a normal life]

In front of her, the choice window responded to her desire, illuminating the selection with a golden glow that not only accepted her will but empowered it.

☆ [Unleash your revenge]

And by selecting that option, Raina did not just physically rise from the filthy ground of the slums; she rose metaphysically.

"I won't forgive them, I won't forgive them, I won't forgive them, I won't forgive them... THEY WILL PAY!!"

The stigma of the "nymphomaniac" and the weakness of the "prostitute" began to be devoured by a wave of psychic energy that made the foundations of the surrounding buildings vibrate.

"Kujujujukukuju!!! Hahahaha!!"

That was the moment of her awakening.