Dimensional Overseer: I Can Manipulate DNA!

"What the actual hell…?" Zane muttered, brushing his overgrown bangs back as he stared in disbelief at the empty space just beyond the door.

The moment he'd pushed it open, the howling wind had greeted him like a phantom shriek, rattling the ancient stone walls with a wail that sounded too close to the dying breath of something once alive. Beyond the threshold was nothing—no steps, no rails, no platforms. Just a dizzying plunge into a bottomless void cloaked in shadows. The sky beyond was thick with gloom, the stars hidden, the moon nowhere to be seen.

He took a shaky step back, adrenaline pulsing like lightning in his veins. His heart slammed in his chest like a war drum.

"Why are there no goddamn stairs, man? I almost fell to my death!"

But even as he tried to calm his racing breath, another thought overtook him.

'Wait… how did I react that fast?'

He replayed the moment in his head—how he'd instinctively jumped back the second the door opened, how his body had surged away from danger almost on its own. He hadn't even had time to think before his muscles moved.

That kind of speed and precision… that wasn't normal. Not for him. Not even with the system.

"My body… It's stronger. A lot stronger. And I'm taller, too." He glanced down at his long limbs, the muscle definition that flexed easily even beneath his loose dream-clothes. "I'm in a different body, no doubt about it."

The unsettling part was the whose. Was it his own body, just… older? Stronger? A glimpse of what he might become? Or was it someone else entirely, someone unfamiliar?

He couldn't be sure. Not without a mirror. Not without context.

"This dream is turning out to be more unique than I thought." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The fact that it replaced the usual nightmare must mean something. Something important."

Approaching the edge carefully, he leaned forward to peer down into the abyss. A bitter wind screamed up at him, carrying the stench of ancient stone and something darker—decay, maybe. The drop beneath him was immense. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but even with his enhanced vision, the bottom was barely visible. He caught glimpses of craggy terrain far below, but it looked like he was perched atop a mountain… or a skyscraper of impossible height.

"Well… am I supposed to climb down?" He glanced over his shoulder at the corridor behind him. The unexplored path still waited in the other direction. "That, or head back and try the other way…"

Neither option sounded appealing. Both were uncertain. Both screamed trap in their own way.

But after a few moments of consideration, he sighed. "I have a feeling that other path won't lead to anything real either. Just more walking in circles."

He stared down again at the wall just below the opening. It was old—very old. Thankfully, the timeworn stones had gaps and cracks wide enough to grip. Nature's hand had carved enough imperfections to make a climb possible.

"Alright then… let's do this." He exhaled slowly, steeling himself.

He reached out, testing one of the protrusions with his foot. Solid. He pressed his weight into it, then reached out with one hand to find another hold. Slowly, deliberately, Zane began to descend the sheer stone wall.

The wind whipped against his face, trying to tear him away from the side of the structure, but his arms and legs held firm. The strength he felt in them was insane—he could almost dangle by a single hand without losing his grip. The strain was minimal, and his control immaculate.

'This is way beyond my current physical ability. Even with the system, I've never felt this level of raw efficiency.'

Stone by stone, he made his way down the towering wall. The higher he'd been, the stronger the wind had been—but now, it began to settle. As he neared the bottom, the breeze mellowed into stillness. The oppressive silence returned.

Then, finally, his bare feet touched ground.

The terrain underfoot was strange—coarse and gritty like sand, yet dense and dry, not soft like he expected. Zane crouched slightly, brushing his fingers over the soil.

"What an odd kind of dirt…" he muttered. The color was pitch black. Not dark brown or grey. Black. As if it had been scorched by something long ago. "It gives me a bad feeling. Like it's… cursed. Or soaked in something rotten."

He stood and looked up. Ahead of him was a vast wasteland of darkness—an endless black plain that stretched in every direction. There was no moonlight to illuminate it, no stars to guide his steps. Just a soft, dull ambient glow that came from nowhere and everywhere all at once, casting everything in monochrome.

Zane squinted. "Where the hell is this dream even going? Can I just wake up already?" He groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I'm exhausted."

Still, he pressed forward. He didn't know where to go, but doing nothing felt even worse.

He walked. At first, slow and cautious. The silence clung to him like fog, and the stillness was unsettling. It was like he was the only living being in this entire world. No wind, no rustling leaves, not even insects. It was as though everything had… died.

"What happened to this place?" Zane whispered to himself. "It feels like it used to be alive, and now it's just… not. Just empty."

Why had his dream led him here? What did this place represent? He had no answers, only a thousand more questions piling up in his mind.

Eventually, he broke into a jog—just to feel something.

To his surprise, running felt effortless. His legs moved like a blur. Each step launched him forward like he had springs in his joints. He was moving faster than he'd ever run in his life, and yet, he wasn't even winded.

'Holy hell, this is amazing!' He grinned, letting out a short laugh as he picked up speed. The darkness blurred around him, but he didn't care. The wind rushed against his skin like a thrill ride, and when he leapt forward, he soared through the air, landing meters ahead.

For a moment, he forgot about the eerie atmosphere. He forgot about the silence. He simply ran—indulging in this new power, letting the speed consume his senses.

But then—something changed.

A sound.

Faint at first. Then clearer.

A low, scraping groan.

Zane skidded to a stop, eyes narrowing. It was the first sound he'd heard in this world that hadn't come from him. Slowly, he turned in the direction of the noise.

And he saw it.

A figure. Humanoid. Approaching.

It moved with a limp, its posture slouched and crooked. Even in the gloom, Zane could make out jagged lines across its body—and something massive sticking out of its torso.

"What the… hell is that?"

As the creature stepped closer, the details became clearer.

It was a person. Or… it used to be. Now, it was a grotesque mockery of life. A jagged, glowing purple crystal was impaled straight through its torso, emerging from both its back and front. Its jaw hung crooked, nearly torn off. Its eyes were pale, empty… dead.

No, not dead. Undead.

"That's… a zombie?" Zane muttered in disbelief. "What the hell is it doing here? And how is it still moving with a hole that big through its body?"

The creature shrieked—a high-pitched, guttural scream that pierced the silence like a dagger.

Zane's instincts screamed back. He dropped into a stance immediately, arms loose, feet spread.

When the monster charged, he moved.

Fast.

So fast that his body was already in the air before he consciously decided to act.

CRACK!

His foot connected with the side of the creature's head in a perfect flying kick, and the impact was so devastating that the skull detonated on contact.

BOOM.

Bone fragments, blood, and brain matter exploded outward in a horrific spray. The body dropped instantly, collapsing into the dark sand like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Ugh, that's disgusting!" Zane hissed, stumbling back. He wiped the mess off his arm and neck with a grimace. "I'm gonna throw up…"

He stood over the corpse, breathing heavily—not from exertion, but from sheer disgust.

Then, he noticed something strange that brought his attention back to the mysterious monster lying dead.

The massive purple crystal embedded in the creature's body began to glow softly. A second later, it fragmented, scattering into tiny shards of light before vanishing into the air like stardust.

Zane watched in stunned silence. His mind was simply getting overwhelmed with ideas that he couldn't even think properly for a good few seconds.

"...What the fuck is going on in this world?"

A//N: Thanks for reading, would appreciate if you support the book with golden tickets and power stones. See you on the next one!