NOVEL NEXT 187. Origin Domain
"Where… am I?" she whispered, her voice strangely muffled as if reality hadn't fully solidified around her yet.
"Why does this keep happening to me!" she suddenly yelled, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "I just got back from a mindfuck of a soul loop and now I'm somewhere else again?!"
The void did not answer. But the system did.
[ Reputation System v1.0 ]
[ Notification ]
Would You Like to Name Your Origin Domain?
[Y/N]
"A name?" Ravenna muttered, still disoriented and thoroughly irritated by the relentless barrage of supernatural nonsense she'd had to endure over the last 24 hours.
"Fine. Whatever. Call it—The Office," she muttered sarcastically, waving her hand. "Or whatever—"
[ Reputation System v1.0 ]
[ Notification ]
Origin Domain name 'The Office' has been set.
Suddenly, the entire space vibrated with a low, droning hum, like a distant earthquake. Overhead, suspended in the empty office ceiling above, a glowing office-style sign materialized midair. Letters assembled themselves in blocky, bureaucratic font:
"The Office"
Ravenna blinked up at it. "You've got to be kidding me."
The glowing sign flickered once, then stabilized. "Of course it took that seriously," she muttered.
Sighing heavily, she pulled up the system menu, already searching for the exit.
"I don't want to stay in a place that feels like some weird version of the backrooms," she grumbled, tapping through panels.
But as she navigated the interface, something caught her eye.
[ Reputation System v1.0 ]
[ Origin Domain Customization Menu ]
Set Time: 00:00:00
Set Date: 22/09/1804
Set Temperature: 23°C
Set Humidity: 46% RH
Set Season: Winter
Set Brightness: Medium (350 Lux)
White Noise: On (Mild)
"What… is this?" she murmured.
Rows of environmental controls stretched before her eyes like the settings of a simulation. She hovered her hand over each line, scrolling curiously. "I can… change every aspect of this place? Time, temperature, even season?"
A strange thrill rushed up her spine. It was such a bizarre feature, tucked neatly into an otherwise reputation-focused system. "What is this place really? It's like a pocket dimension… a controlled sandbox."
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Then her eyes widened.
"Wait…"
A realization clicked into place, sharp as a dagger. She immediately pulled up the { Exchange Items } menu again.
▢ ⇄ ▢
The familiar twin-box interface appeared. Ravenna tapped the first box and the second one re-read them, her mind racing.
"Maybe… maybe I can bring things from the real world here. Store them. Modify them. Trade them. And then take them back out into the real world."
Her pulse quickened. Her mind, still recovering from the divine chaos of the battle, now shifted gears. This wasn't just a pocket dimension, it was a portable lab.
An origin.
"This changes everything," Ravenna muttered under her breath, eyes gleaming.
She stepped back, calming herself. One experiment at a time.
"Exit Origin Domain," she said firmly.
[ Reputation System v1.0 ]
[ Notification ]
Exiting Origin Domain 'The Office.' Do you wish to proceed?
[Y/N]
"Yes," she confirmed. In a blink, the world folded inward.
The hum vanished. The air snapped back into place.
She was back—seated exactly where she had been before, at her ornate study desk in the Kim City lord's castle. The same slant of sunlight filtered through the window. The same scent of ink and parchment lingered in the air.
Without missing a beat, Ravenna leaned back and reached for a small plate of cookies that had been left on her desk—still warm, freshly baked by the castle staff just that morning. She picked one up, broke it in half, and popped a piece into her mouth with idle curiosity.
"Let's see if this really works," she muttered, brushing the crumbs from her fingers as she opened the { Exchange Items } menu.
[ Reputation System v1.0 ]
[ Notification ]
The Item will be exchanged into an Origin Domain item. Reputation Points will be deducted based on the item's complexity and rarity. Do you wish to proceed?
[Y/N]
Ravenna selected Yes without hesitation. Immediately, 39 reputation points were deducted from her total, the number flashing briefly before vanishing along with the cookies on the plate.
Then she selected { Enter Origin Domain }. Another 1000 points were taken, and just like before, her vision darkened. That weightless feeling returned. like falling and flying at once, until the world reassembled around her.
She stood once again in The Office.
The familiar sterile room surrounded her—walls flat and unadorned, air temperature-controlled and utterly still. The soft hum of white noise played from somewhere invisible.
"Now then," Ravenna murmured, intrigued. "Let's experiment a little."
She placed the cookie gently on the clean, polished floor in front of her. Then she opened the Origin Domain Customization Menu once more.
[ Reputation System v1.0 ]
[ Origin Domain Customization Menu ]
Set Time: 00:00:00
Set Date: 22/09/1804
Set Temperature: 23°C
Set Humidity: 46% RH
Set Season: Winter
Set Brightness: Medium (350 Lux)
White Noise: On (Mild)
"Set the date to 22/12/1804" she said aloud.
A subtle blink passed through the room, but Ravenna didn't feel any physical change, no shifting air pressure, no shift in lighting, no sound. It was eerily seamless. But the cookie told a different story.
The fresh-baked cookie, golden and soft just moments ago, had transformed before her eyes. Its surface dried and cracked, edges curling inward like burnt parchment. A musty odor wafted into the air.
She bent down and lifted it, inspecting it closer.
It was completely stale. Hard. Inedible. The surface had lost all sheen, and the delightful fragrance was now replaced with something that could only be described as sour dust.
"This…" she whispered, lifting it to her nose and grimacing. "This thing's gone completely bad. Like it's been sitting here for months."
Her mind reeled at the implication.
She opened the menu again and reversed the date.
"Set date back to 22/09/1804."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the transformation happened in reverse. The aged cookie pulsed slightly with a faint shimmer, then reverted back, visibly regaining color, texture, and its original warmth. The rich scent of butter and sugar returned as if it had just come out of the oven seconds ago.
Ravenna stared, speechless. The cookie looked exactly the same as it had before she first altered the time.
Her eyes widened as her hand flew to her mouth in stunned realization. "No way…"