"You've reached the end."
That line stared at Riven Cross from the glowing screen like a goodbye letter. He leaned back in his worn-out chair, blinking against the sudden stillness in his mind. After 999 chapters of blood, betrayal, dungeon clears, and Tarot awakenings—Dungeon of Realms: Rise of the Tarot King had finally ended.
"…That's it?"
The air in his dim one-room apartment felt colder than usual. Outside, rain fell in lazy sheets, tapping his window like impatient fingers. Inside, Riven felt… hollow.
For the last three years, the only constant in his life wasn't family, friends, or fortune.
It was this novel.
And now, it was gone.
He closed the browser tab, powered down the laptop, and lay back on his creaky bed. Shadows clung to the ceiling. He stared up into them with wide, tired eyes.
"How poetic," he muttered. "A story ends. So does my reason to stay awake."
Then the room went black.
Not from sleep.
From something else.
Something wrong.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]You have unlocked: "Last Reader Privilege – Cycle Initialization."
[Warning: This is your final incarnation.]
[Initializing Plot Insertion...]
Riven's eyes snapped open. But there was no ceiling above him now—no room, no rain, no fan buzzing overhead.
He stood in the middle of a silent, massive marble hall.Above him, thousands of floating Tarot Cards spun in slow orbit. Each card was a massive slab of silver light, taller than towers and etched with ancient runes.
[Welcome to the Prologue Realm.]
A calm, mechanical voice echoed through his bones.
"You are the Reader."
"You are now the Final Boss."
"You are the plot twist."
Riven's breath caught in his throat. He stepped forward, but his foot met nothing. No floor. Just a never-ending void of twilight fog. And yet, he didn't fall.
In the center of the space floated a single card. Unlike the others, this one flickered between symbols—The Fool, The Devil, The Emperor, The Hanged Man.
He reached toward it, compelled beyond reason.
The moment his fingertips brushed the card's surface, everything changed.
[System Upload Initiated]📜 New System Installed: Meta Reader System🎮 Skill Acquired: Narrative Override Lv.1📈 Hidden Trait Awakened: Infinite Reincarnator⏳ Time Remaining: 999 Chapters🧠 Objective: Rewrite fate, survive all endings, and complete the Eternal Cycle.
He gasped as images and memories not his own exploded inside his mind.
Sword fights in burning cathedrals.
A woman with crimson hair weeping over a shattered Tarot deck.
A dungeon collapsing into a sea of stars.
A masked man whispering, "You were never meant to read this far."
And then... a black screen.
A loading bar.
And—
CHAPTER 1 – BEGIN
Riven jolted awake.
He was lying in a bed, but not his bed.
It was larger, cleaner, and covered in velvet sheets.
A strange circular HUD hovered before his eyes, listing unread messages, stats, and something called "World Integrity Score."
Footsteps echoed beyond a stone hallway. He could hear voices—loud, arrogant ones.
"Did the orphan awaken yet?""No class detected. Another trashborn.""Pitiful. Just erase him."
His fingers tightened around the sheet.
So, this was it.
He wasn't the hero.
He wasn't the villain either.
He was something new.
A reader reborn to break the story.
With no class, no stats, no blessings... except one:
He already knew how the story ends.
And he was about to change it.