Prologue: The World Beyond the Pages Lucian Valerius never believed that stories were lies. That was something many people misunderstood. They thought fiction was merely an escape from reality, a collection of impossible fantasies created by people who wanted to experience things that could never exist. To them, magic, cultivation, supernatural powers, and worlds beyond human understanding were nothing more than entertainment. Lucian saw things differently. A story was not reality, but it was still a reflection of reality. Every fictional world was built from human imagination, and human imagination itself was born from observation, curiosity, and the desire to understand things beyond their reach. Even the most impossible fantasy contained fragments of human thought. That was why Lucian enjoyed reading. Not because he wanted to escape his own life. Because he wanted to understand. Over the years, he had consumed countless stories from different cultures. Fantasy novels where ancient kingdoms fought against monsters beyond human comprehension. Cultivation stories where mortals refined their bodies and souls until they reached the realm of immortals. Manga and manhwa where ordinary people awakened strange abilities and entered worlds hidden beneath the surface of modern society. He had seen countless protagonists rise from nothing. Some were chosen by destiny. Some obtained ancient inheritances. Some possessed talents that appeared once in a thousand years. And some simply had the luck to encounter opportunities that should have been impossible. Lucian never hated those stories. In fact, he enjoyed them. However, he had always wondered what those worlds would truly look like if they existed outside the pages of a book. Would everything really happen the way authors imagined? Would a person who suddenly gained incredible power immediately know how to use it? Would a legendary technique truly allow someone to surpass all limits?