"Hey, Ekans, go clean the bathroom. Some Zoomers threw a firecracker in there again."
"But I'm a waiter."
"I don't care. The bathroom won't clean itself."
***
My name is Eden, and right now, I'm scrubbing the toilet in a red-and-yellow fast-food joint owned by a certain famous clown. I've been working here as a waiter for a year, and this isn't the first time I've had to do the dirty work.
"Ugh, these damn brats are so annoying."
I stood in front of the mirror, washing my hands after my toilet adventures. We do have janitors, but they were on their lunch break—just like I was supposed to be. But apparently, that didn't apply to me.
"What?"
Suddenly, there was a completely silent *pop*—but only in my head. It was the kind of pop you'd compare to a sudden epiphany, the kind you've been waiting years for.
"So… I've awakened."
***
After work, I walked through the streets of my city. Posters hung on the buildings, inviting people to join Hunter Guilds.
Hunters are people who've gained special powers. Five years ago, gates to other worlds opened in our reality. The monsters that came through had very bad intentions, and ordinary human weapons were barely effective against them. But just as suddenly as the gates appeared, so did people with supernatural abilities capable of fighting back. They came to be known as Hunters—because their job was to hunt down the monsters from other worlds.
Right now, I was heading to an Awakening Assessment. That's where they measure your power level. When a person awakens, they're assigned a rank from E to S. This is necessary because the gates themselves are also ranked by difficulty.
I was now approaching the headquarters of China's strongest guild—**Dao**. If I turned out to be an A-rank—or even an S-rank—they might take me in as a trainee.
And there it was—the guild building. It was massive, like something straight out of Silicon Valley. A towering, 70-story skyscraper made of gleaming white metal panels and windows as clear as water.
But I walked into the building next to it—a designated checkpoint for newbies. It wasn't affiliated with any guild; its sole purpose was evaluating fresh awakeners.
As soon as I stepped inside, I felt an intimidating atmosphere.
"No, I really *did* awaken! Test me again!"
"D-rank? Bullshit! I'm at least SSSR++! Fix your damn machines!"
"That was way too easy. With my C-rank, I'm gonna dominate this life."
The place was packed with people, each of them disappointed in their own way. Rumor had it that only one in a million people got A-rank, and S-rank was one in a hundred million. Of course, you shouldn't take those numbers at face value. It's definitely easier than winning the lottery (I checked), but still—those are just dry statistics. Maybe abilities aren't granted randomly. Maybe they're based on past merits.
I've always been an ordinary guy. No great deeds, but also fewer sins than the average person.
I took a ticket from the machine and waited my turn. The wait was agonizing, and the tension gnawed at what little sanity I had left.
*"Please don't let my genes fail me."*
I clutched a photo of my father—an A-rank Hunter. He wasn't famous, but he was a kind man.
**"Number A-300-27-05, please proceed to room 3."**
I followed the mechanical voice's instructions. My heart was pounding like crazy.
"Hello, step over here, please."
A woman in a business suit gestured for me to stand between two slabs—probably made of hyper-diamonds.
I obediently took my place. She walked over to a device and activated it. A few seconds later, I heard the result:
"Congratulations! You're E-rank!"
I froze.
"But don't worry. Unlike those cliché bad novels, you *can* train your way up to A-rank. Sure, it'll take time and effort, but that's reality."
She was probably saying that so I wouldn't start smashing things like some of the other disgruntled people before me.
"So… I can still cross the threshold?"
"That depends entirely on you."
***
"I'm home."
Right now, I live with my younger sister, who's in high school. Our mother is dead, and our father is trapped in another world. The gate he entered closed behind him, so he's most likely dead too.
My sister fell into depression after losing both parents, so I try not to bother her too much.
My mind was consumed by my disappointing awakening. Usually, E-rank Hunters just assist blacksmiths or alchemists—they don't fight on the front lines.
After washing my hands, I went to my room and stared at my Hunter license. My photo looked ridiculous.
Turns out, there *was* a Hunter who climbed from C-rank to A-rank—a Brit named Mikhail Arkhangelsky. And he wasn't even the weakest. He was strong enough to rival most S-ranks. So strong, in fact, that he sealed an Anomaly into his sword.
But S-rank is fixed. You can't train your way up to it. Their powers are so unique that they blur class boundaries—and you can only get them at the moment of awakening. Once you're assigned a rank, it's impossible to reach S.
"Welp, no use crying about it. Time to train and rely on myself—not whine at the wall with newspapers, hoping for some death-defying skill-copying stunt from a hundred-story tower."
With that in mind, I decided to start with the basics—getting in shape. Right now, I'd lose a fight against a Chihuahua.
"Alright. Push-ups and pull-ups for arms and chest. Crunches, reverse crunches, and planks for abs and back. Squats for legs. Stretching to minimize injuries. And running for endurance. Kinda tough—not quite *Cape Baldy* level, but I'm below average as it is."
But that's not the point. I have no talent, so if I've been given even this tiny chance, I *have* to make the most of it.
"Right. No talent means I just have to multiply my reps by ten—or a hundred. That's all."
***
Two whole weeks passed. I didn't skip a single day of training.
"Ugh, think I pulled my back."
I'd just finished my push-ups. The results were impressive—if at first I couldn't even run a kilometer, now I could manage two.
"Damn. The staff review at work is coming up—I'm definitely getting fired. Gotta triple my reps… but I'm already doing a hundred."
I know progress doesn't happen overnight, especially with fitness.
"Honestly, I thought I'd die from cardiac overload by now. But I guess even an E-rank Hunter has *some* power."
At first, my workouts felt like they were killing me, like my soul was about to leave my body. But now? I don't even feel tired enough.
***
"Congratulations, you're fired. Thanks for everything."
Today, two weeks after intensifying my training, I got canned.
"Whatever."
I wasn't upset—I was already heading toward a recently opened gate. A well-known Hunter group, **Amagai**, was recruiting newbies for training. They aim to nurture fresh talent since guilds only want experienced fighters. (And, of course, to make money.) Guilds *do* have trainers for newbies—but only if they're A-rank or loaded.
When I arrived, I saw seven people—looks like I was the last one.
"Ah, the final recruit. Ahem. My name is Jing Yao, A-rank Hunter. This is my assistant, Yu Rin..."
Around the middle-aged man and the beautiful young woman stood six others—including me.
"...I'm a Warrior; she's a C-rank Healer. Since you've probably just gotten your licenses, I'll explain the basics of being a Hunter."
"There are eight Hunter classes. Combat types: Warrior, Mage, and Archer. Support: Healer and Navigator. And creators: Blacksmith, Alchemist, and Mechanic."
"Warriors use melee weapons. Archers use ranged weapons—both forged from hyper-gold. Mages can fight at any range, sometimes simultaneously. Their weapons are made from hyper-diamonds."
"Healers can mend wounds. They use special amplifying tools, also made from hyper-diamonds. Navigators are a man-made class—they transport people through gates using combat vehicles crafted from hyper-gold and hyper-diamonds."
"Blacksmiths are the only class that can manipulate hyper-gold. Alchemists are their hyper-diamond counterparts. Mechanics are another man-made class—they build the Navigators' machines. There's also talk of adding an Engineer class to construct fortifications protecting our world."
"Hyper-diamonds are special crystals that synergize well with a Hunter's magic. Hyper-gold, on the other hand, resists—even repels—magic. It's the only mineral that can withstand it."
"Of course, Warrior gear *can* be made from hyper-diamonds—but only for those with high magic potential, like the famous British Hunter Arthur with Excalibur, or our own Sun Wukong. Same for Archers—think Hou Yi or Perun."
"Gates come in two types: normal and enemy. Normal gates are where Hunters enter to complete missions in other worlds. Enemy gates are where creatures from other worlds emerge to carry out *their* missions on Earth. If all Hunters die before completing their mission—or fail within the time limit—an Anomaly appears."
"To determine a mission's details and a gate's strength, Blacksmiths can craft special compasses at the moment of awakening."
As he said this, his assistant pulled out a round pocket mirror with letters and numbers etched into the glass.
"Besides the gate's stats, it has a needle that always points toward the gate's location. The needle appears after entering. Destroy the compass, and its owner dies—so they're left behind on high-risk missions."
"That's all. Hope you didn't die from all that exposition."
I already knew most of this—my dad and I used to watch Hunter movies together.
"Now, raise your hand and state your name, rank, and chosen class."
"Wei Li, C-rank. Mage."
"Heng Guo, B-rank. Archer."
"Bo Bai, also B-rank. Warrior."
"Rong Shen, C-rank. Warrior too."
"Kai Shuang, third C-rank. Mage."
Seems I'm the weakest here.
"Eden Ekans. E-rank. Probably a Warrior."
Whispers broke out.
"Is he a foreigner?"
"What's he doing here? He'll just die."
"Must've hit rock bottom in life."
"Gotta respect the guts, coming on a raid with such a low rank."
"Enough chatter!" Jing Yao barked. "Ahead of us is a D-rank gate. We won't haul out many resources, but we enthusiasts don't need them. We'll give you training weapons and head in. Pros usually form specialized teams or use templates—but we're winging it."
After Yu Rin handed me a sword, Jing Yao declared:
"Everyone armed? Good. We're going on a raid!"