Chapter Four: The First Step
Panic erupted in the classroom. The bell, which had signaled the end of a mundane day, was now a forgotten sound, replaced by the shouts and frantic whispers of a hundred students. Everyone was pressed against the windows, their faces pale as they stared at the impossible structure piercing the sky. The Tower of Beginning. Its very presence seemed to defy logic, radiating an otherworldly pressure that made the air feel thin and static.
Mr. Kim, the history teacher, was bellowing into his phone, his face a mask of terror. "A tower?! It came out of nowhere! No, I don't know what it is! No, I'm not crazy!"
Jae-hyun, now Minwoo, watched the spectacle with a terrifying calm. He had seen this before. A thousand times. He knew the initial fear would soon give way to curiosity, then greed, and finally, a bloody scramble for power. The world was about to change, just as it had in his past life. This was the moment the old world died and the new one was born.
He heard the faint, chilling laughter of the Demon Lord in his mind. She was amused. This was her game.
Minwoo pushed himself away from the desk, ignoring the shouts and the rising hysteria. His body, weak and uncoordinated, felt alien. His Intelligence and Sense stats were high for a starting character, but his low Strength and Agility made him feel clumsy and slow. He needed to move. Staying here, trapped in a crowded building with hundreds of terrified civilians, was a death sentence waiting to happen. The first few days of the new age were the most dangerous.
Hana, his classmate, grabbed his arm. Her eyes were wide with fear, and her voice trembled. "Minwoo, where are you going? Mr. Kim said to stay inside! They'll send help!"
"There is no help," Minwoo said, his voice flat and detached, a stark contrast to the boy she knew. He pulled his arm away. "And staying here is the worst thing we can do."
As he spoke, a new light flashed in his vision, not from the window, but from a system message that appeared over the city's skyline.
[Global System Alert: The 'Awakening' has begun.]
[Humanity has been chosen as a Candidate Race.]
[The First Gates will open in the next 24 hours. Survivors will be designated as 'Hunters.']
[Survive. Evolve. Conquer.]
A collective scream echoed through the school, a sound of pure terror as the reality of the message sunk in. The world was no longer their own. It belonged to the System, and to whatever lay beyond the Gates. Hana stood frozen, tears streaming down her face, but Minwoo didn't have time for her. He had to go.
He knew the first Gates were always low-level, but they would still be filled with monsters a level one Awakened had no business fighting alone. He needed gear. He needed a plan. Most importantly, he needed to find a quiet place to level up safely before the rest of the world caught on.
The school's front door was a mess of screaming students and teachers pushing and shoving. Minwoo, remembering his low Agility, chose a different path. He ducked into a side hallway, found a window on the first floor, and with a swift kick, shattered it. The glass shards scattered on the pavement, a small act of defiance against the order of this new, terrifying world.
He slipped out of the broken window and into the empty schoolyard. The world outside was strangely quiet, the streets silent as people remained huddled in their homes, glued to the news. He saw the Tower again, a massive, silent promise of power and death.
Minwoo started to run. He ignored the burning in his lungs and the protest of his weak legs, pushing his body to its absolute limit. He ran toward the edge of the city, toward the old, overgrown park where he knew the first Gate would appear. He remembered the reports from his past life: the F-rank Gate, the one that spawned a handful of weak Cave Crawlers. Back then, it was a nuisance easily handled by a C-rank Hunter. Now, for him, it was his only chance.
He ran until the city's concrete gave way to green, until he was surrounded by towering trees and the whisper of the wind. He was at the edge of the abandoned park. And there, nestled behind a cluster of old pine trees, a new sight materialized. It was a shimmering, purple distortion in the air, a tear in reality that hummed with a low, malevolent energy.
The first Gate.
A new system message appeared before him, glowing with the vibrant intensity of his first challenge.
[System Alert: New Gate Detected]
[Location: Abandoned City Park]
[Rank: F]
[Objective: Purge the Gate Remnants]
[Reward: XP, System Coins, F-Rank Gear]
He looked at the Gate, then at his own shaking hands. This was it. His first step on a new path, a path forged by a Demon Lord's will. He was a pawn, a nameless boy with a powerful, dangerous secret. He was a hero no one was looking for, a weapon being forged for a master he had to betray. And his journey started now, at a place he knew would be his first, bloody victory.