Kael collapsed to his knees, chest heaving as though his lungs had been scorched from within. The trial was over, but the memory of the flames, the screams, and the unbearable pressure lingered like a nightmare branded into his soul. Every time he blinked, he still saw the distorted faces of burning shadows, heard the shrieks echoing in his skull.
His fingers dug into the dirt floor. The world around him spun. It was over. He had survived—barely.
Then, light.
[ Trial Complete. ]
[ Evaluation: B- ]
[ Rewards Granted. ]
A cascade of blue screens flared before his eyes, bathing his exhausted face in a ghostly glow.
[ + 50 Stat Points ]
[ Skill Obtained: Hell's Endurance (Passive) – Grants minor resistance against mental strain, fear, and pain. ]
[ Unlock: System Quest Function ]
Kael's pupils shrank. His breath caught in his throat. Stat points… A skill…
He trembled, but this time not from exhaustion. For the first time in his life, power—real power—was within reach. He pulled up his status window.
[ Name: kael Arlen ]
[ Rank: Unawakened → ??? ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Strength: 12 ]
[ Agility: 10 ]
[ Endurance: 11 ]
[ Perception: 8 ]
[ Luck: 3 ]
[ Unallocated Stat Points: 50 ]
His eyes widened. Fifty points. Most hunters spent years scraping to gain half that much. He could distribute them however he wanted. The thought was dizzying.
But before he could even touch the numbers, another window snapped open.
[ New Quest Generated. ]
[ Quest: The First Hunt ]
[ Objective: Defeat 5 Goblins within 24 hours. ]
[ Reward: +200 EXP, Random Equipment Box. ]
[ Failure Penalty: -20 Stat Points, System Lock for 3 days. ]
"…What?" Kael whispered. His parched lips trembled.
The words hung in front of him, merciless and absolute.
Failure didn't just mean missing out. It meant regression. It meant becoming weaker. It meant crippling himself before he even had the chance to rise.
He swallowed hard. His throat was dry, his tongue like sandpaper.
Five goblins… in one day?
He clenched his fists until his nails dug bloody crescents into his palms. Goblins weren't apex predators, but for an unranked hunter with no gear, no team, and no experience, they might as well have been executioners.
And yet—his lips curved into a faint, mad grin. His whole body was shaking, but his heart… his heart was on fire.
"Finally… my chance."
He staggered to his feet. His legs felt like stone, his bones like glass, but he refused to fall again. For years he had lived powerless, scraping by while others sneered. His younger sister had starved because he could never provide. He had walked through life as a shadow, invisible and unwanted.
But now?
The system had chosen him. And it demanded blood.
The ruined trial chamber stank of smoke and ashes. Kael pushed the heavy metal door open and stepped into the night air. The slums stretched before him—broken streets, dim lamplight, and the faint scuttling of rats in the alleys. The stars above were pale and distant, as if the heavens themselves were watching him.
His body screamed for rest. His muscles ached with every movement. But his mind was sharper than it had ever been.
He opened the quest screen again.
[ Time Remaining: 23:57:19 ]
The countdown had already begun.
"…No time to waste."
Another notification appeared.
[ Tracking Nearest Target… ]
[ Goblin Detected – 1.2 km East. ]
His heart pounded. It wasn't far. But the slums at night were a labyrinth of danger. The gangs, the scavengers, even stray beasts—it was a graveyard for the weak.
Kael clenched his jaw. "I'm not weak anymore."
Still, he couldn't just charge blindly. He needed a weapon. Something—anything—that could kill. His fists were strong, but against a goblin's claws and crude blades? Death was guaranteed.
He moved through the narrow alleys, searching. The junk heaps of the slums hid all kinds of scraps. Broken chairs, rusted pipes, shattered bottles—garbage to most, but tools to the desperate.
Finally, behind an abandoned workshop, he found it: a rusted iron rod, about as long as his arm, its edges jagged but solid. He tested the weight. Heavy, but manageable. It wasn't much, but it could pierce.
As he wrapped torn cloth around the grip, his mind wandered back—unwanted memories clawing their way up.
His sister, Lira, coughing in the corner of their shack. The empty bowl she had pushed toward him.
"Eat, brother. You need strength."
And his own hollow laugh, hiding the fact that he hadn't eaten in two days either.
That memory… it burned hotter than the trial flames.
"Never again," he muttered, tightening the makeshift grip until his knuckles whitened. "I'll never let her starve again."
The system's screen flickered once more, almost as if it had heard him.
[ Reminder: Failure will result in severe penalties. ]
He exhaled slowly, pushing down the knot of fear in his gut. There was no turning back.
The slums were eerily silent as he moved eastward. The closer he got, the stronger the stench became—a foul mixture of rot, blood, and something sour. His instincts screamed at him. Danger was near.
[ Distance: 200m… 100m… 50m… ]
He crouched low, pressing himself against the cracked wall of an abandoned shack. His ears strained. And then he heard it—harsh, guttural chattering. High-pitched laughter, like broken glass.
He peeked around the corner.
In the dim glow of a shattered streetlamp, three goblins crouched over a carcass. Their greenish skin gleamed with grease, their yellow eyes glinting with hunger. Each held a crude weapon—one a rusted dagger, another a splintered club, and the last, nothing but sharp claws.
Kael's heartbeat thundered in his chest. His grip on the iron rod tightened until it hurt.
Three of them… I only need five total. If I can take these…
Fear gnawed at him. One mistake, one slip, and his quest would end in failure—and so would his life.
But as the goblins tore into the carcass, laughing in their guttural tongue, a strange calm settled over him. The trial had taught him something. Pain was nothing. Fear was nothing. If he could endure hell, then what were goblins but stepping stones?
He exhaled, steadying his breath. His eyes sharpened.
This was it. His first hunt.
"Alright," he whispered to himself, voice low but steady. "Let's hunt."
And with that, Kael stepped out of the shadows, weapon in hand, and walked straight toward his destiny.