Edward's breaths turned shallow.
Blood dripped from his fingertips, splattering the cracked stone beneath him.
In front of him, the relic's guardian dragon — a colossal beast clad in obsidian scales — narrowed its eyes, watching, waiting for his life to end.
But with only seconds left to live…
Edward reached toward a small golden blade glowing faintly among the ruins.
The 100th relic.
His fingers brushed its hilt.
Light burst into his dying body — warm, divine — and Edward let out a bitter smile.
The smile of a man who had lost everything… yet still managed to reach his final goal.
Beside him floated Fay — the spirit of a mysterious grimoire, the only companion who had stayed with him since relic number ninety-nine. Her voice trembled.
"Master… why would you go this far…?"
Edward chuckled weakly. Blood spilled down his chin as he coughed.
"Why…?"
He leaned against the ancient relic stone, eyes half-closed.
"Because… I'm done being trash."
Fay fell silent.
He continued — not really answering her anymore, but confessing to the dark, to the pain, to the end.
"The world changed the day the Siberian Tower appeared.
People awakened powers.
Some got F-Rank. Others S-Rank…"
He swallowed blood with a grimace, then pushed his voice through the agony.
"Everyone got something. Everyone… except me."
His hands shook uncontrollably.
"My little sister… awakened as A-Rank.
The woman I loved… became S-Rank.
My friends climbed to the top…"
He lowered his head. His voice cracked.
"And me? I was just ordinary.
The nobody everyone could step on."
The dragon growled — low and warning. Edward didn't care. His death had already been decided.
"Mocked.
Looked down on.
Useless.
So I swore… someday… I'd stand on the same stage as them."
Fay's light flickered, trembling at his fading tone.
"So that's why you chose the relic path…?"
Edward nodded faintly.
"Yeah… I was given one chance. A book… and that strange man… He told me if I collected one hundred relics, I'd change. I'd awaken… for real."
He exhaled — a long, final breath.
"I hunted them all… every single relic… from one to ninety-nine.
Bleeding. Crawling. Dying…"
The golden light from relic number one hundred slowly sank into his trembling hand.
Edward stared at the glow — a hope arriving far too late.
"But in the end… I made it," Edward whispered.
Fay hovered closer, her small hand pressing tremblingly onto his shoulder.
"Master… what is your final wish?"
Edward gave a weak, fragile smile — eyes blurrier than the fading light around him.
"I just… want a second chance."
"A chance to live without being treated like dirt."
"A chance… to be someone."
"A chance… to stop being trash."
The 100th relic flared — a violent surge of gold engulfing his broken body.
His form began to crumble into particles of shimmering light.
As the last pieces of him scattered into the air, Edward breathed out one final plea:
"If there is another life… please give me the strength… to never bow to anyone again."
And then—
Edward Hale vanished into the radiance of his final relic.
**
Soft morning light seeped through thin curtains.
Edward awoke slowly, eyelids heavy.
He inhaled… and froze.
This… is my room?
He pushed himself halfway upright.
The faded blue walls.
The old laptop on a scratched desk.
The posters he'd forgotten he ever hung.
Everything was exactly as it used to be when he was twenty-one.
His heart pounded violently.
No… it can't be—
Didn't I—
Something weighed on his chest. Hard. Solid.
He grabbed it.
The book.
The same book the mysterious man handed to him… last night.
Edward sat up fully, stunned. His thoughts scrambled — fear, confusion, disbelief tangled into a knot.
Why am I here?
Why… am I back?
Before he could steady his breathing—
BAM!
The door slammed open.
"Brother! It's already 10! Mom said to come down for breakfast!"
That familiar loud voice.
Edward turned to the doorway…
His little sister, Eva, stood there — annoyed, arms crossed, cheeks puffed slightly like they always did when she scolded him.
Edward stared.
"…Eva?"
"Yes!" she snapped, still glaring like an adorable storm.
He let out a shaky laugh.
"Why does your face… look so young?"
Eva planted her hands on her hips, shaking her head a few times as if her brother had just said the stupidest thing in existence.
"Of course I'm still young, Ed. But right now I'm the one keeping this family alive. Not you."
Her words made Edward's brows knit together.
He didn't understand. He really didn't understand.
Slowly, he stood up, looking down at his own body. His hand rose, touching his jaw and the smooth line of his cheek.
"When… when did I shave?" he muttered, eyes never leaving his sister.
He walked toward the mirror.
One look—
"Holy shit!"
He nearly jumped back.
The reflection staring at him was him…
but the version from when he was 21—young, clean, unscarred, no beard.
Eva clicked her tongue, not even bothering to react dramatically.
"Hey Ed, you're not the only one who isn't Awakened. There are tons of people like you out there. But they live. They work. They make money. They do what they have to do.
But you?
Locked in your room, doing nothing."
Edward swallowed, voice barely a breath.
"Eva… I was supposed to die."
Eva scoffed.
"Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I kinda wish you did."
She stepped out of the doorway, pointing toward the stairs.
"But unfortunately, you're STILL alive. And I still have to call you down every damn morning for breakfast. So get down now… before I kill you myself."
Edward stood there, silent.
His breathing grew tight, his mind spiraling.
He remembered everything—sharp, vivid, like it happened just an hour ago.
How the dragon Froza, guardian of the final Relic, roared loud enough to split the skies.
How he was the reason of its downfall… because he rushed in without thinking.
Fay warned him. Told him to wait.
"Listen to Froza's wingbeats first… if it goes silent, then you move."
But he was stubborn.
He thought he was already safe.
And in the very next second—
before his hand could touch the 100th Relic—
Froza's tail swept from the side, striking his body with a force no human could survive.
Edward could still feel the impact.
That crash.
The sensation of his bones cracking.
Half his body shattered, blood dripping, his vision fading to black.
He died there.
He was certain—he died.
Yet now… he was in his room.
His old room.
The room he had when he was still 21.
He swallowed, blinking slowly.
"But why am I here…?" he whispered.
"If this is the afterlife… why is Eva here? She… she's not dead."
The more he tried to understand, the more his mind tangled.
This wasn't a dream.
Not an illusion.
"Hey Ed! COME DOWN now!"
Eva's voice boomed from downstairs — firm, loud, powerful enough to make the birds on the roof fly away.
Edward exhaled deeply, exhausted before the day even began.
Yeah… this was a routine he knew too well.
Wake up because his sister yelled.
Breakfast.
Go back to his room.
Play games.
Sleep.
Dinner.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
The cycle of a useless human — a title he had already grown used to.
Eva, his 18-year-old little sister, was already an A-rank Awakened; the youngest member of the world's second-strongest guild — and the sole provider of the family.
And him?
Edward lowered his gaze to the floor, fingers tightening against the bedsheet.
"If I really came back to life…" he muttered quietly.
"Or if everything that happened was just a dream…"
He clenched his teeth.
"That means my life is still the same. Still… a loser."
Edward left the room with no trace of spirit on his face. His steps were slow as he descended the staircase one step at a time.
Tak… tak… tak…
The soft thuds of his footsteps echoed through the quiet house. Reaching the ground floor, he walked slowly toward the kitchen.
Over there, his eyes immediately locked onto a figure he had missed more than anything.
His mother — Patricia — cooking pancakes, her hair still full of color, her face healthy and young… as though that tragedy had never happened.
But in his memories, his mother and father died in the hospital, the one where his father was being treated, when monsters attacked the area.
It all happened while he was far away in Greece, hunting the 66th relic.
After that incident… his relationship with Eva turned cold — almost frozen.
Edward swallowed, trying to steady his emotions.
"Good morning, mum…" he said softly.
Patricia turned slightly, smiling warmly like she always did.
"Good morning, Ed."
Edward then glanced at the dining table.
The small smile that had formed on his lips disappeared instantly.
His father was sitting there, eating breakfast as usual — that stern face, never showing even a bit of affection toward him. A smile? That was only for Eva. Never for him.
Robert, a C-rank Awakened. A desk job at the National Awakened Department. A small salary.
And his main hobby… looking down on his own son.
As if becoming an Awakened was something you could just wish for.
"Hey fucker… make me Awakened right now," Edward cursed in his heart, annoyed.
He simply stood behind the countertop, picking up the plate his mother had prepared. Just simple pancakes, but for Edward, seeing his mother alive was already enough to ease his heart.
"So, where are you going after this, Ed?" Patricia asked gently.
"Where else… upstairs to continue being a loser," Eva replied without even lifting her head.
"Eva…" her mother scolded.
"It's okay, mum." Edward gave a thin smile. "I'm thinking of finding a job."
Those words made Robert and Eva immediately look at him.
"Seriously, Ed?" Patricia asked, almost in disbelief.
Edward nodded. "How long am I going to live like this… better if I go out, work… and pray I get killed by a monster."
Eva laughed bitterly.
"Hey… why say that?" Patricia asked, slightly panicked.
"What kind of job does Ed want…?" Robert asked in a serious tone.
"Anything, father. Just as long as it's not a free job."
Robert fell silent for a moment, thinking.
"Come see me at the office later."
"Is there really a job for Ed, father?" Eva asked with her sly smile.
"Just come by later."
Edward nodded slowly. "Okay."
Edward nodded slowly.
"Okay… I'll go upstairs first."
"Are you eating a little?" Patricia asked.
"I'm full, mom. Besides, I need to get ready."
Patricia gave a small smile. "Go ahead."
"Don't just go upstairs to play games, then sleep. Same as being trash," Eva said from the dining table.
"Eva… why say that to your brother?" her mother scolded.
"Brother?.. too lazy to even earn money."
Edward didn't answer. He just walked upstairs — too lazy to deal with his sister's attitude so early in the morning.
As soon as he entered his room, he closed the door tightly. He let out a deep breath. He even felt like shouting — frustrated with Eva, frustrated with his life.
He approached the bed. His eyes fell on a thick black leather-bound book lying right on the sheets. Every page was filled with maps, symbols, and hidden paths — ways to obtain relics without encountering the guardians.
"He gave me this book… so I could become Awakened in my dreams… so stupid," Edward muttered as he took off his t-shirt.
"Hi, Master."