Kaizen stepped out of the cafeteria, clutching his warm bag of food like it was a legendary artifact that could grant wishes.
He looked back one last time through the glass doors. Through the transparent walls, he could see Helga inside. She was currently holding a muscular student in a headlock while force-feeding him a carrot.
"Eat your vegetables!" she roared, her voice muffled by the glass but still clearly audible. "Or I will boil you in the soup next!"
Kaizen shivered. "She is a saint. A violent, terrifying saint who threatens people with cookware."
He turned away and pulled his coat tighter against the cold.
Phase One complete: Nutrition secured.
Phase Two: Logistics.
He checked his student ID card. Balance: 0 Crowns.
He needed proper gear for the mountain expedition. A winter coat, climbing rope, maybe an actual weapon that was not a wooden stick. But he absolutely could not buy any of that at the Arcane Exchange where a single shoelace cost fifty Crowns.
He needed the real market where normal people shopped.
He needed the Shady Bazaar.
It was a hidden black market located downtown, nestled inside the regular city market like a secret within a secret.
In the game, it was where players went to sell questionable loot or buy forbidden snacks that gave temporary stat boosts. Not many people knew about its existence.
'I need money first, Kaizen plotted while walking.'
'I know a guy there who runs a pawn shop. I could use my ID card as collateral to get some emergency money.'
'Though I will have to pay him back ten times more than what I borrowed...'
Whatever, it was the only option available to him right now. Zenith Academy ID cards were one of the most valued and prestigious items in the city. Of course people could trust a student who possessed that card.
Not to mention, he planned to take the loot from completing the dungeon quest to get his ID card back and make some money for himself in the process.
But first, he had to get to the main gate.
The Zenith Academy campus was five thousand acres of carefully maintained grounds. Walking to the exit on foot would take three hours minimum.
Luckily, the Academy had a solution for lazy students with money and rich students without time.
Kaizen walked to the nearest Bus Stop, which was actually a glowing rune circle etched into the pavement.
A minute later, a vehicle hummed into view with barely a whisper of sound.
The Arcane Caddy System (ACS)
It looked like a golf cart that had been completely redesigned by modern engineers and then enchanted by a wizard with too much budget.
It hovered six inches off the ground, powered by a silent mana engine. Sleek white curves, plush leather seats, and a roof made of hardened glass that sparkled in the morning light.
It stopped silently in front of him.
Whirrrrr.
The automated door slid open smoothly.
"Welcome, Student," a pleasant robotic voice chimed. "Please state your destination."
"Main Gate," Kaizen said while hopping inside and settling into the comfortable seat.
He was the only passenger. It was Saturday morning, after all. The rich kids were still sleeping in their luxury dorms. The diligent kids were out training until they collapsed. The Kaizens of the world were plotting elaborate heists.
The ACS accelerated smoothly without any jerking motion. It zipped along the pristine white pathways, passing the towering Elemental Practice Towers and the sprawling parks filled with magical creatures.
Kaizen looked out the window at the passing scenery.
"This ride is completely free. Thank god for tuition fees I mysteriously did not pay."
Ten minutes later, the massive Main Gates loomed into view ahead.
They were fifty feet tall, constructed from black iron and gold filigree that glinted in the early sunlight. They looked less like school gates and more like the entrance to Mordor, except if Mordor had a strict homeowners association and landscaping requirements.
The ACS stopped perfectly aligned with the gate. Kaizen hopped out.
Standing directly in front of the gate was a man. He was not sitting comfortably in a booth. He was standing at attention with his arms crossed, wearing a suit that looked like it was made of Kevlar and dragon scales.
[Gatekeeper: Brutus]
[Rank: A]
He was a retired dungeon raider who had survived twenty years in S-Rank dungeons. A literal war hero. And his current job was to make sure students did not sneak out to buy contraband or get themselves killed.
Kaizen swallowed nervously.
'Act natural. You are just visiting family. You are a loving nephew who cares deeply about his sick aunt.'
He walked up to the ID scanner mounted next to the gate.
Brutus looked down at him. His sunglasses completely hid his eyes, but Kaizen could feel the intense gaze boring into him. It felt like a sniper laser was painted on his forehead.
"ID," Brutus grunted in a voice like gravel.
Kaizen held up his black student card with slightly trembling hands.
Beep.
[Kaizen Renji Asahina]
[Rank: F-]
Brutus looked at the holographic readout. Then he looked at Kaizen. Then at the backpack.
"Going somewhere, F-Rank?"
"Visiting my sick aunt," Kaizen lied smoothly, channeling his inner Oscar-winning actor. "She... she makes terrible cookies that taste like cardboard. But I have to go anyway because family is important."
Brutus stared at him for a long, uncomfortable second that stretched into eternity.
Then, he snorted.
"Family duty. Rare to see these days."
He pressed a button on his wrist. The massive iron gates groaned loudly and began to crack open, revealing the bustling city of Zenith Prime beyond.
"Be back before curfew," Brutus warned in a tone that suggested consequences. "Or I lock you out permanently. And the gargoyles get hungry at midnight."
"Understood!"
Kaizen slipped through the gap in the gates as quickly as possible without actually running.
As he stepped onto the public sidewalk outside the academy grounds, he took a deep breath of city air.
"Okay," Kaizen whispered while adjusting his backpack straps. "Time to go to the dark side and make questionable decisions."
Kaizen walked toward the public transport junction, taking in the view of the awakening city. The sunrise was painting the sky in bruises of purple and gold.
It was nearing six o'clock in the morning.
The junction was quiet and nearly empty. A single mana-bus stop stood under a flickering streetlight. Since it was off-peak hours, the bus was taking its sweet time arriving.
Kaizen sat down on the cold metal bench, placing his bag carefully on his lap.
At the other end of the bench sat a father and his young son. The father looked absolutely dead on his feet, clutching a lunchbox like it was a lifeline. He caught Kaizen's eye and gave a polite, exhausted nod.
Kaizen nodded back respectfully. Respect to the working salaryman.
Then he looked at the kid.
The kid, maybe five years old, was staring at Kaizen with wide, unblinking eyes. He had a line of snot running down his nose.
The kid stuck his tongue out at Kaizen.
Kaizen blinked. He looked left. He looked right.
'You want to go, scrub?'
Kaizen pulled his eyelids down, puffed his cheeks out, and crossed his eyes in the most ridiculous face possible.
The kid gasped in surprise, giggled loudly, and hid his face in his dad's coat.
Kaizen chuckled softly.
'Too easy. I am winning against toddlers, but I get my ass kicked by literally anyone else.'
He leaned back against the bench, watching the empty road. The silence gave his brain too much time to think.
His mind drifted back to yesterday. To the alley. To the skewer.
'Wait a minute.'
Kaizen frowned, looking down at his own hand.
'I broke his femur. I literally snapped a human thigh bone in half... with a piece of greasy processed wood.'
He flexed his fingers slowly. They were pale, skinny, and completely free of callouses.
That does not make physics sense.
'Even if I hit the perfect angle. Even if I used all my kinetic momentum. The stick should have snapped on impact. The muscle tissue should have cushioned the blow.'
He was an F-Rank. His Strength stat should be in the single digits. The Goon was an E-Rank. His durability should be higher than a normal human.
'It felt weird when I swung that stick. It did not feel like wood at all. It felt like I was swinging a steel rod or a bedrock block.'
He scratched his head in confusion.
'I think I heard a beep? Like a system notification? But I was too busy mourning my five hundred Crowns to actually read it.'
He looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching. The dad was dozing off against the bench. The kid was busy picking his nose.
"System," Kaizen whispered. "Status Open."
Ding.
A holographic blue window appeared directly in front of his face. The dad did not react. The snotty kid did not react. It was client-side only, visible to him alone.
Kaizen took a deep breath. In the game, the Status Screen was everything. It told you if you were a God or a Goblin.
He looked at his stats with growing dread.
[Name: Kaizen Renji Asahina]
[Class: NPC]
[Rank: F-]
STATS
[Strength: 3 (A toddler is roughly 2.5)]
[Agility: 4 (You run like a duck)]
[Vitality: 3 (A strong breeze might kill you)]
[Intelligence: 12 (Above Average)]
[Mana: 2 (Pathetic)]
[Luck: -5 (Cursed)]
Kaizen stared at the numbers in disbelief.
"Strength... three?" he whispered, his voice trembling. "I have the physical strength of a slightly athletic toddler? I am weaker than the snotty kid sitting next to me right now?!"
He looked at his hands like they had personally betrayed him.
"Then how? How did I break a femur? An E-Ranker has at least twenty Strength and fifteen Vitality. I should have bounced off him like a wet noodle hitting a brick wall."
He scrolled down past the depressing numbers. Past the Mild Asthma debuff that he apparently had.
To the Skills tab.
Usually, F-Ranks had zero skills. Maybe Basic Cleaning or Walking in a Straight Line if they were lucky.
Kaizen had three skills listed.
[1. Blink]
Description: A classic NPC ability. The user vanishes the moment someone looks away, then reappears somewhere else as if they had been standing there the whole time. Useful for avoiding unwanted conversations.
[2. Nonstandard Weapon Authority (NWA)]
Description: The Universe has officially classified the user as a "Static Mesh," a background prop with no plot relevance.
Effect: Any item labeled Trash, Prop, or Non-Weapon instantly ranks up the moment the user holds it with intent to use as a weapon.
The weaker and more useless the item...
the stronger it becomes.
Congratulations, you are, technically, SSS-rank material.
(With garbage.)
Kaizen stared at the screen.
He blinked.
Then blinked again.
His brain executed a perfect front-flip.
Was the system actively mocking him?!
He grimaced and moved on to the last skill, already hating this interface.
[3. Native Soul Instinct]
Description: The world recognizes you as one of its own. Knowledge flows into you instinctively—magic theory, runes, glyphs, ancient scripts, forgotten dialects.
Your mind syncs with the world's "memory," making comprehension effortless.
You are recognized as a native entity, not an outsider.
"What does that even mean?" Kaizen whispered in confusion.