The sky over Sector 9 was the color of a bruised plum, the eternal mana clouds swirling in a way that blocked out the true stars. It had been exactly one thousand years since the "Great Descent," the day the logic of video games overwrote the laws of physics.
Skyscrapers built from monster bones and reinforced steel pierced the smog, glowing with neon mana-lights. In this world, your level was your credit score, and your Class was your destiny.
Ren stood in the center of the Awakening Plaza, the cold wind biting through his threadbare tunic. He was eighteen today. In the Neo-Earth Federation, eighteen meant one thing: The Awakening.
"Next! Renjiro 'Ren' Walker!" the officiator barked, looking bored. He was a Level 40 [Bureaucrat], a non-combat class, but even he had more social standing than the unawakened boy standing before him.
Ren stepped onto the dais. The Awakening Crystal, a massive jagged diamond floating in mid-air, hummed ominously.
Please, Ren prayed, his palms sweating. Just give me something useful. A [Swordsman]. A [Mage]. Even a [Farmer] would let me make a living.
The crowd below watched with mild interest. Awakenings were public spectacles. If a rare class appeared, guilds would descend like vultures. If a trash class appeared, the mockery would be relentless.
Ren placed his hand on the crystal.
VZZZRT.
A holographic blue screen, visible to everyone, exploded into existence above his head.
[System Alert]
Name: Ren
Level: 1
Class Awakening Complete.
Class: [Sanitation Worker] (Common)
Innate Talent: None.
Silence stretched across the plaza for a singular, painful second. Then, laughter erupted. It wasn't the polite snickering of aristocrats; it was the raucous, belly-shaking laughter of the working class who were just relieved they weren't him.
"[Sanitation Worker]?" someone shouted from the back. "Hey kid! Come clean my boots! I stepped in goblin gore earlier!"
"He's not even a [Cleaner]! He's a [Sanitation Worker]! That's basically a garbage man with a mana bar!"
The officiator waved his hand dismissively. "Step down. Next!"
Ren felt the blood drain from his face. His legs felt like lead as he walked down the stairs, ignoring the jeers. In a world where S-Rank Hunters could slice mountains in half, he had just been given a broom.
Three hours later, Ren sat on the edge of his bed in a cramped, 4x4 meter apartment that smelled faintly of mold and ozone.
He pulled up his status window again, hoping it was a glitch.
Name: Ren
Class: [Sanitation Worker]
Level: 1
Strength: 3 (Average Adult: 10)
Agility: 4
Mana: 2
Skills:
[Trash Sense (Active)]: Allows the user to locate nearby refuse and debris within 10 meters.
"Trash Sense," Ren whispered, his voice cracking. He threw his head back and laughed, a dry, bitter sound. "I can find trash. Great. I don't need a skill for that. I just need to look in the mirror."
He was destined to be the lowest of the low. He would spend his life cleaning up the monster guts left behind by the "real" people. He wouldn't be able to pay for his sister's medical bills at the Stasis Clinic. She needed High-Potions, not a brother who could locate dust bunnies.
He looked at the digital clock on the wall.
23:59:50
"Happy birthday to me," he muttered, closing his eyes. "A thousand years of magic in this world, and I get nothing."
23:59:58
23:59:59
00:00:00
DING.
A sound rang out. But it wasn't the soft, chime-like bell of the World System. This sound was deep, heavy, and sounded like a prison door slamming shut.
Ren opened his eyes.
The blue screen of the World System wasn't there. Instead, a jagged, crimson-and-black interface had materialized directly onto his retina, burning with a sinister light.
[ERROR: ANOMALY DETECTED]
[Trying to contain...]
[Containment Failed.]
[The "Countless Forbidden Skill System" has attached to Host: Ren.]
Ren scrambled back, hitting his head against the wall. "What? Who's there?"
The text didn't respond to his voice. It simply scrolled down, the letters dripping like blood.
[Welcome, Host. The World System follows the rules of Order. This System follows the rules of Chaos.]
[Mechanic Explanation:]
Every 24 hours, at midnight, you will be granted one Random Forbidden Skill.
Note: These skills defy the laws of the World System. Use with caution.
[Initializing First Daily Roll...]
A massive roulette wheel appeared in his vision, made of bone and shadow. It spun so fast it blurred, emitting a sound like screaming souls.
Clack. Clack. Clack... click.
The wheel stopped.
[Congratulations!]
[Daily Forbidden Skill Obtained:]
Skill Name: [Touch of The Grey King (Mythic)]
Duration: 23 Hours, 59 Minutes remaining.
Description: Anything non-living that your right hand touches will instantly age 10,000 years and decompose into pure Mana Dust. This Mana Dust can be inhaled to permanently increase your stats.
Restriction: Cannot be turned off. Do not touch your clothes if you wish to remain decent.
Ren stared at the screen, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Age... ten thousand years? Convert to stats?"
He looked at his right hand. It looked normal, but the air around his fingers seemed to shimmer, distorting the light.
"This has to be a hallucination. The stress finally broke me."
He looked around his room. His eyes landed on a rusted iron dumbbell he used for exercise—useless given his low strength stat. It was solid metal, weighing 10 kilograms.
Ren stood up, his breathing shaky. He reached out with his right hand.
"It's just a game error," he whispered. "It's not real."
His index finger brushed the iron weight.
Whoosh.
There was no sound of breaking metal. There was only a soft sigh as the molecular bonds of the iron simply gave up. In the blink of an eye, the solid dumbbell turned into grey ash, collapsing into a pile of sparkling, glowing dust.
Ren froze. He hadn't just broken it. He had erased its time.
The glowing dust swirled upward, drawn to him like he was a magnet. Before he could dodge, the dust rushed into his nose and mouth.
It didn't choke him. It tasted like cold lightning.
[System Alert]
Absorbed High-Density Iron Essence.
Strength +2
Vitality +1
Ren gasped, falling to his knees as a surge of power rushed through his veins. In one second, he had gained stats that would take a normal F-Rank hunter six months of training to achieve.
He looked at his hand again. A terrifying grin slowly spread across his face.
He looked at the trash piling up in the corner of his room. He looked at the cracked walls. He looked at the floor.
"Sanitation Worker?" Ren laughed, and this time, there was no bitterness. "Yeah. I think I'm going to be very good at cleaning things up."
He had 24 hours with this skill. He needed to find something bigger than a dumbbell. He needed to find the city dump.