"Run! Don't look back — run from here!"
The voice echoed through the dark forest as fire spread in every direction, turning the night into a sea of red and smoke. A small white fox girl ran through the burning woods, her torn clothes soaked with blood and ash.
Every step felt heavier than the last, her breathing ragged and uneven as her blurred vision struggled to guide her forward. She could barely see through the darkness and the smoke, yet she kept moving, driven only by the desperate screams of her people behind her.
Then she heard it — the sound of footsteps.
A group of human soldiers.
Her leg caught on a tree branch and she fell hard to the ground. Panic surged through her chest as she forced herself up and stumbled toward a nearby tree. At its base was a hollow space, barely large enough for her small body. She squeezed inside and covered her mouth with her hand, trying to suppress her cries of pain while tears streamed silently down her face.
The soldiers stopped right beside the tree, their presence so close that she could hear their breathing.
"If you see any beasts, kill them," one of them said.
Another laughed. "Those foolish foxes think they're like us? What a joke. They're nothing but slaves — no better than dogs."
Trembling, the fox girl listened as their footsteps slowly faded into the distance.
Only after several moments did she dare to move, lowering her hand from her mouth and drawing in a long, shaking breath.
Six years later, in a small human village far from the capital and deep within the forest, life had fallen into ruin. The houses were old and broken, the streets nearly empty, and hunger claimed lives almost every day.
Those who still had the strength had already left in search of a better future, leaving behind a place where survival meant stealing, fighting, or even killing for a piece of food.
At the far end of the village stood a house more worn than the rest. A boy named Haruto Kurosawa lived there alone. In this world, every person received a skill at birth, and people were judged by that skill before anything else.
Haruto had been born with the ability of a beast tamer — a lower-class power that people considered worthless. Because of it, he had been mocked, bullied, and eventually forced to live in this remote area.
The war between humans and demi-humans had created a small demand for beast tamers, but their status never truly changed. It was simply the only way for them to earn enough to survive. Haruto's parents had been killed by beasts, and with his low level and poor condition, some days a single piece of bread was all he could afford.
The hunger, the loneliness, and the memory of that day fed the hatred growing inside him.
That was why the hatred inside him continued to grow
A desire for revenge.
To kill every beast he saw, or to enslave and torture them.
Realizing that the village was no longer safe, Haruto began packing his belongings. A sudden knock sounded at the door, but he ignored it and continued to move faster. The knock turned into a violent kick.
"Open the door!" a voice shouted from outside.
Haruto moved toward the window. It was closed, but there were small holes in the wooden frame. He looked through one of them.
Several men were standing outside.
They looked like bandits. There were at least ten of them.
If he opened the door, they would take everything he had — or kill him.
Without wasting another second, Haruto grabbed his bag and quietly opened the back window. He slipped out and jumped to the ground.
One of the men noticed the movement.
A bandit ran to the back of the house and saw Haruto running toward the forest.
"He's escaping to the back!" he shouted to the others.
Haruto ran into the trees.
The bandits followed him.
Haruto ran as fast as he could.
He was running for his life. He couldn't fight them.
He rushed deeper into the forest and glanced back. The bandits were still chasing him, swords and bows in their hands.
After several minutes, he reached the edge of the forest where a wide river blocked his path. If he could cross it, he might survive. He moved toward the water, but an arrow suddenly struck his right leg from behind. Stumbling, he tried to keep going, only for a second arrow to pierce his chest. The impact threw him to the ground.
The bandits quickly surrounded him, laughing as they took his bag and searched inside. Finding only a book, spare clothes, and a little food, they threw the useless items back into his face and demanded money he didn't have. Haruto, unable to move, begged for his life through the pain, but the bandit leader stepped forward with a cold expression and declared that wasting their time was reason enough for him to die.
His hands and legs were bound tightly with rope while he cried and pleaded, his voice ignored by everyone. Just before they threw him into the river, the leader stopped them, emptied Haruto's bag, and filled it with heavy stones before forcing it onto his back. Then, without another word, they threw him into the water, and the weight dragged him down into the darkness as he began to drown.
Haruto was sinking, the stones pulling him down as the river's current dragged him forward. Water filled his lungs, his body screamed in pain, and water around him had begun to tinge red with his blood. He thought he was done — then, a soft, blue, holographic window appeared before him. A voice echoed:
[Beast Tamer Re-Awakening Activated]
[Level Up]
Haruto thought it was too late. It doesn't matter now… I'm going to die, he told himself as he slowly closed his eyes, everything fading to black.
Again, a voice echoed:
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]