‘Survive’

As he stood with blood, both his own and from various other beasts, covering his body, he only had one thought in his head.

‘I need to survive’

He strengthened his grip on his weapons and charged forwards. He appeared before the beast and slashed down, cutting a gash in its neck while the beast swung its paw at his head. He teleported behind the beast, and even while coughing up more blood, he kept stabbing and slashing.

‘Survive. Survive. Survive’

As the single word repeated in an endless loop, he jumped on the back of the beast, which was already starting to become sluggish from blood loss. He stabbed down once again; however, his weapon broke on contact.

‘Survive. Survive. Survive.’

Even as he began losing his bearings from blood loss, he could only hear one word. He stuck his hands into the wound on the beast’s neck and ripped it open, sinking his teeth into its raw flesh.

‘Survive. Survive. Survive.’

He clawed, bit, and ate, and with the last bit of reasoning he maintained, he used the broken weapon to stab into the gaping hole in the beast’s neck. The beast fell to the floor, lifeless.

As he began to lose consciousness, he saw a holographic screen appear before his eyes.

[Level up!]

[1st class obtained!]

‘I…survived.’

As he drifted into unconsciousness, a smile began to form on his lips.

***

5 days earlier

In a hospital somewhere in Los Angeles, a young man could be seen sitting patiently beside a hospital bed. He was 17 years old, with shaggy black hair and amethyst eyes that looked almost hollow. Combined with his skinny build, he was someone who could’ve been extremely handsome if not for his unkempt condition.

On the bed was a middle-aged woman with similar features, evidently his kin.

“Mom, it’s been 6 years since the world changed, but I’m still okay. You don’t have to worry about anything; your son will make sure you can wake up and enjoy this new world as well. Just please fight on and stay alive.” Although he hoped to get even the slightest twitch as a response, he knew it’d be impossible.

The young man continued having idle chatter with his mother as he thought back to the incident that’s been coined as the “World Awakening”.

At that time, while he was just a freshman in high school, the world completely changed. As if they had been living in a certain Korean novel, mana awakened in the world, gates began opening, and a holographic screen showed up in front of the eyes of every human that outlined their “status”.

Each individual was given a talent to start with, ranging from simple abilities like enhanced eyesight to insane fantasy stuff like pyrokinesis; hell, there was even a story on the news about some guy who got Raisin manipulation.Tôp 𝒏𝒐v𝒆l updates on n/(o)/v/𝒆lb/in(.)com

And within this myriad of abilities, he awakened a spatial affinity with the skill “short-distance teleportation”. At first, he was excited, thinking about intense battles and gaining great power, but the reality was quick to shoot him down.

His ability only worked in the area 10 meters around himself, and his physical stats were insanely weak, leaving him tired after using his ability a couple of times. Due to this, he was never able to fight beasts and level up, only becoming level 5 through sheer coincidence and kill stealing.

To be honest, once he realized his own weakness, he never wanted to become a hunter and explore the mysterious gates. However, he was left without a choice. He had no useful skills for the changing world but was in desperate need of money.

When mana awakened, not everything was fantastical and cool, as there were many people whose bodies couldn’t adapt to the changing environment, leaving them hospitalized and comatose, his mother being one of them. There was no cure for this ailment yet, but even the costs for the hospital to simply keep the patient alive were thousands of dollars.

So he persisted. He joined the Guild Association, which manages hunters, and became a member of a collection team for the guild his best friend was a part of, keeping him relatively safe from attacks.

Sometimes he’d act as a porter and steal a kill or two, but after his stunt was discovered, even that stopped being allowed. And like that, 6 years passed. He never made any progress and barely made enough money to support his mother.

“Mr.Damien? Mr.Damien Void?” Suddenly he was snapped out of his thoughts by the call of a nurse. “Sir, we need to take care of the patient now, so we would appreciate it if you could wait outside for a few moments.”

Since he knew of this routine from his countless visits over the past 6 years, he nodded and left the room.

‘Damn. After that last raid, I haven’t been able to get a job in a while.’ He thought to himself.

‘If I don’t manage to join another raid in the next week, I probably won’t be able to afford to continue paying mom’s medical bills. No, I have to… No matter what, I won’t stop paying those. Even if I have to move out of my apartment and live on the streets for a while, I still have to pay her bills.’

“What am I even supposed to do with these weak-ass stats?” Damien thought out loud as he decided to check his status.

‘Status’

As soon as he thought the word, a holographic screen popped up right in front of his eyes.

[Status]

[Damien Void]

Human

Male – Age 17

Level 5 – [Classless]

Experience value: 0/100

Titles [•••••••, Bearer of the Void Physique]

Affinities: Space

Physique: Void Physique

Magic Power: 20

STR: 3

AGI: 5

DEF: 2

INT: 3

DEX: 5

Skills: [Short Distance Teleportation Level 1], [Minor Telekinesis Level 1], [Minor Regeneration Level 1]

Damien heaved an exasperated sigh. ‘All my problems could be solved easily if I could just get stronger, but my physique seems to be stuck at this pathetic level no matter how much I try to improve.’

He thought back to the times when he would try his hardest to work out, even going so far as to use the One Punch Man and Solo Leveling workout routines to improve his body, but to no avail.

When he first awakened the system, he already had 2 titles. Thinking back to how much he bragged about it back in high school, he felt like crawling in a hole out of shame.

As it turned out, his first title, which was only represented by a series of dots, was absolutely useless. At first, he thought it would be like one of those novel tropes where the title was too powerful and therefore sealed, but after 6 years, he had given up that faint hope.

His second title was even worse. It wasn’t just useless; it was harmful. Instead of Void Physique being some kind of cheat power that granted him an easy understanding towards his spatial affinity, it just absorbed most of the nutrients and strength meant for his body like a black hole and converted it to magic power.

Due to this, he had a good amount of magic power for someone at his level, but that was redundant when his body couldn’t even handle the strain of teleporting too frequently.

‘Even my spatial affinity is one of the rarest and most challenging affinities to train. After all these years of constant effort, the only thing I’ve managed to achieve is the ability to float cups towards me.’ He thought as he sighed once more.

‘Seriously, it would be nice if I had some plot armor or something, at least that would randomly give me a way to cure Mom, and then why would I need to care about being a hunter? I could just live the peaceful life an ordinary citizen with shit luck like me should be living.’

As his thoughts continued to get more and more self-deprecating, the nurses finished their procedures with his mother. He went back into the room to bid her farewell before leaving.

“Don’t worry about this useless son of yours, mother. All you need to do is keep living. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you, and I’m sorry your son is so thin that he probably won’t be able to get a girlfriend before you wake up,” he chuckled slightly at his own joke as he continued,

“I’ll be leaving now. I promise I’ll bring you more stories of the gates and the crazy stuff that’s happening in the world next time I come. I heard that even that guy with the Raisin Manipulation has become famous. One day, this son of yours will stand at the top of the world and make sure you can live any life you desire.”

After leaving those words, he left the hospital. On his way out the door, however, he was abruptly tackled to the floor.

“Damien!”

“Damien!”

Feeling the 2 soft mounds glued to his chest, Damien looked up and saw a beautiful girl around 17 years old. She had dark blue hair, matching eyes, and a body that had been refined over the years for combat. This was his closest friend, Elena Pierce.

“Geez,” she said with a pout, “you didn’t even notice me waving at you! Hmph, you must’ve been overthinking things again. You really need to get out of that habit.”

Damien was used to this behavior though, so he just took her off of him and stood up while offering her a hand. “So? What happened to get you so excited?”

And just like always, she pretended like nothing happened and took his hand to stand up.

“Well, the guild just got access to another gate, and it looks like it’ll be a big one this time! It’s only a B rank gate, but the mana signature it’s giving off is abnormal. And since I’ll be going this time, I can be sure that you’re safe if you come too! So, what do you think?”

Damien nodded with gratitude. Although she tended to act like a mom around him sometimes, she always had his best interests in mind.

Even when she found out about his mother, her first reaction was to help him pay; however, he refused since he didn’t want to owe her anything.

“Alright, I’ll be there. Anyway, that’s probably not why you’re so happy though, right?” Damien responded. After all the years they spent together, he had a pretty good grasp of her personality.

“Nope! I have some time off right now, so we can finally hang out!” She said while she grabbed his hand and started dragging him away with a slight blush on her cheeks, though Damien failed to notice it.

“Fine, fine, let’s go— it’s not like I have anything better to do.” As Damien let himself get dragged, he thought back to when they first awakened.

Although he was stuck with the short end of the stick, Elena had massive potential from the very beginning. Although she was supposed to be a healer, she loved to fight on the front lines, turning her into a combatant who could continuously heal herself and have everlasting stamina in combat.

And after she got her first class, she became known as the “War Priestess” by the masses. She was someone who had the potential to reach even 4th class with enough work, so she was always favored by the guild.

As he was lost in thought once again, Damien and Elena arrived at a cafe. After they ordered and sat down, Damien suddenly realized something. “Hey, if the gate tomorrow is so abnormal, why are you asking someone as weak as me to come along?”

“Hmph,” Elena pouted, “because if you come with me, I can at least look after you. Do you think I don’t know that you’ve been getting injured all the time by going through a gate after the gate and overusing your skills?”

Damien averted his eyes, knowing she was right. “Well, I guess it can’t be helped.” He was just recently losing his mind over trying to find a new gate so he could make some money, so he would be stupid to reject her offer.Vissit n𝒐velbin(.)c𝒐m for 𝒏ew 𝒏ovels

Besides, he had never been afraid to enter any gate, no matter its difficulty. His only fear is that there’s nobody to take care of his mother if he dies; after all, his dad disappeared to god knows where around 10 years ago, and they had no other family that was still around.

Time passed swiftly as Damien spent his day with Elena. They finished eating and visited an amusement park and spent the rest of the day there.

Sometimes he wonders if these types of days that they have every so often can be considered as dates, but he quickly shook off the thought. He had to take care of his mother and make sure his life was still livable first and foremost.

Besides, with her potential, she’d become a huge figure in the near future; he can’t let himself be a burden to her for much longer.

Walking back from the amusement park, Damien looked at Elena, who was jogging ahead of him and giggling like a child. He found this kind of scene refreshing since she only acted like this around him.

When she’s around her guildmates, she’s always cold and has a fierce aura surrounding her, making her generally unapproachable.

That’s why he enjoys spending time like this, thinking that maybe she needs days where she can act like an ordinary girl instead of the guild’s most promising fighter.

Watching her, he thought back to their days in high school once again. He was naturally an outgoing person, but he was never able to make any friends. Even with his looks that should have made him popular he had no luck.

He was even bullied at one point in time by one of the other guys in the class. Perhaps it was jealousy or maybe it was something else, Damien didn’t know. What he did know was that meeting Elena was salvation for him

His dreary school life instantly brightened up as she became akin to a sun in his dark world. He really didn’t know how to repay the gratitude he felt towards her.

After saying goodbye to Elena, Damien headed back to his apartment and started preparing for the raid tomorrow.

The following day, Damien grabbed his supplies and headed to the meeting spot in front of the gate. It was relatively early, but since he’s weak, he decided it’d be better than risking being late. The world was slowly transforming into one where strength is king, and the law could no longer fully contain certain people.

As he rode the bus, Damien felt his chest constricting as an ominous feeling rose within him. Although he had read enough novels to know that this kind of feeling isn’t something to be ignored, he had no choice but to continue forward.

After all, he’s too weak to do anything about it even if things go wrong, and his most prided expertise is in fleeing. All he can do is hope that he’s just imagining things and trust those on the front line.

When Damien stepped off the bus, he was greeted by Elena, who seemed to have been waiting for him.

“Hehe…I knew you’d show up early, so I came and waited! How is it? Surprised?” She said while jumping up and down.

Damien smiled lightly and made idle chatter with her as they walked to the gate. Upon arriving, Damien noticed Elena’s behavior revert to coldness, though she still held some warmth when she spoke to him.

As he knew this was just her personality with the guild, he just sighed lightly and headed over to where the collection team was.

“Yo, Damien! Looks like you’re here again, huh. Guess we’ll be having an easy time in today’s gate.” Called a burly middle-aged man.

“Hm? That skinny kid? Why are you acting like that?” His buddy questioned.

“Haha, Pete, you haven’t been on a raid with him before— that’s why you don’t know. Although he has one of the weakest bodies I’ve ever seen in a hunter, his collection speed is great!”

“Hahaha, Dave, if it’s as you say, I guess we can just sit back and let the kid do all the work today!”

Damien just smiled and waved as he continued walking. Even if those stronger people and front liners tended to look down on him and berate him for his weakness, those who were in his crew in the collection squad always held him in high regard; after all, his short-distance teleportation and minor telekinesis are both skills that excel in side jobs like this one.

Those guys get to finish much faster when Damien is around and get to laze around for the rest of their shifts.

Although Damien had just previously been hoping everything went without a hitch, he always considered himself someone with dogshit luck, and naturally, such luck needed to come into play at this moment. While he was preparing his equipment, an arrogant voice sounded from behind him.

“You there, dirty kid, I need a porter, and you’re coming with me to do it.”

When Damien turned around, he saw a relatively handsome man in his late 20s with blonde hair and green eyes standing there haughtily.

“No, I’m good— find someone else to do it for you.” Though he responded casually, he inwardly prayed that he wasn’t dealing with an arrogant young master of some corporation. Sadly his prayers weren’t unanswered.

“Hmph! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that! I am Jin Horten, heir to the Horten conglomerate! If I say you do something, you do it!” The arrogant man said.

Damien sighed. The Horten conglomerate was one of the worlds leading tech companies even after the influx of mana. They had more than enough power to ruin his life and the lives of those around him without any repercussions.

As he sighed again, Damien followed the man. “I wonder what other fun my dogshit luck will bring me today.”

When Damien arrived at the area where the front liners were gathered with Jin, he received looks of disdain from almost everyone, which he promptly ignored. Turning to look at Elena, who was barely hiding her surprise, he could only flash a helpless smile.

“Listen up, people!” Jin yelled. “I’m Jin Horten, and I’ll be leading the expedition today.” He paused, seemingly enjoying the shock on everyone’s faces when they realized his background.

“This gate was officially listed as a B rank gate, but the boss will likely be a 1st class beast. We need to proceed with utmost caution so we can close the gate successfully.”

As he spoke, Jin snuck several glances at Elena, trying to impress her; however, she remained as stoic as usual.

While Jin continued to give an overview of the raid plan, Damien looked at the gate in wonder. It was like a swirling vortex of deep blue attribute-less mana that maintained its shape by assimilating the mana in its immediate surroundings.RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at nô(v)e(l)bin/.c/o/m Only

Gates usually sustain themselves like this, however after all the mana in a radius of 50 meters from the gate is absorbed, it can no longer sustain itself and collapses.

This collapse is usually just an implosion of mana that decimates the area around it, but in some cases, it can lead to a dungeon break, where beasts use the moment the gate destabilizes to breach the barrier and arrive on Earth.

These incidents, although rare, have led to many cities being decimated in the past. Therefore, the Guild Association made a rule where no gate is allowed to remain untouched for longer than 1 week.

When Damien looked at this gate, he felt an undeniable attraction to its function. Slowly but surely, he got stuck in a trance staring at it.

‘Although it’s never expressly mentioned, these gates also make use of the spatial attribute to function. The suction force of the gate resembles my Void Body in some ways, by absorbing everything that’s usually meant for different situations and repurposing it all to sustain itself.’ Damien realized.

‘If my Void Body works on the same principle, what would happen if I consumed more energy than the limit? Is that the way for me to strengthen myself? If so, how-‘

He was abruptly woken up when he felt a powerful force kick him to the ground.

“Hey! Worthless little shit, if you aren’t going to listen to me, then what’s the point of even having you here?”

Damien looked at Jin with hateful eyes but said nothing, swearing that one day he’ll get strong enough to repay his grievances. As it turns out, Jin wasn’t even saying anything meaningful.

The only reason he even bothered to hit Damien was to maintain his superiority complex. Damien looked at the gate one more time before acting like he was paying attention to Jin’s speech.

However, he was still stuck thinking about his Void Body. ‘A method to strengthen myself. Even if it’s only in theory, it’s still the first step forward I’ve taken in years. The question is, where am I going to find an energy source large enough to test my theory?’

He continued to ponder on this concept while letting Jin’s words go in one ear and out the other until he finally finished his speech. Once everyone separated to prepare, Elena walked up to him.

“Hey, are you okay? That asshole is only leading this raid because of his background. If it wasn’t for that, I swear I would’ve-” Since it seemed like Elena would go on a rampage soon, Damien smiled lightly and patted her head.

“I’m okay, don’t worry. If it wasn’t for his family background, he wouldn’t be shit, so why should I worry about him instead of thinking about how I can improve myself?”

Elena blushed but didn’t stop him. “W-well whatever! If that’s what you think, then I’m fine too.” Even as she tried to play it off, she put her hand on Damien’s chest and began to heal him.

Seeing this, Damien chuckled. “Well, if you’re done worrying about me, how about you go get yourself prepared for the raid? It would look bad if our friendly neighborhood War Priestess was fumbling around, right?”

Elena’s blush deepened at his tease, but since his words were partially correct, she scurried away to get ready.

Damien watched her for a while before turning back to the gate, his expression becoming serious. ‘That ominous feeling only got stronger once I got closer to the gate. Well, no matter. If it comes to the point where I need to flee, I’m confident I can get out, only…’

Damien looked towards Elena again, ‘Even if I need to sustain some internal bleeding, I have to make sure she makes it out too.’

He’d mentioned before that she was his best friend, but it was more accurate to say she was his “only” friend. After that fateful day of awakening, when everybody got their powers, even social hierarchy went through a change.

While those with useless powers were shunned to one group, those with stronger abilities gathered together; however, Damien could be said to be somewhere in the middle.

He was ostracized by both sides, and the only one who had stuck with him was Elena. Thinking back, he couldn’t help but feel grateful to her once again.

Gathering his thoughts, he stood up and joined the attack squad. Deep within his eyes, an intense determination began burning. To keep himself safe, and to keep Elena safe. No matter the situation and no matter the consequences.

As his resolve grew firm, the space around his body started to distort. Whatever happened in this dungeon would be a new beginning for him; whether it was a good or bad one, only time would tell.