# **Chapter 0: The Awakening Era**
*Prologue*
The world changed in 2027.
It didn’t happen slowly, like a war or a plague—it tore open all at once. Without warning, glowing portals began appearing across the planet. Hovering above cities, mountains, even oceans, they pulsed with energy and unleashed the impossible.
They called them *Gates*.
Inside these gates were otherworldly landscapes and horrifying creatures. Dungeons filled with monsters that defied logic and overwhelmed modern weapons. The military tried to respond, but conventional force proved useless. Entire cities fell. Governments collapsed. Humanity stood on the brink.
Then came the *Awakening*.
People—randomly, mysteriously—began developing powers. Abilities that let them fight back. Elemental magic, enhanced strength, healing, summoning, stealth—each Awakened developed a unique skill, and these abilities were classified into combat roles: Tank, Mage, Healer, Assassin, and others. Power rankings were born, and society shifted almost overnight.
The strong rose. The weak struggled to survive. New guilds formed, new governments rose, and global maps were redrawn.
But for most, like 19-year-old Dong-suu in Gangtok, India, the Awakening was a distant fantasy.
---
Dong-suu wasn’t one of the lucky few. He hadn’t Awakened. He had no power, no guild offers, and no money.
He lived in a crumbling refugee district on the outskirts of Gangtok with his ill mother, who’d been bedridden since 2028. He worked multiple part-time jobs just to afford food and medicine. While the world focused on S-Rank hunters and televised dungeon raids, Dong-suu focused on survival.
He was an introverted, quiet college student with shaggy black hair, a worn-out hoodie, and a notebook filled with thoughts no one ever read. But he observed. He remembered. He watched the world shift around him and wondered how long it would be before he got swallowed by it.
He never asked for more.
But fate doesn’t wait for permission.
---
**March 17th, 2030** — The Day of the Break.
A Gate opened in the middle of his college campus. Eastern Hills College, once a peaceful learning ground, was consumed by chaos.
The authorities classified it as an E-Rank Gate, the weakest possible level. But those nearby knew something was wrong. The monsters were faster. Stronger. Deadlier.
As students ran in every direction, Dong-suu saw his classmate Anika frozen in fear. The monster advanced. Without thinking, he ran forward.
He shoved her out of harm’s way—and took the full brunt of the attack.
He should have died.
But instead, he heard a voice.
> **\[System Installation Complete]**
> **“You have met the hidden awakening condition.”**
> **Class: ???**
> **Skill Acquired: Quickstep Lv.1**
When Dong-suu awoke, the monster was dead. The others whispered about a miracle. How did he survive? How did he win?
He didn’t answer.
Because floating in front of him was a translucent window—something no one else could see. A system interface. A second life.
And it had only just begun.
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# **Chapter 1: Broken Gate**
Gangtok, Sikkim — 2030.
The sky over Eastern Hills College was overcast, and the mountain wind carried the scent of pine mixed with exhaust fumes. Dong-suu sat near the window in his economics class, doodling in the corner of his tattered notebook. His mind wandered—partly to avoid the lecture, partly to calculate how much he needed to earn this week to buy his mother’s medicine.
He didn’t belong here. Not really. While others dreamed of awakening, joining guilds, or climbing the ranks, Dong-suu just wanted to survive another day.
Then, without warning, the world cracked open.
A deafening roar shook the campus. Screams erupted outside. The windows trembled. Phones buzzed with alerts.
> **\[GATE DETECTED – EASTERN HILLS CAMPUS]**
> **\[Rank: E – Emergency Response En Route]**
But even as the system labeled it “E-Rank,” Dong-suu felt it in his chest—something was wrong.
He rushed outside with the crowd. Above the gymnasium, a swirling violet portal glowed ominously. It pulsed like a heartbeat, sending waves of mana rippling through the air. Students scattered, some crying, others filming.
Then it came out.
A creature—not like the ones in textbooks. This wasn’t an E-Rank monster. Its body was sleek and armored, with black crystal scales and six sharp limbs. It moved with unnatural speed and purpose.
Dong-suu stood frozen… until he saw *her*.
Anika.
She was motionless, paralyzed with fear, caught between the beast and the exit.
Time slowed.
Dong-suu’s heart pounded. His body moved before his mind caught up.
He sprinted toward her, ignoring the fear, ignoring the odds. The monster screeched and lunged. Dong-suu tackled Anika, pushing her aside. Pain exploded across his back. Razor claws tore through flesh.
Everything went dark.
---
**\[SYSTEM INSTALLING…]**
**\[You have met the conditions for Awakening]**
**\[Initiating “Level-Up System”]**
> Class: ???
> Skill Acquired: Quickstep Lv.1
> HP: 3/100
> Status: Critical
> System Access Granted
Dong-suu gasped awake. The monster was dead—its neck sliced clean. His hands trembled. His vision blurred.
Floating before him was a translucent screen, glowing softly.
The System.
He didn’t know how he had survived… but he had. Not only that, he’d killed a creature far stronger than him. The System saved him. Or maybe… something inside him had always been waiting.
Anika knelt beside him, eyes wide with disbelief. “Dong-suu… you’re alive…”
He nodded weakly. “Yeah… I think so.”
Moments later\, local hunters arrived and secured the area. They confirmed what Dong-suu already suspected—the Gate wasn’t E-Rank. It had been *disguised*. A misclassified **C-Rank**.
No one understood how an unawakened student had survived. The Hunter Association questioned him, but Dong-suu played dumb. He told them he couldn’t remember.
Let them think it was luck.
Because now, inside him, a strange power pulsed. A hidden class. A secret interface.
> \[Level-Up Available]
> \[Skill Slot Empty]
> \[Stat Allocation Unlocked]
The world had changed.
And so had Dong-suu.
The morning light filtered through the hospital blinds, casting faint golden lines across the bed. Dong-suu stirred. Every part of his body throbbed—his ribs, his back, even his fingers. His hoodie was gone, replaced by a gown and stiff bandages across his torso.
He blinked. The ceiling was unfamiliar. The scent of antiseptic stung his nose.
Then he saw it—hovering just inches in front of his face.
> **\[XP: 100/500]**
> **\[Skill: Quickstep Lv.1]**
> **\[Class: ???]**
> **\[Status: Awakened]**
A glowing blue screen. Still there. Still real.
*This isn’t a dream.*
The door opened with a soft creak. A woman in a white coat walked in, clipboard in hand, followed by a man in a dark suit with the **Indian Hunter Association** crest stitched into his lapel.
“Dong-suu, right?” the woman asked, friendly enough. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
He said nothing. His eyes shifted toward the man.
“You were inside the Gate yesterday,” the man began. “You saved a student. You also… survived a creature well above E-Rank.”
Dong-suu nodded.
“We ran an Awakening scan,” the woman said. “You’re Awakened. But… your results are strange.”
The man held up a silver hunter card. No color. No class. Just a name and one word:
> **Class: ???**
> **Status: Unranked**
“You’re what we call an ‘Unknown,’” the man explained. “Your mana core doesn’t match any known archetype. No elemental alignment. No stat pattern. Nothing. It’s like your system isn’t tied to our framework.”
“Which means…?” Dong-suu asked.
“No guild will take you,” he said flatly. “You won’t be allowed in licensed dungeons. You’re a mystery, and mysteries are liabilities.”
The woman looked apologetic. The man didn’t.
“Rest well. And keep your head down.”
They left without another word.
---
Dong-suu returned home two days later.
The refugee district hadn't changed. Rusty pipes, flickering streetlights, and the same stray dog waiting by his stairwell. Inside, his mother lay in bed, weak but smiling.
“You came home,” she whispered.
He cooked for her. Cleaned. Changed her IV.
That night, he sat in silence at the kitchen table. Then he opened his notebook.
> *Quickstep: short-range dash. Uses 5 stamina.*
> *Gain XP after battle. Skill drop chance increases if finishing blow is landed.*
> *System combo possible…?*
He underlined the last part.
*I’m not weak anymore. I’m just… not like the others.*
---
Over the next few nights, Dong-suu trained in the shadows of Gangtok.
He snuck into dead zones—low-tier, neglected dungeons that guilds ignored. Some were half-sealed, others were dangerous leftovers too minor to assign teams. There, he hunted corrupted rats, hornets, and goblins.
> **\[XP Gained: +40]**
> **\[Skill Acquired: Piercing Fang Lv.1]**
> **\[New Combo: Quickstep + Piercing Fang \= Phantom Lunge]**
He leveled up. Slowly. Silently.
Each battle taught him something. Dodging perfectly boosted critical chance. Combo skills were stronger than individual ones. Timing mattered more than power.
And his system adapted. Faster than it should have.
---
Meanwhile, rumors began to spread.
On local forums, underground hunter chats, and black-market information networks:
> “Someone cleared an abandoned dungeon solo.”
> “No hunter tag. No rank.”
> “The mana left behind felt… wrong.”
At first, it was dismissed. Then came shaky videos. A hooded figure darting through monsters like a blur. Dungeons cleared without alerts. No guild involvement.
Some said he was a rogue hunter. Others thought he was a secret weapon from Nova Sanctum or Obsidian Wolves.
But Dong-suu? He just went home to his sick mother.
---
On the seventh night, he faced a nest of corrupted hornets in a parking lot dungeon. His stamina was low. Cuts lined his arms. But he kept going, moving like liquid shadow.
Mid-fight, the system flashed:
> **\[Passive Trait Acquired: Combat Adaptation Lv.1]**
> **\[Warning: Your class continues to evolve outside normal parameters]**
> **\[Temporary Title: Variant]**
He froze.
Not in fear.
In awe.
*The system isn’t just helping me level up. It’s rewriting itself—because of me.*
He took down the final monster, panting. Bloodied, dizzy. But stronger than yesterday.
He looked at his hands.
"I’m not a mage, not a swordsman, not even a fighter," he whispered.
"I’m something else."
---
Later that night, lying in his bed with the cracked ceiling above, he checked his stats again.
> **Level: 3**
> **XP: 60/700**
> **Skills: Quickstep Lv.2, Piercing Fang Lv.1**
> **Passive: Combat Adaptation Lv.1**
> **Title: Variant (Temporary)**
> **Class: ???**
He smiled faintly.
They called him “Unranked.”
But he was just getting started.
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