Morning light felt like sandpaper on his eyelids. Vell groaned, a sound that was more of a dry croak, and slowly pried his eyes open. The world was a blurry mess of gray pavement and disgusted faces. People were walking by, their expressions twisting as they looked down at the bloody, ragged heap lying on the bridge.
This was normal. He was used to being looked at like he was something to be scraped off the bottom of a shoe. He ignored them and tried to push himself up.
A sharp, searing pain shot through his entire body, so intense it almost made him scream. His legs, his arms, his chest—everything was a symphony of agony. He glanced down and saw that his limbs were swollen, bruised, and covered in dried blood.
'Kugh! Yep, I definitely overdid it.'
He took a few deep breaths, the cool morning air doing little to soothe the fire in his muscles. 'But I did it. I completed the mission. So… where's my reward?'
His heart started pounding again, but this time with a spike of cold fear. The screen, the mission timer, all of it—gone. The world was just the world again, with its judgmental stares and dirty concrete.
A small, broken laugh escaped his lips as he stared up at the pale morning sky.
"So, it was all for nothing, huh?"
The disappointment hit him harder than any physical blow. It was a cold, empty feeling that settled deep in his gut, extinguishing the tiny spark of hope he'd nurtured for the last nine hours.
"FUCKING HELL, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" His voice ripped through the quiet morning, raw and full of betrayal. "HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME? I WENT THROUGH HELL TO COMPLETE THAT STUPID MISSION! I KNOW YOU HEAR ME, YOU FUCKER! GIVE ME WHAT I'VE EARNED, DAMMIT!"
People stopped and stared. Some pulled out their phones to record the crazy homeless man shouting at the sky. His ragged appearance didn't help. This was it. This was his life now. A joke. Another dead end in a long line of them. He felt his world sinking back into that familiar gray depression. He'd had his one-in-a-million chance, and it had turned out to be fake.
It hurt. It hurt more than the hunger, more than the beatings, more than the cold. He couldn't stop the tears as they started to well up in his eyes, hot and shameful.
"Why is life so cruel?" he whispered, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Maybe I should just… let go. Just jump off this bridge and end it."
But before he could seriously consider that dark thought, the black screen flickered back into existence right in front of his face. His heart leaped, a wave of relief so intense it almost made him dizzy.
"You little piece of shit," he muttered, a wide, tired grin spreading across his face. "Do you have any idea what I almost did because of you?"
A new message glowed on the screen.
[Upgrade complete. System fully activated.]
[Glad you're awake, master.]
[Shall I give you your reward now?]
He blinked. 'Did it just… talk to me? Master?'
"Huh, did you talk?"
[Yes. I am the Beast Forge system, your skill from now on. My purpose is to help you achieve your goals, to the best of my abilities.]
He just stared at the screen, a slow smile growing on his face. "Well… thanks. I have a million questions, but honestly, my brain hurts too much to deal with them right now. So about that reward… how does it work?"
[...I will merge with you. Once that is done, your body will start absorbing mana from the surroundings. This means your body will now be 'open.' After that, I'll guide you on how to store mana in what's called a core, then you'll need to do another cleansing to remove any impurities. I tried before, but there was so much. Then, you must open up your pathways and let mana flow through your body as blood does. After that, you will be awakened. Note: this method is different from the natural awakening; it's an ancient technique I observed in another world.]
Vell's head spun. That sounded way too complicated. It sounded like something out of one of those old fantasy novels Rynn used to love. "But if it means turning my life around, I'll do anything. Let's begin."
[You might want to find somewhere isolated and safe. This is a delicate process. If you're disturbed, you could die.]
He looked at the busy street, at the people still staring at him. He looked at the murky water below the bridge.
"You know… on second thought, maybe being on the streets isn't so bad after all."
---
A few hours later, after the swelling in his legs had gone down enough for him to limp, he was on the move. He wandered through the city's forgotten corners like a man on his last legs, searching for the perfect place to either die or be reborn.
He finally found it behind a derelict warehouse: a massive, rusted dumpster that looked like it hadn't been opened in years. It was perfect. Secluded, private, and no one would bother looking inside. He grabbed the lid with both hands and, with a grunt of effort, pried it open. The stench that hit him was breathtakingly awful.
"Ugh, I am not going in there. It stinks."
But he had no choice. He propped the lid open for a good twenty minutes, letting the worst of the smell air out, before finally holding his breath and climbing inside. He pulled the heavy lid shut, plunging himself into smelly darkness. He sat down, crossing his legs in what he hoped was a decent meditation pose, and took a deep, steadying breath.
'Okay, system. Let's do this.'
[Before we start, no matter how great the pain, do not lose concentration or pass out. I will now initiate Stage 1.]
He braced himself. For the first few minutes, nothing happened. He just sat there in the dark, listening to the faint sounds of the city outside. 'Maybe this is another joke.'
Then he felt it.
It wasn't a physical pain. His body was fine. But his mind, his soul—it felt like they were being torn apart, shredded into a million pieces as the system merged with his very essence. It was an agony so profound, so complete, that he wanted to scream, to roll around on the floor of the disgusting dumpster, to do anything to make it stop. But he knew if he did, it would all be for nothing.
His mind started to crack under the pressure. Bad memories flooded in, a relentless torrent of every failure, every humiliation, every betrayal he had ever experienced. He saw his cousin's lying face, his parents' disappointment, the sneers of his bullies.
'Loser. Pervert. Monster. Disgusting thing. Murderer.'
The names people had called him echoed in his head, each one a hammer blow against his sanity. He was on the brink of fainting, his consciousness starting to fade into a merciful blackness. The system wanted to help, but it couldn't. It was all on him.
Just as he was about to give in, one thought, sharp and clear, cut through the pain.
'I can't let this go. People I cared for, people I trusted—they threw me away without a second thought. I have to confront them. All of them. And if I don't like their answers, they'll pay.'
The thought anchored him. He regained control, his mind clearing despite the ongoing agony. The pain was still there, raw and unforgiving, but he breathed through it, his focus absolute. He knew that if he lost concentration again, it would be the end.
Time became meaningless. Minutes bled into hours, hours into what felt like days. He just sat there, enduring the torture, until finally, the pain began to recede, fading away like a distant storm.
He slowly opened his eyes. The dumpster was still dark, but he could see a faint glow in front of him—the system screen.
[Congratulations. You have completed Stage 1. While your mind is in top condition, let's proceed with Stage 2. This stage is more complicated, so you'll need to control the mana entering your body, gather it in a specific location, and then condense it until it begins spinning inward. This will create a—]
He wasn't really listening anymore. The moment the system mentioned controlling the mana, he understood. It was instinctive, like remembering how to breathe. He could feel the energy in the air all around him, pulling it into his newly opened pathways. He guided it, not to one spot, but to three: one near his heart, a second on the right side of his chest, and a third just below his stomach. He condensed the mana, spinning it, shaping it, forming three stable, humming cores.
[...You shouldn't be able to do that yet...]
He tried to create a fourth, but his body protested, a sharp pain reminding him of his limits. So he stopped at three. He could feel the raw power inside him, but something felt… thick, sticky, blocking the flow. Impurities. He focused his new mana, shaping it like a drill, and pushed. He forced his pathways open, clearing them out, pushing the gunk out of his body through his pores until nothing remained.
It felt like it happened in an instant, but when he looked at the timer that was now a part of his vision, he realized an entire month had passed. He had been in that dumpster for thirty days, lost in a trance of power.
[Wow… Congratulations. You have fully awakened. The system is now fully integrated. You can use me as an interface to perform various tasks.]
He exhaled slowly, a deep, satisfying breath that filled his lungs completely. He wasn't paying much attention to the system's words; he was too focused on his own body. He looked down at his hands, his arms. His muscles looked refined, dense, and his skin was clear. He felt younger, stronger. The nagging ache of his old injuries, the hunger, the fatigue—it was all gone. His breathing was calm, his senses sharper than ever.
'So this is what power feels like. I see why people get drunk on it. It's amazing.'
He pushed open the heavy dumpster lid, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he stepped out into the sunlight not as a victim, but as something new. He landed on his feet with a grace he didn't know he possessed.
"So," he said, a real smile spreading across his face, "now that I'm fully awakened, what's next?"
[I should first explain what type of system I am.]
He looked around the alley, noticing a woman hanging clothes on a line nearby. His own clothes, now several sizes too big for his leaner frame, were practically falling off. He smelled even worse than before.
'First things first, I need some new clothes.'
"Let me guess," he said, already eyeing a shirt on the clothesline that looked like it would fit. "You're some cheat system that will let me grow stronger faster than other players?"
[No… I can only tame beasts.]
He froze mid-step, the perfect shirt momentarily forgotten. A dumbfounded look crossed his face.
"What?"