---
[A Cave of Blood and Monsters]
Gasp!
Rivan (MC): "My body... It feels strange. Something's different."
He opens his eyes to find himself lying in a cave, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of large monsters, blood staining the ground.
Rivan (MC): looking around frantically "Where am I? What is all this?"
He scrambles to his feet, feeling an overwhelming force inside his head, as though the very essence of his being is trying to understand his surroundings.
Rivan (MC): clutching his head in pain "What... happened?"
---
[The Monster Apocalypse – 10,000 Years Ago]
[TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO, UNDER THE PURPLE MOON IN THE SKY, COUNTLESS CRACKS APPEARED OUT OF THIN AIR ON THE BLUE PLANET.]
[AND COUNTLESS HUGE MONSTERS DESCENDED ONTO THE WORLD THROUGH THE CRACKS, AND MANKIND FACED A HUGE CALAMITY...]
[IN THE FACE OF THESE POWERFUL MONSTERS, MANKIND'S NORMAL WEAPONS SEEMED SO INSIGNIFICANT.]
[IN ONE YEAR, WITH ONLY TEN MILLION LEFT IN THE HUMAN RACE, HUMAN CIVILIZATION WAS ABOUT TO FACE EXTINCTION.]
[IN A MOMENT OF DESPERATION, "MONSTER TRAINERS" EMERGED FROM AMONGST THE HUMAN RACE—THOSE WHO TAMED MONSTERS AND TRAINED THEM TO FIGHT AGAINST OTHER MONSTERS.]
[AFTER AWAKENING, MONSTER TRAINERS GAINED A SPECIAL ABILITY TO TAME MONSTERS AND A SPIRITUAL DOMAIN WHERE MONSTERS COULD STAY.]
[THE EMERGENCE OF MONSTER TRAINERS REVERSED THE DESPERATE SITUATION OF MANKIND, BRINGING NEW HOPE FOR HUMANITY...]
---
[A Boy Born with a Curse]
[BUT I, ZEYREN, HAD A SPIRIT POWER OF 200—EVEN BETTER THAN SOME LEGENDARY MONSTER TRAINERS.]
[BUT MY TAMING TALENT... IT WAS THE LOWEST LEVEL OF EXISTENCE. A LEVEL 1 TALENT. I COULD ONLY TAME LEVEL 1 MONSTERS.]
[I LOST MY PARENTS IN A MONSTER ATTACK.]
[I WAS BULLIED AND TREATED LIKE GARBAGE, DISCARDED BY THE WORLD WITHOUT MERCY BECAUSE OF MY LEVEL 1 MONSTER TAMING TALENT.]
---
[School Training Ground – A Tamer with No Future]
Zeyren sat on the training ground, feeding his pet.
A group of students surrounded him, their voices filled with mockery.
Student 1: "Is that your pet? A Level 2? Oh wait, you're still stuck with that weak thing."
Student 2: "Did you forget that he can only tame Rank 1 monsters?"
Student 1: laughing "Ha! You'll never make it to the Monster Tamer entrance exam next year."
Student 3: snickering "You're wasting resources, you know that?"
Student 4: "Let's not waste our time on him. He poses no threat to us in next year's entrance exam."
Student 2: "Yeah, let's think about what to do in next month's theory exam. I heard the first prize is a high-rank monster core."
Student 1: "Are you serious? I can level up my pet using that core!"
Student 2: "Yes, my dad's friend is working with the teachers responsible for the exam."
They left, laughing.
Zeyren clenched his fists.
Zeyren (thinking): "I will show them what I'm capable of in the theory exam..."
---
[Inside the Exam Hall – The Unexpected Victory]
The exam hall was filled with tension. Students sat in neat rows, scribbling answers.
Zeyren focused, recalling every detail from the books he had spent years studying.
The students around him sneered.
Student 1: "You're wasting your time, Zeyren. Do you honestly think theory knowledge will make you a better Monster Tamer?"
Student 2: laughing under his breath "He's just hoping for a miracle. Can he even tame a monster? What is he even doing here?"
Zeyren ignored them. He would prove them wrong.
---
[The Results Are Announced]
The results were announced.
Zeyren's name was at the top of the list.
Student 1: "Wait, what?! He actually won first place?"
Student 2: "How is that possible? He can barely even tame a level 1 monster, and he still beat everyone in the exam? This doesn't make sense!"
Zeyren held the prize—a high-rank monster core—in his hands.
He had won.
Not through strength.
But through hard work and knowledge.
Zeyren: "I didn't win because I'm strong. I won because I worked hard... because I never gave up."
The other students in the school stared at him in shock, some in disbelief.
Student 1: gritting teeth "He's just lucky. He doesn't deserve that core."
Student 2: whispering to others "He's a joke, how could he win? He's a level 1 monster tamer. He doesn't even deserve the chance to wield that monster core."
---
[The Ambush – A Price for Success]
The scene shifts.
The bullies—Student 1 and 2—follow the MC after he leaves the school grounds. They talk in whispers, their faces twisted with jealousy.
Student 1: smirking "He's nothing. What is he going to do with that core? He doesn't even have the talent to use it. It'll just go to waste in his hands."
Student 2: sneering "We'll make sure it doesn't go to waste. It belongs in the hands of someone who's actually worthy."
As Zeyren walks through a quiet alley, the weight of his victory still sinking in, the bullies spring into action, ambushing him.
Student 1: smiling with malice "So, you really think you can keep that core? Don't make us laugh."
Student 2: mocking "You're just a weakling who got lucky in a theory test. That core should belong to someone with actual talent."
Student 1: grabbing the Zeyren's arm "Hand it over. It's a waste to give it to someone like you."
Zeyren's: clutching the core protectively "You can't just take it from me! This is my victory, earned through hard work!"
Student 1: "You think you're special now because of that monster core? Let's see how long you last without it."
Zeyren: struggling "You... you won't get away with this."
Student 2: coldly "Oh, we already have."
Zeyren tries to walk away, but the bullies follow, finally cornering him in an empty alley. They mock him, their words sharp as knives.
Student 1: sneering "Hard work? You think that'll save you now?"
They attack.
Zeyren fights back fiercely, using every ounce of his will, but his body is weak.
The bullies overpower him, and in the chaos—
Zeyren loses his left hand.
Blood pools on the ground.
Zeyren : gritting his teeth, feeling blood drip from his wound "I... I won't let you take it..."
But it's too late.
The bullies take the core and leave him beaten, alone, and on the verge of collapse.
Student 2: taunting "This is where you belong, loser. You should never have come here in the first place."
They leave him broken in the alley, thinking he's dead.
As they toss him into the garbage pit, Zeyren's hand clenches around the empty air, his body on the brink of death.
---
[A Soul Left to Rot]
The bullies, thinking Zeyren is dead, dump him in the city's garbage pit, where monsters like ants scavenge for food.
Zeyren : unconscious, his last thoughts fading "I... failed..."
In the depths of the garbage pit, monsters gather around his lifeless body, their glowing eyes taking in the scent of his wounds.
The monster core is gone.
His pet, also badly injured, lies beside him.
Their broken bodies are dragged by the creatures deep into their nest.
---
[A New Consciousness Awakens]
One of the ants pulls Rivan's unconscious form, taking him into the heart of the nest.
Rivan (MC): murmuring as he begins to fade in and out of consciousness "Where... am I...?"
In the dim light of the nest, Rivan's consciousness stirs.
Suddenly, memories that aren't his own flood into his mind.
The moment his eyes open—
A shadowy figure appears before him.
---
[A Meeting Between Two Souls]
Zeyren's Soul: "So you've been dumped, just like me?"
Rivan (MC): looking confused as memories not his own overwhelm him "Who... who are you?"
Rivan (MC): "Damn it... why can't I seem to move my body?"
The shadowy figure before him smirked bitterly.
Zeyren's Soul: "I was the one who lived this life before you. I was Zeyren... and now, I'm just a shadow of the past."
Rivan (MC): "You... You were me?"
Zeyren's Soul: "You're not supposed to be here. You should be dead... This body is mine, and it's useless now. We should end it together."
Rivan (MC): "Don't you want to seek revenge for being abandoned so heartlessly?"
ZEYREN'S Soul: "Revenge? I'm already dead. And you... you're just the poor guy occupying my body."
Rivan (MC): "I refuse to die. This is my chance to live... to change everything. I won't give up."
Zeyren's Soul: "I was once like you. Weak. Forgotten. But I had dreams, too... of rising above it all."
Zeyren's Soul: "You don't understand! This life... it's been a curse. Why would you want it? You don't know the pain I've gone through."
Rivan (MC): clenching his fist with resolve "I will not give up. I refuse to let this be the end of my story."
Zeyren's Soul: "You think you can change your fate? I've seen hundreds like you, and they all fail. You'll be no different."
Rivan (MC): "I don't care about your past. This is my future now. And I'm going to make the most of it."
Zeyren's Soul: "You are just like me, and you're still trying to live... Isn't it painful?"
Rivan (MC): "It's painful because I didn't have a choice before, but now I want to... live by my own will."
Zeyren's Soul: "To put it nicely, if you stay in my useless body, you'll end up like me sooner or later."
Rivan (MC): "If I don't try, how will I know!"
Rivan (MC): "I don't believe trash will always be trash!"
Rivan (MC): "I will prove to the world that my destiny is never in anyone's hands!"
Zeyren's Soul: "....."
Zeyren's Soul: "You... You're such a weirdo."
---
[A Gift from the Dead]
The soul let out a bitter laugh, his form flickering.
Zeyren's Soul: "This is all I have left. If you survive, maybe there's a chance for redemption... for both of us."
With his last remaining energy, Zeyren transfers his power to his pet, Mimix—the only friend he had ever known.
As Rivan feels energy surging through him, his body trembles with new strength.
Zeyren's Soul: "From now on... you are Zeyren. And take good care of my only friend... Mimix."
Rivan clenched his fists.
---
[A New Life Begins]
Zeyren (MC): "I will definitely avenge you! I will take good care of Mimix!"
A dark grin spread across his face.
And then— He laughed.
A cold, merciless laugh.
"Ha... haha... HAHAHAHA!"
---
|| END OF CHAPTER 2 ||
---