Chapter 3: The Call to Power
Jason woke with a start, his eyes snapping open to the sunlight filtering through his blinds. Something felt... different. Not the usual groggy disorientation that accompanied his typical late mornings, but a strange clarity. His body hummed with an energy he couldn't place, like a low-voltage current running beneath his skin.
He sat up, rubbing his face. The sensation persisted—a heightened awareness that made the dust particles dancing in the sunbeams seem impossibly vivid. The sound of his neighbor's television three doors down reached his ears with unusual clarity.
"What the hell?" he muttered, pressing his palms against his temples. Maybe it was just a weird dream lingering in his consciousness. Or perhaps a new form of anxiety his brain had cooked up to torment him.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and the floor felt unusually solid beneath his feet. He could sense every grain in the wood, every slight imperfection. He made his way to the bathroom, each step deliberate as the strange sensation continued to pulse through him.
The mirror revealed the same old Jason—blonde hair in disarray, stubble shadowing his jaw—but his eyes seemed brighter somehow, more alert. He leaned closer, searching for some visible explanation for this internal change.
"Too many energy drinks during last night's shift," he decided, though he knew that wasn't it. This wasn't caffeine. This was something else entirely.
In the kitchen, he poured cereal into a bowl, watching the flakes cascade down with an almost hypnotic fascination. Each clink as they hit the ceramic registered distinctly in his ears. The milk followed, and he could swear he felt each individual droplet as it splashed against his hand.
"Maybe I'm coming down with something," he reasoned, though he'd never heard of a flu that made you feel more alive rather than less.
He carried his breakfast to the living room, flicking on the TV to drown out the unsettling hum with background noise. A news report about another dungeon appearance downtown barely registered as he tried to focus on eating, but his mind kept returning to the strange energy coursing through him.
It wasn't unpleasant, just... foreign. Like his body had tuned into a frequency it had never accessed before. He tried to shake it off, telling himself it would pass.
It didn't.
Jason reached for the TV remote, intending to change the channel to something more distracting than the news. As his fingers closed around the plastic, a sudden jolt shot up his arm. Not like static electricity—something deeper, more primal.
The sensation exploded through his body, a lightning storm beneath his skin. He dropped to his knees, remote clattering to the floor as white-hot energy surged through every cell. His vision blurred, replaced by pulsing waves of color he couldn't name.
"Jesus—" he gasped, but couldn't finish. His lungs felt compressed, like they were being squeezed by an invisible force. The apartment walls seemed to bend inward, reality distorting around him.
The pain was excruciating, yet somehow... magnificent. Like being torn apart and rebuilt simultaneously. Every nerve ending fired at once, his consciousness expanding beyond his physical form. He could feel the electromagnetic fields of his appliances, sense the vibrations of footsteps in apartments below.
His body convulsed once, twice, as the energy crescendoed. Sweat beaded on his forehead, dripping onto the carpet as he fought to remain conscious. The surge reached an impossible peak, and just when Jason thought he might die from the intensity, it settled into a harmonious hum throughout his body.
Trembling, he raised his head. He knew the something fundamental within him had changed forever.
* * *
Jason pushed himself up to a sitting position, his breathing ragged but steadying. The apartment around him snapped back into focus, but with a new addition. Hovering in front of him, a translucent blue screen materialized—visible only to his eyes.
The interface glowed with a soft azure light, displaying information in a classic RPG style that felt instantly familiar from his countless hours of gaming. Status bars, numerical values, and empty slots awaited input.
His heart raced, but not from fear. A wild, electric excitement surged through him, replacing the pain of moments before. This was it—the screen every Hunter saw upon awakening. The interface that separated the ordinary from the extraordinary.
"Holy shit," he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "I actually awakened. It is finally my time"
His fingers trembled as he reached toward the floating display, not from weakness but from pure, unbridled anticipation. After years of watching others, of pretending his moment would come while secretly believing it never would—here it was.
He leaned forward eagerly, eyes drinking in every detail of the screen. The reality of his new existence crystallized in that moment: he was no longer just an observer in this world of power and adventure.
He was finally a player.
After taking a few breaths to calm down, he took in the details written on the screen.
Name: Jason Price
Class: Empress's Gilded Consort (S)
Rank: E
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength : F
Dexterity : F
Constitution : F
Intelligence : F
Wisdom : F
Charisma : F
Luck : F
Active Skills:
[Mana Bullet] - E
[Empty Slot]
Current Summons:
[Empty Slot] - Selection Available
[Empty Slot] - Selection Available
[CLASS DESCRIPTION]
Empress's Gilded Consort: A class capable of calling forth powerful female allies from other realms or dimensions. This unique lineage of Summoner resonates deeply with the host's desires for power, wealth, influence and women, manifesting as the ability to summon gilded female entities who may bring fortune or dominion. Further mastery may unlock diverse forms and powers for summoned beings, aligning them with the Consort's burgeoning ambitions.
Jason stared at his status screen, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. The blue light cast shadows across his face as he nodded with satisfaction.
"S-class," he whispered, savoring the taste of those words on his tongue. "Of course."
He'd known it all along, hadn't he? All those hours watching other Hunters, criticizing their techniques from his couch—deep down, he'd always sensed he was meant for greatness. The universe had finally caught up to what he already understood about himself.
His finger traced the air along the floating text: "Empress's Gilded Consort." The name itself carried weight, importance. He wasn't just some run-of-the-mill Hunter with a generic class like "Swordsman" or "Pyromancer." No, he was something special, something rare.
The E rank beneath his class didn't concern him. Everyone knew that all Hunters began at E rank, regardless of their class potential. What mattered was where they could go, and with an S-class, the sky was the limit. He could clear dungeons, gain experience, and rise through the ranks—all the way to S. Unlike those poor bastards with B or C classes who would forever hit their ceiling, he had no such limitations.
"From E to S," he murmured, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Just a matter of time."
His gaze skimmed over the row of F-ranked attributes without lingering. Those numbers were meaningless, temporary—just starting values that would naturally increase as he progressed. No point dwelling on them now, even though they seemed lower than then average. Instead, his attention locked onto the more interesting parts of his status.
The "Mana Bullet" skill seemed standard enough—a basic attack most awakened Hunters received. But the "Current Summons" section with its tantalizing "Selection Available" notation sent a thrill of excitement through him.
He could summon allies—beautiful female allies, according to his class description. Powerful women who would fight alongside him, help him rise to prominence in this new world. The thought alone made his heart race.
"This changes everything," Jason said, pushing himself to his feet. The cramped apartment, the dead-end job, the loneliness—all of it would soon be behind him. With this power, he could finally become the person he'd always imagined himself to be.
Jason stopped suddenly, a thought striking him. "If I can summon allies... I don't need to be strong myself."
The implications unfurled in his mind. He could have others fight for him. He could direct from safety. No need to train his body or put himself in danger. The perfect class for someone who'd always sought shortcuts.
"This is..." A wide grin spread across his face. "This is exactly what I wanted."
He punched the air victoriously, nearly knocking over his half-empty energy drink. The screen followed his movements, a constant reminder of his new reality.
"So how do I actually summon something?" he wondered aloud, searching the interface for instructions.