Blackridge wasn't just a city. It was a wound that never scabbed. You could feel it in the air — coppery, metallic, like dried blood. The skyline was a jagged mouth of broken towers, and beneath it, people shuffled through their half-lives, heads down, prayers whispered to faulty streetlights.
I was back. And the System was silent.
Not a single window popped open. No notifications. No flashing quests. Just the same sinking weight of being in a place that didn't believe in miracles, or monsters, or men like me.
It had been two days since I emerged from the Gate that changed everything. My wounds — gone. Skin smooth where it had once been torn. My stamina, my reflexes, my mind — all sharper, stronger. The System had done something to me. But out here, in the real world, that power meant nothing.
And worse? I was still poor.
My apartment in Blackridge's South Block was the kind of place you only ended up in if rent was paid with excuses. Fifth floor. No elevator. The power flickered more than it worked. Mold climbed the walls like ivy. We had one fan, and it screamed when it rotated.
But it was home. Or at least, it held the people I loved.
"Crispin?" My little sister's voice called as I creaked open the door.
"Yeah. It's me."
Before I even stepped in, she barreled into me with a hug that nearly knocked me back out. Lily was nine, small and quick and stubborn like a starving cat.
"Mama said you were working," she muttered into my shirt. "You were gone for so long."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Did you bring noodles?"
I winced. "No. Not this time."
Our mom, Mara, stepped out from the tiny kitchenette. Her eyes did a quick scan — not just to see if I was alright, but to make sure I hadn't lost another job.
"You look…" She tilted her head. "Different."
I shrugged. "Gate work. Got a few scratches."
That was a lie. But she didn't press. She never did.
She just said, "Wash up. Supper's thin tonight."
That night, while Lily snored and the lights buzzed, the System finally responded.
[Passive Skill Activated: Dimensional Awareness Lv.1]
I jolted upright.
A ripple passed through the room. For a moment, I could see the cracks — the actual cracks — between this world and somewhere else. The paint on the walls peeled in the wrong direction. The shadows stretched too far.
Quest Updated: Survive the Awakening Trials (2/5 Complete)
This wasn't over.
Two days later, the Gate sirens wailed.
Another one. This time in the old Cradle Hollow district. The Virelian Hunter Guild sent a D-rank squad. They didn't come back.
The city fed on silence after that.
I watched the breaking news on a rusted-out screen outside the market. I had barely enough kredits for rice, and now the district was under lockdown.
"Unregistered Hunter sighted," the anchor droned.
And there I was. In the corner of the screen. Blurry. Bleeding. Eyes hollow.
No one believed me. They thought I was a fake. Or worse — a thief using some old Hunter's relics.
Only the System knew the truth.
That night, the Gate bled open.
Not in some far-off hollow. But two blocks from my building.
I felt it before I saw it — a pressure behind my eyes. A scent like scorched bone.
Then I heard Lily scream.
I ran.
Creatures — all shadow and bone, with joints that bent the wrong way — poured into the street. Civilians scattered. Some froze. Some prayed. I only moved.
"Lily!"
She was stuck behind an overturned cart, eyes wide.
A beast lunged.
[Skill Unlocked: Voidstep Lv.1]
Time cracked.
I blinked — and I was there. Between her and the monster. My blade — the one I never summoned in public — formed in my grip like an instinct.
I cut once.
The creature dropped, split down the middle.
"Stay down," I whispered.
I turned.
There were more.
Dozens.
I didn't wait. No one was coming to save us.
So I did.
The fight wasn't pretty. Every cut took effort. Every breath burned. But I kept going. The System fed me data — enemy weaknesses, openings, terrain advantages. It was like fighting inside a video game. Only the deaths were real.
Blood. Screams. Smoke.
Then silence.
Only me, the corpses, and Lily sobbing into my arm.
The VHG arrived five minutes too late.
And they didn't look happy.
"You're not registered," a squad leader barked. "You're a danger."
"I just saved—"
"You're coming with us."
No. I couldn't. If they took me, who would protect my family the next time?
The System whispered.
[Voidstep: Activated]
The world bent.
And I vanished.
I reappeared on a rooftop three districts over. Chest heaving. Heart pounding.
I looked at my hands.
They weren't shaking.
Something inside me was changing. And whatever it was, it was bigger than this city.
Somewhere, behind another Gate, something was watching me.
And it had started smiling.