Kael Draconis had tasted rejection so many times he could identify its flavor—bitter copper mixed with crushing despair.
The seventeenth crumpled application letter lay scattered across his one-room apartment's moldy floor. Seventeen guilds. Seventeen failures. The same words stamped in red ink: APPLICATION DENIED - UNAWAKENED STATUS.
His stomach twisted with hunger pangs that had become his constant companion. Three days without food. The landlord's eviction notice glared at him from the cracked wall: PAY BY MIDNIGHT OR GET OUT.
Outside his window, the Awakened soared through Neo-Beijing's skyline on wings of fire and lightning. Gods among insects. And he? He was less than an insect. He was nothing.
But today would be different. Today, he'd make them see.
---
The Iron Fang Guild headquarters pierced the clouds like a steel spear, its surface gleaming with protective enchantments that cost more than entire districts. Lucian's reflection in the polished marble looked pathetic—hollow cheeks, clothes held together by hope and desperation, eyes that had seen too many closed doors.
The lobby buzzed with power. Awakened hunters lounged like apex predators, their gear humming with deadly energy. Conversations died as he entered. Whispers followed in his wake.
"Look, another Unawakened rat."
"Disgusting. They should stay in the sewers where they belong."
"Why do they even bother?"
Sarah Chen, the receptionist, didn't bother hiding her disgust. Her C-Rank badge caught the light like a small sun. Even the secretary could snap his neck with a thought. "We don't accept charity cases," she said before he could speak.
Lucian placed his eighteenth application on the marble counter. His hands didn't shake. Not anymore. "I'm applying for the raid team."
Sarah's laugh could have shattered glass. "Raid team? You can't even awaken a paper cut, trash. Security!"
Two B-Rank guards approached like walking mountains. The first one's eyes burned with actual fire. The second's skin gleamed like polished steel. Both looked at Kael like something they'd scrape off their boots.
"Problem?" Fire-Eyes asked, flexing fingers that could melt through concrete.
"Unawakened waste thinks it can play hero," Sarah sneered.
That's when salvation spoke. "Wait."
The voice belonged to Darius Kane—platinum hair, perfect features, and armor worth a king's ransom. An A-Rank gravity manipulator who could crush buildings with a gesture. The Iron Fang Guild's golden boy. The man Kael had watched on news feeds, leading victory after victory.
His hero. Darius studied Lucian like a scientist examining a particularly interesting virus. "You want to raid?"
Hope exploded in Lucian's chest. "Yes! I'll do anything—carry equipment, set camp, scout dangerous areas—"
"Scout." Darius's smile was sharp as a blade. "I like that." He turned to his team—four other A-Ranks lounging nearby. "We're hitting the Crimson Depths. D-Rank dungeon. Not too dangerous."
Elena Frost, ice mage and Darius's rumored girlfriend, frowned with crystalline beauty. "Why drag along deadweight?"
"Because," Darius said, his smile widening, "sometimes you need fresh meat."
The words hit Lucian like a physical blow. Fresh meat. Bait. They wanted to use him as bait. But what choice did he have? Starve in the gutter, or die with purpose? At least dungeons offered treasure. Awakening stones. A chance—however slim—to change everything. "I'll do it," Kael whispered.
Darius clapped his hands. "Perfect! Crimson Depths gate, one hour. Don't worry about gear—you won't need it long enough to matter." The team's laughter followed Lucian out of the building.
An hour later, he stood before humanity's greatest mystery—a dungeon gate.The portal hung in reality like a wound that refused to heal. Through its shimmering surface, glimpses of blood-red caverns beckoned with promises of death and glory. Around it, monitoring stations buzzed with activity as Guild technicians tracked energy readings.
Darius and his team looked like gods of war. Elena's ice-blue hair practically glowed with power. Marcus, the thunder warrior, crackling with barely contained lightning. Kai, the wind archer, arrows humming with elemental force. And Vera, shadow dancer, flickering in and out of visibility.
'All A-Rank. All legendary. All looking at me like I was already dead.'
"Our insurance policy arrives," Darius announced. "Everyone say hello to our early warning system."
Elena studied Lucian with eyes cold as winter. "He's even more pathetic than expected. The goblins will shred him in seconds."
"That's the idea," Marcus rumbled, his warhammer sparking. "He screams, draws attention, we clean up. Simple."
Kai nocked a glowing arrow. "Just make sure you die loudly, Unawakened. We need positioning time."
Their casual discussion of his murder should have terrified him. Instead, Lucian felt... calm. This was it. His one chance to see what lay beyond the mundane world of the powerless. To maybe, just maybe, prove he was worth something.
"Dungeon reads stable," a technician called out. "Standard D-Rank parameters. Should be goblins, maybe a hobgoblin boss. Easy clear."
Darius nodded. "Perfect. Everyone ready?" Weapons drawn, powers humming, the team stepped toward the gate. Lucian followed them into legend.The dungeon hit him like a punch to the soul. Air thick with copper and decay. Blood-red crystals casting everything in crimson shadows. The cavern stretched into darkness, its floor carpeted with bones from failed expeditions.
Behind them, the gate shimmered with returning energy."Movement ahead," Kai whispered, his enhanced senses picking up threats. "Goblin pack. Standard formation."
But something felt wrong. The air was too thick. Too charged. The crystals pulsed with rhythms that didn't match D-Rank dungeons.
"This is it, meat," Darius said, grabbing Lucian's shoulder. "Walk straight ahead. Make noise. When they come for you, we'll—"
The gate behind them flickered. Once. Twice. Then vanished completely.
"What the hell?" Elena's voice cracked with the first fear Lucian had ever heard from an Awakened.
Marcus spun around, lightning dancing across his hammer. "Gates don't close! Not on D-Rank!"
Darius's perfect face had gone ash-pale. "Something's wrong. Very, very wrong."
From the darkness ahead came sounds that made Kael's blood freeze. Not the chittering of goblins, but something far worse. Heavy footsteps that shook dust from the ceiling. A presence so malevolent it made the air itself recoil.
A growl echoed through the cavern—deep, ancient, and absolutely wrong. The dungeon had been lying.
Darius's grip on Lucian's shoulder became crushing. Terror had replaced the A-Rank hunter's confident smile ."GO!" he screamed, shoving Lucian forward into the crimson darkness. "GO NOW!"
As Lucian stumbled into the unknown, one thought blazed through his mind:
'This isn't how heroes are supposed to die.'