Rain fell like arrows on rusted roofs, hammering the slums of Dregtown with cold indifference. Mud mixed with blood in the alleys, and no one cared. Why would they? Weakness was a death sentence in this world especially in a city built beside dungeons.
And in the middle of this storm, sat a boy.
Soaked, shivering, and barely sixteen, Kairen Veilstride leaned against a crumbling wall like a forgotten stain on society. His ribs showed through the holes in his shirt. His shoes were two different sizes. His stomach hadn't known food in two days. But the fire in his eyes refused to die.
Beside him, slumped and cold, lay a boy just slightly older.
Ren.
His best friend. His only family.
Dead.
Not from illness or Not from hunger.
But from stepping between Kairen and a blade during a low-class dungeon break.
It was supposed to be a simple scavenger run get in, grab loose loot from what the higher-rankers left behind, and scram. But someone else had wanted the loot. Someone bigger, Stronger, and Richer.
Kairen hadn't even seen the blade coming.
But Ren did.
And now, Kairen sat beside his corpse, his fists clenched until his nails drew blood. And his eye full of tears.
"Why did you do that, idiot?" Kairen muttered, voice hoarse. "I told you… we don't play heroes in this world."
There was no answer. Of course there wasn't. Heroes die and Cowards live. And fools like Kairen?
They watch.
The city would forget Ren before morning. Another nobody orphan? The guards wouldn't even investigate. The killer? Probably already drinking in a tavern, bragging about "slaying rats in the dark."
Kairen felt something twist inside him.
He wasn't crying. He'd already done that. What bubbled now wasn't sorrow it was something rawer.
Hungrier.
Not for justice But for power.
So much power that the world would never again be able to ignore him. Hurt him. Laugh at him.
He stood up. His legs shook, but he moved.
"I'll take everything," he whispered. "If it means making the world feel just a shred of what I felt tonight… I'll burn it all."
---
One Week after he buried his best friend.
A dungeon had appeared. A strange one. No ranking. No guards. Just… there. As if it fell from the sky.
Dozens entered but None returned.
The guilds sealed it off. Declared it "unstable" and "forbidden."
But Kairen waited until nightfall. No plan. No backup. No weapons.
Only a whisper in his head:
"If I die, I die. But if there's even a single chance in there… I'll take it."
Now he don't have anything that he cares about.
He stepped into the dungeon's gaping and the world flipped upside down.
---
[SYSTEM ACTIVATING…]
* Error: Unregistered soul signature detected.
Error: Chosen user not found.
Error: Random user detected.
…
Sigh.
"You know what? Screw it. Too late now."
[System installed.]
[Congratulations, Kairen Veilstride. You are now the sole user of: System.]
"...Ugh, you better not suck."
---