Earth, 2060
It was a rainy day. Raindrops washed away the dirt from the streets, as if the rain itself was trying to cleanse this filthy corner of the Earth.
After all, only failures lived here. People who were a burden on society, worthless and dirty. Death would have been a gift for them. And so… suicide seemed like the only fate for someone like him.
These were the thoughts of Nox, a 19-year-old boy. No taller than 175 cm, thin as if he hadn't eaten in days—which was true, given how scarce food was in this impoverished place. His black hair fell over his dark eyes, eyes that had long given up on life itself.
"So… this is my last day. A miserable life for a miserable person," he sighed, recalling the faces of those who had long left this world.
"Father… Mother… I'll join you soon."
---
He removed the necklace wrapped around his neck. It was just a worthless black shard his father had found, turned into a necklace. Its only notable feature was its sharpness.
"If I stab this into my neck, it'll end fast. A clean, quick death…This is better I hate pain," he thought.
He raised the shard and brought it to his neck, preparing to plunge it deep into his Jugular vein.
"I always said I wasn't afraid of death… but now I can't lie. I'm scared. But life has no meaning for me, so I'll be honest with myself. It'll hurt… but it'll be over soon."
Nox raised the shard high and drove it into the middle of his neck.
"Ugh—"
He fell to the ground, clutching his neck. The shard remained embedded, cutting off his airway.
Blood was gushing out of neck in abundance, mixing with the raindrops that were falling on him.
Damn… it hurts… so much… why won't I just die quick? he thought, gasping his last breaths. Light was already fading from his eyes.
"Finally… Damned freedom."
But Nox didn't notice that the shard was greedily absorbing his blood, releasing a strange black mist.
It moved like a living thing, entering his body and traveling down his neck to the middle of his chest.
"Ugh… what is this? I'm supposed to die! Why does my chest burn like this? I feel like Something's forming inside me… I can't even die in peace," he thought, panic rising.
His angry thoughts filled his mind until he heard a strange voice inside his head:
[Integration with Shard in progress]
…
[Dark Shard recognized]
"What… Dark Shard?! Are these the shards the Awakened use to fight the Abyss? Wait… so this strange voice… it's the state the voice all awakened have? That means… this fu*king shard was the Dark Shard all along!"
But what did it matter? He was already dying. And, ironically, he was dying with the very shard that awakened him. Nox thought Sarcastically … until he heard the voice again:
[Dark Power Activated]
[You get Attribute: Deathless]
[Attribute in progress]
Nox froze. The state had spoken directly through his mind. He touched his neck and saw the wound instantly heal. Pain vanished.
He sat up, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"What… By the goddess … what does this mean? I just wanted to die in peace. What kind of cursed fate is this?! Where i am ridiculous novel ?… awakening a powerful ability at the moment of death and despair? Don't mess with me!"
Angrily, Nox stood and looked around the dark alley where he had tried to end his life. The rain had flooded the area, and he noticed a piece of broken glass nearby.
"I don't care about this cursed fate… I just need to kill myself again," he thought, grabbing the glass.
"This time… I'll drive it into my brain. That'll surely end it. It's just a piece of glass, not a shard."
He plunged the glass into the center of his forehead.
"Ughhh! Damn… this hurts! Wait… why am I still alive? I'm supposed to die!"
He pulled the glass out, staring at the puddle forming beside him. His reflection stared back. The deep stab wound in his forehead was bleeding heavily—but… to his horror, it was already healing.
"What the hell This makes no sense why am I still alive?"
Calm down, Nox. You're sane. But seriously… who stays sane after surviving two suicide attempts? At first, no sane person would attempt suicide. . But that's beside the point.
"Right… I need to check this 'Shard State.' How do they even use it? Maybe I should… call it by its name."
"State."
A dark screen appeared before his eyes, crimson text glowing:
[Name: Nox]
[Age: 19]
[Shard: Dark]
[Attribute: Deathless]
[Weapons: None]
[Armor: None]
"What does Deathless even mean? dose it's mean what I'm thinking about?
The description of the attribute changed the state in front of him:
[Attribute Description: Deathless]
The carrier will not die. The body will automatically heal from all types of physical damage. The carrier will continue to live even if torn apart this Attribute can upgrade
"W-what?! Are you kidding me?! Give someone who just tried to die the power of No Death?! If this isn't a joke… then what is?"
Nox screamed, kicking nearby trash cans, cursing his luck with every word he could think of.
"What am I supposed to do now… ughhh?"
As far as I know, every awake person should go to the police station and tell them that he woke up.
"But should I do this? What would they do if they knew that an orphan boy living on the streets suddenly became immortal? They would surely take advantage of me. It is well known that those in power are scoundrels who will do anything for their own benefit, or as they call it, the benefit of humanity. Fu*king humanity i just wanted to die and have some rest no one of them care about me when I was dying from hunger everyday and go to the police? Why is should go to people doesn't do anything when my parents killed they left 10 years old child in streets"
Nox He doesn't know what to do, so he decides to be logical and go to the police because they will treat him as a criminal if he doesn't announce that he's awake, but he decides to hide his special trait.
"Ahh will It seems I have no other choice. Let's go without delay"