Blinding light.
A ringing in his ears.
And then—silence.
Ray blinked, disoriented, as his vision cleared. He stood in a marble hall the size of a stadium. Golden pillars reached the ceiling. A hundred armored knights knelt in unison, heads bowed before a raised platform.
On the throne sat a man draped in gold and white—a king.
"Welcome, O Summoned Heroes!" the king's voice boomed.
Ray looked around. Dozens of others stood beside him, equally dazed. Some looked frightened. Others excited.
And in front of each one, a glowing crystal hovered in the air.
A voice echoed inside Ray's mind.
> [Analyzing soul… Synchronizing with system… Initializing attributes…]
He held his breath. The others began to shine, one by one.
"Wow! Strength 120!"
"A Hero-class! I got Holy Knight!"
"Magic 150?! That's insane!"
Cheers erupted. The knights clapped. Nobles gasped. The king smiled proudly.
Ray watched, his heart pounding. Finally… my turn.
The crystal floated closer.
> [Name: Ray Zenith]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1]
[Class: —]
[Attributes… calculating…]
A pause.
Then, a cold chime.
> [Strength: 0]
[Agility: 0]
[Intelligence: 0]
[Magic: 0]
[Luck: 0]
[Vitality: 0]
The hall went silent.
Someone laughed.
Then another.
And another.
Soon the entire hall echoed with cruel laughter.
"What kind of joke is this!?"
"He's literally a zero!"
"Did we summon a corpse by mistake?"
Ray froze. His face burned. His throat tightened. "W-wait, there must be—some mistake!"
But the orb glowed again.
> [Confirmed: Attribute Total = 0]
[No detectable Class.]
[Potential: None.]
The knights sneered. The nobles turned away. Even the king's smile vanished.
"A summoning error…" the old priest muttered. "Such a being is not a hero."
The king's voice hardened. "Throw him into the Abyss."
Ray's heart stopped. "W-what?!"
"You heard me. A Zero cannot serve Asterion. Let the dungeon claim him."
Before he could protest, armored hands seized him.
He struggled. "Wait! Please! I'm human! I can fight—!"
A fist slammed into his stomach. Pain exploded. He gasped, collapsing.
The last thing he saw was the crystal throne fading from sight…
and the gaping darkness of a portal below his feet.
---
Darkness.
Cold air.
A smell like damp earth and iron.
Ray groaned, clutching his side. He was lying on stone. Above him stretched a black sky glowing with violet cracks.
> [Welcome to Abyssal Dungeon: Floor 1]
A voice. Mechanical. Cold.
Ray jerked upright. "W-what…?"
No reply.
Only silence. And in that silence… movement.
From the shadows, eyes gleamed.
A wolf stepped forward. Twice the size of a horse. Its fur shimmered like obsidian. Its breath fogged the air.
Ray froze. He could see the steam from its nostrils. The claws scraping stone.
> [Abyssal Direwolf – Level 5]
[Aggressive]
It growled. A sound that shook his bones.
I'm dead. I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead—
The wolf lunged.
Ray screamed—
—and suddenly, time slowed.
A pulse ran through his chest.
A symbol burned across his vision.
> [Unique Skill Unlocked: Zero Attribute]
[Sub-Skill: Infinite Taming – Active]
"What…?"
Light burst from his hands, forming a chain of blue runes that wrapped around the wolf's neck mid-leap.
The beast froze. Snarling. Struggling. But the runes glowed brighter.
> [Beast Taming… Success.]
The wolf dropped to the ground, panting. Then, slowly—it knelt.
Ray stared, trembling. "You… obey me?"
The wolf lowered its head.
His heart pounded. He could barely breathe. "What is happening…?"
A translucent screen appeared before him.
> [New Tamed Beast: Abyssal Direwolf]
[Bond Level: 1]
[Skill Learned: Beast Sense]
Ray blinked.
"…What?"
The wolf's voice echoed in his mind.
A low, rumbling growl turned into words.
> "You… master?"
He gasped. "Y-you can talk?!"
> "Weak… smell. But strong soul. I serve."
Ray's breath caught.
He wasn't dreaming.
They threw him here to die.
But instead—he found power.
Not from stats.
Not from classes.
From something deeper.
> [Title Gained: Abyss Tamer]
Ray stood slowly, hand resting on the wolf's fur. "If this world doesn't want me…"
His eyes narrowed, glowing faint blue in the darkness.
"…then I'll build my own."
The wolf howled, a sound that echoed across the endless caverns.
In the distance, other eyes opened—watching. Waiting.
The Zero Attribute Hero had taken his first step.
Into the Abyss.
To be continued...