"Worthless." "Curse child." "Trash." These were the names whispered in my wake, etched onto my soul like brands. Born to parents who were titans among "Players," expectations weighed upon me like a mountain. I was supposed to inherit greatness, to embody power. But fate, it seemed, had a particularly cruel sense of humor.
At my Awakening, the world saw not a prodigy, but a disappointment. F-Class Sword Unity. A talent so rare it could have been coveted, a skill meant to bind a swordsman to their blade with unparalleled connection. But crippled. Crippled by its F-rank. Had it been a B, even a C, I would have been hailed, celebrated. Instead, I was discarded. The gilded spoon I'd been born with turned to ash in my mouth.
The praise, the privilege, the potential… all evaporated the moment that F-Class was revealed. My parents, those lauded heroes, banished me to the Lower Realm. An admission of shame. Proof that I was unworthy of their lineage.
Even there, amidst the dregs of society, my talent remained a curse. An F-Class was still an F-Class. A reminder of what I could have been, of what I would never be. I was an anomaly, a broken link in a chain of excellence.
At six years old, I was deemed useful for one thing only: sacrifice.
My younger sister, born a year after me, became the embodiment of everything I was not. SSS+ class Elemental Lord. A talent so extraordinary it defied comprehension. A prodigy destined for glory, for power that dwarfed even our parents'. With the right Talent Enchanter, she could have ascended to godhood itself.
But the world, as I had learned, was never fair. She was born with a fatal illness. A ticking clock that threatened to steal her brilliance before it could truly shine. Her lifespan was capped at ten years. A tragedy.
Then, one of the elders had an epiphany. A "solution." My life, insignificant and worthless, could be used to extend hers. A simple equation: my life for hers. A sacrifice.
And so, at the tender age of six, I was used as fuel. An unwilling participant in a ritual designed to cheat death. A vessel for the life force that would sustain my sister. I slipped into a coma. My existence, for all intents and purposes, ceased.
…