West legs twitched violently.
His chest tightened so hard he almost couldn't breathe.
"Ugh..."
A strangled sound tried to escape his throat, but West clamped his hand over his mouth and bit down hard enough to taste blood.
His vision blurred.
He felt like he was being crushed from the inside out.
The creatures prowled nearby, clicking, sniffing, tapping their staffs against the ground.
West's eyes watered but he didn't dare move.
If he made a sound, it was over.
Minutes passed like hours.
His body shook uncontrollably as sweat clung to his skin.
He forced himself to breathe silently.
If they found him, he would undoubtedly die.
There was no bargaining with these things.
But the more he thought about it... the more he decided that he couldn't just sit back and wait.
What if they found him? What if something else found him? He was in a perilous environment with danger at every corner.
To survive... he needed strength...
He had to become stronger.
West's trembling hand reached for the system.
The interface opened and he swiftly went on to check his Cuck Poings.
His Cuck Points displayed clearly.
<[ Cuck Points (CP): 172 ]>
West stared at it in awe. It was at 115 earlier.
So it turned out that the session with Aria had pushed him up massively. And it was just foreplay... who knew how much he could have stacked up if they were not suddenly interrupted.
West swallowed in realization. 'I could buy skills now…'
He thought about the shop.
He had enough points now so he could get a defensive skill or an escape skill... something to help him survive.
However, upon further contemplation, he felt a skill wouldn't fix his core problem. Just like Adrenal Control, every skill was bound to start at level 1. There was a low chance of him getting a skill that would be powerful enough at level 1 to get him through whatever was out there.
He was still Tier 0.
Still dormant.
He realized that what he needed right now was awakening.
West's fingers tightened.
"This… might be the best time," he whispered to himself.
He tapped the shop option.
Tier 1 Awakening Voucher appeared and he selected it.
The three awakening paths displayed again.
<[ Tier 1 Bloodline Awakening Voucher ]>
<[ Tier 1 Transformation Awakening Voucher ]>
<[ Tier 1 Summoning Awakening Voucher ]>
West's eyes narrowed as he thought about the options.
Bloodline meant channeling power through his body.
Physical expression.
Right now, his body felt like it was tearing itself apart.
If he awakened a bloodline that demanded intense output, he might collapse before he even stood up.
Transformation sounded better...
If his body could become something else—something stronger—maybe it could handle the pain.
But what if the transformation required control and stamina he didn't have?
What if the backlash worsened?
West's breath trembled as his eyes delved down to summoning.
Summoning meant he didn't have to force everything through his own crippled muscles. It meant calling something else—something external—to fight.
West stared at the option and his mind dissected its benefits.
Strategic superiority...
Independent combat capability...
Versatility...
His lips parted slightly.
"…Summoning," he decided.
He selected it.
A new screen unfolded instantly causing West to pause because it wasn't what he expected.
> [Choose Awakening Branch Count]
1 Branch — Cost: 100 CP
2 Branches — Cost: 150 CP
3 Branches — Cost: 500 CP
West's eyes widened.
"Branches…?" he whispered.
Most people didn't choose.
Most people were born with one. Only on very rare occasions did anyone ever awaken with two branches and such people were seen as prodigies and treated better than regular awakeners.
They were considered monsters.
Three branches was… unheard of in normal society.
West wasn't sure he had ever heard of anyone who had three branches.
West's heart pounded.
He looked at his Cuck Points again.
<[ Cuck Points (CP): 172 ]>
He could only afford two not three.
He hesitated a little and then clicked.
<[ Confirm your selection — 2 Branches ]>
[ YES ] × [ NO ]
West proceeded to tap yes and the system made a low whirring sound.
A faint light appeared in the cramped crack with him, soft enough not to expose him fully but bright enough to make his breath catch.
A small orb of light condensed into a shape, forming a card.
A glowing, solid card formed in his grasp as if printed by reality itself.
West stared at it with trembling hands.
The card was warm like a living thing. The glow it emitted was muted, soft enough not to light up the crack he was hiding in too much, but intense enough that he could clearly see the symbols etched across its surface.
They weren't letters.
They weren't runes he recognized either.
They shifted when he looked at them too long, rearranging themselves as though reacting to his gaze.
West swallowed hard.
"How do I even use this…?" he whispered.
The system responded immediately, forming texts directly in his line of vision.
> [ Summoning Awakening Voucher — Activation Method ]
Stamp onto host's lower abdomen (core region).
West raised an eyebrow.
"…That's it?"
Outside the crack, the surroundings had gone eerily quiet. The creatures that had been prowling moments ago had gone silent, as if they were waiting.
West didn't hesitate.
If he waited any longer, fear would catch up to him.
He lifted his shirt and pressed the glowing card against his lower abdomen.
The instant it made contact... the card sank into his body, passing through him as if his body had momentarily become intangible.
The glow ignited violently, flooding the narrow crack with white-gold light for a split second before vanishing entirely.
West gasped as a strange warmth spread outward from his belly.
At first, it was gentle and comforting like sunlight soaking into skin on a cold morning.
It spread to his chest... arms... and to his legs.
His heartbeat slowed...
For a brief, fleeting moment, West felt… peaceful.
And then, the warmth ignited.
It wasn't heat.
It was energy.
Raw, surging, electrifying power that flooded his veins like lightning made liquid. His muscles seized instantly, causing his back to arch as his entire body locked up. Every nerve burned up at once, firing uncontrollably.
West tried to cry out but no sound came.
His vision exploded into white as if his body was being rewritten from the inside, cell by cell as something fundamental carved into him without anesthesia or mercy.
He felt something open inside him.
No... two things.
Two distinct points deep within his core, like doors being forced open simultaneously.
The pressure became unbearable.
West's consciousness fractured.
And then...
Everything went black.