Everyone awakened at eighteen.
It didn't matter who you were before—rich or poor, talented or useless. The moment you turned eighteen, the world decided your value.
Leo stood at the back of the Awakening Hall, his hands buried in the pockets of his worn jacket. The building was massive, cold steel and reinforced glass rising like a monument to power. Screens floated in the air, displaying names, classes, and rankings as one student after another stepped forward.
Cheers erupted constantly.
"B-Rank Elementalist!"
"Holy shit, an A-Rank Tank!"
"Another combat class—this year is insane!"
Leo didn't cheer.
He watched.
He had learned early that expectations only made disappointment sharper.
The year monsters appeared, society collapsed for exactly three months. Governments fell, cities burned, and millions died. Then the System descended—an invisible framework that rewrote reality itself.
Dungeons emerged. Gates opened. Humans awakened.
Power became order.
And those without it became disposable.
"Next," the examiner called.
Leo blinked. His name flashed on the screen.
LEO VANCE — AGE 18
A few heads turned. Some students recognized him. Most didn't care.
He stepped forward, boots echoing against the polished floor, and placed his hand on the Awakening Crystal.
It was warm. Always warm.
The crystal pulsed, light flowing into his palm like liquid fire.
Seconds passed.
The room quieted.
Ten seconds.
The light flickered.
Whispers started.
"Is it lagging?"
"No, that's not—"
"Wait, what?"
The crystal dimmed.
Then went dark.
Complete silence.
The examiner frowned and tapped the console. "Again."
Leo removed his hand and placed it back.
Nothing happened.
A low murmur spread through the hall.
"That's impossible."
"Everyone awakens something."
"Is he defective?"
The screen behind him updated.
Slowly.
Painfully.
CLASS: NONE
RANK: —
STATS: UNAVAILABLE
A red warning symbol appeared.
Then another line.
STATUS: LEVEL 0
The hall erupted.
Laughter burst from multiple directions, sharp and unrestrained.
"Level Zero? What the hell is that?"
"Is that even real?"
"Did he fail evolution or something?"
Leo's chest tightened.
The examiner's expression changed—not confusion, but annoyance.
"…Level Zero," he muttered. "I haven't seen that since—"
He stopped himself and cleared his throat.
"No awakening," the examiner said flatly. "You may step aside."
That was it.
No explanation. No retry.
Just dismissal.
Leo stepped back, his face burning as eyes followed him. Some looked amused. Others looked relieved it wasn't them.
A girl near the front glanced at him, then quickly looked away—as if weakness was contagious.
On the screen, his name slid to the bottom.
UNAWAKENED — NO FUTURE TRACK ASSIGNED
That line hurt more than the laughter.
After the ceremony, the students gathered in groups, excited voices filling the plaza outside the hall. Recruitment drones hovered overhead, projecting holograms of academies and guilds.
Leo walked past them all.
A combat academy recruiter glanced at his profile and immediately waved him off.
"No class," the man said. "Don't waste my time."
Another laughed outright. "Level Zero? Are you even human?"
By sunset, the plaza was nearly empty.
Leo sat alone on the steps, staring at the city skyline. Towers glowed in the distance, each one owned by guilds that controlled dungeons, wealth, and law.
Power ruled everything.
And he had none.
His wristband buzzed.
A notification appeared.
CIVIC NOTICE:
Unawakened citizens are restricted from high-risk zones.
Dungeon access denied.
Combat employment denied.
In smaller text:
Survival assistance expires in 30 days.
Leo exhaled slowly.
Thirty days.
That's how long society gave failures.
He stood and headed toward the lower districts. The lights dimmed as he moved farther from the city core, streets narrowing, buildings decaying.
This was where the unawakened lived.
Where monsters sometimes slipped through cracks in reality.
Where no one cared if you disappeared.
A sharp sound echoed ahead.
Leo froze.
Metal scraping concrete.
He turned a corner and saw three figures blocking the alley.
Two men. One woman.
All awakened.
Their status icons hovered faintly above them—low-rank, but combat classes.
The woman smirked. "Well, look at this. It's the Level Zero."
Leo's pulse spiked. "I'm just passing through."
One of the men laughed. "You think we're monsters? Relax. We're just collecting."
"Collecting what?" Leo asked.
The other man cracked his knuckles. "Whatever you've got."
Leo took a step back.
The woman's smile vanished. "Don't run."
The alley lights flickered.
Reality warped.
A rift tore open behind Leo.
Something crawled out.
A monster—half flesh, half shadow, teeth too many, limbs wrong.
The awakened froze.
"What the— there wasn't a gate here!"
The monster lunged.
Pain exploded through Leo's body as he was thrown against the wall. His ribs screamed. The world tilted.
The awakened fought back, but panic ruined coordination.
One went down screaming.
Another fled.
The woman barely escaped, bloodied and terrified.
Leo tried to move.
Couldn't.
The monster turned toward him.
Its eyes locked on his.
A pressure crushed his chest. His vision blurred.
So this is it, he thought.
A life measured in eighteen useless years.
Then—
Something snapped.
A sound like glass shattering inside his skull.
A voice echoed where there had been nothing before.
[ERROR DETECTED]
Darkness folded inward.
[ANOMALY: LEVEL 0 ENTITY IDENTIFIED]
Leo's heart hammered.
[FORBIDDEN PROTOCOL INITIALIZING]
The monster raised its claw.
[SYSTEM ACCESS GRANTED]
The world froze.
Time itself held its breath.
A translucent screen unfolded before Leo's eyes.
Black. Red text.
No class.
No stats.
Only one line pulsing violently:
WELCOME, LEVEL ZERO.