Time seemed to slow down. The putrid smell of the Rotten Hound's breath hit Moon a split second before the beast itself.
It was pure, primal survival instinct. Moon didn't think; he just reacted. His hand shot out, grabbing the first solid object his fingers brushed against in the mud—a rusted, jagged iron pipe.
As the hound descended upon him, jaws snapping shut, Moon planted his feet, twisted his hips, and thrust the pipe upward with every ounce of strength his desperate, unawakened body could muster.
Shhhk-CRACK!
The rusted iron pierced the roof of the hound's mouth, shattering its palate and driving straight up into its corrupted brain. The momentum of the beast slammed into Moon, knocking the breath out of his lungs and pinning him beneath its heavy, decaying corpse.
Black, foul-smelling blood poured over Moon's face and chest. He lay there, hyperventilating, his hands still gripping the pipe in a death grip. He shoved the heavy carcass off his chest, gasping for the cold, rainy air.
"I... I killed it..." Moon coughed, wiping the black blood from his eyes. He had just killed a Level 1 system monster as an unawakened human. A feat considered statistically impossible.
Suddenly, the space in front of Moon distorted. But it wasn't the standard, sterile blue system interface that everyone else got.
The air cracked like shattered glass. A notification window materialized, dripping with a terrifying, blood-red light. The sound it made wasn't a cheerful chime; it was the heavy toll of a funeral bell.
DOOOONG.
[Hidden Condition Met: First Kill achieved without a Class.]
[Anomaly Detected in the System Matrix.]
[Error. Error. Subject does not exist within standard parameters.]
Moon stared at the floating red text, his heart hammering against his ribs. The text flickered violently, glitching as if the world's underlying code was struggling to comprehend his existence.
[Bypassing Administrator Restrictions...]
[Awakening True Potential...]
A sudden, searing heat erupted in Moon's chest. It felt like a miniature sun had ignited where his heart was. He screamed, his back arching off the muddy ground as the red light consumed his vision.
[Talent Unlocked: Grim Reaper (Mythic Anomaly)]
[Description: The harbinger of the end. You harvest the essence of the fallen. Gain 5x Stats, 5x Life Points, and 5x Comprehension speed from every kill.]
[Class Unlocked: Classless]
[Description: Whilst everyone is chained to a specific path from birth, you are the unbound anomaly. You are free from the restrictions of the system. You can comprehend, learn, and merge any skill from any class based on your understanding or fruitful encounters.]
The dead hound beside him suddenly began to dissolve. It didn't turn into gray ash like normal monster drops. Instead, it dissolved into hundreds of tiny, glowing red particles that swarmed into the air like fireflies before shooting directly into Moon's chest.
[You have absorbed the essence of a Rotten Hound.]
[Grim Reaper Talent Activated: Stats increased by 500%.]
[Classless activated: You have comprehended a basic monster skill.]
[Skill Learned: Savage Bite (Level 1) -> Adapted to human physiology -> Skill Mutated: 'Savage Strike' (Level 1)]
Moon gasped, sitting up abruptly. The exhaustion, the bruises from the guard, the freezing cold—it all vanished. He felt a terrifying, explosive power coursing through his veins. He looked at his hands. They weren't glowing with magic, but he could feel the dense, heavy energy resting just beneath his skin.
He focused on the new skill in his mind. Savage Strike. It wasn't a magical spell; it was an understanding of biomechanics. He instantly knew exactly how to twist his muscles, align his bones, and deliver a blow that could shatter armor.
He picked up the rusted iron pipe. He didn't just hold it; he felt like he understood it.
He swung it at a nearby brick wall.
BOOM!
The iron pipe didn't just hit the wall; it erupted with a shockwave of kinetic force. The bricks exploded outward, leaving a crater the size of a man's torso. The iron pipe in his hand bent out of shape from the sheer force of his own swing, but his arm felt perfectly fine.
Moon stared at the crater, his breath hitching. A B-Rank Berserker would need to reach Level 10 to do that. He was Level 1.
The heartbreak and despair from the Awakening Hall were entirely gone, burned away by the surging adrenaline and the cold, hard reality of his new power. Lina had called him a corpse. The world had branded him a Null, a piece of trash meant to be stepped on.
Moon looked up at the dark, stormy sky. Beyond the clouds lay the First Sanctuary, the realm where power was absolute and lives were currency.
"You thought I was nothing," Moon whispered, a dark, razor-sharp smile slowly spreading across his face. "But a Null isn't zero. A Null is a blank slate."
He dropped the bent pipe and began walking into the dark alleyways of the Outer Slums, his eyes glowing with a faint, eerie crimson light.
"I'll see you in the First Sanctuary, Lina. Let's see how much your A-Rank is worth when the Grim Reaper comes to collect."