The Neon Grave
The rain in Neo-Tokyo was never just water. It was a cocktail of industrial runoff and "Mana-Soot," a black, greasy byproduct of the gates that turned the neon-lit streets of Sector 13 into a slick, glowing tomb.
Kaito Arisawa adjusted the leather straps of the Mark-IV Extraction Crate, feeling the jagged metal edge bite into his shoulder. He was twenty-two, but in the flickering blue light of a nearby hologram, he looked like a ghost. His skin was the color of curdled milk, and his frame was so thin that a strong gust of wind felt like it could shatter his ribs.
Cough.
He pressed a ragged cloth to his mouth. When he pulled it away, it was flecked with dark, viscous blood.
"Move it, Trash-heap! We're behind schedule!"
A heavy, carbon-fiber boot slammed into Kaito's lower back. He stumbled, his knees hitting the wet pavement with a sickening crack. The 200-pound crate nearly crushed his windpipe as he hit the ground. Above him, a C-Rank warrior named Sato laughed. Sato was clad in shimmering Aegis Guild armor, his mana-shield humming with a smug, golden light.
"Look at him," Sato sneered, spitting on the ground near Kaito's hand. "One foot in the grave, and he still shows up for a Shinto-Gate raid. Arisawa, why don't you just do us a favor and die in a ditch? It'd save us the paperwork of hauling your corpse out of a dungeon."
Kaito didn't look up. He didn't have the luxury of pride. He forced his shaking hands to grip the crate's handles. He had to survive today. The "Blue Mana" medicine his father needed cost 50,000 Yen a dose, and his sister's tuition was due in three days. He was a Porter—a human pack-mule. In a world of gods and hunters, he was the dirt beneath their boots.
"I'm moving," Kaito rasped, his voice sounding like sandpaper on glass.
The Gate of the Imperial Five
The transport hovered over the Aokigahara Forest, where a massive tear in reality pulsated with a sickly violet light. This was a "Shinto-Gate"—a dungeon that had manifested as a twisted, nightmare version of ancient Japan.
Standing at the front were the Imperial Five. They were Japan's peak, SSS-Rank monsters in human skin. Their leader, Kang Jin-Hyuk, stood with a long odachi strapped to his back, his presence so intense that the air around him rippled with solar heat. Beside him stood Yuna, the Psychic Saintess, her eyes covered by a silk blindfold.
"Porters, stay ten paces behind the vanguard," Jin-Hyuk commanded, his voice cold and echoing with authority. "If you fall behind, we aren't coming back for you. You are here to carry the loot. Nothing more."
As they stepped through the gate, the world shifted. The forest disappeared, replaced by a massive, floating Shinto shrine suspended over a sea of swirling black clouds. The wood was made of bone, and the talismans hanging from the eaves were written in fresh, dripping blood.
Kaito's lungs burned. The mana density inside the gate was high—too high for an F-Rank. Every breath felt like inhaling shards of glass.
The System Error
The raid was supposed to be a "Clean Sweep" of an E-Rank glitched gate. But as they reached the Inner Sanctum, the air turned ice-cold. Red warning boxes flashed in Kaito's peripheral vision—a sight only he seemed to see.
[WARNING: Dimensional Interference Detected.][Rank-E Gate is evolving... Rank-S Entity approaching.]
"The mana readings... they're spiking," Yuna whispered, her hand going to her temple. "Something is waking up. Something that shouldn't be here."
From the shadows of the bone-shrine, it detached itself. The Abyssal Behemoth. It was a wolf the size of a cathedral, its fur made of writhing black smoke. With a single swipe of its claw, it sent three B-Rank hunters flying, their bodies exploding into mist.
"Fall back!" Jin-Hyuk roared, his odachi wreathed in solar fire. But for the first time, the "Solar Monarch" looked afraid. "The gate is collapsing! Abandon the porters! Clear the exit!"
Panic took over. The elite hunters scrambled toward the exit, but the Behemoth lunged, blocking the path. Jin-Hyuk looked at the line of trembling porters. His eyes landed on Kaito. A cruel, calculated look crossed the Guild Master's face.
"Arisawa," Jin-Hyuk said, his voice flat. "Serve your guild one last time."
With a telekinetic burst, Jin-Hyuk shoved Kaito and four other porters directly into the Behemoth's path.
"Master, wait—!" Kaito screamed, but the heavy stone doors of the Sanctum slammed shut. Clack. The Imperial Five had sealed the doors from the outside, using their "trash" as a five-second distraction to escape.
The Death of a Scavenger
The screams of the other porters were cut short. The sound of crunching bone filled the silence. Kaito crawled backward, his hand touching a black, diamond-shaped stone embedded in a bone-pedestal.
The Behemoth turned toward him. It let out a low growl that vibrated in Kaito's very marrow. It lunged, its massive paw pinning Kaito to the pedestal. His ribs shattered instantly, and blood sprayed from his mouth, coating the black stone.
Is this it? Kaito thought, his vision fading. After all that... I'm just bait?
But as his blood soaked into the black stone, the world froze.
[ERROR: Life-Force at 0.01%.][Sovereign Code 'DEVOID' has been detected.][Initiating Emergency Reconstruction...]
Kaito felt his soul being shredded. It wasn't pain; it was the sensation of being erased. His heart stopped, then restarted with a heavy, rhythmic thrum. His shattered bones knitted back together, turning into a black, obsidian-like substance. His hair bleached to a brilliant, ghostly silver.
The First Kill
Kaito stood up. He wasn't a God yet—he was a fledgling predator. The Behemoth froze, confused by the sudden Passive Aura radiating from the dying human. It was a weight of absolute nothingness that made the beast's fur stand on end.
Kaito didn't have a sword. He grabbed a jagged piece of the Mark-IV crate.
The wolf lunged. Kaito moved—not with godly speed, but with a desperate, new-found strength. He slid under the beast's belly, his new obsidian-hard bones allowing him to ignore the pressure. He jammed the metal shard into the beast's soft throat, twisting it with every ounce of his rage.
The Behemoth thrashed, its blood—a dark, starry liquid—spraying over Kaito. He didn't let go until the light in the beast's six eyes flickered out.
[Evolution Points Gained: 100.][Primary Authority Unlocked: VOID.][Current Status: The Zero Sovereign.]
Kaito walked out of the dungeon's back exit, hidden by the shadows. He was still wearing his ragged clothes, but the rain stopped falling around him, evaporating before it could touch his silver hair. He looked back at the Mount Fuji shrine.
The scavenger was gone. The Zero Sovereign had just begun to hunt.