The rain fell like bullets on the cracked asphalt, each drop carrying the metallic stench of blood and sulfur that had become Earth's new perfume.
Xian Ren pressed his back against the rusted remains of what used to be a McDonald's, watching the crimson droplets streak down the shattered windows.
Three years. Three years since the Veil shattered and turned his world into a living nightmare.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Each sound echoed in the hollow cavity where his stomach used to be. When was the last time he'd eaten? Two days? Three? Time blurred together when you were busy dying slowly.
"Still alive, cockroach?"
The voice made Xian Ren's blood freeze. He didn't need to look up to recognize the mocking tone of Chen Wei, one of the "Awakened"—those blessed by the System with classes, skills, and the power to survive in this hellscape.
Chen Wei's boots splashed through the puddles, each step deliberate, predatory.
"I'm surprised," Chen Wei continued, his voice dripping with false amazement. "Most Blanks would've been demon food by now. But you... you're like a fucking parasite. Just won't die."
Xian Ren kept his eyes fixed on the ground, counting the cracks in the pavement. One hundred and twenty-three. He'd memorized every flaw in this stretch of road during his three hours of hiding.
Anything to avoid looking at Chen Wei's face—the same face that used to sit behind him in chemistry class, copying his homework.
Back when homework mattered. Back when anything mattered.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, trash."
The kick caught Xian Ren in the ribs, sending fire shooting through his chest. He gasped, tasting copper, but didn't make a sound.
Sound attracted worse things than bullies. Sound attracted the Rifters—the creatures that had poured through the dimensional tears and turned humanity into an endangered species.
"You know what pisses me off most about you?" Chen Wei crouched down, his [Flame Warrior] class causing small flickers of fire to dance around his fingers. The heat felt good against Xian Ren's frozen skin, even as it promised pain. "You had everything. Good grades, loving family, that cute little sister..."
Xian Ren's head snapped up before he could stop himself.
Chen Wei's grin widened, revealing teeth stained red from the Enhancement Pills that boosted Awakened abilities. "Oh, that got your attention? Yeah, I heard about little Mei Ling. Shame what happened to her. Though I bet the Thunder Hawks Clan is taking real good care of her."
The rage hit Xian Ren like a physical force, hot and consuming. His vision tunneled, the world shrinking to Chen Wei's smug face.
His sister.
His baby sister with her gap-toothed smile and her collection of stuffed animals. She'd been fourteen when the raiders took her. Fourteen and screaming his name as they dragged her away while he hid like a coward behind overturned cars, too weak to save her.
"I know what you're thinking," Chen Wei whispered, leaning closer. "Big brother wants to play hero. But you can't, can you? Because you're nothing. The System looked at your pathetic soul and said 'nah, this one's not worth saving.'"
[System Error: Individual classified as "Incompatible"]
The memory of those cursed words flashed through Xian Ren's mind. While others celebrated their Classes—[Fire Mage], [Shadow Assassin], [Steel Guardian]—he'd received nothing.
Not even the basic [Civilian] class that the elderly and children got. The System had deemed him so worthless that it wouldn't even acknowledge his existence.
"You want to know a secret?" Chen Wei's voice dropped to a whisper. "I was there that night. When the Thunder Hawks raided your little hideout. I could've warned you. Could've helped." He paused, savouring the moment.
"But why would I save a Blank?"
Blank this, Blank that. Xian was tired of being called Blank time and time again, "Fuck you!!"
The world went white.
Xian Ren's fist connected with Chen Wei's nose with a wet crunch. The Awakened stumbled backward, blood streaming down his face, more shocked than hurt.
A normal human's punch was nothing to someone with enhanced stats.
"You little—"
The fireball took Xian Ren in the chest.
He flew backward, his body hitting the McDonald's wall with enough force to crack the already damaged concrete.
Pain exploded through every nerve ending as his shirt burned away, revealing the blistered flesh beneath.
The smell of his own cooking meat filled his nostrils.
Chen Wei stood over him, flames dancing around both hands now. "I was going to make this quick."
"But now? Now I'm going to cook you piece by piece and feed you to the gutter rats."
'This is it,' Xian Ren thought as darkness crept in around the edges of his vision. 'This is how I die. Alone. Worthless. Having saved no one.'
The second fireball never came.
A roar split the air—not human, not animal, but something far worse. Chen Wei's head whipped around, his flames guttering out as primal fear replaced arrogance.
From the storm clouds above, a shape descended. Massive. Serpentine. With wings that blotted out what little light filtered through the perpetual gloom.
"Crimson Wyrm," Chen Wei breathed, his voice barely audible over the creature's approach. "Fuck. FUCK!"
He ran.
The [Flame Warrior] who'd been torturing Xian Ren moments before sprinted down the street like his ass was on fire, leaving his victim behind without a second thought.
Because that's what Awakened did when faced with real danger—they abandoned the weak and saved themselves.
Xian Ren tried to move, to crawl toward some kind of shelter, but his body wasn't responding. The fireball had done more damage than he'd initially realized.
His legs felt distant, disconnected. Blood pooled beneath him, mixing with the sulfurous rain.
The Crimson Wyrm landed in the middle of the street with an impact that shattered windows for three blocks.
Up close, it was even more terrifying—easily fifty feet long, with scales that seemed to absorb light and eyes like molten gold.
These creatures were A-Rank threats. City-killers. Even teams of high-level Awakened struggled against them.
And here was Xian Ren, a powerless Blank, lying broken and alone in its path.
The wyrm's massive head turned toward him, those golden eyes fixing on his prone form. Its nostrils flared, tasting his blood on the air.
When it opened its maw, revealing rows of teeth like obsidian daggers, Xian Ren could see the glow of flames building in its throat.
'At least it'll be quick,' he thought.
'Quicker than starving.'
But as the wyrm reared back to deliver the killing blow, something caught Xian Ren's eye. There, half-buried beneath the creature's massive claw, something gleamed.
Black crystal, smooth as glass, no larger than his fist. It pulsed with an inner light that seemed to call to him, whispering promises he couldn't quite understand.
Power.
Revenge.
Salvation.
The wyrm's flames roared toward him, but Xian Ren was already moving.
Pain meant nothing. Burns meant nothing.
The only thing that mattered was reaching that crystal before the fire consumed him completely.
His fingers closed around it just as the world exploded into heat and agony.
[Unknown Energy Source Detected...]
[Scanning Individual: Xian Ren]
[ERROR: Subject previously classified as "Incompatible"]
[WARNING: Foreign System interference detected]
[OVERRIDE PROTOCOL INITIATED]
[Druidic Contract Available...]
[One Binding Slot Detected]
[Will you accept the Contract of the Verdant Throne?]
Yes. The thought came without hesitation, even as his flesh burned away.
'Yes, I accept. Give me the power to rule the world. Give me the power to make them all pay.'
The crystal dissolved in his grip, its essence flowing into his blood like liquid starlight. The pain vanished.
A figure appeared in his mind.
She was tall and graceful, with skin like polished moonstone and hair that shifted between silver and green like sunlight through leaves.
Vines and flowers seemed to grow from her very presence, creating a small garden in the devastated street.
But it was her eyes that captured him—ancient, wise, and carrying depths of power that made the Crimson Wyrm look like a house cat.
"Greetings, my chosen partner," she said, her voice like wind through ancient forests. "I am Sylvara of the Verdant Circle. And you, Xian Ren, are about to become something far more than human."
She raised one delicate hand toward the wyrm, and thorny vines erupted from every crack in the pavement.
The A-Rank monster that had terrorized entire city districts let out a shriek of pain and surprise as the plants wrapped around its limbs, each thorn dripping with paralytic poison.
"But first," Sylvara continued, glancing back at him with a smile that promised both salvation and damnation, "we have a world to reclaim."
[Contract Established: Verdant Throne Unsealed]
[Your Class: Verdant Sovereign - Unique Grade]
[Your Partner: Sylvara (Druidess Queen – 90% Power Sealed)]
[Current Level: 1]
[Harmony Rating: 1/100]
[First Restoration Quest Available]
[Warning: True nature of partnership currently unknown. Proceed with caution.]
As the System messages flooded his vision and power unlike anything he'd ever imagined coursed through his veins, Xian Ren couldn't help but laugh.
The flames engulfed him regardless, but he knew this wasn't going to be the end.