"Arrgghh!"
"Blergh!"
A mouthful of blood gushed from the Fire Gorilla Monster, who hadn't realized what had just happened.
"Is this... your real trump card?" asked the gorilla monster, who had been filled with pride and joy over what he thought was his victory.
But that triumph lasted only a moment—until an arrow pierced his heart, its origin unknown.
The Fire Gorilla Monster coughed up another mouthful of blood, stunned and confused by the attack that he had never seen coming.
Ziva, the Tiger Monster, saw the bewildered look on his face. In truth, she was just as puzzled as he was.
Though her body was charred and burned by the gorilla's flames, leaving her in a horrifying state, she smiled weakly and said:
"Looks like... We'll be neighbors in the spirit realm. Hahaha..."
"Progress (950/1000) +1500"
"Level 1 progress complete."
"Progress (1450/2000)"
"New feature unlocked."
"..."
Inside the dark cave, Aaron groaned as sudden pain surged through his body after being struck by red lightning. Until then, he hadn't felt anything beyond a tingling sensation—his body had even felt better after taking Ziva's full-force attack. But now, a strange agony flooded him, as though his body had only just begun reacting to Ziva's power.
Though Aaron's body was inexplicably healing faster than before, his constant writhing on the cave floor caused his naked, unprotected skin to scrape against the stone, leaving him in the same sorry state he had been in when he first arrived in the archaic world.
But the pain wasn't from Ziva's attack. It came from within—his body was evolving, becoming stronger, better.
Aaron felt his veins, muscles, and bones twisting. His blood boiled and flowed faster through his body.
"Argh!" he cried out, unable to endure the pain.
Minutes passed before the torment finally subsided. The change within him was so profound that it made him forget the agony.
"This... feels incredible!"
"All right! The question is—do I have a new power?"
Ignoring the transformation his body had undergone, Aaron quickly turned his attention to the Zenit system inside his head, seeking answers.
But after waiting a moment, there was only silence.
"Nothing?! After going through that hell, I get nothing?" Aaron said, clearly disappointed and frustrated.
"System feature successfully upgraded."
"Name: Aaron Deo"
"Age: 12"
"Status: Level 1"
"Ability: Chaos"
"Passive Skill: Swallowing Hole (Absorbs destructive elemental energy)"
"Item: Dimensional Ring (Gold Grade)"
"..."
Aaron's bad mood did a complete 180. A wide grin spread across his face as a virtual panel appeared before his eyes.
This was new—he was used to only hearing the system's voice in his head, not seeing clear displays like this.
But it wasn't the panel itself he had been waiting for. What he truly wanted was a new item or ability. As he read the system panel, confusion and shock took over.
"Completion reward: +1 new skill"
"Active Skill: Soul Drainer"
Description: (Absorbs the soul energy of living beings struck by your energy)"
"System upgrade reward: Body advanced to Earth Rank"
"'Chaos' ability? What's that supposed to mean?"
Aaron frowned, overwhelmed by the influx of information and puzzled by parts of it that made no sense to him yet.
"'Chaos,' huh? Maybe that explains why I'm so unlucky! Maybe this 'power' is useless! Maybe it's the reason my skills don't just absorb enemy attacks, but all of my luck too!" Aaron muttered bitterly.
He continued reading through the rest of the information on the system panel.
"Gold-grade item? What's that even supposed to mean? Whatever. It's just a leftover from those traitor parents who abandoned me!" he thought to himself, bitterness welling up from painful memories.
Aaron could only sigh and try to push those thoughts away.
"Huff... all right. Next, I need to find and gather resources in this world. If I want to survive, I have to get stronger."
It was a solid plan. Survivors of the Archaic World often shared how crucial power was in staying alive there.
Even those strong enough to be called Conquerors back on Earth often returned from the Archaic World severely wounded—if they returned at all.
If even the Conquerors struggled to survive, what chance did the weak have?
"Hm... from what I know, rewards seem to be the only guaranteed thing. The Conquerors who made it back often talked about rewards—they said you get them for upgrading your system or reaching a new level," Aaron muttered, repeating what he'd learned in the past.
Yet the Zenit system remained shrouded in mystery, even among awakened individuals known as Conquerors, and among the global elites who had inherited resources and secrets passed down through generations.
Those rare secrets kept the elites ahead of ordinary Conquerors—like Aaron's dimensional ring, for example.
"Arrrgh!"
"Patrick! Where the hell are all my clothes?!" Aaron yelled, just realizing he was stark naked after closing the virtual panel, which apparently he could open and close at will.
He'd been so lost in thought and emotion that he hadn't even noticed his enhanced senses or his new ability to see in the dark.
His body had become something he could only ever dream of. The skinny frame was now lean and muscular, like someone who'd spent years training at the gym.
"Bwahaha! Do you see this beautiful body, Patrick?"
"This is the kind of body I could've had... if I could eat regularly without worrying about how I'd survive the next day."
"My body feels light. My skin looks healthier and smoother... If I wear all my custom armor and energy weapons, I'll look like a total badass!"
Aaron imagined himself and let out a crooked smile. But it quickly vanished, replaced by panic.
"Where is it?! It's not here!" Panic surged through him at the thought of losing his most valuable items. His eyes welled up with tears.
"Hey! Don't eat all that meat! My gear's gone, even my clothes! Hunting will be hard for a while, so we need to ration!" Aaron scolded his dog, who was munching on a pile of meat on the ground. The bag that had held the meat was destroyed by Ziva's power, the winged tiger monster.
Desperate, Aaron turned to his last treasure—his dimensional ring.
'Okay... how do I use this thing?' he wondered.
Focusing deeply, Aaron cleared his mind and tried to figure out how to store the meat inside the ring.
Right then, the ring glowed bright blue, lighting up the meat pile. The meat shrank and disappeared, transported into the ring. All except the chunk in his dog's mouth.
"So that's how you use it! I just have to focus my mind," Aaron said, having figured it out.
He tried repeating the process in reverse to retrieve the items. Unknowingly, his thoughts synced with the ring, allowing him to see its contents.
"Hahaha... this thing is a treasure! All my hunting gear—even everything from the last underground room—it's all in here." Aaron was overjoyed, nearly forgetting the painful memories tied to the ring.
'Even if those parents were awful... at least their gift wasn't.'