Hey, what's your name?" a boy asked me.
I wanted to reply, Why should I tell you?,
but I didn't want to make a bad first impression.
"My name's Mike. Mike Tyl. And yours?"
I gave a slight grin.
"I'm Giel," he said proudly. "And I've got the power level of a Sal rank 2.
Yeah, that strong."
I just thought, Okay? And what do you want from me?
But then he said,
"Hey Mike, let's spar sometime, alright? So, what rank were you placed in?"
Mike hesitated.
"I haven't been ranked yet."
Giel looked a bit disappointed,
but then smiled and said,
"No worries. I hope you get strong. And hey—if anyone gives you trouble, just let me know."
The system suddenly popped up.
Giel – Level 4
Giel is stronger than you. Much stronger.
For now.
Accept friend request?
Yes
No
I pressed Yes.
New Friend Added: Giel Tus
Level: 4
HP: 2000
Strength: 70
Stamina: 80
Magic: 40
"Alright," I said. "Let's be friends."
Giel sat down beside me.
"So Mike, what are you doing here?"
I looked at him.
"I want to become an S-rank Sal."
Did he think that was strange?
He didn't answer right away.
But then—
he finally replied.
Isn't it all just luck, Mike?" Giel asked.
Yeah… it was, I thought. But now that I can level up—maybe not anymore.
Oh right—I remembered. I still had 20 stat points to spend.
I placed them into Health and Strength.
Strength: 35
Health: 105
I felt something stir in my chest.
Strength…
"Mike, look over there," Giel pointed.
Three bullies had cornered a Sal rank -1.
They were roughing him up.
"We should step in," Giel said.
I nodded.
Why not?
"This will be my first real test fight."
I turned to Giel.
"Hey… can you just watch this time?"
He looked at me like I was crazy.
But then he nodded.
"Alright."
"I want to see what rank I might actually be," I explained.
"Hey! Let him go!" I shouted.
The three bullies turned toward me and laughed.
"Hah! Another one asking to get beat up?"
One of them walked over, grabbed me by the collar, and pulled me up.
"You want trouble? Run away now, or we'll just beat you up later."
But I grabbed his wrist—
and with a sharp twist, I broke free.
Then—bam.
Two fast punches to the gut.
And a final one straight to his nose.
He dropped.
I rushed at the second guy.
A hard kick—he went down.
The third one stepped back, startled.
He shouted,
"Do you even know who I am?! I'm Julius!
Son of Tastus, the rich guy?!"
Tastus?
I raised an eyebrow.
Who…?
Whatever, I thought.
I looked the bully straight in the eyes.
"What rank are you?"
He laughed.
"Sal Rank 2!"
That caught me off guard.
The other two were only Rank -1 or 0…
And me? What was my rank right now?
The boy they'd been bullying suddenly spoke up from the ground.
"He's… really strong. Be careful."
"Come here," Giel called out.
The kid stumbled over to Giel and collapsed at his feet.
Quest: Mike vs. Julius — Accept?
Info:
Your opponent is strong, but beatable.
If you defeat him, you'll receive:
A full level-up (to Level 3)
A recipe for your first weapon
20 level points
Starting in: 3… 2… 1…
I rushed Julius, throwing a punch straight at his face.
But he blocked it with both hands.
Then he countered—a punch straight to my gut.
It hurt. Bad.
But I wasn't going to let that stop me.
I pushed through.
Again—again—again.
Three more hits.
On the third, I broke through his defense—
Right in the face!
He staggered.
I grabbed him by the arm and threw him against the wall.
Since we were on a ship, I heard someone shout:
"You could've thrown him overboard too, you know…"
The bullied kid tried to finish his sentence,
but Giel shouted:
"Mike, behind you!"
Floating above Julius were five crystal shards—
razor sharp, glimmering.
They launched toward me—two first.
I jumped—
Dodged the first.
But the second slashed across my leg.
"Aaagh!"
It burned.
I opened my system.
HP: 80
What happens if it hits zero?
I can't afford to find out.
Then I remembered.
"Rudel Bite."
I focused.
Rudel Bite.
Two shadow wolves formed beside me.
Their jaws were massive.
They sprinted straight toward Julius.
But something strange happened…
I noticed my own teeth had changed.
They looked like… a wolf's.
Should I charge too?
Screw it.
I ran in with them.
The first wolf bit into his leg.
The second sank its fangs into his shoulder.
And me—
I bit down on his arm.
Giel was busy patching up the bullied kid,
probably didn't even see it.
The wolves vanished after the strike.
I tore a chunk of Julius's sleeve off with my teeth.
He looked at me—eyes wide with fear.
"Wha… what are you?"
I stared at him, red eyes glowing.
Wolf-like fangs showing.
He turned and ran.
Does that count as a win…?
Quest completed. You are the winner.
Level 3 is loading…
Weapon recipe has been saved.
A new menu appeared—Weapons.
I tapped it.
There was only one blueprint so far.
Its name: Clawblood.
I said it out loud.
Clawblood.
It showed three long claws forming in the hand—
sharp and feral.
I closed the system and looked back at the boy and Giel.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Giel called over.
"He's fine now," he added, checking the kid's wounds.
The boy looked at me, wide-eyed.
"You really beat him?" he asked, voice full of excitement.
I barely heard him.
Instead, I asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Kad," he said quietly.
"I'm a weakling. Sal Rank -1. That'll never change."
He lowered his head.
"You can still be a Sal," I told him. "You can get stronger. Just believe in yourself."
He thanked me. Giel looked at me with a grin.
"You're probably already on my level. Awesome. We have to fight sometime, okay?"
I stared at him.
I just fought for my life, and you're already talking about sparring again?
But I didn't say that out loud.
Instead, I nodded.
"Yeah. Okay."
And then—
the system popped up again.
Two new messages:
Level 3 reached. Congratulations.
New skill unlocked: Wolf Strike.
I smiled slightly.
But then the second message made my blood freeze:
DANGER QUEST: SURVIVE
Start: 3… 2… 1…