The morning sun barely touched the rusted roof of the local school.
It wasn't a prestigious institution, and it certainly wasn't the kind with training yards or elite instructors.
It was just a regular school built with concrete.
Ash walked in through the back entrance like he always did. No one greeted him.
He entered his classroom and made his way to the desk near the window—the worst one in the room.
It creaked when he pulled it out, and the seat had uneven legs. Words were scratched into the surface in angry strokes:
"Worthless."
"Kill yourself."
"Trash dog."
He sat down without reacting.
His eyes swept across the room.
Robert and Lamine were both there—the two bullies from yesterday. Robert had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, and Lamine wore a sling.
They tried not to look in Ash's direction.
When Ash turned his head slightly and met their eyes, both boys immediately looked away, tense and pale.
Ash leaned back in his chair and stared forward like nothing mattered.
Then, a sharp bang echoed through the room.
A hand slammed down on his desk, just inches from his fingers.
He glanced up.
The girl standing in front of him had a rigid posture, sharp blue eyes under tired lids, and long blue hair tied in a tight braid.
She wore the same uniform as the rest of them, but it looked too clean, too perfect.
Lady Marine Ver Marina.
(Art Display)
She was the class president, and everyone knew she was a noble.
Her family had money, land, and connections.
She was expected to attend Welhelm University next year—the same top-tier academy his sister trained at.
But right now, she wasn't acting like a calm, composed noble.
She was pissed.
"Robert and Lamine," she said. "What happened to them?"
Ash looked up at her without emotion.
She leaned closer.
"They were found bruised, bleeding, and terrified in the forest with three other guys. They won't say anything. So I'm asking you directly."
Ash stared at her for a long second.
Then he said, "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"That's what I said."
"Then explain why they both can't even look at you."
Ash leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk.
"Maybe they're scared of trash people like me."
Her expression tightened.
The classroom was quiet now. The other students watched, too afraid to get involved.
Marine's voice dropped. "Are you threatening me?"
"No," Ash said. "I don't threaten people. I answer questions."
She stared at him.
He didn't flinch.
He just stared at her. The moment she left angrily, he covered his face downward on the table.
---
The moment he arrived in this world, he found out he was now living in the country of Varex.
He checked his pockets and saw that all he had were three silver coins, which wasn't enough to survive more than a few days, so he needed to earn more as soon as possible.
That was why he went west of the village, past the old fields and the broken sheds, to where people dumped things they no longer wanted.
He held the Ultimatum Vacuum in his hand and turned it on while walking across the patchy ground.
One of the passives he had learned about his class allowed him to suck up trash buried deep beneath the surface, so he didn't need to dig or search manually.
Vacuum Ultimatum will be a huge help for him in the future since he had no magic. The previous Ash was someone who had no mana pool that's why he was constantly bullied.
But magic here was only part of the story.
There were Traits, rare abilities taken from unique monsters. If someone killed one and ate its flesh, there was a chance to inherit the monster's power.
Then there were Domains, inherited magic circles bound to bloodlines, granting abilities only to those born into certain families.
Ash had neither. No Domain to call his own, no Traits from swallowed monster meat.
In this world, that made him a nobody.
So, he continued. The vacuum's hum grew louder as it pulled in scraps and dirt from below.
Suddenly, something heavy and solid shot up from the soil and landed with a thud in front of him.
Ash walked over and picked it up.
It was a crown.
It looked old, and the metal was scratched and faded, but the craftsmanship was clean and the shape was intact.
He turned it over in his hands and raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know what kind of idiot throws this away, but if this isn't worth at least a few gold coins, I'm going to start questioning how this world works," he said, shaking some of the dust off it. "It's probably just decoration, but even if the gems are fake, the metal looks decent enough to sell."
He tucked the crown into his bag and glanced back at the empty road.
"As long as this vacuum keeps pulling stuff like that, I won't need to stay poor for long."
He placed the crown inside the vacuum.
One of the newer abilities he discovered was its infinite storage. No matter what size or weight, as long as he held the vacuum, he could store anything without limit.
It wasn't just trash anymore, it was a vault.
The next day, he returned to his local school.
Compared to the central academies in the capital, this one was nothing special, but the students inside acted like they were royalty.
That was because many of them actually were. Nobles filled the rooms, including people like Marine, Vander, and Perro.
The school was cruel toward him. It wasn't just how they looked at him or whispered behind his back.
They openly called him "Trash."
Not because he collected garbage, but because, unlike them, he had no Mana Pool.
And the worst part is that he was the older brother of one of the strongest girls in the territory—someone already accepted into Welhelm University.
Yet here he was, walking through these halls with nothing. He used to cry every day because of it. He used to break under the weight of their laughter.
But not anymore.
He had been given a second life. Whatever this system was, whatever these powers were, he wasn't going to waste them being the same weak boy everyone mocked.
He walked into class quietly and took his seat, ignoring the scribbled insults on his desk.
His classmates glanced at him, already whispering again.
He didn't care. Let them talk.
He wasn't here to prove anything to them with words.
He would rise.
The classroom fell silent the moment the teacher stepped inside. She carried a small wooden bowl in her hands, and everyone already knew what it meant.
"Tomorrow," she announced, placing the bowl on her desk, "we'll be holding the standard sparring duels. As always, each of you will draw a name and face your opponent in the arena."
The students murmured in excitement. This was nothing new. It happened every other month, but it was still the only time when students could settle grudges without getting punished.
Ash remained quiet. He had always dreaded these duels. Every time his name got picked, it meant pain. He remembered standing in the arena, again and again, with the crowd watching him get beaten down.
But that was before.
One by one, his classmates walked to the front and pulled a folded strip of paper from the bowl.
When it was finally Ash's turn, no one paid much attention. He reached in and pulled his paper without hesitation. Then he read the name.
Vander Von Seraphis.
He didn't smile. He just folded the paper again and returned to his seat.
Across the room, Vander had already noticed the exchange. He leaned back in his chair with a smug grin.
"I'm battling Ash?! That weakling?! I might as well show up blindfolded!"
Ash stared at him without saying a word at first. Then he calmly replied.
"You better remember how it felt to win last time. Because tomorrow, you won't feel it again."