Late afternoon, hours after the students have gone home and spent time with their friends. A single student woke up from his nap.
The student jolted from his seat looked around and understood that he was the last one in their class again
Quickly packing his things into his bag, he made sure to look for anything that his classmates accidentally left, like their phones, ID, identity watch, and wallet.
After looking around for a couple of minutes, he left the room, turning off the lights and fans on his way out.
Locking the door of his classroom, he noticed a message on his watch screen, pressing the message, a holographic panel appeared on his watch.
"Pretty," he thought, admiring the green panel before him. On the panel, one of his friends was asking him if he wanted to join them in the computer shop.
\ (Siern): Dude. Gonna join us today? There's an event on the server tonight. We need someone to help us kill the supposed boss of it. Isn't your account a non-specialized character? /
Looking at the message, he thought for a bit. Whether he joins them or not. It's been a while since he joined them at the shop, but knowing if he joined them.
The chance of him spending another three days with them grinding the game was high. So, he answered.
\ (Lean): Fuck no. You guys are on your own. I'm going home and spending the weekend cleaning my home. /
\ (Siern): Come on, join us only tonight. We need your shit ton of damage to deal damage with it. Also, why are you making us seem like we're addicted here? Your account level is 246, while everyone's account is only below level 200. You're the addict not us. /
\ (Lean): Shut up. Unlike you, I don't have a passive income. /
\ (Siern): What. Jealous? Btw, do you have a rabbi stew again? I kinda want to have one again. /
Looking at the last message, he wanted to punch this friend of his. Knowing if he goes where they are, they probably get him to play with them, so. He ignored the message and decided to go down the building now.
"Asshole. Unlike you, a Crafter, I don't have a passive income." He murmured as he neared the stairs. He is kind of jealous of his friend, unlike him.
His friend is an awakened person already, not just a normal awakened but a Crafter of one.
"Still. He's kinda lucky, out of all supernatural beings to be awakened he got the safest one of them." Looking to the horizon, he found that the sun was close to setting.
"Awakened." He said to himself. His jealousy was not about his friend being awakened but him not having a supernatural ability.
Looking at the nearing sunset, he thought; "Another boring day." His mother was not an awakened one, so the chance of him suddenly becoming one in the future is nonexistent.
Taking his time to go downstairs, he would look at the houses and buildings, turning their lights on, one by one. This was one of his guilty pleasures in the past year.
As the lights turn on, he himself goes lower in the staircase. Each level he goes, he keeps reminding himself that his life will always be like this.
A boring, lackluster, repetitive day till he gets old. But on this particular day, something was about to change his boring life.
To his sight, he found something falling down on the next low level of the stairs.
{A CARD}
A simple-looking card that you could find in any store you go to. But for some reason, this card before him felt magical and unique. As if it's telling him to take it to his chest.
Without thinking about it, his legs started to move down the stairs. He didn't care if he accidentally tripped and hurt himself. He just needed to do something first, which was to grab this card before him.
Before he knew it, half of his body was out in the railing of the stairs, just to catch this card. Carefully, he started moving backwards so as not to fall down on the third floor. If he falls, he's dead.
Sitting down on the steps of the staircase. He felt a cold energy coursing through his body from his hand. Opening his palm, he was gazing at a hand-sized card.
"An artifact?" He thought, gazing at it. The card was metallic, he didn't know what kind but he could tell by the weight of it. Just by moving it up and down, he determines it was around a kilo at best.
Still, his mind was focusing on something else, but its weight. But the fact that this could be an artifact, an item that makes you a supernatural being.
Yet, he wasn't one. Normally, the moment someone came in contact with an artifact, it would automatically fuse with that person.
The artifact either becomes an accessory or a tattoo. But the card was still in his hand. This could only mean one thing.
He is not compatible with this one. Disappointed, he felt his body losing its strength along with his spirit and motivation to move forward.
"Hahhhh. Maybe this is a good thing. If I suddenly awakened as a supernatural being, then I would have to leave the territory and fight monsters on the surface."
Yes. The surface, the current era of humanity had left the surface of the earth and started living in these places called: (Territory). A creation created after the catastrophe, which killed 99% of humanity, along with it is the Green panel.
He was the type of person who could let go of things quickly than anyone else. If you were to steal money from him, he would forget about this matter in half an hour and even buy something for you, if he saw you struggling to buy something.
"Still, this is an artifact, right?" He asked, thinking about what to do with it since he did not fuse with it. If he can't be one with it, he could sell it for profit.
He was broke already without any proper support. Though the government would not allow anyone to be homeless and starve to death, he still needed money for his needs.
So if he could sell this artifact before him, he could earn a large amount of money. Without wasting any moment, he placed it in his bag and stood up from his position.
Looking at the dark sky already. He smiled, admiring his future Rich self already. He giggled thinking about it as he moved downstairs. "Haha. I'm gonna be rich!"
*****
Half an hour later, he was already right in front of his home. Without thinking about it, he started moving again, towards the top of the mountains, covered in trees.
His home is at the peak of the mountain; to get there, one needs to hike up for twenty minutes at best. But for him, who's been living here all his life, he only needed ten minutes at best.
Before he knew it, his house was already in sight. Leaving the small forest of his home, he gazes at the beauty of it.
The small house perched on top of the mountain came into view. The flowers planted at the front stood brightly, and he could hear the soft sound of a small water creek flowing down the mountain, fed by the spring water from inside his home. Besides, the sole tree that his mother cherished grew tall and strong.
Nearing the door, he bent over and started to look for the key he had placed before this morning, on the roses near his house.
Tapping the ground hoping to touch it, he felt a stinging sensation in his finger. Ignoring it, he felt his cold keys and pulled them out.
"Ow. That sting." He said, licking his bleeding finger. Turning his key in the doorknob, he unlocked his house and finally entered.
"I should really stop doing this. No one would even visit this place except for Lea." He said, with a dumbfounded expression.
In the current era, crime can be considered as a myth, no one would ruin their life for a bit of things. With how bad the world itself already is, doing this minor act is stupid.
Not like anyone is homeless or starving and everyone will receive an income from the government, enough that they can pay for their needs, so why would they commit a crime?
------
Another hour passed. At that moment, he was browsing the internet, and created an account to sell the artifact he had found.
Scrolling through various websites, he noticed that the same listings appeared day after day.
People were awakening, fighting each other for power and reputation, while others were dying to monsters outside their territories.
Young people ventured outside the walls, thinking they could become the next powerful figure.
The same story and the same endings. The only difference is, how their ending happened. Was it a slow, painful torture death? Or a quick one, that you won't even have time to process.
Even after an hour of searching, he hadn't found anyone interested in buying the artifact. His post didn't attract any attention either.
The comments he received were mostly mocking:
"Who would fall for that?
Loser.
Broke ass.
A scammer?
A newbie?
If you value your life, take this post down."
What a bunch of jerks. He knew what he was doing… Well, not entirely. He still had no idea what kind of ability this card granted.
Resting his back on the floor, he raised the card above his head covering the single bulb of light in the room.
"What are your abilities?" He asked for the card before him. If he couldn't figure out what abilities it gives, the chance of him gaining people wanting to buy it will be slim.
Doing online selling, with a promise that it's an artifact is truly hard. With everyone having basic knowledge about artifacts, no one took his words at all.
"Haaaaaaaaaaa. I should have joined them on that boss subjugation." He thought, remembering the invitation of his friend before.
Sitting up, he fixed his posture, placed the card in his pocket, and started scrolling again. This time he took down his post and started looking for the wealthy people who want an artifact to give to their children.
So they can become supernatural beings, like their parents. Navigating the internet, he found a bunch of posts from the country of Greenland, on how cute the monsters of their surface were.
\ (Star lord): Look how cute the monster is on the surface of my country. / With a picture of a cute meter-sized rabbit with someone hugging it above its giant body.
"Cute. Unlike the one in this country." He said looking at the Undead skeletons post of his country's people. Looking at the cute bunny post, he realized something.
…..!
"Did I kill an animal this week already?" He questions, standing up and grabbing a knife in his kitchen, and leaving for the backyard where a small forest with rabbits is living.
Right now, he needs to kill one of the rabbits living in this mountain. Before that happens. Without thinking about it, he started moving and searching for these rabbits.
He didn't even bother to grab a flashlight to use, right now this matter is much more than anything else. After a couple minutes of running back and forth, he found a rabbit near his sight.
"Please, come here, I need to kill you. Before it happens." He said to the rabbit, slowly approaching it. But the moment he was a meter away from it , it started to hop away and run off.
…!
As the moonlight reflected into the blade of his knife, he found his eyes bottoms having cracks already. "Damn it, I'm too late." He said in a mournful voice.
Instead of accepting what's about to happen to him, he started moving again looking for a younger rabbit to catch off guard.
-------
"Fuck! I'm too late." He said more cracks appeared in his eyes, his tone filled with regret and annoyance, most of all pity.
His eyes were already covered with cracks, unlike his normal eyes before. Before he knew it himself, he found his hands moving on their own and placing the tip of his knife in his chest.
"Haa. So, this is how I die? Dying by this blasted bloodline curse." He said, looking at the blade before him. With a single breath, his hands thrust the knife into his body.
"Agrh." He groaned in pain, blood pouring out from his stabbed chest, but even when this was already happening his hands were still moving on their own.
Swish.
Another thrush again. This time into his stomach.
Swish.
Again, now into his groin.
Swish.
He couldn't even tell where that one was.
Although he wanted to scream, he seemed to not have the ability to do it in this situation.
Before he knew it, his right hand had already cut off his left hand. He was lying down in a puddle of his own blood, staring helplessly as his right hand moved the knife into his throat.
"Ancestor… what did you do in your lifetime for me to be in this situation?" He asked as his right hand moved the blade into his knife.
With so. He died. By his own hand. Whose fault is his Ancestors from hundreds of years ago. His eyes finally return back to their former looks.
Two minutes after he died. In another place, on the surface of the world. A panel appeared before a giant arachne.
In her surroundings, giant winged creatures' corpses are scattered, with her eating one of this creature's hearts.
[Your bloodline family has entered the Card. Your Ignition ability is reacting with it. You will now receive a blessing from it.]
[Blessing: Calm surface.
Description: like the calmed surface of the ocean. Your mind and soul will be stable.]
Back in the forest where Lean is.
[Ding! You have met all the requirements for the card activation needs.]
[Requirement 1. Absorb body heat of the potential owner of the card.]
[Requirement 2. The potential owner of the card, should have some kind of limitations, curse, and negative effects for the blessing to fight over with.]
[Requirement 3. Keep the existence of the card hidden by anyone till the potential owner, life force defleet in a certain level.]
[Requirement 4. The potential owner should be near or the age of 20.]
[Requirement 5. Feed the card with blood.]
[Requirement 6. The owner must die with the card on his body.]
[With all the requirements being met, the card will now become one with the potential owner: Lean.]
Suddenly the card on Lean pocket, floated within the air. It's surface filled with words from the following.
His blood slowly spiraled towards it. Bit by bit Lean blood made their way into the card, fusing with it.
A minute later, all the blood within the puddle Lean was on was gone completely. Along with the remaining blood on his body, Lean skin was now white as snow.
[Ding! The card has now absorbed the blood of the owner, Lean.]
[Proceeding with the next step. Body absorption.]
The moment those words appeared on the card surface, Lean body lifted up from the ground. His body hangs in the air, like an animal corpse being bled out.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
Multiple strikes of blood slice Lean's body into a minced dice slice. From his organs, flesh, and even bones. One by one this dice started moving towards the card again like his blood before.
Five minutes later, Lean corpse was completely absorbed by the card. Not even a drop of blood can be traced.
[Ding! Starting with the reconstruction of the owner: Lean, body.]
[Time needed for the reconstruction: 24:00 hours.]