You know how you absolutely hate something, but can't stop doing it?
That's how I felt about this damn job.
Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a Vessel.
Having powers, soaring through the skies, being revered as a god… it felt like a dream worth chasing.
But not all dreams come true.
Mine shattered long before I wanted to admit it.
Most Vessels awaken at the tender age of 15. Early risers at 12. Rare late bloomers between 16 and 19.
So when nothing happened at 12… or 15… my parents' attitude toward me began to sour. Still, I clung to hope. Maybe I was just a late Vessel.
But nothing came.
The shame was worse because my parents weren't ordinary.
They were Vessels. Strong ones.
The kind of couple neighbors whispered about with admiration. A family destined to produce the "perfect successor." Everyone expected me to awaken with incredible power. Instead, I became their greatest disappointment.
By the time I turned 20, all hope was gone—
and so was I.
My parents kicked me out without hesitation.
I still remember their eyes when they cast me out, the words "You're not our son" shattering whatever pride I had left.
The world outside wasn't kinder. In this society, Vessels weren't just protectors—they were celebrities. Walking gods.
Billboards of radiant S-Class Vessels lit up the city, their flawless smiles mocking me with every step. Ordinary humans were background noise at best, disposable tools at worst.
With nowhere else to go, I turned to my girlfriend, Selene. She took me in without hesitation. We were the same age, and we loved each other deeply. Even though her parents disapproved—reminding her constantly that she was an Awakener while I was just ordinary—Selene stood firmly by my side. She didn't just give me shelter. She gave me dignity.
To repay her, I got a job as a construction worker. Grueling, backbreaking labor. My hands bled from carrying steel beams, my back screamed from endless lifting, and every night I came home feeling like my body was breaking apart.
But the worst part wasn't the work.
It was the people.
Even though they were just as ordinary as me, the other workers treated me like I was beneath them.
They mocked me for being slow. Laughed when I stumbled. Whispered that I was nothing more than a "parasite leeching off a Vessel girlfriend."
To them, I wasn't even worth the dirt under their boots.
Two years into that job, here I am—
a man with a dead dream, but a loving girlfriend.
Even though I hated the work, it kept my pride alive, since Selene's money alone was already enough to cover everything. University had never been an option—my parents always said it was a waste of money on someone ordinary.
Sometimes, I wished something would just come and destroy this place.
End it all, bury me beneath the rubble.
And as if the world heard my twisted wish—
A scream echoed.
It wasn't the usual kind of scream you hear when someone drops a steel beam on their foot.
No. This was raw. Piercing. A scream that stripped your soul bare.
The ground shook beneath us. Dust spilled from the rafters as if the building itself trembled in fear.
Then came the roar.
Low. Guttural.
A sound no human throat could ever make.
My blood ran cold.
Monsters.
How could they appear here, in the middle of the city, at a construction site? But as the air grew heavy and the sky rippled, I knew.
A rift had opened.
The foreman shouted for everyone to run. Workers scattered like panicked animals, shoving each other aside. Steel rods clattered, helmets rolled across the dirt.
And then I saw it.
A grotesque beast forcing its way through the rift. Its body twisted unnaturally, eyes glowing with hunger.
"RUN!!!"
That was the word echoing in my mind, but my body refused to move.
The beast's gaze locked onto me.
Eyes filled with a primal hunger that made my knees tremble.
"MOVE, DAMN IT!!" someone screamed, but my legs felt nailed to the ground.
The monster charged.
The world spun.
Something felt… wrong.
Then I saw it.
A body. Headless. Blood pouring like a broken fountain.
I didn't need to guess whose it was. I knew.
It was mine.
"I'm… dead."