Mei Lin looked at me once more, her lips curling in disdain.
"Mythic bloodline doesn't have trash for family," she said. "Don't ever call me sister again."
And just like that, I stood there in the schoolyard.
Then she turned her back on me and stepped into the helicopter without hesitation.
The helicopter blades spun faster, chopping the air. A moment later, it lifted off the ground and ascended into the sky.
And just like that, she was gone.
The crowd gasped. Then the laughter started.
"Hahaha! Even his sister rejects him!"
"She's Mythic—he's nothing! What a joke!"
"Trash bloodline doesn't deserve to breathe the same air!"
The principal laughed too, bowing to Mei Lin as if she were already queen.
"Of course, of course, Goddess Mei Lin," he said, his voice dripping with flattery. Then he sneered at me, his lips curling. "How could a pearl like you ever be related to trash? Trash like him should never dare call you sister."
I couldn't believe what I saw. Or what I heard.
How can a person change so fast?
A moment ago she stood in front of me, saying she'd protect me from any harm.
And now… she spat on me the second she awakened her mythic bloodline.
How could she do this to me?
My eyes went numb. Tears rolled down my cheeks before I even realised it.
I just stood there, crying like an idiot, while everyone else laughed.
The principal's voice suddenly rang out, his tone firm and commanding as he grabbed the mic again.
"Tomorrow, all students will assemble at dawn. You will enter the Forbidden Zone, where otherworldly creatures roam freely. Your task will be to hunt them down, gather monster cores, and prepare for the University Entrance Trials."
He spoke like nothing had happened. Like he wasn't standing in front of broken students and crying rejects. His words were proud, confident, and meant to inspire—but to me, they just felt like knives.
Didn't matter if you were Common, Uncommon, Rare, or even Mythic. Everyone still started at the bottom—Frank. The only difference was how fast they left people like me in the dirt.
One by one, the students filed out, still buzzing with excitement, still laughing. Every step past me was another stab.
"Trash."
"Null boy."
"Fanboy."
"Hahaha, even his sister disowned him."
I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. My chest ached, my heart cracking into pieces.
And then—
[ Bloodline Awakening in Progress — 95%... ]
My tears froze.
The voice… it was still there.
[ Bloodline Awakening in Progress — 99%... ]
"What the… again?" I whispered, clutching my head. "Am I hallucinating?"
Inside my head, it was like a ticking bomb. A timer. A voice counting up.
90%… 95%… 99%… echoing over and over.
As soon as the helicopter vanished and the noise faded, it grew clearer in my head.
Then—
[ Host Identified: Abyss Anchor ]
[ Abyss Seed Awakening: Complete ]
[ Directive: Return all fragments to the Abyss ]
[ Bloodline Awakening: Complete ]
[ Detected: Abyss Seed Bloodline ]
[ New Authority Unlocked: Abyss Evolution ]
My breath caught.
Right in front of my eyes, a blue screen flickered into existence, lines of text displaying across the blue screen.
[ Skill Gained: Void Eater ]
[ Effect: Convert devoured monsters into abilities suited to the human body ]
[ Condition: Evolution continues only through consumption. ]
"What the—!" I jumped back, falling to the ground. My heart was hammering so hard it felt like it would burst out of my chest.
I rubbed my eyes. Once. Twice. Again. But the screen didn't vanish. It floated right there in front of my eyes, like a ghost staring back at me.
I waved my hand through it. My fingers passed right through. No resistance.
"What the hell is this?" I muttered, my voice shaking.
Abyss Seed Bloodline.
The name alone made my skin crawl.
Then what was that "Null" back then? A glitch? A mistake? Or was this something so far beyond my bloodline it couldn't even name it?
I stared at the blue screen, my head spinning, my thoughts looping in circles.
"Hahaha… I'm really going crazy, huh? Is this shock? Am I actually losing my mind?"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!" I yelled, louder than I meant to.
Suddenly heads turned towards me as people heard my yelling.
People who were still leaving the schoolyard stopped to stare at me, sprawled on the ground, yelling at the air like a lunatic.
"Tch, tch… Poor soul can't even accept reality," one boy muttered, shaking his head.
"Pathetic. Crying on the ground, shouting at nothing. What a joke."
Their laughter stabbed at me, each word heavier than the last.
Some of them weren't even laughing. Some just stared with pity, their eyes saying it all. How pathetic. How sad.
I clenched my fists, trembling, my head still spinning.
"Wait…" I muttered.
They couldn't see it. They couldn't hear the voice. They couldn't feel the screen glowing in front of me.
"Hahaha! Look at him!" Chi Yan's voice rang out across the yard, cruel and loud. "The trash is yelling at the dirt now!"
Bai Shou snorted, spitting to the side. "Must be the shock. Poor idiot's gone mad. Hahaha, maybe his real bloodline is the Clown Bloodline!"
"Right, right!" Chi Yan slapped his thigh, grinning wide. "Even his own sister dumped him like garbage! Hahaha!"
Bai Shou leaned closer, his eyes narrowing. "Hey, Shen Yan! Don't get too comfortable crying on the ground. Tomorrow in the Forbidden Zone? Monsters won't laugh at you. They'll tear you apart."
Chi Yan cracked his knuckles, smirking. "And if the beasts don't, I will. Let's see how long you last when trash like you gets thrown into the same pit as us."
Their laughter echoed, cruel and sharp, burning my ears.
My nails dug into my palms, my lips twitching into a broken laugh.
To them, I was still just trash, Shen Yan—pathetic, broken, crawling in the dirt while they stood over me, already planning tomorrow's fun.
"Relax… calm down. I'm the smartest trash alive," I whispered to myself. "I can figure this out. Just… breathe."
I inhaled deeply. "Breathe in… breathe out… okay."
I stared at the empty air. "Blue screen! Uh… summon thee god! Show me my bloodline!"
Nothing. Not even a flicker.
"Open sesame?"
"Inventory?"
"Status screen!"
Still nothing.
"What the fuck!?" I snapped, throwing my hands up. "What was that blue screen? It literally showed my bloodline like some RPG system!"
And then—pop.
A blue screen blinked into existence in front of my eyes.
[ Name: Shen Yan ]
[ Rank: F-1 ]
[ Age: 18 ]
[ Bloodline: Abyss Seed ]
[ Authority: Abyss Evolution ]
[ Skill: Void Eater ]
"Voo…" My mouth hung open. "System?" I said slowly.
The screen vanished.
"…System?"
The screen blinked back again.
[ Name: Shen Yan ]
[ Level: F-1 ]
[ Age: 18 ]
[ Bloodline: Abyss Seed ]
[ Authority: Abyss Evolution ]
[ Skill: Void Eater ]
"System?" I said slowly. The screen blinked back. I blinked too. Then grinned like an idiot. "Hah! I really am the smartest trash alive. Look at me—already hacking my own cheat system."
I tapped the air with my finger like I was clicking buttons. "Menu! Settings! Help desk! Refund!"
Nothing.
"Okay, fine," I muttered, smirking despite myself. "At least I know how to open it now."
Just when I was about to close it, the blue screen flickered again.
[ Tutorial Activated ]
[ Welcome, Abyss Seed Host ]
[ Explanation: You are the only known possessor of the Abyss Seed Bloodline. ]
[ Authority: Abyss Evolution grants you power to evolve infinitely by devouring and adapting. ]
I blinked. My lips moved, but no words came out.
"What the hell…?"
The screen kept typing on its own, like some ghost was using my brain as a keyboard.
[ Skill: Void Eater ]
[ Effect: Devouring a corpse grants experience and a chance to gain skills. ]
[ Direct kill not required. ]
[ Note: The stronger the prey, the greater the reward. ]
Void Eater. Devour corpses? My stomach turned.
Experience… skills? Direct kill not required? My head spun—was this real? And that last line… the stronger the prey, the greater the reward.
I couldn't breathe. This wasn't just power. This was broken.
My lips twitched, a broken laugh slipping out. "No… no, wait. If… if I really can gain skills like that…"
I leaned closer, my eyes wide. "You're telling me if I devour monsters, I get their skills?"
[ Correct. ]
My disgust twisted into something else. My chest heaved, my grin spreading.
Devour corpses. Gain skills. Gain levels.
"Holy shit…" I whispered. "That's insane. That's… the greatest cheat ever."
I stared at the words, my grin spreading wider.
So I didn't even need to kill them myself.
All I needed… was the corpse.
Let others bleed, let others fight, let others risk their lives.
And me?
I'll just take everything in the end.
My lips trembled. "Holy shit… is this for real? This is like… the greatest cheat ever!"
The screen flickered one last time.
[Warning: Evolution is endless. But every power gained will hunger for more.
I gulped, my stomach twisting.
Endless power. But endless hunger too?
The blue screen flickered again, like it was reading my greedy thoughts.
[ Additional Tutorial ]
[ Experience Points (XP) can be used to: ]
– Level up the host.
– Level up skills.
[ Duplicate Skills detected: ]
– The same type of skills can be combined into a higher-rank skill.
My eyes went wide.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me I can grind XP and spend it like coins? On myself? On skills?"
[ Correct. ]
"And if I get the same skill twice, I can fuse them together to evolve into something stronger?"
[ Correct. ]
I rubbed my eyes and laughed, half-crazy, half-excited.
"This is insane… This is literally the ultimate cheat system! I'm trash? Hah, screw that. Null Bloodline? No! Abyss Seed Bloodline! Devour, Adapt, Evolve! This is mine!"
The screen blinked once more.
[ Tutorial Complete ]
[ Survive the first hunt to unlock the full interface. ]
My grin froze.
"…first hunt?"