Volume 0: Power Levels & Talent Guide
Lookism: When a Weakness Turns Wicked
---
Chapter 0: Understanding Power
Welcome to the foundation of this story — a world where strength, talent, and instinct define destiny. In Lookism: When a Weakness Turns Wicked, every fighter is ranked by their power level, a reflection of not just their raw strength but also skill, endurance, perception, and the aura they carry.
Power levels in this world range from the fragile and weak to the mythic and transendent. Those at the lowest levels struggle to survive street fights, while the legends dominate with terrifying presence and near-unbeatable skill. Every tier represents a combination of physical capability, talent, and growth potential.
At the bottom, there are those with fragile bodies and clumsy reflexes. They stumble, they fail, and often, they cannot even complete a basic fight. As one trains, fights, and learns, they can rise to higher levels. Steel-level fighters show promise; their bodies are stronger, their reflexes sharper. Titanium fighters are adaptive, learning techniques and mimicking opponents, while Diamond fighters demonstrate peak human potential — reflexes, strategic intelligence, and controlled use of special combat modes like Heat Mode or Predator Instinct.
Above them lies Obsidian tier — near-superhuman warriors who combine instinct, aura manipulation, and hybrid fighting techniques to dominate multiple opponents. Myth-tier fighters are superhuman, with reflexes, perception, and aura control so precise that they can copy techniques flawlessly and overwhelm even the elite. At the pinnacle is the Transcendent Omega tier, where instinct, intellect, and system growth merge into story-breaking, limitless potential.
---
Talent: The Heart of Growth
Talent governs how naturally a fighter can grow and adapt. While two individuals might share a similar power level, their talent dictates how quickly and efficiently they improve.
A Fragile or Weakling talent struggles to learn basic techniques, often relying on brute force and instinct alone. Learners have moderate intuition and can adapt to simple combat patterns, while Adepts pick up fighting styles and mimic opponents more effectively. Skilled fighters have instinctive reactions and minor aura perception, allowing for more control over abilities like Heat Mode. Elite talents combine exceptional perception, versatility, and intelligence, enabling controlled Predator Instinct, hybrid combos, and advanced strategy in battle.
Masters are near-perfect in instinct and aura manipulation, capable of invisible strikes and dominating multiple elites. Mythic talent elevates a fighter to superhuman status — flawless technique replication, battlefield control, and unmatched combat intuition. Transcendent talent fuses instinct, intellect, and system growth into ultimate creation, allowing fighters to spontaneously invent new techniques and manipulate the battlefield with unrivaled mastery.
---
Abilities and Combat Mechanics
The world blends realistic martial arts with fictional, high-tier abilities, reflecting both strategy and supernatural growth.
Heat Mode is the first ability most fighters encounter — a surge of strength, speed, and aggression triggered by anger, fear, or humiliation. Early on, it is unstable, often leaving the user reckless and vulnerable. With experience and talent, Heat Mode becomes controlled, combining raw power with precision, making the fighter a fearsome presence.
Ultra Instinct or Predator Instinct elevates combat beyond thought. Fighters act almost automatically, dodging and countering instinctively. Early stages produce partial instinct-based reactions, but as one ascends tiers, this ability merges with strategic intelligence, resulting in near-perfect combat foresight.
Copy Technique or Mimicry allows a fighter to observe and replicate an opponent's style. Beginners can copy simple moves after repeated exposure, while high-tier fighters replicate even the rarest martial arts flawlessly. Combined with Predator Instinct, this ability makes them unpredictable and extremely dangerous.
Invisible Strikes are attacks that opponents struggle to perceive, relying on speed, stealth, and aura control. Elite and Obsidian-tier fighters use this technique to dominate weaker opponents.
Hybrid Combos involve combining multiple martial arts styles into fluid, seamless attacks. Mastery of hybrid combos defines elite fighters, allowing them to flow through fights with precision and lethal efficiency.
Aura Manipulation grants fighters the ability to influence the battlefield psychologically. Lower-tier fighters feel intimidated or distracted by the presence of masters, while Myth-tier fighters can impose almost total control over perception and morale.
Finally, the system — unique to the MC — tracks experience, battles, and growth, granting stat boosts, unlocking new abilities, and accelerating development. It allows the MC to progress steadily from weak to god-tier, bridging the gap between human limits and mythic legends.
---
MC's Growth Journey
The MC starts at the lowest tier, fragile, clumsy, and bullied. He is raised away from his prestigious family, unaware of the legacy of the Yamazaki clan. His grandfather, the feared Yamazaki, is a martial legend, and his mother, sister of Shingen, carries her own lineage of skill and ruthlessness. His father married his mother seeking stability, but family conflict prevents him from enjoying a peaceful childhood.
At first, the MC struggles to survive, learning basic survival and self-defense. His talent is modest, and he has no abilities. But each failure and each fight plants the seeds of growth.
Through Steel-tier fights, he gains stamina, learns basic martial arts, and experiences the first uncontrolled surges of Heat Mode. Titanium-tier battles allow him to mimic opponents, develop basic instinctive responses, and learn countering techniques. As he reaches Diamond tier, he gains controlled Heat Mode, Predator Instinct, and the ability to blend styles efficiently. His mindset shifts from survival to calculated anti-heroism.
Obsidian-tier fights push him to near-superhuman levels. He masters invisible strikes, hybrid combos, and battlefield control, efficiently dominating multiple elite opponents at once. Myth-tier confrontations against legends like Gun, James Lee, and Goo test the limits of his talent and system growth, showing him the power gap between elite and god-tier fighters.
Finally, as a Transcendent Omega-tier, the MC achieves story-breaking power, merging instinct, intellect, and system growth into ultimate mastery. He invents new techniques mid-battle, manipulates opponents' perceptions, and moves with effortless perfection. His rise from weak, shadowed beginnings to the apex of power defines the story's central arc.
---
Fighting Styles Across Tiers
From clumsy brawling to fluid, hybrid techniques, each tier reflects the evolution of skill and instinct. Iron and Steel tiers rely on survival-based brawling, Titanium introduces adaptation and countering, Diamond emphasizes strategy and efficiency, Obsidian perfects deadly hybrid combat, Myth showcases flawless execution and aura dominance, and Transcendent Omega-tier embodies the ultimate fusion of instinct, intellect, and creativity.
---
Legends and Inspirations
The MC's journey is framed alongside legends like Gun, James Lee, Goo, and Daniel Park, whose skills, reputation, and aura set the benchmarks for high-tier growth. Their presence provides both a challenge and a narrative anchor, highlighting the MC's progression from weakling to anti-hero. The story also draws inspiration from Baki-style hybrid fighting, body conditioning, and endurance challenges, grounding fantastical abilities in a sense of realistic martial arts struggle.
---
Author's Note
Hey everyone,
This is my first time writing a novel, and Volume 0 is meant to give readers a complete understanding of the power system, talents, and abilities in Lookism: When a Weakness Turns Wicked.
The MC is reincarnated from the modern world, carries a growing system, and belongs to a complex family: grandfather Yamazaki, mother (Shingen's sister), and a father who married for stability. Despite his heritage, he begins weak, raised away from the clan, and must fight to survive in a world dominated by legends like Gun, James Lee, and Goo.
I'm using AI to help organize ideas, so expect mistakes or inconsistencies, which I will correct over time. Updates may be irregular, but I promise to finish the story. Feedback, suggestions, and comments are welcome — whether about fights, abilities, or story direction — because I want this to grow with readers who love Lookism.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Together, we'll explore a world where weakness is not the end, but the beginning of something wicked and unstoppable.