The rain soaked streets of Slumtown were unforgiving, but Kael had learned to be tougher. Every glance from the other kids was a reminder—he was the lowest of the low. Rank 0. The label itself made people scoff, jeer, and shove him around.
Kael wiped the grime from his face and glared at the largest boy in the alley.
"You think just because you're Rank 2 you can take my scraps?" Kael spat, his voice small but sharp.
The boy laughed. "Rank 0? You're barely human. Step aside, worm."
Kael's stomach sank, but he didn't move. Not yet. Patience was his weapon.
Then, everything changed.
A blinding light shot from nowhere, enveloping him in warmth and pain at the same time. The world around him blurred, and an interface appeared in front of his eyes, floating in midair like a ghostly screen.
[Reincarnation System – Activated]
Name: Kael
Rank: 0
Strength: 0
Agility: 0
Intelligence: 0
Luck: 0
Skills: None
Hidden Paths Detected
Kael blinked. "This… what the hell?"
The boy who had been mocking him froze mid-step, eyes wide. Kael felt a strange surge of energy—or maybe it was just hope. A voice echoed in his head:
"Lowest rank in history… yet hidden potential detected. Survival path unlocked."
The mocking boy didn't wait to see what happened next. He lunged forward, a knife glinting in the dim light. Kael's heart pounded, but he remembered the system's glow. He had nothing, yet… maybe that was an advantage.
Quickly, he grabbed a loose brick from the ground, swinging it just as the boy attacked. The knife clanged against the brick, and the attacker stumbled back, shocked. Kael didn't wait—he darted past the gang, weaving through puddles and broken carts.
[Quest Completed: Survive Your First Attack]
Reward: +1 Agility, +1 Intelligence
Kael stumbled to the top of a ruined wall and looked at the city sprawling below. Smoke rose from distant fires, and faint glimmers of other humans—Rank 5, Rank 10, Rank 20—moved through the chaos. The gulf between them and him seemed infinite.
He clenched his fists. His rank was zero. His strength was nothing. But Kael smiled, dark and sharp.
"I'll climb to the top," he whispered to the night. "Even if I have to break the rules of this world to do it."
And somewhere in the shadows, the system pulsed softly, as if acknowledging the beginning of a legend.