The timer floated in my vision, mercilessly counting down.
[00:00:59] until activation.
One minute. Sixty seconds until I turned eighteen — the exact moment my system would finally activate.
Eighteen years. Eighteen long, miserable years since I reincarnated into this brutal, dog-eat-dog world where strength wasn't just important… it was your only fucking survival ID.
The only reason I still had any hope left in my chest was this damn system.
I sighed and scanned my pathetic excuse for a home — a leaking straw hut riddled with holes, rainwater dripping steadily onto the dirt floor. My only roommates were the same lively guests who visited every night: fat rats and cockroaches the size of my thumb.
Status:Rank Zero: Awakening Realm — 1 Star, Early Stage.
Absolutely fucking pathetic.
I grabbed the worn broomstick from the corner and greeted them warmly.
"Motherfuckers, get the hell out of my house!"
Swinging like a madman, I chased the little bastards around the cramped shack. The broom whistled through the air, but they dodged every single strike with humiliating ease. My arms burned. My breath turned ragged. After barely a minute, I collapsed onto the itchy straw bed in total defeat — the same miserable pile I'd slept on for all eighteen years of this second life.
Even now, the rats and cockroaches seemed to be mocking me. The second I stopped moving, their scampering grew louder, bolder, almost laughing at how weak I was.
Damn it… even the pests in this world are looking down on me.
I stared at the glowing countdown, heart pounding as the final seconds approached.
"Please… God, or whatever the hell is listening," I muttered bitterly. "Give me a useful system. I'm not begging for some broken OP cheat or instant max-level nonsense. Just something — anything — that can actually help me survive in this demons-and-magical-beasts-dominated hellhole. Because if this system is useless too… I'll just become another nameless piece of cannon fodder in the food chain."
Exactly one minute later, the system activated.
A soft chime rang inside my skull.
I let out a long, shaky sigh — not of disappointment, but pure fucking relief. Thank the heavens it didn't demand any star power to activate. If this thing had told me to go gather energy right now, I might as well have crawled into the nearest forest and let the magical beasts use me as a toothpick. That kind of death would've been too humiliating for any reincarnator worth his salt.
I didn't waste another second. I mentally commanded the system open.
A simple, clean white panel unfolded in my vision and started loading with a gentle pulse.
While it spun, I began praying again — whispering feverishly to any god that might actually exist in this nightmare world. Then I froze. Wait… I don't even know what gods are real here. Eighteen years and I still have no clue. Surviving alone had been brutal enough without divine drama. But screw it — I kept praying anyway.
A few minutes crawled by.
The panel finally finished loading.
The moment it fully materialized, my heart slammed against my ribs.
Two overwhelming divine options hovered before me, each one radiating power so vast my soul wanted to shrivel up and die.
On the left: Blessing of the Mother of Light. She was the living embodiment of serenity itself — pure, surreal light given form. Calm. Gentle. Heart-warming. Like being wrapped in the warmest mother's embrace, promising safety, peace, and salvation.
On the right: Blessing of the Mother of Darkness. She was death and oblivion incarnate. Her eyes were endless abysses — stare too long and you would forget your own name, your own existence, everything you had ever been. Pure, crushing darkness older than the stars.
My whole body started trembling uncontrollably. Not from excitement. From raw, soul-shattering pressure.
If the system hadn't been shielding me, I'm one hundred percent certain my body and soul would have already ripped apart just from being near them.
A blood-red timer appeared above the choices:
[00:00:10]
Ten seconds left.
I coughed violently. A thick mouthful of blood splattered across the dirty straw floor. Then it started pouring from my nose, both ears, and the corners of my eyes.
My instincts screamed at me to run, to reject everything, to get the hell out of here.
But not choosing would kill me for sure.
With every last scrap of strength and willpower I possessed, I raised my trembling hand. My finger moved toward the gentle light of the Mother of Light…
At the absolute last second, something deep inside me twisted.
I switched.
I slammed my choice onto the Mother of Darkness.
Everything went black.
My body and soul were violently ripped away from the physical world. I found myself floating helplessly in an endless, freezing Abyss — a void so deep and dark that even the concept of light seemed to have died here long ago.
A few minutes later — or what felt like an eternity floating in that endless freezing void — I jolted awake back inside my leaking straw hut.
I was completely naked, my ragged clothes nowhere to be seen. I didn't care.
My body felt… reborn. Light as a shadow. Every muscle lean and smooth, not bulky, but coiled with quiet power I'd never known. When I looked around the shabby room, I could see every single detail with crystal clarity — the individual strands of straw, the tiny cracks in the mud walls, the droplets of rainwater hanging from the ceiling like frozen jewels.
The rats and cockroaches that had mocked me for eighteen years now moved in slow motion. I could track every twitch of their whiskers, every scuttle of their legs. A savage grin split my face. One hundred percent confidence — I could slaughter every last one of them without breaking a sweat.
But something felt… off. They were suddenly way too lively, almost excited, like they could sense the monster that had just woken up in their territory.
Heart pounding, I yanked open the system panel.
The moment it appeared, my knees buckled and I almost passed out from pure ecstasy.
Abyss System
Name: Kael Voss
Level: Rank Zero: Awakening Realm — 1 Star, Early Stage
Lifespan: 100 years
Blessing: Mother of Darkness
Skills: None
Trait No. 1 – Shadow Veil At the same level, your stealth cannot be detected even by heaven-defying treasures or techniques.
Trait No. 2 – Abyss Sovereign At the same level, your combat power is INVINCIBLE. The only exception: a person who carries the Blessing of the Mother of Light can fight you on equal footing. Even they cannot kill you. Therefore — technically — you are untouchable.
Happy tears poured down my face uncontrollably. My whole body shook with joy.
"Oh man… thank you. Thank you, Mother of Darkness!" I whispered, voice cracking. "I swear on my life — no, I swear on the Mother of Darkness herself — I will never disgrace or dishonor you. This is my lifelong oath!"
The system panel flickered. Deep crimson letters burned across the dark void:
Oath registered.Mother of Darkness is satisfied.
Warning: If you ever break this oath and bring disgrace upon the Mother of Darkness, your soul will be eternally trapped inside the Abyss. You will slowly lose your sanity and become a mindless demon.
From this moment onward: Your only God is the Mother of Darkness. Your only home is the Abyss.
I gulped, throat suddenly dry with nervous awe. Then I nodded hard, eyes burning with conviction.
"Yes… yes! From this moment forward, the Abyss is my home and darkness is my eternal companion."
The system seemed to hum in approval at my sincere words. The panel pulsed once, the deep crimson text glowing brighter, more alive, like fresh blood on black velvet.