Filling a large bowl with plain white rice, Ryan added some chopped green chilies to it and silently began to eat.
Most of the people living in the slums survived under conditions similar to Ryan's, with barely any money to spare.
Being part of a gang, Ryan could definitely afford to eat something better than plain white rice.
But because he wanted to leave the slums someday, he had been saving every penny he could. He wasted nothing, even cutting down on his food expenses.
Ryan's parents were locals of the slums, born and raised there since childhood.
His father had died when Ryan was only four years old, passing away from a drug overdose.
In Ryan's memories, that man was nothing more than a drug-addicted bastard who used to beat both him and his mother.
Because of that, Ryan did not feel anything when the man died. In fact, he had even felt a little happy.
After that, he had been raised by his mother with great difficulty.
Unfortunately, three years ago, when he was thirteen, disaster struck and she also passed away, leaving him completely alone.
Whenever he recalled what had happened at that time, Ryan could not help but clench his fists, feeling both anger and helplessness rising within him.
After finishing his meal, Ryan washed his bowl and lay down on the wooden bed, which was covered with a simple mattress.
There was no window in the house, only a small hole in the side of the wall for air circulation.
In the slums, very few houses had windows because thieves and other people with bad intentions could easily enter the house through them.
Ryan silently lay on the bed, staring at the chipped ceiling of the room with deep, thoughtful eyes.
When the clock showed 11:59 PM, just one minute before the end of Year 710 and the beginning of Year 711, he stood up and opened the door, raising his head to look at the black moon hanging in the sky.
A few seconds later, the clock struck exactly twelve.
The Dark Moon Month ended, marking the beginning of the first month of the year, the Month of Freedom.
In the sky, the darkness that had covered the moon began to fade away and in less than a minute, the dark moon turned milky white, radiating a gentle light across the world.
The oppressive darkness that had blanketed everything silently disappeared, and the light of the stars and the moon finally reached the earth, illuminating what had previously been absolute darkness.
Even the air in the slums seemed to become slightly less putrid, and Ryan felt his fatigue slowly begin to fade.
Even the pain from his swollen arm subsided a little.
"With the end of the Dark Moon Month, the constant conflicts all across the slums will subside a bit, increasing my safety factor," Ryan muttered quietly.
He stared at the bright moon in the sky for several minutes before returning to his room.
He turned off the light and lay down on the bed to sleep, feeling slightly nervous yet full of anticipation.
'I don't desire anything earth-shattering. I just hope I succeed in awakening an Aspect. That alone will increase my chances of leaving this shitty place.'
Ryan closed his eyes and soon drifted into dreamland.
In his dream, he saw that he had awakened an incredibly powerful Aspect.
He had become unimaginably strong and was flying through the starry sky, heading toward the blazing sun as if he intended to swallow it whole.
Just as he was about to swallow the sun, a loud cry suddenly erupted, shattering the starry sky and destroying everything.
Ryan woke up with a start and the constant crowing of a rooster reached his ears, instantly darkening his expression.
Damn this bastard rooster!
It had stopped him from tasting the sun!
Ryan took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to fully wake up.
"If it wasn't because that rooster has a good owner whom I can't beat up, I would definitely have had chicken soup for breakfast," Ryan muttered in a low voice as he looked at the time.
It was only six in the morning, still some time away from the Awakening Ceremony.
"The Awakening Ceremony will start at nine. I still have three hours."
Ryan wondered whether he should try going back to sleep to see if he could have the same dream again and finally taste the sun.
But in the end, he decided to get up and head there early, as he was certain he would not be able to fall asleep again.
By the time Ryan freshened up and left his house, it was already seven o'clock.
As he walked along the street, Ryan noticed that most of the people he encountered seemed more cheerful than usual.
If he had to describe it, it felt as though the entire world had been in a bad mood before, and now everyone had finally gotten over that irritating time.
'Well, the Dark Moon Month really is the most annoying month of the year.'
Ryan bought two plain mix vegetable buns from a small bun stall for breakfast and continued walking while eating them.
About half an hour later, around 7:30 AM, he arrived at the central square of the slums where the Awakening Ceremony would be held.
Although there was still more than an hour left before the ceremony began, there were already many people gathered there.
Some had come to undergo their Awakening just like Ryan, while others had come simply to watch the event and see whether anyone would awaken a powerful Aspect.
Walking through the crowd, Ryan finally managed to see the middle of the central square.
Several people were standing there.
Unlike Ryan and the other residents of the slums, all of them wore neat clothes and carried an aura completely different from the people around them.
Three of them were working in the center of the square, drawing something on the ground.
'They must be carving an Awakening Formation there...' Ryan thought to himself as he watched curiously.
He had seen the Awakening Ceremony a few times before.
Since it was conducted every year on the first day of the Month of Freedom, he already had a basic understanding of how it worked.
'From what I know, Primal Energy exists everywhere in the world. But people can only sense it after awakening their Aspect.'
Ryan waited quietly at the side, and soon another hour and a half passed.
"Everyone line up!"
One of the men who had been setting up the formation earlier shouted loudly.
"Keep the identity token you received when you registered in your hand. Those who have not registered and are not participating in the Awakening Ceremony should move back."