The air at the National Awakening Center was thick with the smell of nervous sweat and ozone. Thousands of people had gathered, lined up in rows that stretched across the concrete plaza. For most, this was a day of hope the day they might be chosen by the "System" to become the saviors of humanity. For Siyan, it was a graveyard that hadn't been dug yet.
"Siyan, look at all these people," his mother said, clutching her purse tightly as she looked around the massive stadium. "Do you think you really have a chance? I heard they only take the best."
"Don't worry about that, Mom," Siyan said, his voice flat. "Just stay in the designated 'Family Zone' near the north exit. Do not move from there until I come find you. No matter what sounds you hear, do not go toward the mall."
Hana looked up at him, her brow furrowing. "You're being really bossy today, Siyan. Are you scared?"
'Sigh...'
He watched them walk toward the seating area, his eyes tracking them until they were safely behind the reinforced glass of the spectator wing. Once they were out of sight, the mask he had been wearing for the last hour shattered. His face went cold, his eyes turning into flint.
Siyan turned toward the "Aspirant" line, where the future hunters were being processed. As he walked, he saw him.
Standing near the front of the VIP line was a young man with blonde hair and a confident, arrogant smirk. He was wearing high-end athletic gear that cost more than Siyan's apartment. It was Park. The same man who, ten years from now, would be the "Hero" of the Iron Fist Guild. The same man who would order Siyan's legs to be broken so he could escape a dungeon with a bag of gold.
Right now, Park was just a nineteen-year-old kid with a silver spoon in his mouth, laughing with a group of other wealthy aspirants. He hadn't even awakened yet, but he already walked like he owned the world.
'There you are.'
Siyan didn't realize he was doing it, but his heart rate slowed down to a rhythmic, deadly crawl. A dark, suffocating pressure began to radiate from his body. It wasn't mana he didn't have any yet. It was pure, unadulterated killing intent honed through a decade of seeing friends eaten by monsters and being treated like a dog.
The air around Siyan seemed to drop several degrees. People in the crowd began to shiver, looking around with confused, panicked expressions. They didn't know why, but they suddenly felt like they were standing in the shadow of a mountain that was about to collapse.
Park stopped laughing. He frowned, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around the plaza. His eyes scanned the crowd, eventually landing on Siyan. He didn't recognize Siyan they hadn't met in this timeline yet but his instincts, the ones that would eventually make him a high ranker, screamed at him to run.
"Hey, you okay, Park?" one of his friends asked, noticing his sudden paleness.
"Yeah... I don't know," Park muttered, his voice trembling slightly. "I just got the weirdest chill. Like something just stepped on my grave."
Siyan didn't look away. He stared directly into Park's soul, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists.
'You have no idea what's coming for you. I'm not waiting ten years to pay you back. I'm going to dismantle everything you love, piece by piece.'
The crimson screen of the system flickered to life in Siyan's peripheral vision, pulsing in time with his rage.
[Warning: Excessive Killing Intent Detected.]
[Synchronizing with Host's Malice...]
[Potential detected. Demon God System is accelerating the Awakening process.]
The sky above the stadium groaned. A low, thunderous sound vibrated through the ground, making the pavement crack. People looked up, gasping as the clear blue sky began to bleed a dark, bruised purple. The first Gate was opening early.
Siyan felt a surge of heat erupt from the base of his spine, spreading through his veins like molten lead. It was the feeling of his mana circuits being forcibly ripped open by the system. It was agony, but he didn't scream. He welcomed it.
"Next!" a government official shouted over the growing roar of the wind. "Siyan! Step up to the resonance stone!"
Siyan walked forward, his eyes never leaving Park, who was now stumbling back in fear as the wind picked up.