Part 1: The Boy Who Shouldn't Awaken
Blackthorn Dungeon, Sublevel 4
[Class E – Collapse State: Critical]
Riven Kael was bleeding out on the stone floor.
His vision blurred. His limbs trembled. Every breath felt like it came with a knife in the ribs.
All around him, the corpses of his squad lay scattered—mangled, torn, forgotten.
The dungeon had turned against them.
The team healer was the first to run. The tank died second. The rest screamed.
Riven, a statless reject brought in to carry loot, was the only one left.
And the monster was still coming.
It was massive—four arms, obsidian skin, fangs like spears. An elite dungeon boss that had no right showing up on this floor.
Its presence crushed the air. Its roar shattered nearby crystal veins.
Riven crawled.
Not to escape.
To reach the broken sword lying next to a fallen Hunter.
His fingers touched the hilt.
And then the world paused.
[Vital Threshold Breached: 3%]
[User State: Fatal]
[System Override Engaged…]
A cold wind blew through the dungeon.
Riven blinked.
[Initiating Unbound Awakening Sequence…]
[Analyzing Soul Fragment…]
[Core Status: Compatible]
[Unique Class Acquisition in Progress]
Then the voice came.
Not in sound—but directly into his mind.
"You are not meant to die here, Riven Kael."
"Would you like to awaken?"
He should've been afraid.
He wasn't.
"I want to live," he whispered.
[Confirmed]
[User Riven Kael – New Class Assigned]
[Class: Shadow Reaver]
[Rank: ???]
[System: Unbound]
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Step]
[Skill Acquired: Essence Drain]
[Passive Trait Unlocked: Stat Growth – No Cap]
A second later, everything around him accelerated.
He could see the monster's next step before it happened.
His fingers moved on instinct.
The blade came up—shadows coiling around it like serpents.
He vanished.
The boss roared in confusion.
Then Riven reappeared behind it—and drove the broken sword into the base of its skull.
Black blood exploded like a geyser.
The monster staggered—
—and fell.
[Boss Eliminated – XP Gained: 2,940]
[Level Up! Lv. 1 → Lv. 3]
[Stat Points Available: +12]
[System Notice: Hidden Potential Detected]
[Would you like to access your Status Window?]
Riven stood in silence, his hand shaking—not from fear…
…but from the power surging in his body.
A second ago, he was dead.
Now?
He was just getting started.
Part 2: The Awakening No One Saw Coming
[Status Window – Accessed]
A translucent screen materialized in front of him, glowing faintly in the dark.
[RIVEN KAEL]
Level: 3
Class: Shadow Reaver [Unbound Class]
Title: None
HP: 470 / 470
MP: 180 / 180
Strength: 15
Agility: 22
Vitality: 14
Perception: 19
Intelligence: 12
Unspent Stat Points: 12
[Trait Active: Growth Unbound]
→ You do not have a level cap. Your class evolves through real-world combat mastery.
→ Skills have no acquisition limit. Stat scaling is exponential.
[New Skill Slot Available – Choose One:]
Void Dash – Short-range blink in any direction. Ignores terrain.
Shadow Rend – Slashing strike enhanced by dark element. Moderate damage.
Phantom Guard – 3-second reflex shield formed from essence. Absorbs 1 hit.
Riven stared for half a second.
"Void Dash."
[Skill Acquired: Void Dash]
The screen shimmered, then disappeared.
Around him, the dungeon began to collapse—walls cracking, crystals exploding as if the boss's death had unsealed a deeper corruption.
He grabbed a fallen Guild satchel, looted two mid-grade potions, and ran.
And for the first time in his life—
He moved faster than the world.
Minutes Later – Sector 4 Escape Tunnel
A hidden route.
Old.
Collapsed.
Crawling with low-level beasts too weak to challenge him now.
He moved like a phantom—blade coated in shadows, dashing between monsters like a blur. Each kill gave him more XP. More strength.
[Kill: Lurking Fangbeast – XP Gained: 320]
[Level Up! Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]
[Kill: Bonecrawler Alpha – XP Gained: 600]
[Level Up! Lv. 4 → Lv. 5]
He didn't even stop to celebrate.
He was alive. But he wasn't safe.
Not yet.
He turned the corner of a broken tunnel—
And stopped.
Because someone was already standing there.
A girl.
About his age.
Dressed in tactical armor with silver-blue edges. A long saber sheathed at her back. Cold eyes. Long black hair. A faint mist of frost around her boots.
She didn't look surprised to see him.
She looked… ready.
"Move," Riven said.
She didn't.
"Didn't expect a survivor," she said coolly. "Especially not a Rank Zero."
"You tracking the collapse?"
"I was sent to investigate. And kill anything that crawled out of it."
She stepped forward.
"You're not registered. No Guild ID. No official class logs. You're either a system error… or something worse."
Riven didn't blink.
"I'm neither."
"Then prove it."
A sharp wind gathered around her.
[Scanning: Unknown Individual]
[System Class Detected: Icewrought Blade – Rank C+]
[Skill Active: Cold Veil – Defensive aura]
Name: Lyra Veyne
Threat Level: Moderate – High if provoked.
Riven sighed.
"I don't want to fight you."
"Then stop looking like a monster."
He stepped forward—and vanished.
Void Dash.
She reacted instantly—blade drawn, ice blooming from her feet, a flash of blue steel—
Riven appeared behind her, just outside range.
No strike.
No attack.
Just control.
"Still think I'm a monster?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"…Maybe."
She lowered her blade.
"Or maybe you're just the most interesting thing to crawl out of that dungeon in a year."
She reached into her coat and pulled out a shard.
A communicator crystal.
"This is the part where I report you."
Riven tensed.
Then she crushed it underfoot.
"But I didn't see anything tonight."
He stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because I've seen what happens to people who break the system's rules."
She looked at him, eyes sharp as razors.
"They get hunted."
Then she turned to leave.
Riven called after her.
"Lyra, right?"
She paused.
"Riven Kael," he said. "I owe you one."
She gave him a half-smile over her shoulder.
"Then don't die before you repay it."
And just like that, she was gone.
[Outside – Blackthorn City Perimeter]
Riven slipped through the emergency breach gates just before the scan system rebooted.
No alarms.
No questions.
No recognition.
Just another face in the crowd.
And yet…
[Level: 5]
[XP to Next Level: 1,940]
[Available Stat Points: +10]
[New Skill Slot Unlocked – Pending]
He looked up at the city skyline—Guild towers, zone scanners, flying patrols.
He was weak now.
But that would change.
The system had chosen him.
The world would learn to fear him.
And before this was over, they'd all remember the name—
Riven Kael.