I woke up in the middle of the day, slumped over my desk. Must've fallen asleep working on the stupid school project again. My neck ached, my eyes burned. I dragged myself toward the bathroom to splash some water on my face —
—and then I heard it.
My father's drunken yelling. Again.
A familiar pit formed in my stomach. He promised—he swore—he wouldn't drink today. Today, of all days. The day my mother and older brother died because of him. Because he got behind the wheel wasted.
Rage welled up inside me. I stormed out of the bathroom, confronted him, shouted, but what was the point? He stared at me through blurry eyes, slurring his nonsense like always. Nothing I said mattered.
I turned to leave—
That's when I heard it. A sound. Low, wrong, unreal.
"...What the hell was that?" I muttered, scanning the room.
That's when I saw it.
A black figure, floating inches above the ground—no legs, no face, just hunger in the shape of shadow. It drifted toward me with an unnatural silence, and then—
Something snapped. In me.
A blade formed in my hand. I didn't question it.
My father didn't see a thing. He just looked at me like I had lost it—while I cut through the nightmare beasts swarming the room. Fast. Precise. My body moved on instinct. Each swing clean. Each kill silent.
Then... silence.
I collapsed to one knee, the exhaustion hitting me all at once. My vision blurred—until a sound, sharp and metallic, echoed in my head. A notification.
I looked down for my phone, but I didn't need to.
The message hovered in the air, dead center in my vision. Glowing, undeniable.
[Awaken?
Yes / No]
I stared at it, breathless. My pulse thundered in my ears.
I didn't know what it meant. But I didn't care.
I hit Yes.
Instantly, everything changed. My mind cleared. My body… surged. Not just refreshed—stronger. Faster. Sharper.
More messages appeared, filling the air around me like stars.
„STATUS WINDOW:
[Azriel Draeger]
Class: The Harbinger Blade
Rank: ★★★★★★★ (7-Star)
Level: 2
STATS:
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 11
Agility: 10
Mana: 3
SKILLS:
• Strength Absorbment
→ Absorb all stats and skills of one of the Nine 7-Star beings upon their death.
• Body Transformation
→ Temporarily enhances Strength, Dexterity, and Agility. Visible changes may occur.
• Phantom Reflex
→ Greatly increases reaction time during high-adrenaline states. Can trigger subconsciously.
• Blade Manifestation
→ Summons a personal weapon forged from will and latent energy. Cannot be disarmed.
• Instant Teleportation
→ Teleports you to any location you know the name of and have seen before.
TITLES:
• The First
→ Bonus: +10% stat growth rate; immune to awakening backlash
→ Description: Given to the first being to awaken. Your power is the blueprint for all that follow.
• Survivor of Shadow
→ Bonus: +10% resistance to fear and darkness-based skills
→ Description: You faced the unseen when no one else could. The void remembers you.
HIDDEN TRAITS:
Unbound Core {passive}
→ Your soul resists containment. Stat ceilings and class limits may not apply to you.
Bonus: +5% stat scaling across all attributes. Unknown potential locked."
After seeing my stats, a new message appeared before my eyes — granting me access to the identities of the other eight 7-star heroes.
Of course, I was confused, I had thought I was alone. But now I knew there were others like me.
I wanted to find them, and hopefully forge strong alliances, after all it was now or never..