In the year 2107, humanity discovered a mysterious source of energy that allowed them to travel to far-off planets.
They called them 'Gates,' and this ushered the start of the next huge development era of humanity.
Beyond the gates, the planet zones were often very rich in natural resources. These zones even had an abundance of exotic plants and beasts which provided humanity with rare materials.
One of the most prominent discoveries of the time was made when a strange indestructible alter was found in an ancient ruin of one of the planets.
This alter allowed any human to undergo a tremendous genetic transformation only once. It allowed one to gain, without any known side-effects, increased lifespan and even special abilities akin to magic.
The benefits of the mysterious alter technology was so great that humanity, obviously, went crazy over it. Who in their right mind did not want to extend their lifespan after all?
In time, more identical alters kept popping which were found in other ancient ruins across these gates. These alters were found on masse and then brought back to Earth and human colonies. They slowly but steadily began to transform humanity as a whole.
People also soon began to realize that some people would mutate more of their genes and gain higher-tier abilities which had stronger power and also made their bodies stronger.
Moreover, their own descendants would also inherit the same or similar abilities.
Using these new-found abilities, humanity became more confident in battling beasts and other dangers found in the various gates.
It truly became an era for brave human pioneers…
Just when it looked like that nothing could stop humanity from rising to never before seen heights, everything changed when humanity was exploring the zone E-336 in the year 2128.
The frontier force of humanity encountered another humanoid species now known as the Insho race. Their builds were similar to humans except for their green, scaly skin and horns on their head.
After the first contact war, the Insho race attacked humanity in full force. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Insho race first took over various human colonies and then gradually came over to Earth from the gates that were first seen as hope for humanity.
A grueling war then ensued where billions of human lives were methodically sacrificed. Our ground troops bullets were incapable of penetrating the scaly skin of the race, while the Insho flying ships magic technologies were capable of intercepting nukes.
In the year 2143, when hope was bleak, the human race united under the immense pressure and was finally able to form an alliance that pushed back the Insho race. They did so by developing Geno skills that complemented and strengthened their abilities and, also, by adapting the artifact technologies from the Insho race.
A truce was then agreed between the two races which marked the beginning of a new tense era for humanity.
No one knew when either the war would restart or if we would encounter another hostile force. Eventually, the society was turned into one where the strong ruled the weak.
Children were given combat lessons upon entering middle-school and were then required to at least attend 2 years of military school at the age of 16. Their positions later in life were then based mostly on their combat ratings achieved in that ruthless school.
If a person had abilities with weak potential at the end of the day, they were discriminated upon and given the lowest jobs. They were seen as a burden in the military and even a stain in humanity's gene pool.
Was it cruel? Sure…
But the excuse the Alliance administration used was that they needed to strengthen humanity as a whole for the war.
The victim of this system was, mostly, bottom of the pyramid people who were born from poor parents with low-tier abilities.
No one could be blamed… They were just born unlucky…
Soren was an example of one such unlucky person…
He was just another orphan that was recovered from a planet overwhelmed by the beast tide. The government only provided him a small grant and agreed to pay for his schoolings and other expenses until adulthood.
Some people born with high ranked abilities awakened their abilities on their own around the age of 12, while most others had to rely on expensive 'GenZ potions' that were invented and manufactured after decades of research into alters and abilities.
These solutions were special in the regard that they helped a person feel his innate Geno force to stimulate awakening.
Soren's ability was too low ranked to awaken on its own, so he needed the help of such a potion.
The problem was that the market for GenZ was monopolized by the government who in turn sold them at ridiculous prices.
Unfortunately, how in the hell was an orphan like Soren supposed to purchase such an expensive item? An GenZ potion, even one manufactured and sold illegally in black markets, would cost a whopping $15,000.
This led him to be un-awakened and without ability throughout his life. He was the weakest existence in this society where strong ate the weak.
This being the harsh reality, Soren was heavily discriminated against.
He was beaten and bullied by his classmates more so than his peers. His lunch money was taken, and he was even put on the brink of death quite often.
Cruel? Sure… But it wasn't like he was dying, right?
If there was one good thing about this world, no matter how injured one was, the medical abilities were capable of bringing almost anyone back to life.
The nurse didn't even take more than ten minutes to heal Soren's critical injuries.
Of course, this fact encouraged bullies to go overboard. Even if Soren was somehow beaten until the point of being bed-ridden for a few days, it wouldn't be much of a problem.
In the end, it only happened to be an ability-less student…
The school administration also almost never stepped in any bullying cases. It was an in-build cruel mechanism of this school like many other schools which developed student's mentality.
They wanted their students to know that if they don't get stronger, they would be the ones to get bullied instead…
Students like Soren who didn't have many resources to get stronger were made desperate.
It was safe to say that Soren was on his last leg, both physically and mentally.
His only hope was to get into the military academy, where he may have been qualified to receive a GenZ potion and finally have an ability.
Well, these were only the problems of the past Soren…
**
A week passed by in the new world…
It was late at night. I was in my study room, reading a few articles on the internet about this world.
After going through Soren's memories, I realized that my circumstances were a bit more dire than I expected.
Unlike the previous Soren, I didn't attend school, where I would be targeted by bullies all day anyway.
I was no masochist and, more importantly, there were other priorities right now.
A sharp glean was present in my eyes as I moved my glance to the locket with the fiery pattern placed on my desk.
I finally located this locket today after desperately searching the storage room, where I felt like it was calling out to me.
It really didn't seem like a coincidence. This locket closely resembled the other one that got me transferred here.
Perhaps, I can find a way to transfer back to my previous world.
My old life was definitely more pleasant than Soren's.
"Okay, here we go…"
Using a sharp-blade, I cut my finger and let a few of my blood droplets on to the locket.
I impatiently waited and stared at the locket with my pupils dilated.
…
And…
Absolutely nothing happened.
I grimaced and had my head turn a little red in embarrassment.
Not getting any results despite doing something so Chunibyo was truly disappointing.
Just as I was about to try something else, the words on top of the locket began to glow with blue light once again. I didn't have much time to react, as a painful headache began to overcome me.
"Arrggh!!!"
Soon the pain overtook my entire body. It was a pain unlike any other I've had. It seemed much worse than the pain Soren received when he was beaten by his bullies.
I hoped I would faint but that never happened…
I could only grit my teeth and endure through the unimaginable torture.
…
In due time, the pain gradually receded. With sweat still running all over my body, I slowly moved myself from the floor. Then, I hurriedly began to search for the locket once again.
I was unable to locate it anymore and couldn't help but frown, until…
[Host acknowledged….]
A string of text kept flashing past my eyes.
[System synchronization Initiated… 5%... 20%... 100%]
[System synchronization completed…]
I just stood there, dazed by the amazing phenomena.
[Displaying Stats…]
[Name: Soren
Race: Human
Level: 1 (0/300)
Stats -->
Constitution: 13
Agility:12
Intelligence:10
Unassigned points: 10
Skills -->
(None)
Abilties -->
(None)
Quests -->
Daily Quest (0/30): Preparing to get strong; Perform 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 sit-ups, and 10 km run. Reward: 3 stat points, 100 xp]
"What the…"
I blurted, still completely unsure of what was happening.
After pondering over it for a bit, I immediately associated this screen to the RPG's I used to play in my high school days.
With my heart thumping faster and faster, I calmly said, "Assign 5 points to Constitution and Agility"
In a few moments, suddenly, a sharp burn occurred throughout my body.
I gritted my teeth and withstood the pain, Fortunately, it was nothing compared to the previous pain.
'It is all going to be worth it,' I believed.
Soon the burn subsided, and I slowly analyzed myself.
Nothing felt too different, apart from the stats on my screen now flickering: 'Constitution: 18' and 'Agility: 17'.
It only felt that way until I lifted weights to test my new capabilities.
The same weights that the previous Soren Cane found moderately heavy felt much lighter to me. While doing the same exercises, my breath also almost never ran out.
I also felt that I was more balanced and felt more in control of my body.
It seemed like Constitution increased a body's strength and fitness, while agility made one nimbler and more coordinated.
If my guess was right, my body was now at least as strong as a few lower rank ability users at my age.
I happened to notice another ridiculous benefit of the transformation after I saw the mirror.
My looks had been somewhat altered; my height had grown from 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet. In addition, my facial features had become a little sharper and more symmetrical. Even my dark black hair looked shinier and healthier.
It didn't understand why the system made me more handsome, but it wasn't like I was complaining.
At any rate, the amount of excitement I felt could not be expressed with words right now. I felt like I finally had the assets I needed to enjoy this new world.
The lingering thought of returning to the previous world was put in the back of mind for now.
Once again, observing the daily quest tab of my status screen and its sweet rewards, an evil grin formed on my face.
It seemed so that my future enemies were going to have some trouble.
**
Days began to pass by quickly…
I was still not attending school at all.
Despite living a life of a hikimori though, I was having great fun.
Getting three stat points for doing a simple exercise routine was the best deal ever. The feeling of experiencing my body grow stronger with minimal effort was addicting.
I would laugh like mad every time I got the daily quest completion. 'You might as well give these points to me freely, system!'
Occasionally, I would also get a notification.
It would make me feel even happier, since levelling up assigned a total of five stat points.
I felt like, eventually, all I would need is cool gear to make my character into a stat monster.
While this was going on, one or two school authorities had tried to reach me.
I, of course, completely ignored them. This was because going to school seemed like a waste of time.
For these reasons, I continued my simple routine for another 30 days.
At the 30th day though, a crazier thing happened to me.
…
"98…. 99… 100!"
Another set of hundred push-ups were completed. Finally, the notification I was waiting for popped up again.
Feeling pure ecstasy, I once again began assigning points to myself.
It was at that moment, something exceptional happened. The strange notification once again flashed past my eyes.
< 'Preparing to get strong' quest completed. Beginning awakening process!
Cold manipulation ability detected…. Compatibility 86%
Glowing Brighter ability detected…. Compatibility 99%
Monkey Tail ability detected… compatibility 98%
Dark manipulation ability detected… compatibility 82%
Fusion ability Dark Cold manipulation available… compatibility 77%
Please choose your ability...! >
My lips pursed in heavy concentration. 'Is this talking about awakening my ability… Does this system have the power to do something this crazy…? Which one is the best ability anyway?'
In due time, I conjectured that Soren's ancestors had all these abilities, perhaps with weak potential. I basically contained diluted genes from all these abilities.
The system somehow had given me the option to amplify and choose the ability I preferred.
The power in some of those abilities didn't sound too bad. Of course, the rank of those abilities was more important since their growth in the long term mattered more.
The fusion, Dark cold, seemed to be the best. Yet I wasn't sure if the lower compatibility would lead to a lower rank.
"God damn it! Give me more information, system!"
The system gave no reply to my plea. With a sigh of resignation, I made my choice.
"Choose Dark Cold Manipulation!"
It was a little risky but seemed to be the one with the highest reward. I was mainly hoping the system could overcome any limitation of rank for the ability.
"Arrgh…!'
Soon I felt the same pain that my body had slowly gotten used to. It seemed like something like this would always accompany me whenever the system was modifying my body.
Not that I was complaining too much…
Anyone would be willing to go through some pain if it was a guaranteed to make you stronger.