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Lucas sat on the edge of a crumbling building, his hands grimy from a day's labor. The sun set behind the city, casting long shadows that offered no comfort. His muscles ached, not from fighting monsters but from hauling concrete and steel. It was a far cry from the life he had envisioned when he first awakened as a hunter three years ago.Alejandro had long lost interest in Lucas's stagnating progress. In the three years since Lucas's awakening, his abilities had plateaued at mid-F-rank, a disappointing rise from low F-rank, leaving Alejandro disillusioned.
Without Alejandro's protection, Lucas found himself ostracized within the guild. The bullying was relentless—whispered insults in the hallways and blatant beatings disguised as training became unbearable. The final straw came when his F-rank raiding team was disbanded. Three of his teammates ascended to D-rank, leaving him with only Carl and Javier.
Their small team had become a shadow of its former self, wandering from one gate entrance to another in search of any opportunity for entry. They scoured intraweb forums, hoping to find teams willing to accept lower-ranked hunters, but their efforts were in vain. Most guilds ignored their pleas, deeming them too weak to contribute meaningfully. Occasionally, they joined forces with other freelancing F or E-rank hunters, but these alliances were fleeting and often ended in disappointment.
To survive, Lucas and his remaining teammates took on construction jobs in town. The physical labor was grueling, but it provided the necessary income to cover the upkeep of their worn-out gear and the mounting hospital fees from their frequent injuries during raids.
Without the backing of a powerful guild or the respect of their peers, life was a constant struggle. Most F-rank hunters had abandoned gate diving altogether, and those who remained were harsh and unforgiving. E-ranks, in particular, treated them like expendable slaves, taking all the loot and leaving them with scraps—or worse, outright robbing them.
...
FOUR YEARS LATER
Lucas sat in the small, cluttered apartment he shared with Carl and Javier, the weight of four grueling years pressing down on him like a giant boulder. The dim light from the single bulb flickered slightly, and a fly buzzed around it, casting erratic shadows on the peeling walls. He glanced at his reflection in the cracked mirror—his face hardened by exhaustion and scarred by countless battles, both physical and emotional.
His arm, once rendered nearly useless, was now mostly healed thanks to his friends' sacrifices, but the strain of it all was evident in every line etched into his skin. Carl and Javier had become more than just teammates; they were his brothers in arms, his only real family in this unforgiving world.
When he had nearly lost the use of his arm last year, they hadn't hesitated to take out massive loans to pay for the C-rank healer needed to restore its mobility. That act of loyalty and friendship had saved him from a life of disability, but it had also plunged them deeper into debt, worsening their already precarious situation.
Now, they were more broke than ever. Gate diving was supposed to be their way out, but instead, it had driven them further into the ground. All three of them were working two jobs on top of their gate dives, desperately trying to make ends meet and pay off the crippling debt that loomed over their heads like a guillotine.
Lucas's body was on the verge of breaking down completely, riddled with injuries that Javier, now a mid-E-rank healer, struggled to mend. Despite Javier's growing abilities, they weren't enough to keep pace with the toll their grueling lifestyle exacted.
Carl had managed to advance to a low E-rank—a small victory amid their overwhelming struggles. But Lucas remained a mid-F-rank, stagnant and frustrated. No matter how hard he pushed himself or how fiercely he fought, his growth had stalled, and the shame of it gnawed at him constantly.
The guilt of being the weakest link in their trio weighed heavily on him. He could see the pity in their eyes, even though they never voiced it—Carl and Javier were getting stronger, slowly but surely, while he felt trapped in place. This frustration, this burning desire to be more, had driven him to a desperate decision.
Without telling his friends, Lucas plunged once more into the mist that clouded his consciousness, the mysterious barrier that had haunted him since his awakening. It was a reckless gamble that nearly cost him his life. The last time he had attempted it, he had been out cold for two weeks. This time, he slipped into a coma that lasted an entire month.
...
When he finally awoke, weak and disoriented, Carl and Javier were there. The sterile scent of the hospital room hit him hard, and a sinking realization washed over him: he had become a burden to them once again. They scolded him thoroughly, but their silence regarding the hospital bills spoke volumes. The fear and relief in their eyes twisted a knife in his gut; he didn't deserve such good friends.
Lucas had found something beyond the mist, but it wasn't the breakthrough he had hoped for. Instead of answers, he was met with golden symbols and shapes surrounding the name of his skill—*Second Life*—symbols that made no sense and didn't match any language or symbolism that had ever existed on Earth.
It felt as if the universe were mocking him, dangling hope just out of reach, only to snatch it away at the last moment. He spent every spare moment researching, poring over ancient texts, obscure references, and anything that might help him decipher the meaning of those symbols. Yet every lead ended at a dead end, and every effort met with failure.
Despair began to seep into the cracks of his resolve, causing his determination to fracture under the strain. His body was breaking, his mind fraying, and he was dragging his friends down with him. The thought of being a burden—the reason they couldn't escape their fate—was almost more than he could bear. If he weren't with them as E-rank hunters, they wouldn't be rich, but at least they wouldn't be wallowing in this quicksand-like debt alongside him.
...
One evening, after another long, exhausting day of work and fruitless research, Lucas sat alone in the darkened apartment. Carl and Javier were out working their night shifts, leaving him with only his thoughts for company. He stared at the piece of paper in front of him, covered in frantic scribbles—symbols, notes, theories—none of it made any sense.
He buried his face in his hands, the ache in his heart almost unbearable. For the first time in a long while, tears welled up in his eyes, and he let them fall. He was losing hope, losing himself in this endless cycle of struggle and defeat. First, he lost his father, then his mother. He endured abuse in an orphanage and suffered beatings from every adult in his life. Now, he felt as if he was losing his future, being beaten down by fate itself.