Around three year ago, the world changed.
The thing that was portrayed in numerous manga series became reality and interdimensional portals started appearing on earth.
Suddenly, on a normal summer day, this tragic catastrophe changed the world.
Out of these portals came beings, weird creatures and monsters who wreaked havoc on earth.
To a certain extent humanity could combat these monsters with modern weaponry and technology, but humanity could not handle certain monsters with extraordinary strength, size or speed.
In this sudden event, the world could not prepare well enough for the horror of that day, which is now known as 'the day of carnage', where more than 10% of humanity had lost their lives on that day alone.
The days after that weren't much better, the only positive thing that could be said for those days are that it was 'more survivable' than the day of carnage.
A week of fighting and despair had passed, but suddenly one day when it looked like all hope had been lost, a phenomenon happened, which allowed humans to combat the monsters.
This phenomenon is known by humanity as the day of [God's Gift].
This 'Gift' gave people strength beyond human capabilities, almost in the style of a game where people could see a hologram like [status window], which displayed their physical attributes and other information.
In this event certain people received a [class] to better combat the monsters, some got a fighting class like a swordsman, archer or mage and there were even non-combat classes like blacksmiths and alchemists.
With this newfound strength, humanity could hold the monsters back and they could even go on the offensive.
And finally, after 1 year of fighting, almost all of the monsters that had invaded earth were defeated and the interdimensional portals were managed well and there weren't a lot of portal outbreaks.
Life seemed pretty normal and stable again after only one year. It is said that humanity is so flexible and can adept to almost every situation, and apparently the appearance of monsters through interdimensional portals is one of them.
But how could everyone go around acting like nothing ever happened? There are still interdimensional portals where worlds with monsters are on the other side and everyday humans have now become hunters, fighting these monsters.
My whole world got turned upside down. Both my parents passed away, no, were killed by those monsters…
Life used to be so good. Me, Yasuo, a 15 year old boy, freshman in school. I had lots of friends I could hang out with and could always come home to a deliciously cooked dinner from mom and dad.
I even had good grades and was aiming for a good university, but that is all useless now.
Because of the threat of the interdimensional portals and the valuable resources that can be found in the portals, the economy of the world has become so cantered around portals, monsters and everything around it that it isn't even worth it to enter a good university.
And even if I wanted to get into a university or have a normal job, I just couldn't anymore… not after what those monsters did to humanity and my parents.
I want to become a 'hunter'.
And luckily I can actually become qualified to be a 'hunter', because I am a [Gifted].
A [Gifted] person refers to someone who received [God's Gift], and is someone who could become an [awakened] and gets granted powers and a class.
The difference between a [Gifted] and an [Awakened] is nothing special. The only thing that sets them apart is that an [awakened] actually has received powers and a class after they were [gifted].
The [Gifted] are selected to gain power, but they will only become an [awakened] when they meet a certain condition.
'Awakening' is just thought of as a verification feature provided by god to give the [Gifted] the choice if they actually want this power and become an [Awakened]. Because not everyone who received [God's Gift] wants to gain power and a [Gifted] person is not any different or stronger than a normal person.
Actually, awakening is as simple as just swinging a sword if you have the [Swordsman] class or hitting a piece of metal with a hammer if you have the [Blacksmith] class.
Or so it should have been...
So why is it that I can't get awakened?
I have received [God's gift] to become a non-combat class, the craftsman class [Rune Master], where you only need to write a rune on a piece of paper to become an awakened.
So why doesn't it work for me?
Every single time a holographic message pops up [Rune Failed]
I draw a rune on a piece of paper every day
[Rune Failed]
Hundreds of times a day I try
[Rune Failed]
Hoping that it works
[Rune Failed]
I went to specialized classes
[Rune Failed]
I got an awakener teacher
[Rune Failed]
I spent almost all the money that my parents left for me to try and awaken, but still the only thing that I saw was that damned hologram popping up.
[Rune Failed]
[Rune Failed]
[Rune Failed]
[Rune Failed]
[Rune Failed]
[Rune Failed]
[Rune Failed]
But I can't just give up.
As I dip my brush into the mana infused ink to draw another rune on a piece of paper, like a daily routine, I notice that I ran out of paper.
'Ah, you got to be kidding. I already put [mana ink] on my brush.' Is what Yasuo thought, knowing that [mana ink] is expensive and that he almost has no money left.
Yasuo decides to not waste the mana ink and begins to draw [rune] on his forearm.
From the thousands of times that Yasuo had drawn runes, it had become like a work of art. Once he lifted his brush from his forearm, the rune was complete and looked like a beautiful tattoo.
Suddenly, a bright light radiated from the finished rune, blinding Yasuo.
'Will this finally be the time I awaken?' thought Yasuo full of hope and anticipation.
The light quickly went away, but nothing happened.
Yasuo began to question what just happened and doubted if it even happened in the first place.
'There isn't a rune on my forearm, did I dream it all?'
Yasuo didn't get awakened.
He didn't even get the notification [Rune Failed] that he had seen too many times.
Just nothing, like it didn't even happened.
'I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, runes can't be drawn on the body. They can only be drawn on objects and equipment.' Yasuo thought, feeling disappointed.
That feeling of sadness didn't last long for Yasuo, as he quickly cheered up, determined to become an awakened. 'Welp, that means I have to go and buy more paper'
Yasuo heads outside of his room and walks to the shop to get more paper to try and awaken.
On his way there, he suddenly hears distant screams and sees people running away from something.
Between those unintelligible screams Yasuo could hear a lady screaming "Monsters are in the city!"
'That could only mean one thing' thought Yasuo. 'An unexpected dungeon outbreak must have happened, causing monsters to flow into the busy city'
Yasuo slowly started walking backwards, but kept his eyes in the directions of the chaos. In the distance, Yasuo spots a green monsters.
'Those must be [Goblins]' A relatively weak monster, with strength compared to an adult male with low intelligence.
Yasuo is only a [gifted], so he is just like a normal person, just a child. He couldn't possibly fight them.
'I need to run away.'
This was the only thought in Yasuo's head and he decides to run as fast as he can away from the monsters.
Looking over his shoulder he sees a young boy motionless in fear, with a goblin in the distance looking at the boy.
The previous thought of Yasuo to run away, which was the only thought in his head, immediately vanished.
'I need to save that little boy'. This had now become the only thought in Yasuo's head, who was reminded of the time he was in the same situation when he saw his parents being killed by monsters and unable to do anything.
With no plan in mind and filled with pure adrenaline, Yasuo starts running towards the little boy as fast as he can.
'I can't make it' Yasuo thought, with the goblin now also running straight towards the kid.
Yasuo started to think about what he could do, but nothing seemed possible. There was no time to pick the kid up and run away and there was no way he could defeat the goblin.
The closer Yasuo got to the little boy, the more clear it became that the goblin and Yasuo would arrive at the exact same time.
Without a plan in mind, just with pure determination to save the child, Yasuo jumps towards the kid and embraces him as tightly as possible.
*Slash*
Yasuo heard something happen, but he had his eyes closed shut and he didn't feel anything.
Slowly opening his eyes, Yasuo sees a dagger pierced through his hand from the goblin's attack.
Filled with adrenaline, Yasuo couldn't feel the pain from being stabbed through the hand with a dagger and time seems to have slowed down.
Yasuo looks at the his hand, pierced by the dagger in utter shock and disbelief.
Thoughts started to fill Yasuo's mind. 'Is this how it will all end?'
Yasuo saw the little boy running away as fast as he could. 'Maybe this isn't even so bad, I'm just glad the little boy is okay.'
Yasuo had entered a state of serenity, just looking around in a world that seemed to have slowed down.
He sees a stream of blood slowly flowing from his hand, which was pierced by the dagger, down to his forearm.
'Hmm, that looks strange' Yasuo thought calmly.
Looking at the blood running down his forearm, it seems like it was forming a pattern.
'That looks like the pattern of the rune I just drew this morning. I must be hallucinating.' was what Yasuo thought, which made him chuckle.
Suddenly his forearm began to glow.
A beautiful blue rune formed on his forearm, precisely like the one Yasuo drew in the morning.
A notification popped up, different from the usual holographic message.
[Rune Successful]
A blue sphere started forming around Yasuo pushing away the goblin that stabbed him.
This sphere continued to grow at a fast rate of speed to over fifty meters in diameter, pushing away only the goblins in his path, leaving every person unharmed.
"Aahhhhhhhhhhhh" Yasuo screamed out from his whole body suddenly being in excruciating pain and fell to his knees.
His eyelids felt heavy and he slowly began to lose his sight.
The last thing he saw before completely losing his consciousness was, what looked like, a male and female hunter running towards him out of concern.
A smile formed on Yasuo's face as he fell to the ground. 'I'm glad the kid will be okay' was what Yasuo thought as he fully lost consciousness.