In 2010, the world was shaken by the appearance of portals across the globe. Bloodthirsty creatures started crossing these portals to invade the world. Humanity was briefly plunged into chaos for several days. Modern weapons, even nuclear ones, were ineffective against these monsters. However, the arrival of these creatures unleashed an unknown power into this world. This power was later called Mana.
Mana transcended humanity by granting superhuman abilities. We entered an era when a grandmother could lift a car with one arm, where a child could engulf a city by summoning a tsunami and where a mortal wound could be healed with a healing potion.
Humans were also granted with a new ability. Just by thinking about it, they could summon a window to check their level, statistics, rank, and unique skill. As the world was inherently unequal, so were these new abilities. These ranks ranged from F for the weakest to S for the strongest. Ninety percent of the population was at rank F. Their bodies had developed very little, and their unique abilities were common, almost useless. For those with a slightly more interesting ability, the idea of entering dungeons and making money was possible, but the high mortality rate, even in F-rank dungeons, was enough to discourage the majority of them.
The world revolved around dungeons for over 10 years. The mortality rate soared, but the situation stabilized with the help of rankers entering dungeons to destroy them. In return, they earned a lot of money through the resources collected inside the dungeons, making most rankers below B-class rich.
In 2020, Park Yun-Jae was 15 years old and was living a normal, or even more than normal, existence in this crazy world. The reason was simple: he was the only human in the world unblessed by mana. He, who had dreamed of becoming a S-class ranker since childhood, had long since resigned. He was unique, but he was also too normal for the government or scientists to take an interest in his case. Although he underwent examinations with the new technologies developed during these five years, the prognosis was the same—he would never awaken.
While the majority of humanity was only at F-rank and lived a completely normal life, Yun-Jae was at a severe disadvantage. Physically and intellectually, he had not developed like others. When he tried to summon his statistics window, an error appeared. Due to his inferiority, he was harassed at school and treated like trash, even by his family. He knew that only a pitiful future awaited him.
At the age of 20, he was cheated by his girlfriend and lost the money he had saved for university. She left him shortly after for a famous ranker. Yun-Jae's misfortunes did not end there. His sister, a C-class ranker, was seriously injured in a dungeon and fell into a coma. She was the only source of income for the Park family.
Two years later, the heroes defeated the final boss. Portals rarely appeared and humans were gradually losing their superhuman abilities. The new golden age of humanity was about to end as quickly as it had begun. However, the leaders over the world refused to let the portals disappear. The Earth was running out of natural resources, while dungeons were filled with oil, precious metals, forests, and fertile lands. How could they give up on humanity's last hope? Scientists from all over the world were working on a solution.
Meanwhile, Yun-Jae had become an outcast. He was still living with his parents and never left the house. He had no social life, not even with his family. He, who had been betrayed by every human being he had ever met, didn't hold it against them. He had accepted that it was his mistake for being born defective. The idea of ending himself haunted him every day. Still, he hadn't yet hit rock bottom. He was betrayed one last time when his family decided to sell him to a foreign government. His family hoped to gather enough money to wake his sister from her coma with the help of a S-healer.
Yun-Jae woke up on a cold table, strapped in and muzzled like a laboratory rat. The light blinded him, but he could make out the silhouettes of scientists observing him behind a plexiglass window.
Why was he there?
Now that humanity was losing its powers, he had become an interesting test subject. Since he had no ability, scientists wanted to conduct experiments on him to force his body to accumulate artificial mana. Artificial mana was a drug used by rankers to boost their abilities. The scientists believed they could create a safe version for rankers. As Yun-Jae had no unique skill, they also wanted to give him one they had chosen. It was the unique skill of a class-S ranker who had lost his life in the final battle. This unique skill could force the reopening of portals after their closure. It was useful for saving rankers trapped in a dungeon, but in this case, they hoped to reopen the portals after the disappearance of mana.
The experiments were inhumane. Yun-Jae's body rejected the drug, yet day after day, he was healed, and experiments started again. He wasn't even allowed to rest since he was the future of humanity.
Yun-Jae had never felt hatred for anyone, or rather, he buried it deep within himself, thinking it was his fault. He felt needles pierce his skin, saw his organs being removed before his eyes, heard strangers laughing about his pitiful body and thought of his parents' betrayal… Yun-Jae's hatred rose through his guts, manifesting in every wail, every tear shed, every mocking laugh. He begged Death to wield its scythe. It was not far away.
After another year, Yun-Jae's body reached its limits. Even the treatments were no longer enough to fully heal him. The scientists had lost hope and wanted to move on to other projects. They couldn't leave any clues of what they'd done, so they decided to inject him with a lethal dose of artificial mana, which would melt his body in a few minutes.
The dying boy felt the mana flowing into his body. The size of his veins increased to their limit before bursting. His cells were multiplying and decomposing rapidly, as if he had terminal cancer. What remained of his teeth fell out simultaneously with his hair. As the flesh still covered his skeleton, he felt it disintegrating into dust. Under the influence of the drug, his musculature increased, but the simple act of moving caused him immense pain. Though, Yun-Jae found the strength to break his restraints and briefly stood up. He did not give them the pleasure of seeing a single tear flow, holding them back with all his strength. His face seemed devoid of emotions. Perhaps it was because of the drug, or maybe he had just lost his humanity. The murderous intent emanating from him was enough to frighten most of the scientists. It had only lasted a few seconds, but it continued for one more second; some of them were about to faint.
" If one day I'm reincarnated, I'll slaughter every human, until my stomach explodes from the pressure of your cursed flesh! "
The body exploded, covering the entire laboratory with a puree of decomposing bloody flesh. The high density of mana that had escaped from the body crystallized and erased the morbid scene in a few seconds. Everything in the laboratory was swallowed up by the cursed black crystal. No one could get near it, not even a S-class ranker. The laboratory became Yun-Jae's grave.
But…
After a while, Yun-Jae's consciousness gradually awakened. He seemed devoid of his physical senses, as if he no longer had a body. The only thing he could see, without really seeing, was an infinite expanse of white in front of him.
" Is this purgatory? Do you really think I'm going to forget my hatred? Even if my only option is to curse you for an infinite amount of time, I'll never give up my vengeance! "
" Hello! I'm the system. Your error has been patched. Initialization in progress… Would you like to activate your unique skill? "