The Rift came twenty years ago, tearing apart the skies and spilling nightmares into reality. Monsters that defied imagination roamed the Earth, devouring hope and spreading chaos. Humanity's salvation arrived not in the form of technology or strategy, but in the emergence of the Awakened—a small portion of the population who developed inexplicable powers. They became Earth's last line of defense, pushing the monsters back into the dark corners of the world.

But not everyone Awakened. For every hero wielding flames or bending light to their will, there were thousands like me. Powerless. Forgotten. Left to survive on the scraps of a society rebuilt around those with strength. My name is Leon. I've spent twenty-six years living on the edges of relevance, a courier in Bastion City, the largest safe zone left in the world. I'm not a hero. I'm not even special. I'm just someone trying to make it to the next day.

On this particular day, the air was charged with an energy I hadn't felt in years. News spread like wildfire through the streets: a new Rift had opened in the Outer Zone, and it wasn't like the others. This one was a Tier-S breach, the kind that made even the most seasoned Awakened hesitate. People gathered to watch the guild banners pass through the streets, their colors bright against the soot-stained buildings. It was spectacle and survival rolled into one.

I stayed in the shadows, like always. Watching the Awakened march by with their enchanted weapons and glowing eyes, I felt the familiar pit in my stomach. It wasn't jealousy. I didn't wish to be one of them anymore. It was something worse: the dull ache of knowing that no one like me would ever matter in a world like this.

Then, the ground shook. A deep, bone-rattling vibration. Screams followed, rising like a wave, as the city's barriers—the ones that had stood impenetrable for decades—began to flicker and fail. For the first time in my life, I saw fear in the eyes of the Awakened.