The silence of the city pressed against Ren like an invisible force.
It was unnatural, eerie in a way that even the dead of night never was. No distant chatter, no hum of electricity, no rustling leaves from the breeze—nothing. The entire world had become a frozen diorama, a forgotten relic of a past that only he remembered.
Ren stood in the middle of a once-bustling street, his newly acquired black sword resting in his hand. He could still feel the lingering energy from when he selected his class, Spellblade.
The moment he had confirmed his choice, knowledge had flooded his mind—stances, techniques, even the instinctual awareness of mana within him. But knowing wasn't the same as doing.
He gripped the sword's handle.
A test swing.
Whoosh!
The air rippled as the blade sliced through it. It was light, almost too light, yet he could feel the power radiating from it.
He took another swing, then another. His movements were stiff—his body, though enhanced, had never been trained for combat. He would have to change that.
Ren exhaled and checked his status window.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Ren Kisaragi
Race: Human (?)
Title: The Forgotten One
Level: 1
Class: Spellblade
Sub-Class Slots: 0/3
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
Strength: 12
Agility: 15
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 14
Willpower: 13
Luck: ???
Skills:
Basic Sword Mastery (LVL 1) – Your understanding of sword combat is at a beginner's level.
Mana Sense (LVL 1) – Allows you to faintly perceive mana in your surroundings.
Physical Enhancement (LVL 1) – Slightly improves speed, reaction time, and muscle efficiency.
Ren read over the information carefully.
The stats weren't impressive, but they were higher than an average human's. The problem? There was no tutorial, no guide. He had ten years to train and prepare—but where was he supposed to start?
His eyes roamed the dead city.
It was still his world—even if he was the only one left in it.
Ren started walking.
It wasn't long before he arrived at a gym. The front doors had been left open, as if someone had been in the middle of entering when they vanished. Inside, everything was exactly as it had been.
The scent of sweat and metal hung in the air. Row upon row of weights, machines, treadmills—an entire arsenal of physical training equipment at his disposal.
Ren had never been much of an athlete, but if he was going to survive the coming apocalypse, he couldn't rely on just his sword.
The system had mentioned Physical Enhancement, but it was only Level 1.
Ren smirked. That meant it could be improved.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Training in optimal conditions detected.]
[Quest Generated!]
[QUEST: Strength of the Forgotten]
Train your body to adapt to the Spellblade class.
Objective:
Complete 100 push-ups (0/100)
Complete 100 sit-ups (0/100)
Complete 100 squats (0/100)
Run 10 km (0/10)
Reward:
+2 Strength
+2 Agility
Physical Enhancement (LVL 2)
Failure: N/A
Ren blinked. That looked familiar.
"…Did I just get a Solo Leveling-style daily quest?"
He let out a laugh, shaking his head.
"Well, I did ask where I was supposed to start."
Rolling his shoulders, Ren dropped to the floor and began.
The first set of push-ups was easy. By thirty, he started feeling it. By sixty, his arms trembled. By ninety, his body burned.
Ren collapsed onto the gym floor, his breath ragged.
"This… is gonna suck."
But he forced himself back up.
Then came the sit-ups. Then the squats.
The treadmill was the worst. Running ten kilometers on a dead treadmill in an empty world felt surreal, but he pushed through. The dull ache in his muscles sharpened into pain, but he knew it was the pain of growth.
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[STATS INCREASED!]
[SKILL UPGRADED: Physical Enhancement → LVL 2!]
Ren wiped sweat from his brow, grinning. He felt the difference already—his muscles were just a little tighter, his steps a little lighter.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's take this to the next level."
For the next two weeks, Ren followed the daily quests.
He experimented, testing how far his body could go. He sparred with his reflection, shadowboxing with his sword. He meditated to train his mana control. He learned how to move, how to dodge, how to strike.
But something was missing.
A real enemy.
And then, one night, the world answered.
Ren had been practicing his sword swings on the rooftop of a skyscraper when he felt it.
A presence.
It was faint, but it was there.
[SYSTEM ALERT!]
[WARNING! FIRST DUNGEON RIFT DETECTED!]
[A NEW PRESENCE HAS ENTERED EARTH.]
A chill ran down Ren's spine.
The air split open, revealing a swirling black vortex in the middle of the city park. A Dungeon Rift.
From its depths, something stepped out.
Its body was humanoid, but its flesh was stretched tight over jagged bones, its limbs too long, its eyes hollow pits of darkness. A monster—something straight out of a nightmare.
And it wasn't alone.
Three more emerged behind it, their skeletal fingers twitching.
Ren gripped his sword.
This was it. His first real battle.
A fight against the unknown.
He took a deep breath, steadied his stance—
And charged.