A young man, about 24, stood before the basin, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His pale skin, brown eyes, framed by messy black hair with unruly spikes, carried a haunted look.
The most striking feature, however, was the dark bags under his eyes—a testament to his prolonged lack of sleep. His health had visibly declined.
Reaching out, he opened the mirror cabinet above the sink and retrieved a small bottle of pills. He then closed the cabinet and turned on the tap, filling a glass with water.
He unscrewed the bottle and poured out five times the prescribed dosage of sleeping pills.
The label clearly stated: "Use only as directed by a physician."
"Screw it."
He wasn't trying to commit suicide. He just wanted to take a nap.
He had taken sleeping pills before, and at first, they worked. But over time, their effect diminished, forcing him to double the dosage.
Eventually, even that failed.
It had been almost two months since he last had a full night's sleep due to relentless insomnia.
Though exhaustion forced his body into brief, restless dozes, they lasted only minutes at a time—never enough to bring real rest.
His head buzzed constantly, and sharp pain frequently racked his brain, making it feel as if steel needles were stabbing into it.
"This has to work now. With this amount, I should finally be able to sleep."
Without hesitation, he gulped down all the pills and swallowed them with the water. Then, he walked back to his bedroom, laid down on the bed, and closed his eyes.
As the medicine took effect, he suddenly felt intense pain—his chest tightened, his throat burned, and he began suffocating. Foam spilled from his mouth as his body convulsed.
But strangely, there was no fear or panic in his expression. Instead, a satisfied smile formed on his lips.
At least, he had finally achieved his objective.
Even he wasn't sure if he would wake up after taking so many pills.
---
Suddenly, the young man's eyes shot open. His entire body ached as if he had been beaten all over. He found himself lying on the floor, staring up at the cracked ceiling.
"Ouch... how did I fall off the bed?"
He slowly pushed himself up, but his balance was off. His vision swayed, and he nearly collapsed again before steadying himself. His body felt weak—his stomach was empty, and his throat was parched.
Then, his eyes widened in shock.
The entire bedroom was in ruins. It looked as if an earthquake had struck.
The floor was cracked, furniture lay shattered, and gaping holes littered the ceiling. His bed was broken—completely crushed by a massive object that had fallen from the second floor.
His heart pounded.
"Shit... I could have died in my sleep."
Despite the destruction around him, his body was unharmed. He was alive despite overdosing on sleeping pills and miraculously surviving what looked like a natural disaster.
For the first time in his life, he felt lucky.
"Kaaaahhh!"
A chilling, inhuman roar echoed from outside.
A shiver ran down his spine. He instinctively crept forward, following the direction of the sound. Moving past the kitchen, he entered the living room. Careful not to make noise, he approached the window and parted the curtains slightly.
His breath hitched.
Two grotesque creatures stood in the garden of the three-story building. About three feet tall, their gray skin was covered in green spots. They had glowing red eyes, jagged yellow teeth, small horns, and sharp claws.
Their mouths were smeared with blood.
They were devouring a corpse.
The body belonged to a middle-aged man—his face froze in an expression of pure terror. His eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets before his death.
Zane's stomach churned. He recognized the man.
The building owner.
The creatures ripped and tore at the dead man's flesh, snarling at each other in competition for food.
Zane's face instantly paled. He yanked the curtains shut and ducked down, his mind racing in panic.
Then—
Ding!
A soft chime rang in his ears. A transparent purple screen suddenly materialized before him.
---
[Welcome to the New Era.]
[You have been given 100 Coins.]
[Your Unique Skill has been awakened.]
[To survive and upgrade your skill, collect more coins.]
[Methods: Kill monsters]
---
Ding!
Ding!
More notifications appeared before he could even process the first one.
---
[You have met the hidden condition for your skill: Super Upgradation.]
[Your skill has upgraded from F-Grade to S-Grade.]
[You have unlocked the S-Grade Skill: Sleep.]
[As a first-time awakened player, your Status Window will automatically appear. You may summon it manually later.]
---
[Status Window]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: 〘Zane Somnus〙
Level: ⟨ 0 ⟩ ⟦ 0 / 1000 EXP ⟧
Title: ???
Race: 〘Human〙
Class: ???
Coins: 100
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
───[ Stats ]───
❖ Strength: ⟨ 10 ⟩
❖ Agility: ⟨ 10 ⟩
❖ Stamina: ⟨ 9 ⟩
❖ Perception: ⟨ 11 ⟩
❖ Health: ⟨ 10 ⟩
❖ Mana: ⟨ 100 ⟩
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
───[ Skills ]───
☾ [ Sleep ] (S-Grade) ⟦ Upgrade ⟧
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
───[ Shop ]───
---
Zane was stunned.
He stared at the floating screen, his mind unable to comprehend what was happening.
"Am I hallucinating? Did I go insane after overdosing?"
He had read web novels and light novels before—fantasies of systems and awakenings—but this was real.
A sudden laugh escaped his lips, but he immediately covered his mouth with both hands, afraid of attracting the monsters outside.
He hurried to his bedroom, picking up his phone from where it had fallen near a collapsed wardrobe.
The screen was cracked, but the device still worked. He checked the date—and his heart skipped a beat.
04/11/2030.
"Wait… I was asleep for three days?!"
As he tried to process this, loud bangs echoed through the apartment.
THUD!
THUD!
Something was hitting the door—accompanied by shrill screeches.
Zane blood ran cold. The monsters had heard him.
The banging intensified. The wooden door wouldn't hold for long.
"Shit."
Zane cursed under his breath, realizing his mistake. His brief laughter had alerted the monsters outside, and now they were banging on his door, eager for fresh meat.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stay calm. His hands trembled slightly, but he willed them to steady. He summoned the status window again, his eyes scanning over the list of skill.
---
─[ Skills ]───
☾ [ Sleep ] (S-Grade) ⟦ upgrade ^⟧
[Sleep]
[SleepBond Spell]: Instantly forces up to five targets into a deep sleep for 30 minutes in the same time, rendering them defenseless.
[Slumber's Blessing]: Every satisfying nap grants +1 to a random stat, allowing continuous growth even in rest.
[Embrace of Souls]: Through deep, intimate union in restful embrace, awaken a skill that mirrors your partner's essence while refining and transforming it into something uniquely your own. The closer the bond—both in body and spirit—the greater the evolution and perfection of the acquired ability.
[[Wanderer's Slumber]: Sleeping in unusual places or at rare moments grants an additional +1 to a stat point slot. The more unconventional the location or timing, the stronger the effect.
---
Zane's eyes widened. If this ability truly worked as described, he had a serious advantage. His heart pounded, not from fear, but from anticipation.
He took a few cautious steps back, his gaze shifting toward the kitchen. Moving quickly, he grabbed a sharp kitchen knife and returned to the door.
The banging grew louder, the creatures slamming against the wooden frame with relentless force.
Bang!
Bang!
The door rattled under the pressure.
Zane hesitated only for a second before peering through the keyhole. Through the small gap, he saw two grotesque creatures.
Their twisted, grayish-green faces and jagged yellow teeth sent a chill down his spine. Their clawed fingers scratched at the wood impatiently, their breath ragged and eager.
He focused on them, inhaled deeply, and whispered the activation phrase.
"Sleep!"
A strange force pulsed through his body, and instantly, he felt his already weak frame grow even weaker. His legs nearly buckled, and his vision blurred for a split second. A notification flashed in the corner of his vision.
<-10 Mana>
But despite the sudden drain, the spell worked. The goblins froze mid-motion, their clawed hands halting midair. A second later, their bodies slumped forward, crashing onto the ground with a dull thud.
Zane steadied himself against the door, his breathing shallow. His limbs felt sluggish, but he forced himself to focus.
I need to get used to the mana drain.
He clenched his fists and hit the door lightly, waiting to see if the monsters would respond. Nothing. The goblins remained motionless.
His lips curled into a slow, victorious grin.
"It worked."
His heart pounded, but now it was exhilaratingly fueling him rather than fear.
He carefully observed the street through the keyhole for a few more moments. No other monsters seemed to be nearby.
With cautious steps, he unlatched the door and pushed it open. Sunlight spilled into the room, momentarily blinding him.
When his vision adjusted, he took in the world outside.
It was unrecognizable.
The sky was neither bright nor blue but filled with fissures that were slowly closing.
Buildings and houses stood in ruins, some half-collapsed, others completely reduced to rubble.
Cars lay abandoned on the roads, their windows shattered, their metal frames twisted into grotesque shapes. Some were flipped onto their sides, others burned to husks.
Bodies—both human and monstrous—were scattered across the streets. Some were fresh, their blood still seeping into the cracked pavement. Others were older and stiffened.
The stench of blood and death was thick, curling into his nostrils and making his stomach churn.
Zane swallowed hard, gripping the knife in his hand. His fingers twitched around the handle, but he forced himself to stay focused.
He turned his attention back to the two unconscious goblins lying before him.