Haruto Kazuki's eyes slowly fluttered open, staring at the plain ceiling of his small apartment. No blaring alarms, no urgent messages from his boss demanding last-minute reports, and no pressing tasks waiting for him. Today was a day off.
He stretched lazily on his bed, relishing the rare luxury of waking up without obligations. With a half-hearted motion, he glanced at his phone—3:47 PM.
"It's already this late?" he muttered with a yawn.
But he felt no guilt. Being a corporate drone at a soul-sucking company had drained any motivation he once had. If anything, he deserved to waste his free time in the most unproductive way possible. And for Haruto, that meant endlessly scrolling through absurd internet videos.
With a tap on his screen, the short video app opened, instantly bombarding him with content tailored to his habits. The first video? A man raising rabbits on a small farm.
"Damn, they eat like crazy… kinda cute though," Haruto thought as he watched a fluffy white rabbit with red eyes devour a crisp lettuce leaf.
The next video showed a farmer building a wooden rabbit hutch, complete with a tiny fence and an automatic feeding station. Then another video. And another. Before he knew it, he had fallen into the rabbit hole—from watching rabbit farming, to raising chickens, to constructing sheep pens, and finally, to oddly satisfying videos of people cleaning gutters.
By the time he finally snapped out of his internet trance, his phone screen displayed the time: 7:52 PM.
"...Huh?" Haruto blinked. The sun had already set, and his dimly lit room was now illuminated only by the bluish glow of his phone screen.
His stomach grumbled.
"Crap, I haven't eaten all day."
With a sigh, he dragged himself out of bed. Moving sluggishly, he grabbed his black hoodie from the chair and checked his pockets—wallet, phone, everything in place. Satisfied, he stepped out of his apartment, heading for the nearest convenience store.
The streets were quiet, save for a few flickering streetlights and the occasional hum of passing cars in the distance. Haruto didn't pay much attention. In his mind, he was already picturing his simple dinner—maybe some onigiri and a can of coffee.
After purchasing his food, he walked home, taking occasional bites of the beef-filled bun he had just bought. Everything seemed normal, just another uneventful evening in his mundane life.
But as he turned the corner leading to his apartment, something changed.
The air grew heavy. His steps faltered as his gaze locked onto something that shouldn't exist.
Floating in the middle of the street was a slowly spinning black vortex, an ominous void that seemed to devour the light around it. Its edges flickered erratically, like the visual distortion of a broken screen, exuding an inexplicable sense of dread.
Haruto stood frozen, his half-eaten bun suspended mid-air.
"...Huh?"
Before he could even process the situation, gravity shifted. A force beyond his comprehension pulled at his body, and in an instant—he was sucked into the black hole, unable to resist.
A peaceful night had suddenly turned into the beginning of something impossible.
---
When Haruto regained consciousness, something felt… off. He was no longer standing on the cold pavement, no longer surrounded by streetlights or city buildings. Instead, he found himself floating in emptiness, as if he had been dropped into some surreal, folded dimension.
Then, all at once—a warm sensation enveloped his body.
"This is it… it's finally happening!"
A grin spread across Haruto's face.
"Finally, Awakening!" he exclaimed with excitement.
For years, he had watched Hunters on TV, read about their feats online, and dreamed of experiencing this moment himself. Ever since the Tower of Genesis appeared, the world had changed. Those fortunate enough to undergo Awakening—the process of becoming a Hunter—were granted the chance to rise in ranks and transform their lives.
He imagined how the system would greet him—maybe an epic notification like:
> [Congratulations! You have been chosen to enter the Tower of Genesis!]
Perhaps there would be a cool AI voice, a holographic interface displaying his starting stats, or even a selection of beginner skills.
His heartbeat quickened. Adrenaline rushed through his veins.
"I must be getting some insane skill! Maybe something like 'Sword Saint' or 'Lightning Emperor'… or maybe… farming skills? Nah, that would be ridiculous."
Holding his breath, he waited for the system to respond.
One second…
Two seconds…
...Five seconds.
Nothing happened.
His elation quickly morphed into confusion.
"Huh?"
He was still floating in this void, yet no system panel appeared. No voice announced his newfound powers, no skill selection, no guidance of any kind.
A strange unease crept up his spine. He felt as if he were falling without direction, his body drifting helplessly in an unseen current.
"Uh… system? AI? Hello?" Haruto called out. No response.
Then, without warning—a blinding light burst forth in front of him.
Within seconds, he felt his entire body yanked by a new gravitational force. The void around him collapsed, replaced by something far more tangible.
The moment he slammed into solid ground, his senses fully returned.
He had arrived somewhere new.
But as his vision adjusted, his excitement faded instantly.
This was not the starting floor of the tower, nor anything he had ever seen before.
The sky above was a deep violet, filled with swirling constellations that rotated like a cosmic vortex. The air was dense, charged with an energy that made his skin crawl.
Then, in the distance—a deep, guttural rumble echoed.
Haruto turned his head toward the source of the sound, and his entire body froze.
A towering, jet-black giant with glowing red eyes was staring right at him.
"Shit… where the hell am I?!"