Two weeks after the fire.
The temporary shelter had become a permanent home for many families. The city government—or what passed for it in The Undercroft—had promised reconstruction, but everyone knew better than to hold their breath.
Promises were cheap. Action was expensive.
Kaelen had spent the past two weeks experimenting with his powers in secret. Late at night, when everyone else was asleep, he would climb to the roof of the shelter and practice.
At first, it was just the light. He could summon it at will now, shape it into orbs that floated around him like fireflies. It wasn't much, but it was something.
But then, three days ago, something changed.
He'd been trying to make the light brighter when suddenly—without warning—it had exploded outward in a wave of force that knocked him flat on his back and cracked the concrete beneath him.
"Good," Crust had said, his voice amused. "You're starting to tap into the real power. But you're still holding back. You're afraid."
"I'm not afraid," Kaelen had muttered, rubbing his bruised shoulder.
"Yes, you are. You're afraid of what you might become. Afraid of hurting the people you care about. But fear will only make you weak, little god. And in this world, the weak don't survive."
Kaelen hadn't responded. But he knew Crust was right.
If he wanted to protect Ryker and his family—if he wanted to survive—he needed to stop being afraid.
"Kaelen! Wake up!"
Kaelen jolted awake to find Ryker shaking his shoulder, his eyes wide with excitement.
"What—" Kaelen groaned, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Early. Come on, get up!" Ryker was practically vibrating with energy. "I found something."
"Found what?"
"A way out."
Kaelen sat up slowly. "Out of the shelter?"
"Out of The Undercroft." Ryker leaned in close, lowering his voice. "I heard some guys talking last night. There's a breach in the city wall. A small one, on the eastern perimeter. The enforcement drones haven't found it yet."
Kaelen's stomach dropped. "Ryker, are you insane? You want to go outside?"
"Why not? Don't you want to see what's out there?"
"I've seen it. It's a wasteland. Polluted. Toxic. Full of mutated creatures that'll rip you apart."
"Yeah, but..." Ryker's grin widened. "What if you could handle it? With your powers?"
Kaelen stared at him. "You're serious."
"Dead serious. Look, we're stuck here, Kaelen. Stuck in this crappy shelter, waiting for the city to maybe, possibly, someday fix our homes. But out there?" He gestured vaguely toward the east. "Out there, we could find something useful. Tech. Supplies. Maybe even food that isn't gray sludge."
"Or we could die."
"We could die here too." Ryker's expression turned serious. "Come on, Kaelen. You've got powers now. Powers that no one else has. Don't you want to know what you're capable of?"
Kaelen hesitated.
The truth was... he did.
Ever since the fire, ever since he'd started hearing Crust's voice, he'd felt it—a restlessness. A need to move, to act, to do something.
Sitting around the shelter, pretending to be a normal kid, was driving him insane.
"Go," Crust whispered in his mind. "Test yourself. See what you're truly made of."
Kaelen looked at Ryker. "If we do this, we do it smart. We scout the area, stay close to the wall, and if anything goes wrong, we run. Deal?"
Ryker's grin returned. "Deal."
The eastern perimeter of The Undercroft was a maze of rusted metal and crumbling concrete.
Massive walls—thirty feet high and reinforced with steel plating—encircled the entire lower city, separating it from the wasteland beyond. Guard towers dotted the perimeter, manned by automated turrets and patrol drones.
But like everything else in The Undercroft, the walls were old. Falling apart. And full of gaps.
Ryker led Kaelen through a series of narrow alleys, ducking under collapsed walkways and squeezing through chain-link fences, until finally they reached it.
The breach.
It was barely three feet wide—a jagged crack in the wall where the metal had corroded and collapsed inward. Through the gap, Kaelen could see the world beyond.
Gray. Barren. Dead.
The wasteland stretched out as far as the eye could see—a landscape of cracked earth, twisted metal skeletons of ancient buildings, and thick clouds of toxic smog that hung low over everything.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ryker said sarcastically.
Kaelen didn't answer. He was too busy staring at something in the distance.
Movement.
Something large, shambling between the ruins.
"Ryker," he said quietly. "We should go back."
"What? We just got here!"
"I'm serious. There's something out there."
Ryker squinted into the wasteland. "I don't see anything."
"Trust me."
But before Ryker could respond, a sound echoed across the wasteland.
A howl.
Low. Guttural. Inhuman.
Ryker's face went pale. "Okay. Yeah. Let's go."
They turned to leave—
And froze.
Standing in the alley behind them, blocking their path, was a creature.
It had once been a dog. Maybe. But whatever it was now, it wasn't natural.
Its body was massive—easily the size of a small car—covered in patchy fur and exposed muscle. Its eyes glowed a sickly yellow, and its mouth was filled with rows of jagged, mismatched teeth.
A mutated beast.
"Oh no," Ryker whispered. "Oh no, oh no, oh no—"
The creature snarled, saliva dripping from its jaws.
And then it lunged.
Kaelen didn't think. He raised his hand and pushed.
Light exploded from his palm—a concussive blast that slammed into the creature mid-leap and sent it crashing into the alley wall.
It yelped in pain, scrambling to its feet, blood dripping from its snout.
"Run!" Kaelen shouted.
They ran.
The creature recovered quickly and gave chase, its claws scraping against the concrete as it barreled after them.
Kaelen could hear Ryker panting beside him, could feel his own heart hammering in his chest.
We're not going to make it.
"Then stop running," Crust said coldly. "And fight."
"I don't know how!"
"You don't need to know. You just need to want it. So tell me, little god—do you want to survive?"
Kaelen gritted his teeth.
"Yes."
"Then let me help you."
Kaelen skidded to a stop and spun around, raising both hands.
The creature was almost on top of him, jaws wide, ready to tear him apart—
And Kaelen screamed.
Not with his voice.
With his power.
Golden light erupted from his entire body, blazing like the sun. The creature recoiled, shrieking, but it was too late.
The light wrapped around it like chains, binding it in place.
And then, Kaelen clenched his fists.
The light burned.
The creature's howl turned into a scream of agony as the divine energy seared through its flesh, cooking it from the inside out.
And then, with a final, pitiful whimper...
It collapsed.
Dead.
Kaelen stood there, panting, his hands still glowing.
Smoke rose from the creature's charred corpse.
"Holy..." Ryker stared at him, wide-eyed. "Kaelen... you just... you killed it."
Kaelen looked down at his hands. They were trembling.
He'd just killed something.
For the first time in this life.
And it had felt...
Easy.
"Well done, little god," Crust purred. "Your first hunt. How does it feel?"
Kaelen didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
A soft chime echoed in Kaelen's mind.
He blinked, confused.
And then, suddenly, words appeared in his vision—glowing golden text that hung in the air in front of him.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[Congratulations! You have slain your first enemy: Mutated Hound - Level 3]
[Experience Gained: 50 XP]
[Level Up! You are now Level 1]
[New Skill Unlocked: Divine Burst (Rank F)]
[Status Window Unlocked]
Kaelen stared at the words, his mind racing.
"What... what is this?"
"A gift," Crust said. "From me to you. A system to help you grow stronger. To track your progress. To guide you."
"You can do that?"
"I am the Catastrophe, little god. I can do many things."
The words faded, replaced by a new screen.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Kaelen
Age: 4
Level: 1
Experience: 50 / 100
Stats:
•Strength: 8
•Agility: 10
•Endurance: 7
•Intelligence: 12
•Divine Power: 15
Skills:
Divine Burst (Rank F): Release a burst of divine energy to damage enemies.
Title: Reincarnated God (Hidden)
Kaelen read through the information slowly, trying to process it.
"This is... like a game."
"If that helps you understand it, yes. But make no mistake—this is real. Every level you gain, every skill you unlock, will make you stronger. Strong enough to survive. Strong enough to protect those you care about."
"And strong enough to stop you?"
Crust laughed—a deep, rumbling sound that made Kaelen's bones ache.
"Perhaps. If you live long enough."
"Kaelen?" Ryker's voice snapped him back to reality. "You okay? You're staring at nothing."
Kaelen blinked, and the status window disappeared. "Yeah. I'm... I'm fine."
"That thing you did..." Ryker gestured at the dead creature. "That was insane. Where did you learn to do that?"
"I didn't. It just... happened."
Ryker walked over to the corpse and nudged it with his foot. "Think there's anything useful on it?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Teeth? Claws? People in the upper city pay good money for mutant parts."
Kaelen frowned. "You want to harvest it?"
"Why not? We killed it. We earned it."
"He's not wrong," Crust said. "The strong take from the weak. That's the law of nature."
Kaelen sighed. "Fine. But let's make it quick. I don't want to be out here longer than we have to."
They worked quickly, using a piece of broken metal to pry loose a few of the creature's teeth and claws. The work was messy and unpleasant, but Ryker seemed oddly unbothered by it.
"You've done this before," Kaelen observed.
Ryker shrugged. "My dad used to take me scavenging sometimes. Before the accident."
"What accident?"
Ryker's expression darkened. "The one that took his arm. He worked in the factories, remember? One of the machines malfunctioned. They replaced his arm with a cheap prosthetic, but it doesn't work half the time." He looked down at the creature's claw in his hand. "That's why I want to get out of here, Kaelen. Out of The Undercroft. I don't want to end up like him. Broken. Used up. Thrown away."
Kaelen didn't know what to say to that.
So he just put a hand on Ryker's shoulder.
"We'll get out," he said quietly. "I promise."
Ryker looked at him, and for a moment, something flickered in his eyes.
Hope.
They made it back to the shelter without incident, sneaking through the breach and back into the city before anyone noticed they were gone.
That night, as Kaelen lay in his pod, he stared at the ceiling and thought about what had happened.
He'd killed something today.
And he'd leveled up.
Like this was all some kind of game.
"It's not a game, little god," Crust said softly. "It's survival. And the sooner you accept that, the better."
"What happens when I reach Level 100?" Kaelen asked.
Crust was silent for a long moment.
And then—
"You become what you were always meant to be. A god."
Kaelen closed his eyes.
"Or a monster."
"Perhaps both."