The difference between a god and a dog wasn't divine will. It was a genetic lottery ticket.
I wiped a smudge from the rim of a crystal flute, my reflection staring back at me from the glass. Dark circles under my eyes, a cheap polyester uniform that chafed my neck, and the distinct look of a man who knew he didn't matter.
"More champagne, waiter. Don't just stand there daydreaming."
I snapped to attention, forcing a plastic smile onto my face. "Of course, sir."
I was standing in the Golden Spire, the headquarters of the Zenith Guild. The room smelled of ozone, expensive perfume, and raw power. This was the annual Awakened Gala, a night where the superhumans who ruled our society gathered to pat themselves on the back for existing.
I poured the sparkling liquid for a man whose suit cost more than my father's lifetime earnings. He didn't look at me. To him, I was part of the furniture. I was an "Unawakened"—a biological dead end in a world evolved beyond me.
My gaze drifted across the ballroom, bypassing the minor heroes and corporate sycophants, landing on the VIP section.
There they were. The reason I woke up with bile in my throat every morning.
Kaelen Sterling. The Guildmaster's son. An S-Rank Awakened with the ability to manipulate gravity. He sat on a velvet couch like a king, surrounded by sycophants laughing at jokes that weren't funny. He was handsome in that infuriating, effortless way that made you want to smash his teeth in.
And sitting next to him was Seraphina Vance.
My breath hitched, just for a second. It always did. She was known as the "Ice Witch" of the Zenith Guild. Silver hair that cascaded down her back like liquid moonlight, eyes the color of a frozen ocean, and a body that could stop a heart—or start a war. She wore a dress of shimmering blue silk that clung to her curves, slit high up the thigh to reveal legs that could crush concrete.
She wasn't laughing. She sat with a bored, regal detachment, swirling her drink. She was the most powerful cryomancer in the city. A goddess.
And I was the guy holding the tray.
Just get the shift over with, Viktor,* I told myself. *Get the check, go home to your shoebox apartment, and pretend you don't hate them.
I moved through the crowd, navigating the sea of egos. I was careful. In this world, bumping into an Awakened wasn't a social faux pas; it was a health hazard. Their passive defensive auras alone could break a normal human's ribs.
"Watch it, trash."
I froze. I hadn't bumped anyone. I had stayed a clear foot away.
I turned slowly. Kaelen Sterling was standing there. He hadn't been sitting a second ago. He had moved with that blurring speed high-rankers possessed, appearing right in my path just to create a collision.
A splash of red wine stained the pristine white cuff of his jacket. He hadn't even been holding a glass a moment ago. He had snatched one from a passing tray just to spill it.
The music in the ballroom didn't stop, but the conversation within a twenty-foot radius died instantly.
"I... I apologize, Mr. Sterling," I said, dipping my head. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. "I'll get a towel immediately."
"A towel?" Kaelen looked down at his cuff, then up at me. His eyes were golden, glowing with a faint, oppressive light. "This is Italian silk, woven with mana-threads. You can't just 'towel' it off."
"I'm sorry, sir. I can pay for the cleaning—"
Kaelen laughed. It was a sharp, barking sound. "Pay for it? With what? Your kidney? Even that wouldn't cover the stitching."
He took a step closer. The air around him grew heavy. My knees buckled. It wasn't fear—well, not just fear. It was his power. He was increasing the gravity around me.
"Kneel," he whispered.
"Kaelen, don't make a scene," a cool voice cut through the tension.
Seraphina. She hadn't stood up, but she was watching now.
Hope flared in my chest. A pathetic, desperate hope. Maybe she would stop him. Maybe she had a shred of the nobility the Awakened claimed to possess.
"He's boring me," Seraphina said, her voice smooth and cold as a glacier. She looked at me, and I saw... nothing. No pity. No anger. I wasn't a person being tortured; I was a smudge on the evening's entertainment. "Just finish it so we can leave."
The hope died, replaced by something hot and ugly.
Kaelen grinned. "You heard the lady."
BOOM.
The gravity hit me like a physical hammer. I didn't just kneel; I collapsed. My shins slammed into the marble floor with a sickening crack. The tray of champagne flutes shattered, sending shards of glass slicing into my hands and arms.
"Aaagh!" I gritted my teeth, refusing to scream, but the pressure was immense. It felt like an elephant was standing on my shoulders. I was forced into a kowtow, my forehead pressed against the wet, glass-strewn floor.
"Lick it up," Kaelen said casually, gesturing to the wine on his shoe.
The room was silent. Hundreds of the city's elite watched. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke up for the Unawakened staff member. Why would they?
"I said," Kaelen pressed his heel onto my hand, grinding glass into my palm, "lick it clean."
I looked up, straining against the crushing weight. I looked at Kaelen's sneer. I looked at Seraphina's indifference. I looked at the crowd's amusement.
And something inside me snapped.
It wasn't a sound. It was a sensation. Like a fuse blowing in the back of my brain. The fear evaporated, burned away by a white-hot, radioactive hatred. I didn't just want to survive this. I wanted to see them bleed. I wanted to see Seraphina beg. I wanted to see Kaelen broken.
"No," I rasped.
Kaelen blinked. "What?"
"I said... no."
The gravity increased tenfold. My nose broke against the floor. Blood pooled around my face. Darkness crowded the edges of my vision.
"Get this garbage out of my sight," Kaelen said, bored now that I was broken. "And ensure he never works in this city again."
Two security guards—low-level Awakened with strength enhancements—hauled me up. They didn't drag me out gently. They threw me out the back exit like a sack of refuse.
I landed hard in the alleyway behind the Spire. It was raining. Of course it was raining.
I lay there for a long time, the cold water mixing with the blood on my face. My legs were numb. My hand was a ruin of glass and red pulp.
"Fired," I muttered to the wet pavement. "Blacklisted. Broken."
I tried to sit up, groaning as my ribs protested. I looked up at the towering spire, glowing golden in the night. They were still in there, drinking, laughing, flirting. Kaelen was probably whispering in Seraphina's ear right now.
"I wish..." I choked out, coughing up blood. "I wish I could kill them all. I wish I could take everything they have."
I squeezed my eyes shut, my desire twisting into something dark and palpable. I didn't want to be a hero. Heroes were just bullies with better PR. I wanted power. I wanted to be the one wearing the boot.
Bzzt.
A sound buzzed in my ear. Not a sound from the alley—a sound inside my skull.
I opened my eyes.
Floating in front of my face, impervious to the rain and the darkness, was a translucent, obsidian-colored rectangle. It looked like a video game window, but it pulsed with a malevolent, purple energy.
[Desire Detected: Absolute Domination.]
[Hatred Threshold: Exceeded.]
The text scrolled across the screen, glowing like neon.
[The Universe is unfair. The strong eat the weak. Do you wish to remain prey?]
[Y / N]
I stared at the screen. I was hallucinating. Brain damage from the gravity crush. But the text felt... real. It felt like it was looking back at me.
"No," I whispered. "I don't want to be prey."
**[Do you desire to become the Predator? To take what is denied to you? To turn the Queens of this world into your pawns?]**
The image of Seraphina flashed in my mind. Her cold eyes. Her dismissal.
"Yes," I hissed through my broken teeth. "Yes."
[System Initializing...]
[Welcome, Host.]
[System: LUST SOVEREIGN has been installed.]
[Status Window Unlocked.]
A flood of warmth rushed through my body, starting from my chest and exploding outward. The pain in my legs vanished. The glass in my hand was pushed out as skin knit together at impossible speeds. I gasped, scrambling to my feet. I felt... lighter. Stronger.
A new screen popped up.
[Name: Viktor]
[Class: Villain (Awakening)]
[Level: 1]
[Lust Points (LP): 0]
[Unique Innate Skill Unlocked:
Description: You do not beg for power. You take it. Sexual intimacy with Awakened targets allows the user to drain Essence. High Affinity or Total Submission allows for [Skill Copy].
[Current Objective: The first step to ruling the world is survival. Obtain 100 Lust Points within 24 hours or the System will self-destruct (and take you with it).]
I stared at the screen, then down at my healed hands. I looked back up at the Golden Spire.
A cruel smile, one that felt foreign yet perfectly natural, stretched across my face.
"Kaelen," I whispered to the rain. "Seraphina. Keep your thrones warm."
I turned and walked into the darkness of the city. The hunt had begun.
***
[End of Chapter 1]