From that day onward, everything came crashing down.
Soon, he found himself on the streets, living from debt to debt. Every collector around his home knew him or had heard rumours about him.
Due to a monster attack, he lost his last job and home and had to flee the city to escape with his life. That was how he ended up here. He used his last remaining money to rent this house and stock it with food, preparing for his death when the food ran out.
Abel hadn't eaten for the past week, so he had no strength to argue or make trouble with a big-bellied man like Mr Jonathan, who was well-fed and could provide for himself and his family.
He hadn't found any job at a grocery store, much less gone for a job interview. So he had no money to pay by the day after tomorrow.
"What's the use of transmigrating into another world without any cheat?" Abel muttered.
He remembered a story he had once read in his past life, where a man awakened a power that allowed him to rewind time by ending his own existence, acquiring immense power, and becoming a powerful Hunter in the process. Though the cost of the power was immense, its potential was limitless.
"Any cheat… even a system… I don't care what I have to do to grow stronger."
DING!
[You've uttered the word 'System' for the one billionth time.]
[Congratulations, you've summoned the Inter-Dimensional System Interface. You are the 1,000,000,000… winner to obtain the system roulette.]
[Please wait a moment for your reward…]
[...]
Abel's eyes shot open as he swiftly sat upright. He wiped his hands across his eyes to ensure that he wasn't hallucinating. He passed his hand through the holographic blue screen, but it felt like a tangible existence.
It followed his eyes wherever he looked.
Abel had never experienced such a hallucination before.
"Is this real? Have I finally awakened a system?" he muttered to himself.
Perhaps he was dreaming, and Mr Jonathan had never come to take away his belongings. In the dream, he had realised his lifelong wish of awakening his transmigrator's cheat.
Abel pinched his wrist tightly. "OUCH!" he gasped in pain.
However, the blue holographic screen was still present.
At that moment, Abel realised that he was not hallucinating.
He was fully awake.
"I have finally awakened my system!" Abel shouted gleefully.
He stood to his feet, raised his hand to the ceiling, and roared, "DID YOU HEAR THAT, WORLD?! I HAVE FINALLY AWAKENED MY SYSTEM!! I KNEW IT!! WITH ONLY PERSEVERANCE IN MY HEART, I CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING!"
BANG!! BANG!!
A loud ruckus came from the ceiling.
"THAT'S IT! I'M CUTTING OFF YOUR WATER AND ELECTRICITY SUPPLY!! LET'S SEE IF YOU'LL STILL HAVE THE VOICE TO DISTURB MY EARS AND PEACE!!" Mr Jonathan's booming voice came from outside.
Abel quickly sealed his lips with his hands.
He rushed toward the door and shut it closed before collapsing onto the bed. His eyes became heavy and his vision hazy. He had used his last remaining energy for his brief outburst and was completely spent.
If he didn't get any food to eat or water to drink within the next five minutes, he might truly die.
However, Abel focused on the system interface before him. Perhaps he might win something from the system that could get him out of his current predicament.
[Congratulations, Abel. You've won the 'Final Boss Role-Playing System.']
"Final what…?" Abel looked at the system in confusion.
[The Final Boss Role-Playing System is fully integrated.]
[Would you like to activate the system? Yes/No]
Without thinking or hesitating, Abel said, "Yes."
"Arrghh!" Suddenly, Abel felt a splitting headache.
A flood of commands and information on how to utilise the system poured into his mind.
[Final Boss Role-Play will be assigned in ten seconds… 10… 9… 8… 0]
Abel's vision immediately went black.
***
[Final Boss Role-Play Assigned.]
[Boss Identity: The Caretaker (Shadow Reaper.)]
[Level 1 Dungeon: The Abandoned Orphanage.]
"Arghh! My head," Abel groaned, clutching his head as he looked at the holographic status screen before his eyes.
Suddenly, he froze as he realised something was wrong. He looked at his hand. It was covered in worn, dirty bandages.
This wasn't his hand. And the attire he was currently wearing wasn't his either.
Even the voice he had spoken with wasn't his.
He surveyed his current environment. He was seated in a small office, sitting on a chair with a table before him.
There were piles of books stacked on either side of the table and piles of papers spread out before him.
However, they were all covered in dust and spiderwebs. Even the four corners of the office walls, along with the shelves, pictures, and other decorations, were blanketed in dust and spiderwebs.
There was only a single flickering light on the ceiling, casting a dim glow over the room.
Was this truly a dungeon?
Was he truly role-playing as the dungeon's final boss?
It felt as though he were a mummy in an abandoned building.
"Status," Abel said.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ Name: Abel Damascus ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Age: 21 ]
[ Talent: Final Boss Role-player [???] ]
[ Level: 0 ]
[ Mana: F ]
[ Strength: F- ]
[ Agility: F- ]
[ Physique: F- ]
[Dexterity: D-]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ Attribute: None ]
[ Skills: ]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This was his status sheet, an interface that only Hunters could possess. However, thanks to the Final Dungeon Boss Role-Playing System, he could now access it, granting him the opportunity to become a Hunter.
Among Hunters, those who possessed talents were treated differently because they were rare and special. Any of them was bound to become a high-ranking and powerful Hunter, depending on the type of Talent they awakened.
Seeing the talent he had awakened, Abel wasn't surprised by the question marks. If the Final Dungeon Boss Roleplayer system was exactly as the information he had received suggested, then its potential was limitless.
It couldn't be rated by normal means.
He also wasn't surprised by his attributes. He was a normal human who hadn't eaten for a week.