Atop the main school building, a short and slender young man with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes stood with his back against the fence.
He tried to appear strong by standing upright, but his heart wasn't buying it as he was in a tense situation.
Sweat dripped down his forehead, and his hands shook so badly he could feel the tremor in his fingers.
A tall, handsome student stood in front of him, dressed in expensive clothes and wearing a watch that looked like it cost more than Ben's entire fortune.
He looked like the kind of rich kid who was born in wealth and thought the world belonged to him… but he wasn't actually from a wealthy family
All his luxury came from extorting money from weaker students!
"What are you doing on the roof? Let me guess. You were hoping to avoid me, right, Ben?" Kaiser grabbed the young man by the collar and stared him down with a smile that made his skin crawl.
That smile... Ben was too familiar with it as he had been his all life for being the weakest human on Earth. It was the smile of someone who knew he could hurt you and get away with it!
With his short stature and average looks, Ben looked sorely out of place in Kaiser presence. Worst of all, he was an unawakened who couldn't level up as his potential was zero. Kaiser, on the other hand, was an awakened who had long surpassed human limits, and his potential was over 15.
Potential determined the level cap. Levelling up could increase one's strength and improve one's look.
Having no potential meant Ben was weaker, slower, uglier than Kaiser. He couldn't escape or defeat him. But he didn't let all that deter him into submission. He was no pushover. He met Kaiser's gaze defiantly and said, "Since you already know, why ask? What do you want from me?"
"Don't play dumb. You know why I'm here. Quickly hand over your inheritance. Or you will regret it. I am quite an impatient man, you see," Kaiser finished his words by showing Ben his fist in a threatening gesture.
Ben had lost his parents not too long ago in a terror attack, which were surprise invasions led by monsters from beyond the void to inflict harm on humanity. Such attacks were quite common in this era, claiming countless lives each year across the globe.
The first thing Kaiser did after learning about Ben's loss was demand the wealth he had inherited from the death of his parents. From that, his immense disdain for the weak and the legal system of country A could also be seen. He didn't care about them at all.
"I forgot to bring it."
Ben felt more tense as he was lying through his teeth.
He never had any intention of handing over his inheritance to a bully. After all, he needed it to survive in the present and complete his compulsory education so he could secure a miserable future for himself where he would have to work 9 to 9 for a cooperation that doesn't give a damn about him, but it was better than going homeless and dying young.
Indeed, if he gave his inheritance up, he would end up on the streets as he had no relatives to look after him. From the streets, there was no hope of making a comeback for someone like him. In fact, for people like him with no potential there never was a choice, destined to suffer since birth. Cruel but true.
'Hopefully, Kaiser, this scumbag, won't be able to pick my lie apart.' Ben knew what awaited him otherwise was a world of pain.
"You forgot to bring it?"
Kaiser didn't like the answer Ben just gave him. The looks he was giving him turned incredibly dangerous.
"You must be suffering from Alzheimer. But don't worry. I know a way to fix it."
At this point, Kaiser laughed eerily. Ben knew he was screwed as Kaiser had a habit of doing that only when he was up to something crooked.
"I bet whatever's wrong with your brain will be fixed and you will prioritize my orders above all else once I blast you with my new spell."
Ben's face paled as he heard what Kaiser was planning to do.
"No, no, no. Please don't do it."
"It's too late to beg for mercy."
While Ben was panicking, Kaiser performed a hand sign.
A magic circle opened beneath Ben and glowed purple.
Ben was lifted off his feet and thrown into the air.
"Ahhh!"
He screamed as the roof grew distant in his eyes before he plummeted towards it.
Bam!
A thud rang out as he slammed into the floor face first.
"I bet that hurt."
Kaiser pointed at Ben, who had crumbled to the floor as though he were a discarded sheet of paper, and laughed.
Ugh!
Ben groaned and writhed on the floor like a bug that had been squashed.
His entire body was hurting, especially his nose, which was throbbing with a sharp, blinding pain that made his eyes water.
He could feel something warm flowing out of his nostrils. He touched it with a shaky hand and discovered it was his blood.
Did the fall break my nose?
He pushed himself off the ground and wiped the blood off his face, but it was no use, as more and more blood kept pouring out of his broken nose. Indeed, getting slammed face-first into the floor from some feet in the air had given him more than just a nosebleed.
Some droplets fell on the floor. Others dirtied his only uniform.
He grimaced, then glared at Kaiser who met his gaze without fear.
This was the confidence of the strong.
Even after breaking Ben's nose for no good reason, Kaiser didn't think he would face any serious repercussion.
Ben was weak. The difference between their level was so immense, Ben couldn't harm him even if he was given a pistol.
No one would stand up for him either. He had nothing to offer, after all.
Even if he complained to the teachers, Kaiser was confident he would be let off with a warning at most.
"What? Do you want to fight?"
Ben shook his head as he knew how it would end badly for him.
"Then stop glaring at me. Otherwise, I will hit you with another spell."
At Kaiser's threat, Ben lowered his gaze.
He didn't want to be hit by another freaking spell.
Who knows what it would break?
"Pathetic loser, I will give you one last chance. You have until tonight to hand over your inheritance to me. Or I'll use everything in my power to make you disappear. Don't think I won't do it. I am speaking from experience. No one gives a damn when trash disappears." Kaiser threatened Ben with death before he went away.
Ben watched him leave with gritted teeth and clenched fists.
He clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood.
If only the world had not undergone a drastic change in the past, scumbags like Kaiser who relied on the power of levels to bully others would have never existed. His parents would still be alive, and his life would have been much better!
----
Years ago, rifts tore open in space.
Called Gates, they connected Earth to different dimensions.
Countless creatures native to those dimensions invaded Earth through the Gates, wreaking havoc wherever they went as though the very purpose of their existence was to inflict as much damage to humanity as possible.
The nations mobilised their armies to exterminate them but faced less than ideal results.
While the weak invaders could be killed using conventional weapons, the strong ones were immune to firepower. They overwhelmed the combined might of humanity and plunged the world into chaos.
It seemed like the end of time had come, but then, something happened that no one could've expected.
All of humanity underwent a great change.
Every person gained the ability to grow stronger by killing invaders like characters in a game.
With that change, humanity made a fierce comeback.
The world was purged of invaders. The lost territories of humanity was reclaimed. Cities were made liveable again.
However, all that managed to do was restore a semblance of peace and order that humanity used to enjoy before the appearance of gates.
After all, humans lacked the means to close gates that had already opened on Earth. They also could not prevent the opening of new gates.
Nowadays, nowhere was truly safe as gates opened at random, and terror attacks were frequent.
Ben had lost his parents to this very problem.
----
Ben's day was all but ruined by what had just transpired, but he continued on with it anyway as he had no other choice.
He was badly hurt, but the healthcare system of country A was a crippling burden the financially stressed couldn't afford.
Thus, he decided to give the school infirmary a visit.
The nurse there had awakened the healer profession. With her powers, she could heal his injuries in a snap!
He was on the rooftop of the main school building, while the school infirmary was located on the ground floor, but as he was going down the stairs to get there, the unmistakable sound of glass shattering reached his ears.
'What just happened?' Ben thought, whipping his head around. What he saw made his blood run cold.
A window had shattered inward, with shards of glass scattered across the stairwell, each one reflecting a hideous mosquito-like monster half the size of a human head.
Two pairs of wings extended from its back, beating rapidly and leaving afterimages in the air. It flew down the staircase after breaking into the uppermost floor of the main school building through the window.
Ben's pallor worsened, seeing it whizzing towards him.
Its proboscis looked like a weapon forged from steel. It was twice the length of its body and thin like a needle, glinting like metal under the sun. With the way it was structured, it resembled a rapier.
Although it lacked the elegance of one, there was no doubt in Ben's mind it could pierce through his flesh and bone.
'If it gets to me, I am screwed.'
As that thought crossed his mind, he made a run for it.
The mosquito monster chased him down the stairs.
Ben parkoured down a few more steps and reached the sixth floor, where he slipped into the first room he could find.
He slammed the door shut behind him, locking the monster outside, but he knew he wasn't out of danger yet as monsters were freaking smart.
Some could outplay humans in a battle of wits!
'Sooner or later, it will find a way past the door, because it knows I'm in here. Before that happens, I need to come up with a plan to deal with it.'
'What do I do? What do I do?'
'Think, Benjamin. Think.'
His mind raced. Weaponless as he was, he couldn't fight it. What he needed first and foremost was a weapon.
He looked around, trying to find anything that could save him.
The moment his gaze landed on the surroundings, he knew exactly where he was.
This was the comic book club room, small, cramped, and barely half the size of a normal classroom.
Curtains hung over the windows, blocking most of the sunlight and leaving the room dim and shadowy. Shelves crowded the walls, packed with stacks of comics that looked like they had been piled there for years. A table sat in the center, surrounded by a few chairs, and an old ceiling fan turned slowly overhead, barely stirring the stale air.
His gaze settled on the nearest chair.
It was a simple plastic seat with metal legs, the kind that wobbled when you leaned back too far while sitting on it. The backrest was scratched and stained from years of use, but it looked solid enough to swing and break a face.
"It'll do."
Without further ado, he grabbed it and turned toward the door, staring at it with apprehension as the sound of sawing started to erupt from there.
As expected, the monster had found a way to get to him.
While it was using its needle-thin metallic mouth to carve a hole through the door, which was the only thing standing between them, Ben mustered up the courage to go and stand close to the entrance of the club room with the chair raised over his head. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and waited for it to fall into a trap of its own making.
Get wrecked!
As soon as the monster broke into the club room through the hole it had carved into the door, Ben roared in his heart and brought the chair down on it.
The mosquito monster wasn't expecting retaliation from a scrawny man like Ben, so it was caught off guard. The chair impacted against its defenseless back, damaging its wings and knocking it to the floor, where it writhed in pain.
"Still not dead? Looks like I need to beat it more."
As long as it drew breath, Ben knew he wouldn't be safe. So he swung the chair again and again, striking it multiple times in the span of a breath.
As a result, he made a pleasant discovery.
The monster was not as tough as it looked. Except for its mouth, the rest of it was surprisingly squishy, like a real bug.
Under the rapid blows, it deformed into a grotesque mess. Seeing its struggles cease, Ben breathed a sigh of relief.
'It's dead. I did it. I survived.'
Ben couldn't stop smirking as he rode a high only a survivor of a terror attack could experience.
While he was lost in his own glee, a cold, electric voice sounded in his head.
[You have met the requirement.]
[You will now awaken.]