The last thing Asher Gray remembered was the scream of tires on wet asphalt and the blinding glare of high beams. He had died a nobody on a rain-slicked street, clutching a second-hand textbook—his only ticket out of a dead-end life.
Thump.
"Wake up, trash."
The voice was like a jagged blade. Asher's eyes snapped open, but the world was wrong. The smell of rain and exhaust was gone, replaced by ozone and floor wax. He was standing in a massive, high-tech gymnasium. Hundreds of teenagers in white-and-gold uniforms were lined up in rigid rows, their eyes fixed on a glowing crystal orb atop a velvet-draped dais.
Who am I?
A flood of foreign memories slammed into his brain like a physical blow. Asher Gray. Age 18. Cape Town Martial High. 19 Blood Qi. He saw years of being tripped in the hallways, of eating lunch in bathroom stalls, and the face of the boy currently laughing at him: Marcus Thorne.
Asher Gray had died a nobody on Earth, and he had woken up as the school's "Trash" in a world where the strong bullied the weak while teachers and peers simply turned a blind eye.
"I said... wake up!"
Marcus Thorne stood directly in front of Asher in the assembly line. Marcus was a head taller, his shoulders broad and his skin humming with the vitality of 85.0 Blood Qi. Suddenly, Marcus swung a brutal, casual fist meant to entertain the surrounding students while they waited for their names.
CRACK.
The punch caught Asher in the jaw, spinning him around and sending him sprawling across the hardwood floor. The gym erupted in laughter. To his left, a group of girls giggled; to his right, the "elites" watched with bored indifference. No one moved to help. In this school, if you were weak enough to be hit, it was your fault for being weak.
Asher lay on the ground, his vision swimming. The copper taste of blood filled his mouth. The humiliation of a decade of bullying in this world fused with the cold terror of his death in the previous one. A dark tide of rage began to rise from the depths of his soul.
"Next! Marcus Thorne!" the Priest called.
Marcus sneered at Asher one last time before stepping onto the dais. He placed his hand on the stone, and it erupted in a brilliant, golden light.
[NOTIFICATION: CLASS AWAKENED]
[NAME: MARCUS THORNE | RANK: S-RANK]
[PROFESSION: SOLAR VANGUARD]
The gym went wild. An S-Rank! Marcus puffed out his chest, basking in the glory. He looked back at Asher, his eyes filled with absolute superiority. "See that, trash? That is the gap between a god and a worm."
Marcus stepped down, and the Priest, still reeling from the excitement, called the next name. "Next... Asher Gray."
The laughter returned as Asher stepped onto the dais. He looked at the stone, his heart hammering against his ribs, fueled by a spite so thick it felt like poison. He reached out and placed his hand on the crystal.
For a heartbeat, the world went silent. Then, the Stone didn't just glow—it screamed.
The brilliant gold from Marcus's awakening was instantly devoured by an abyssal, obsidian blackness. A pillar of dark energy erupted from the crystal, slamming into the ceiling and shattering the glass skylights. The pressure in the room became so heavy that students in the front row fell to their knees.
A voice, cold and mechanical, echoed through the gymnasium:
[NOTIFICATION: UNIQUE AWAKENING DETECTED]
[NAME: ASHER GRAY | RANK: SSS-RANK]
[PROFESSION: DEMON SWORDSMAN]
The Tier 6 Priest stood frozen, lost for words. The "trash" had just manifested a rank that shouldn't even exist.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[PRIMORDIAL SIN SYSTEM ACCESSED]
[RESONANCE: 1,000% (RAGE/INJUSTICE)]
[SIN UNLOCKED: WRATH]
[INITIALIZATION BONUS GRANTED: 500 SIN POINTS (SP)]
Asher's eyes snapped open, swirling with a malevolent purple light. He didn't look at the Priest. He looked at Marcus.
Marcus's face had gone from golden triumph to a twisted, ugly mask of shock. The shock quickly curdled into a fit of insane, jealous rage. "SSS-RANK?! NO!" Marcus screamed, his ego snapping. "He's a 19-point loser! It's a glitch! I'll prove it's a fake—I'll kill you right here!"
Marcus lunged forward, his S-Rank 'Solar Vanguard' aura flickering around his fists. Asher stood still. He didn't spend his 500 SP yet. He needed his mind together. But the moment Marcus swung, the fire in Asher's blood ignited.