Author’s Note:
From this chapter onward, the story of Kenji begins.
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[Ancient Calendar: 10 Feb 0001]
“Are… are you sure… this is a… good idea?” Hiding in the bushes, the boy asked his teammate.
“Don’t worry, Kenji. They’re just boars; they get scared easily,” his teammate whispered back.
“If… if you say so…” Kenji mumbled under his breath, bracing himself before charging at the group of boars.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Grunt! Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!
Startled by the sudden noise, the group of boars panicked and began running into the open plains.
“Perfect! This is our chance.”
The two teammates hiding in the bushes emerged and quickly took aim at the fleeing boars.
Fwip! Fwip!
Arrows sliced through the air toward their targets.
Screee!
“One for me!” one of them cheered as his arrow struck a boar, while the others missed.
“I’m not missing this one!” Fired up by his friend’s success, the other quickly reloaded and fired another arrow.
Unfortunately, he missed again, while the other teammate confirmed his kill by firing another arrow at the injured boar.
Soon, the boars were out of range, and both of them put away their bows.
“Kenji, what are you standing there for? Quickly, help us carry the boar,” said the one who made the kill, approaching the body and using his innate [Devour] ability to absorb the Ki from the boar.
Before long, they tied the boar and secured it onto Kenji’s back. After crossing a small stream, the trio began their walk back to the city.
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“Marcus, after selling the boar, let’s get something to eat.” Julius was quite happy with himself. After all, he had hit the boar on his first try today.
“Sure,” Marcus replied. He would never turn down a free meal.
After half an hour of walking, the city gates finally came into view.
“...G-guys, don’t you think… we should rest… for a while?” Kenji’s exhausted voice called out as Marcus and Julius were about to quicken their pace to reach the city faster.
“We’re fine here. Why rest?” Julius replied coldly, unwilling to waste time because of Kenji. They had hired him to save time, not waste it.
Hearing Julius’s words, Kenji kept his head low and continued walking steadily, one step at a time. Though his back hurt from carrying the boar, he wasn’t foolish enough to argue with his employer.
[Aqua City]
Rank: Low
Residents: 934,748
Highest Combat Power: Level 3 (4)
Specialty: Holy Water]
Upon entering Aqua City, Marcus, Julius, and Kenji immediately headed to a fairy shop to sell the boar.
“These damn fairies reduced the price again,” Marcus complained, glaring at the two silver coins in his hand. Two days ago, they had sold a boar for three silver coins, and now the price had dropped by an entire coin.
“Kenji, here’s your share.” Handing over the coins, Marcus took Julius and headed toward a nearby fairy restaurant.
“This is… enough… for food.” Looking at the fifty copper coins in his hand, Kenji quietly turned and made his way back home.
About a month ago, the entire world was suddenly pulled into the Ascension Program; a project launched by His Majesty to strengthen his Verse.
At first, Kenji had been excited. He thought this was his moment to shine, to finally be seen in a new light.
But reality hit him hard. The initial money he received was taken by the members of his housing complex, who decided to pool everyone’s funds together to buy hunting equipment from the fairies.
However, the hunting team upon whom the entire complex had pinned their hopes was wiped out on the very first day, losing all their equipment in the process.
After that, everyone in the complex spent days starving, barely surviving by doing odd jobs.
That was when Kenji started taking odd jobs from Hunters.
After walking for a while, Kenji arrived at his apartment complex, a place that once housed twenty people, but now only twelve remained.
“Hey guys, Kenji’s back. So, Kenji, how much did you earn today?”
As Kenji stepped into the living room, a boy sitting on the couch turned toward him and asked in a sarcastic voice.
Without answering, Kenji quietly placed the fifty copper coins on the table and headed straight to his room.
Being an orphan with a timid personality, Kenji was often bullied and abused by the members of his housing complex’s hunting party. They only allowed him to eat leftovers and forced him to wash their dishes, clean their clothes, and tidy up their rooms.
To the hunters of the complex, Kenji was nothing more than a free maid.
Unfortunately, due to his weak physique and lack of weapons, no party was willing to take him out hunting.
Thus, for the past twenty days, Kenji had been trapped in a miserable cycle, bullied and overworked by the hunters of his housing complex, with no money to move out. Even the little he earned from odd jobs was taken away under the excuse of “food money.”
Returning to his room, Kenji didn’t go to sleep. Instead, he lay on his bed and began absorbing the Ki present in the air.
“Stats!”
[User: Kenji
Age: 17
Ki: 219 → 223
Profession: None
Innate Ability: Devour
Heavenly Gift: None
Skills: None]
After absorbing Ki for two hours straight, Kenji opened his status window. A faintly glowing screen appeared before his eyes.
“Good.”
Seeing his Ki reserves rise by four units, Kenji couldn’t help but smile. Despite all the abuse and mistreatment, the steady growth in his Ki was the one thing that kept him going.
Although he was dirt poor and couldn’t afford the materials required for an F-rank Gift, his Ki reserves had already surpassed the minimum needed for a second Gift.
It was all thanks to his determination. He never slacked off and spent three to four hours every day breathing Ki.
That same persistence was also why, despite his weak physique, he could carry a 25-kilogram boar for three kilometers without collapsing.
After getting up from his bed, Kenji left his room and walked back toward the living room.
“Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
“Yeah! Killing those Lizardmen!”
While the hunters discussed their plans for tomorrow, Kenji quietly slipped into the kitchen. He grabbed the leftovers, sat in a corner, and ate in silence.
After finishing his meal, he stood up and began collecting the dirty dishes from the living room. Channeling a bit of Ki to make the work easier, he washed everything carefully before tidying up the space.
Once the chores were done, Kenji returned to his room and soon drifted into sleep.
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Author’s Note:
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