The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion

Three years had passed since the arrival of the mysterious entity known as "The System" on the planet called Earth.

Damian sat at a bus stop in front of a very expensive-looking building, looking extremely ill.

His skin was pale, and his gaunt frame hinted at weeks of malnutrition as if he hadn't eaten in days.

Damian sighed, his voice laced with bitterness.

"I guess it's only natural they'd fire me. After all, I might drop dead any day now." Damian muttered before looking at his stats.

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 [Awakner: Damian Ignatius]

 [level: 12]

 [Job: None]

 [Titles: None]

 [Talents: None]

 [Innate Abilities: None]

 [Strength: 9 ║ Agility: 9 ║ Vitality: 7 ║

 Stamina: 7 ║ Perception: 15 ║ Stat Points: 0]

 [Skills: Basic Swordsmanship, Basic Archery]

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It all started when the System descended, it unleashed mystical energies into Earth's atmosphere, triggering a metamorphosis across all living things.

Animals, birds, insects, and even plants began to mutate in unprecedented ways.

Humans, however, didn't mutate.

Instead, they experienced something far more remarkable.

They evolved, or more accurately, a dormant trait awakened within them, enabling the possibility of Evolution.

People came to call the day the System descended "The Day of Awakening."

On that day, the world was drenched in blood.

Beasts and monsters, some so alien they defied naming, rampaged across the globe, slaughtering countless lives.

Even some humans transformed into monstrous beings themselves, known as Corruptants.

The System classified these as individuals unable to withstand the metamorphosis.

Damian was one of the fortunate ones who survived the metamorphosis, but to him, it was nothing to celebrate.

Those who withstood the metamorphosis gained incredible strength, leveling up by hunting Corruptants and the monsters that emerged from otherworldly portals.

With each kill, they grew stronger, acquiring supernatural abilities, skills, and talents that evolved alongside their levels.

Empowered by the System, humanity gradually regained the upper hand, driving back the monsters.

Yet, even after monsters ceased to emerge from the portals, humanity's challenges were far from over.

That's when humanity turned its attention to the Towers.

The Tower was a gateway to countless realms scattered across the universe, brimming with opportunities for evolution.

Within its depths, humans could evolve to unimaginable heights and even change their very race.

Once a person reached a certain level and awakened their class, they could freely enter and exit the Tower.

But none of this mattered to Damian.

Despite surviving the metamorphosis, he never awakened a talent.

No matter how much effort he poured into leveling up, he had plateaued at Level 12.

With no talent to speak of, he was no match for the beasts, Corruptants, or other Awakeners.

It took humanity a year and a half to eradicate the monsters infesting cities and settlements.

Afterward, an organization called the Awakener's Society was established to regulate and monitor Awakeners, ensuring they didn't misuse their newfound powers.

The society also aimed to protect low-level Awakeners and the talentless, people like Damian.

But protection? Damian scoffed at the idea.

In truth, the talentless were nothing but liabilities.

To those with power, they were an unnecessary burden, extra weight to be carried simply because they were human.

In this new world ruled by the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, there was no place for the weak.

At the very least, the Awakener's Society was considerate enough to offer jobs to low-level Awakeners.

That was how Damian ended up working for the Society, tasked with recording data about the System, Awakeners, monsters, Corruptants, gates, talents, skills, abilities, and evolutions collected from those who climbed the Tower.

Yet, Damian's sickness had worsened.

Even these simple tasks, reading and typing, became insurmountable.

He was eventually fired.

After all, there were plenty of healthier, more capable individuals to replace him.

"If only I had talent," Damian muttered, his voice trembling with frustration, "I could have grown stronger and cured my sickness."

His gaze drifted to the dark, ancient Tower piercing the night sky at the heart of the city.

His expression soured.

"Fuck this," he spat bitterly. "There's no use worrying about what could've been. It's not like I asked to be born talentless or to have this sickness ruining my life."

Damian clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening with suppressed rage.

"Now what do I do?" he whispered. "I have no money left. I spent everything on pain medication. I've lost my job, and no one's going to hire a weak bastard like me."

He sighed, his voice barely audible.

"Do I have no choice but to wait for death? At this rate, I'll die of hunger long before this sickness kills me."

Damian suddenly felt an ominous sensation near him.

Before he could fully grasp what was happening, a strange, shimmering portal began to form, the air around it thick with condensed mana.

A red gate appeared, its light casting eerie shadows around him.

"A-A red gate? Here of all places? Seriously?" Damian muttered, a mix of frustration and dread washing over him. "I guess my luck was already maxed out just surviving until now."

He barely had a moment to consider his next move before a horrifying figure emerged from the gate.

A grotesque monster, its body adorned with writhing tentacles and three ghastly heads, lumbered forward.

Its six vertical, glowing yellow eyes fixed on him, each gaze more chilling than the last.

Standing at an imposing thirteen feet, the creature exuded an aura of pure terror.

"This… this can't be real," Damian stammered, his throat dry, his legs refusing to move no matter how desperately he willed them.

He was frozen in place, staring helplessly as the abomination advanced.

"I'm going to die," he thought grimly.

With trembling hands, he pulled out the small knife he carried for protection.

It felt pitifully inadequate in the face of the monstrosity before him, but it was all he had.

Mustered by sheer survival instinct, Damian forced himself to lunge toward the red emergency button on the wall of the bus stop.

His hand slammed against it, and a piercing siren immediately blared through the streets, echoing endlessly to alert the authorities of the gate's sudden appearance.

"High-level Awakeners will arrive in two minutes," he thought desperately, his pulse pounding in his ears.

"I have to run as fast as I can."

But before he could take a single step, a massive tentacle slammed into the bus stop with devastating force.

BOOM!

The impact obliterated the structure, sending Damian hurtling across the road.

His body skidded and rolled, finally coming to a painful stop on the cold asphalt.

"Ugh…" He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.

His hand instinctively clutched his ribs as pain radiated through his entire body.

"I… I have to run," Damian thought, his vision blurring.

His will to live burned fiercely, but his body refused to obey.

He couldn't stand, couldn't even crawl.

It was a miracle that he was still in one piece.

If he hadn't been a Level 12 Awakener, the impact would have reduced him to a pool of blood.

Even so, his current state was dire.

"Come on… stand up," Damian whispered through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse with desperation.

Summoning every ounce of strength he had left, he forced himself onto his feet.

But the monster was already closing the distance, its massive tentacle poised to strike again.

Just as the tentacle was about to snatch his broken body, a giant ball of fire streaked through the air, crashing into the creature with a deafening explosion.

The impact blasted both Damian and the monster in opposite directions, leaving him sprawled further away.

"It's a red gate?" a man clad in armor appeared, wielding a massive longsword with practiced ease.

"It's been a while since we've seen a red-grade gate," a woman in a flowing robe replied.

Without hesitation, she conjured another enormous fireball and hurled it at the monster, incinerating one of its tentacles in a fiery blast.

However, within seconds, the tentacle began to regenerate, reforming before their eyes.

"It can regenerate... This might be a problem," the woman said grimly.

Her gaze shifted briefly, and she noticed Damian lying on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.

He was barely clinging to consciousness.

"There's a low-level Awakener caught in the crossfire. We need to get him medical attention immediately," she said, her voice laced with urgency.

"He must have been the one to notify the officials about the gate," the man remarked, sparing Damian a brief glance. His face twisted into a snort of disdain.

"He's just a low-level Awakener. We can't afford to spare any time. The monster takes priority," he said firmly, cutting off any protests.

"But he—"

"No!" the man barked. "Not until reinforcements arrive. We need to hold the line."

The woman hesitated, clearly torn, but eventually nodded.

"I'm sorry," she whispered under her breath, her expression heavy with guilt.

She turned her focus back to the battle, launching a relentless barrage of spells at the monstrous creature to keep it at bay.