Title: The Weakest Hunter: Rise of the Player
Chapter 1: The Last Mission
The air was thick with blood and smoke as Hayden Williams, an E rank hunter, staggered through the battlefield. The once vibrant forest had been reduced to twisted trees and smoldering craters. Around him lay the bodies of his teammates friends who had fought bravely, but not bravely enough.
"Hayden… we… can't hold…" one of his comrades gasped, clutching a deep wound in his side.
Hayden's vision blurred. He had always been the weakest. The joke of the hunter guild. The "Weakest Hunter of All Mankind." Every contract he took ended in ridicule, every dungeon he entered was a trial of embarrassment. And now, at the edge of death, he could barely lift his head.
The enemy a monstrous, shadowy being of impossible size loomed over him. Its claws glimmered with a sickly black energy, dripping with the souls of the fallen. Hayden knew he wouldn't survive this. Not like this.
Then, as darkness claimed him, a voice echoed inside his mind.
"Welcome, Player."
Hayden's eyes snapped open. Nothing looked different, but his body felt… alive. Stronger. Sharp. He could sense numbers, stats, tasks… a system. A System.
[Player Activated]
[Rank: E → Player]
[Tasks Available: Survive, Train, Hunt, Conquer]
It was like a video game interface superimposed over reality. Hayden flexed his fingers. The pain in his wounds dulled. His senses sharpened.
"No… this can't be real…" he whispered, but deep inside, hope flickered for the first time in his life.
He could see the world differently now: monsters as data, humans as allies, dungeons as missions. Every action, every kill, would make him stronger. Every challenge, a step closer to rewriting his destiny.
And nobody would ever think he was weak again.
For the world, Hayden Williams had died. But for the system… a Player had just begun.