Kabir finally reached home, exhausted.
But as soon as he stepped inside, his stomach sank — the door lock was broken.
He pushed the door open and froze.
Everything inside was either destroyed or gone.
He clenched his fists. "Debt collectors… it has to be them."
Then a thought struck him — the fridge.
His eyes widened. "No… no, they didn't take it, did they?"
He hurried to the corner where it used to stand. The space was empty.
"Damn it! They took the fridge! It had the staircase—"
"Calm down," Mara's voice interrupted, steady as ever.
"That door was linked only to you. No one else could have used it. And now that you have the key, you no longer need the fridge."
Kabir exhaled sharply, a mix of relief and exhaustion washing over him.
"Fine," he said quietly. "At least that's one less thing to worry about."
He looked around at his broken furniture, the torn mattress, the empty shelves.
"Now that I can grow stronger," he muttered, "I can deal with those debt collectors myself. But… I'll do it right. I'll pay them back — properly."
He paused for a moment, thinking.
"So the first step is to register as an awakened and start going on expeditions."
A faint smile crossed his face. "Yeah. Tomorrow. Right now, I'm too tired to care."
He collapsed onto his half-torn bed, closed his eyes, and drifted into a deep, heavy sleep.
When morning came, a faint chime echoed in his ears.
His system screen blinked open, glowing faintly red.
[Daily Quest Updated]
•Run: 0 /10 km
•Push Ups: 0/ 100
•Situps: 0/100
•Squats: 0/100
• Weapon Training For 1 Hour
"Really?" Kabir frowned. "Yesterday it was just a ten-kilometer run, and now it's grown into this much? How the hell am I supposed to do all that?"
> "Well," Mara replied, "before yesterday you couldn't even kill a fly. But in one day, you've slain a Lavacarion and a Rock Giant. So stop acting like a child and complete your quests."
"That's harsh, you know," Kabir muttered. "I have a heart too."
"Do you? Debatable."
"Fine, fine—I'll do it," he grumbled, dropping down to start his push-ups.
After finishing everything except the run, he sat back, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Well, only the running's left," he said. "Guess I'll complete that on my way to the Awakened Organization."
And with that, he grabbed his coat and stepped outside.
Kabir jogged through the cracked streets of Sikar City, the morning air sharp against his skin. The sun had barely risen, but the city was already awake—merchants opening shutters, kids running barefoot through narrow lanes, the hum of old vehicles filling the air.
[Run: 2.3 / 10 km]
His system flickered faintly in the corner of his vision as he passed a street lined with half-demolished buildings. Each breath felt heavier than the last.
"Your form's sloppy," Mara noted.
"Yeah, well, I'm not training for a marathon," Kabir snapped between gasps.
"You're training to survive Hell. Same thing."
He rolled his eyes but kept running. His boots hit the pavement in rhythm—thud, thud, thud—like a metronome counting down to something. Sweat soaked through his shirt, and his legs began to burn.
[Fatigue: +25%]
[Run: 7.6 / 10 km]
"Almost there," he muttered.
Then, as if mocking him, the system blinked a warning.
[Warning: Stamina Critical – Performance Reduced 30%]
"Damn it—come on!" Kabir gritted his teeth, pushing harder. His breath came in sharp bursts, his vision swimming slightly. The last few hundred meters were a blur of movement and pain.
When he finally stopped, the screen flashed one last time.
[Run: 10.0 / 10 km]
[Daily Quest Completed]
[Reward: +5 Stat Points | +1 Basic Recovery Potion]
He bent over, hands on knees, trying not to throw up.
"You're still slow," Mara said casually.
Kabir groaned. "Yeah? Try having lungs."
Kabir pulled his hood low and jogged toward the heart of Sikar City. The Awakened Organization's headquarters towered above the skyline like a black monolith, mirrored glass swallowing the sunrise. Two armed guards stood at the entrance, armor humming with faint mana fields.
One of them lifted a hand. "Restricted zone. State your business."
"Registration," Kabir said, steady but breathless. "Evaluation test."
The guard scanned him; the scanner beeped once, flat and unimpressed. "No aura signature."
Kabir shrugged. "That's why I'm here—to find out if there's anything to register."
The guard hesitated, then handed him a digital pass. "Chamber Three, down the main hall. If the crystal stays blank, you're out."
Kabir smirked faintly. "Then let's hope it blinks."
Inside, the air vibrated with power. Awakened warriors—E-rank to B-rank—moved through metal corridors, their presence heavy enough to make the lights flicker. Holographic boards flashed team rosters, bounty lists, and expedition schedules.
Kabir followed the signs until he reached Chamber Three, a circular room lined with scanners and runic crystals pulsing faint blue. A young examiner glanced up from a tablet.
"Name?"
"Kabir Singh."
"Occupation?"
"Unemployed. For now."
The examiner smiled thinly, tapping on the screen. "Place your hand on the crystal. It'll read your mana output."
Kabir nodded and stepped forward. Mara's voice murmured in his head.
"Hide it. Don't let the system flare."
Kabir took a breath, focusing. He could feel the infernal pulse inside him—the same red current that had shattered the crystal yesterday—waiting to surge. He forced it down, sealing it behind mental iron doors.
He pressed his palm to the orb. The crystal glowed faintly blue… then settled into a soft gray.
The examiner squinted at the readout. "Hmm… stable output, moderate flow. You're sitting around C-rank, maybe a bit low on mana density but solid overall." He tilted his head. "Strange, though—your physique suggests you could push higher."
Kabir offered a faint smile. "Guess I'm just average where it counts."
The examiner nodded, tapping on his console. "C-rank confirmed. You'll qualify for low-risk expeditions and drop sales. Don't get cocky; even mid-tiers die fast if they misjudge a crack."
Kabir took the printed ID chip, the metallic edge still warm from the machine. "Noted."
Outside, he pulled back his hood and drew a long breath, tension finally easing from his shoulders. His system screen flickered to life, faint crimson text scrolling before his eyes.
[Main Quest Progress: 3%]
[System Mask: Active]
[Energy Output Successfully Concealed]
[Current Public Rank: C]
A quiet grin tugged at his mouth. "C-rank, huh? Just high enough to earn, low enough to disappear."
"Exactly," Mara said. "The world trusts mediocrity. It never looks twice at it."
Kabir looked up at the morning sky—blue, ordinary, fragile. "Good. The less they look, the easier it'll be to move."
He slid the chip into his pocket and stepped into the crowd, just another Awakened blending into the noise—
the only one who could walk through Hell and come back.