---
"Hey, did you hear?"
A loud voice drifted through the street as I passed by a group of people standing near a convenience store.
"China and America just awakened new **S-Class Hunters**," the first guy said excitedly. "They're monsters. Absolute monsters."
The second guy scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. Meanwhile our country doesn't even have a single S-Class. Just corruption and empty promises. Same old story."
I didn't stop walking, but my ears definitely worked overtime.
Hunters.
Of course they were talking about hunters.
This world was like that. Everywhere you went—streets, cafés, jeepneys, even funeral wakes—people talked about hunters the way they used to talk about celebrities or basketball players.
Yeah. This world had hunters.
If I had to explain it simply, it felt like **Solo Leveling**, except more unfair… and way more realistic.
My name is **Ron Sanchez**.
I was transmigrated here.
Filipino. Same nationality as my past life. Same face too—thankfully still decent-looking. No sudden glow-up, but at least I didn't transmigrate into an ugly body. Small blessings.
This world looks like Earth, but history took a hard left turn.
In **1979**, the first **Dimensional Gate** appeared in **Cuba**.
No warning. No countdown. One day it was just there.
Then monsters poured out.
Cities fell. Militaries failed. Bullets worked… sometimes. Nukes? Useless. Monsters didn't care about radiation laws or international treaties.
Millions died.
Then the impossible happened.
The first **Hunter** awakened.
From that moment on, the world changed forever.
Hunters began appearing everywhere. Along with them came **professions**—not jobs, but something closer to racial traits or bloodline inheritances.
Western countries awakened **Knights**, **Paladins**, and **Magicians**.
China produced **Martial Artists**, **Qi Masters**, and ancient cultivation-style professions.
Japan had **Samurai**, **Onmyoji**, and cursed weapon users.
Some people even awakened **dual professions**, inheriting traits from both sides of their ancestry.
Those people?
They were called **Children of the Stars**.
Famous the moment they awakened. Sponsored. Protected. Their future guaranteed.
Me?
Yeah… no.
I transmigrated into the **Philippines**.
No family. No cheat system. No mysterious old man in my head. Just me, a rented body, and bad luck.
And the Philippines?
We had exactly **four common professions**.
* **Spearmaster**
* **Berserker**
* **Swordmaster**
* **Archer**
That's it.
Ninety percent of awakened Filipinos got one of those four.
Why?
No one knew.
Scientists, historians, and conspiracy theorists argued endlessly. Some said it was genetic. Others said historical weapon usage. One guy on Facebook said it was because Filipinos liked anime too much.
No one took that last guy seriously.
Sure, there were **rare professions**, but they were like shiny Pokémon—everyone talked about them, nobody actually had one.
And worst of all?
The Philippines had **never produced an S-Class Hunter**.
Not even one.
Our highest-ranking hunters?
Two people.
Both **A-Class**.
That's it.
Hunters were ranked purely by strength:
**F → E → D → C → B → A → S**
Profession didn't matter as much as people thought. Even a "trash" profession could reach S-Class with enough talent and the right skills.
But talent was rarer than honesty in politics.
And leveling up?
Painfully slow.
This world had a **leveling system**, but it wasn't generous. You didn't just kill three monsters and suddenly glow with power.
Leveling up felt more like **unlocking parts of your DNA**.
Years. Sometimes decades.
Each level-up gave **random skills**, unique to the individual. Scientists estimated there were **billions of possible skills**, and no two people shared the exact same skill set.
That was the only thing that made this world fair.
Or unfair.
Depending on your luck.
Even a simple **goblin** could kill an **E-Class Hunter** if they got careless.
Monsters weren't stupid.
And Gates?
Gates never stopped producing monsters unless **every single monster inside was killed**.
That's why beginner gates were handled carefully.
For example, **F-Class Goblin Gates**.
The government would secretly capture **one goblin**, lock it up, and hide it somewhere.
As long as that goblin lived, the gate wouldn't disappear.
A training ground for newcomers.
Cruel? Maybe.
Effective? Definitely.
As for numbers?
The Philippines had around **120 million people**.
Only **500,000** were awakened.
Let that sink in.
And now here I was.
Walking home.
Unawakened.
Age **22**.
Mandatory awakening age was **18–22**.
Once you turned **23**?
Game over.
You would **never awaken**.
Tomorrow was my **last chance**.
I reached my small apartment, unlocked the door, and collapsed inside.
Dinner was leftover rice and… something that used to be meat. Probably.
I turned on the TV.
Breaking news.
Another corruption scandal.
Another failed gate response.
Another politician smiling like nothing was wrong.
I sighed.
"Damn… even after transmigrating to another world, the Philippines is still the same."
Some things truly transcended universes.
I finished eating, washed my plate, and lay down on my bed.
No system notifications.
No glowing windows.
No sudden awakening.
Just silence.
"Well," I muttered, staring at the ceiling, "if I don't awaken… I'll just work like a normal person."
That was a lie.
But it was one I needed to tell myself.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow was my last hope.
I smiled faintly, closed my eyes, and prepared for sleep.
Unaware that my life—
and this country's fate—
was about to change.
---