"Ethan Su, your life ends here."
The blade kissed my throat, cold enough to freeze my last breath. Rain hammered the abandoned execution ground, turning the dirt beneath my knees into bloody mud. Above my executioner's head, crimson text materialized—visible only to me:
**[Target: Derek Kane | Lv.15 Swordsman]**
**[Tax Owed: 50,000 EXP + 1 Life]**
**[Forced Collection Available: YES]**
I smiled through the blood on my teeth. "Sorry, Derek. But I'm collecting today."
The chains around my wrists bit deep, but not as deep as the betrayal. Three minutes ago, I'd been dragged here by my former best friend—now my judge, jury, and executioner. The same Derek Kane who'd copied my homework for two years, who'd sworn brotherhood over stolen beer behind the gym.
"Any last words, trash?" Derek's voice carried over the storm. Behind him, a crowd of our former classmates held up phones, livestreaming my execution to the entire academy. Their faces glowed with the sick excitement of watching the weak finally get what they deserved.
*System Alert: Host approaching death threshold.*
*Emergency activation of [Omniversal Tax Collection System] initiated.*
*Soul Starvation detected. Feed or be consumed.*
*Scanning for tax evaders in proximity...*
The blood-red notifications scrolled past my vision like receipts from hell. I'd been seeing them for the past hour, ever since they'd chained me here. At first, I thought it was blood loss making me hallucinate. Now, with Derek's sword at my throat and a gnawing hunger eating at my soul, I was starting to hope it was real.
"Look at him," sneered a voice from the crowd. Sophia Reyes stepped forward, my ex-girlfriend's perfect face twisted with cold calculation. She held her phone steady, making sure to capture every angle of my humiliation. "Still delusional even now. Did you really think you could steal from the Awakener's Guild and get away with it?"
I hadn't stolen anything. The "forbidden relic" they'd found in my locker had been planted—probably by Derek himself, as his initiation test for joining the Guild. But truth didn't matter when you were powerless. When you were the only student in Nexus Academy without an awakened ability, your word meant nothing.
"The viewers want to know," Sophia continued, reading from her chat with practiced ease, "what it feels like to be the weakest piece of garbage in the academy. This execution is being broadcast to all Guild branches—Master Chen wants everyone to see what happens to thieves."
*System Alert: Target Derek Kane classified as [Severe Tax Evader]*
*Unauthorized skill usage detected: Forbidden Sword Arts (undeclared)*
*Penalty assessment: Immediate asset seizure authorized*
*Warning: Soul Starvation accelerating. Collect now or face self-consumption.*
The notifications were getting more insistent, and I could feel something eating at me from the inside—a hunger that went deeper than flesh, deeper than bone. If I didn't feed this thing soon, it would start feeding on me.
Derek raised his sword, the blade gleaming with the blue energy of his awakened ability. "I actually felt bad about framing you," he admitted, his voice low enough that only I could hear. "For about five seconds. But Master Chen needs a scapegoat for the relic's activation. A sacrificial lamb with no Guild affiliation."
He stepped back, raising his voice for the cameras. "And honestly, Ethan? It's just evolution. The strong consume the weak. I'm just speeding up the food chain."
The sword began its descent.
*Execute [Violent Collection] protocol?*
"Yes," I whispered, and felt the hunger roar in approval.
My hand shot out, fingers closing around the blade. Blood welled between my knuckles, but I didn't feel pain—only a surge of golden fire that exploded behind my eyes and drove back the gnawing emptiness in my chest.
"In the name of the Tax Bureau," I snarled, my voice echoing with harmonics that shouldn't exist, "I declare you—BANKRUPT!"
Derek's eyes went wide. Above his head, the crimson numbers began spinning downward like a slot machine in reverse. 50,000... 40,000... 30,000...
"What the hell—" He tried to pull his sword free, but my grip was iron. No, stronger than iron. The golden fire was spreading up my arm, rewriting my cellular structure in real-time, feeding the starving void inside me with Derek's stolen power.
20,000... 10,000... 5,000...
Derek screamed as his sword arm began to wither. The muscle mass he'd built through years of training evaporated like steam. His carefully cultivated sword techniques—stolen from ancient manuals, never properly declared to the system—flowed out of him like water from a broken dam.
Zero.
The sword clattered to the ground. Derek collapsed beside it, his body reduced to skin and bones, his eyes rolled back to show only whites. Around us, the crowd had gone silent except for the sound of phones hitting the mud.
I stood up, the soul-deep hunger finally satisfied—for now. The chains that had bound me lay in pieces, severed by the golden energy still crackling around my hands. The wounds on my throat and wrists sealed themselves as Derek's stolen life force integrated with my own.
*Collection successful. Assets acquired:*
*- 50,000 EXP*
*- Forbidden Sword Arts (Mastery Level: Expert)*
*- Life Force: 15 years*
*- Physical Enhancement: +200% base stats*
*Soul Starvation temporarily sated. Next feeding required in: 22 hours, 31 minutes.*
"Who's the weakling now?" I asked, placing my boot on Derek's face. His breathing was shallow, barely alive. Perfect—I needed him conscious for this.
Sophia's phone trembled in her hands. The livestream chat was exploding with messages, but she couldn't look away from my eyes. They were glowing now, golden fire dancing in the pupils.
"Ethan?" she whispered. "What... what are you?"
I picked up Derek's sword, testing its weight. It felt like a feather in my enhanced grip. "I'm the tax collector, Sophia. And everyone here owes me."
The crowd began to back away, but it was too late. Above each of their heads, new numbers were appearing. Smaller amounts—a few hundred EXP here, a stolen technique there—but it all added up.
*Warning: Multiple low-value targets detected.*
*Recommendation: Conserve energy for high-tier acquisition.*
*Priority target approaching: Chen Wei | Lv.40 Guild Master*
That's when the helicopters arrived.
Searchlights cut through the rain, illuminating the execution ground in harsh white light. A voice boomed from speakers mounted on the lead aircraft:
"Ethan Su, surrender the Forbidden Relic immediately, or face the consequences. This is Guild Master Chen, and you are surrounded."
I looked up at the sky, then down at Derek's twitching form. Guild Master Chen—Level 40, according to the academy records. The strongest Awakener in the city.
*New target acquired: Chen Wei | Lv.40 Guild Master*
*Estimated tax owed: 500,000 EXP + Multiple Conceptual Violations*
*Warning: Target exceeds current collection capacity*
*Emergency Protocol Available: [Predatory Audit] - Collect interest on unpaid taxes*
Derek's lips moved weakly. I knelt down to hear his final words.
"Your eyes," he gasped, terror making his voice crack. "They're just like... just like the Fallen God from the wanted posters... The one who devoured the Celestial Treasury..."
Fallen God? I'd never heard that name before, but something deep in my chest responded to it—a recognition that felt older than memory. And the Celestial Treasury... that sounded like exactly the kind of place a tax collector would be interested in.
The helicopters were descending now, and I could see figures rappelling down on cables. Guild enforcers, armed with weapons that could level city blocks.
I stood up, Derek's sword comfortable in my grip. The golden fire was spreading, turning my ordinary school uniform into something that looked almost ceremonial. Almost divine.
*Emergency Protocol activated: [Predatory Audit]*
*Collecting compound interest on all unpaid taxes within 1km radius...*
*Estimated yield: Sufficient for Tier 4 evolution*
"Looks like," I said, watching the enforcers hit the ground and form a perimeter, "the next tax return just arrived."
The system pulsed with hungry anticipation, and I smiled. Guild Master Chen thought he was hunting me.
He had no idea he was about to get audited.