Damien remained perplexed by the stream of information floating directly before his eyes. Having reincarnated into a game, he was not particularly startled by the manifestation of a system. In fact, its existence felt almost expected. What truly unsettled him was his status. Discovering that he was a demigod was astonishing, yet that alone was not the real issue. Rather, it was his rank. Despite lacking a complete grasp of this world's laws, the residual memories of the former owner of this body guided him toward a partial understanding.
In essence, he had instantly acquired enough knowledge to navigate life in this world, but not enough to be considered all knowing. The former Damien had shown little interest in the divine aspects of the world and had neither researched nor concerned himself with them.
The world was called Elypia. It had originally been divided into two continents, Version One and Version Two, which had been locked in perpetual conflict over resources. However, following the invasion of mythical monsters and hostile entities, the two continents united under a single banner three hundred years ago. Thus, Elypia was formed.
In this world, all beings were classified into four categories. Mortals were ordinary humans. Descents were those born from divine lineages who had yet to awaken their Bloodline. Demigods were individuals who had successfully awakened it. Finally, there were the gods themselves, the supreme beings. It was theoretically possible for a demigod to ascend to godhood, but such a path demanded immense time, countless risks, and often hundreds of mortal years merely to approach that threshold.
Demigods were the only ranked beings and were classified into six tiers using Constellations, arranged in descending order from Five Constellations to Special Constellation. Those at Five Constellations were considered weak, while a Special Constellation represented the apex, a demigod with sufficient potential to ascend to godhood upon breaking through. For a Five Constellation demigod to reach such a height, they would have endured years of severe hardship. However, there were rare instances in which a Descent awakened directly at an exceptionally high rank.
Just like Damien, who had awakened at the Special Constellation rank.
However, it was evident that he had never refined his strength over the years, despite being aware of his latent power. He hailed from an exceptionally prominent family, yet they had all been slaughtered by an unknown enemy when he was very young. Only two survived the massacre. One was his younger sister, but he had lost contact with her and did not know whether she was alive or dead. Forced into hiding, he changed his identity and began living as a Mortal.
Damien sighed.
"This might be a hassle, but to be honest, I cannot continue living like a shrimp in this world. The future is uncertain for me anyway," he thought quietly, assessing the information in his head.
He needed to evaluate his current situation before making any decisions.
First, he clearly possessed no Divine Energy, and without it, even with his godlike potential and affinities, he was practically a Mortal. Not to mention his complete lack of Skills. To obtain them, he would need to hunt Monsters and grow stronger. While he could also learn Skills directly, doing so would consume Divine Energy, of which he had none.
Divine Energy was the core essence of this world, the source that made every demigod and god so powerful. It existed everywhere, much like oxygen, yet demigods could not access it freely. They were required to kill Monsters and extract Divine Energy from them. Gods, however, could naturally draw upon the ambient energy without needing to hunt, with Monster hunting serving merely as a bonus for them.
Thanks to the multiple affinities he possessed from the three great Olympian gods, he would be able to reach his full potential far more quickly. In fact, he was likely the only demigod in this world with more than two affinities, as two was considered the absolute limit for demigods. He had already surpassed that boundary.
Speaking of limits, there was one disturbing piece of information at the end of the system display that made him twitch. It clearly stated that a temporary limit had been placed on him. Thinking quickly, he realized this was likely the reason he had only awakened three of his Affinities instead of all of them. He was also aware that this restriction probably extended beyond that alone.
Practically speaking, he had been debuffed. This kind of treatment in games was usually reserved for protagonists with overwhelming abilities, so if he were to make a rough assumption, Damien might very well be the main character of this world. This would drastically reduce the effort required to achieve his more trivial goals, such as creating a small but beautiful harem of goddesses.
It was somewhat cliché, perhaps excessively so, but that was merely a side objective. His true goal was entirely different, especially now that he understood the sheer extent of his potential.
It would be foolish to waste it on something mediocre, would it not?
A visible grin spread across his face as he dismissed the system with a simple thought.
Damien began planning his next steps. The system did not appear to be one that issued quests in exchange for rewards. Instead, he would have to follow the traditional methods of obtaining power. That suited him just fine, perhaps even better, as he would not need to concern himself with penalties or deadlines. If nothing else, it significantly enhanced his advantages as a reincarnator.
He furrowed his brow at the word.
"I should probably stop thinking of myself that way. It feels ridiculous now that I am inside another world."
Definitely.
At this point, he began considering the option of quitting his job. It was not as though he was earning an exceptional salary. Besides, if he wanted to focus on hunting monsters and making a proper return to this world, resignation was inevitable. Should he become a full time monster hunter, he would earn at least a hundred times his current income within a month, if not less. Of course, by not joining a House, he would be even wealthier, as he would not need to share his gains, nor be bound by restrictions or oversight. Being a solo hunter was clearly the superior option.
With his current physical condition, he could handle a low ranked monster even without Divine Energy, though he would need to exercise extreme caution. Monsters were ranked as Lesser, Greater, Higher, Transcendent, Tyrant, and King. Among these, those at the Transcendent level were already comparable to a demigod of two Constellations. He would never be able to take such beings down without Divine Energy, so for now, his targets would strictly be Lesser monsters.
All he needed was an Exalted weapon, which could be purchased from any authorized store, though the price was steep. A low tier weapon alone would cost roughly three months of his current salary. Exalted weapons were the only arms capable of killing monsters and even gods, depending on their quality. They existed in only three categories: Low Tier, High Tier, and God Tier. To slay a god, one would naturally require the strongest grade. With the savings currently available to him, he could only afford a Low Tier weapon and would likely have to endure a strict one meal per day diet to mask the level of hunger he would soon experience.
"Ugh."
Damien grimaced at the necessary choice he had to make if he wanted to grow stronger.
He turned on the desktop in front of him and began writing his resignation letter.
A few minutes later, he finished, carefully ensuring that it sounded professional and contained no errors, with a reason that greatly differed from his true motivation for resigning.
He then sent it to his manager Leonard's work email and started packing his belongings. He was clearly leaving the workplace that same day, even though he had only just arrived in this world, because he could not afford to waste time here. He despised workplaces.
After clearing his desk, the young man walked toward Leonard's office while everyone stared at him and whispered among themselves, trying to understand what was happening and why he was carrying his belongings as though he were leaving for good. He entered the manager's office, and before Leonard could say a single word, Damien placed his work ID card on the desk and gave a brief bow of respect.
Leonard frowned.
"Why are you giving me this, Damien?"
"I made a difficult decision today, sir, so I sent you a small gift to your email. Do not miss me too much, because I will not remember you, sir. You may need someone else to help you fetch breakfast every morning from now on," Damien replied in an unrestrained tone that sounded distinctly cold.
Leonard's eyes widened in shock. He stood up abruptly and pointed at Damien, who met his gaze with empty, emotionless eyes.
"Stop playing pranks and get back to work immediately, or you will regret it, lad," Leonard shouted, his rage clearly visible.
Damien remained lifeless in his expression and stayed silent for several seconds. The silence unsettled Leonard, as this no longer felt like the young employee he habitually overworked and intimidated. He seemed like an entirely different person.
After a moment, Damien turned around and spoke curtly as he walked out the door in a cold voice.
"Forward the gift to HR. I expect my full month's salary, since it is already the end of the month. I completed my work, did I not?"
With that, he left.
Leonard collapsed into his chair in shock. He could not believe what had just happened. Damien had quit, and not only that, he seemed completely different.
"…Did he get a higher paying job? That cannot be possible."
His mind was instantly flooded with countless scenarios that might have led to the resignation, all of which compelled him to hurriedly check the message in his email.
On the other hand, as Damien departed from the workplace, he spoke to almost no one. Only a few of his female colleagues approached him, offering quiet farewells without questioning his decision. They understood that he had been driven to this point, and that Leonard was largely at fault. This only deepened their resentment toward the manager.
Oh well, he could not care less.
Upon reaching the exit of the massive corporation, he inhaled deeply and looked up at the clear blue sky, holding his belongings in an open blue box while his bag hung over his shoulder. Various luxurious cars passed along the road, each distinct in design. If anything, they were far more technologically advanced than those on Earth.
Everything in this world was like that.
However, this world still had only one visible sun, and only one once in a lifetime opportunity.
He scowled as he glanced left and right.
"Fuck. Which way leads to this guy's damn house?"