Caelus's vision blurred and shifted as the teleportation light faded, leaving the Mark of Origin space behind. In the next heartbeat, he materialized inside a modest wooden hut. It was sparse, furnished only with a simple bed against the wall and a table accompanied by a single chair. On the wooden surface lay a pen and a blank sheet of paper.
"I made it." A wide grin tugged at Caelus's lips as he took in his surroundings. "I am finally inside the Origin Ascension Domain."
Yet, beneath the relief, a massive surge of adrenaline pumped through his veins, far more intense than he had anticipated.
He had actually awakened an SSS-Rank Talent.
SSS-Rank.
It was a legendary classification that existed only in speculative articles and wild rumors.
To his knowledge, not a single soul had ever publicly claimed an SSS-Rank talent before.
"But how did I land something like this?" Caelus was genuinely baffled.
The circumstances of his awakening had been incredibly bizarre. He clearly remembered seeing a glaring error message stating he had failed to receive a talent at all. There had been a strange irregularity, a massive glitch in the process, and yet here he was, securely holding a power that completely defied logic.
It was profoundly mysterious.
"Just what exactly is this power?"
He understood the practical application of the skill, but the profound mysteries behind its origin completely eluded him. However, he knew that now was absolutely not the time to dwell on the how or why.
He swiftly swept his hand through the air and summoned the system interface. A translucent blue communication panel shimmered into existence.
[System: You have connected to Town Challenge #513]
[Ren: Hello everyone. I am Ren. Pleased to meet you all. I managed to awaken a B-Rank Tremor Authority.]
[Marcus: What? A B-Rank talent already?]
[Tim: Boss! Please take me in! I only awakened a meager E-Rank talent. That should be enough to carry luggage, right?]
[Sarah: You guys actually awakened talents?]
[John: Talents? What are those?]
[Alex: Well, I suppose I am lucky. I awakened a rare C-Rank talent.]
[Marcus: Lucky...]
[Kate: How I envy the talented. You guys have it easy.]
[Alex: Not really. The C-Rank talent I awakened is just a body enhancement skill called Overclock. I can temporarily enter an overclocked state, but it has cooldowns.]
[Marcus: That is literally broken! With that talent, you will have a much easier time hunting higher-level monsters!]
[Ren: Everyone, gather around the town square. It looks like people are forming teams to go out and start hunting beasts.]
Caelus successfully averted his attention from the global chat group as a sudden notification chime rang out. A brand new window popped up in his vision.
[Quest: Survival of the Fittest]
[Objective: Hunt 10 Fierce Beasts in the Newbie Plains]
[Progress: 0/10]
[Time Limit: 6 Hours]
[Penalty: Permanent revocation of access to the Origin Ascension Domain]
Naturally, absolutely nothing in the Origin Ascension Domain was free. No one was going to be spoon-fed in this ruthless place. Aspirants actively had to earn their right to remain in this mysterious world that offered a direct path to unimaginable heights.
Seeing the strict quest requirements, Caelus immediately checked his personal status window.
With a casual wave of his hand, the stats appeared.
[Name: Caelus Kross]
[Race: Human]
[Class: None]
[Talent: Endless Extraction (SSS-Rank)]
[HP: 100/100]
[Mana: 100/100]
[Rank: Iron I]
[Level: 1 (0/200)]
[Affinity: E-Grade]
[Combat Score: 1.0]
The basic stats were completely simple. The screen clearly displayed his name, class, talent, his vital essence, and finally his combat score, which was distinctly highlighted in a metallic iron color.
The base combat score was 1.0. This was the absolute lowest level everyone started with, yet someone with a combat score of 1.0 was already significantly physically stronger than an ordinary adult back on Earth.
"I feel so much more power coursing through my body," Caelus grinned, tightly clenching his fist.
The physical difference was highly noticeable.
It could easily be considered that the current Caelus could defeat the previous, unawakened Caelus in a single move. A combat score of 1.0 was absolutely no joke.
"Alright, time to move." Caelus stood up from the bed and immediately stepped right out of his small wooden hut.
According to the online survival forums, this designated wooden hut was an absolute safe point. It was the exact location where a player would safely respawn after death, provided they were not currently in a high-danger zone filled with fierce beasts or locked in the middle of combat mechanics that strictly prohibited escape.
However, death in this domain carried a tremendously heavy price.
In the protected newbie servers, if you died once or twice, it was survivable. You would simply respawn inside the hut. But if you died consistently, the system would penalize you heavily. You risked dying in real life as well, or at the very least, being permanently stripped of the powers obtained from the Origin Ascension Domain and permanently banned from ever entering again.
When you died here, you usually teleported directly back to the real world and entered a forced cooldown period. The more deaths you foolishly accumulated, the longer that cooling period became.
But this generous safety net only existed in the newbie servers.
Once the newbie phase was officially over, the rules changed drastically. You would certainly die for real if you were bitten and killed by a beast out here. That lethal consequence extended directly to your physical body in the real world.
If you died after the tutorial phase, you simply vanished from reality entirely.
This game-like world was flawlessly merged with reality. While it was filled with countless, heaven-defying opportunities, it possessed a highly dark and lethal downside as well.
By the time Caelus stepped out into the town square, the area was already heavily bustling with chaotic energy. The wooden settlement was completely packed with hundreds of bewildered yet highly eager awakeners. Shouts for party members filled the air, creating a loud cacophony of desperation and ambition.
"Tank looking for a dedicated healer! We already have a DPS!"
"Need one more for a five-man squad! Must have at least a D-Rank talent!"
Caelus adjusted his collar, fully intending to slip quietly through the massive crowd and head straight for the forest entrance. He had absolutely no intention of partying up. His SSS-Rank secret was far too dangerous to share this early in the game.
However, as he wove through the mass of bodies, a sharp, highly familiar voice cut directly through the noise.
"Ugh, seriously?"
Caelus froze in his tracks. He did not want to turn around, but the voice was unmistakably directed right at him.
"Just my terrible luck. Out of thousands of starter towns, how did I end up in the exact same server as you, Caelus?"
Caelus sighed, letting out a long, weary exhale, and slowly turned on his heel.
Standing a few feet away was Lara. Even wearing the coarse, basic linen tunic provided by the system, she somehow managed to look striking. Her hair was perfectly styled, and she stood with a hand confidently on her hip, radiating a sense of absolute superiority that had transferred seamlessly from the classroom directly into this new world.
She was not alone. Flanking her were three men, puffing out their chests and glaring at Caelus as if he were a mere pest disturbing a goddess. They were clearly her brand new entourage, highly eager to curry favor with the recognized class beauty.
"Oh," Caelus said, his expression completely flattening into a mask of absolute boredom. "It is just you."
Lara blinked, clearly taken aback by his sudden, unexpected lack of deference. "Excuse me? 'Just you'?"
In their high school social hierarchy, Lara sat at the very peak, while Caelus occupied the dusty space beneath the floorboards. She was one of the main people who had actively made his predecessor's life entirely miserable. Not through direct physical violence, but through a constant, grinding social humiliation.
Unpleasant memories of the classroom surfaced unbidden in Caelus's mind. It was one of the few lingering memories that the previous host had left behind for him.
He vividly remembered the stifling heat of the afternoon study hall and the harsh, mocking whispers that were fully meant to be heard.
"Okay, hypothetical scenario," one of Lara's friends had giggled loudly. "If the world was literally ending and you had to repopulate the planet, who in this class would you date?"
Lara had not even bothered looking up from her phone, her voice dripping with casual, unfiltered cruelty. "I would take literally anyone. Anyone except Caelus."
"Why? He is just quiet."
"He is completely creepy," Lara had laughed cruelly, casting a highly disgusted side-glance at him where he sat entirely alone in the corner. "And have you even seen him? He is so below average. Plus, he is such a sore loser. Remember gym class? It is completely pathetic."
The mocking laughter that immediately followed had burned the previous Caelus's ears for days on end.
Back in the bustling town square, Lara looked him up and down, her lip curling in obvious, unfiltered distaste.