Kai Reno died at second 47 of the final round.
Not from exhaustion. Not from a clean hit. He died because the ring floor was wet, he slipped, and his skull met the concrete edge before the referee could do anything.
Undefeated champion. Killed by gravity. Classic.
The next thing he saw was a floating menu.
[INTERDIMENSIONAL STREAMING SYSTEM]
[Welcome, Streamer #4,891]
[Your channel has been activated. Viewers from your original world will be able to follow your progress in real time.]
[Destination World: Aethon — Danger Rating: SSS]
[Initial ability detected...]
[Processing...]
Kai read everything twice.
"Hey," he said out loud, not knowing who he was talking to. "Can I decline this?"
[No.]
"Ah. Okay then."
He appeared in a forest.
Not in a city, not in a castle, not anywhere with a roof or food nearby. A forest. With trees the size of buildings and something in the air that smelled like dampness and recent death.
The system opened a window before he could complain.
[Ability evaluation in progress...]
[Elemental Magic: 0]
[Beast Affinity: 0]
[Weapon Proficiency: 0]
[Martial Arts: ...]
[Martial Arts: ...]
[ERROR — Rank not recognized by the system]
[Assigning temporary classification: NO RANK]
[Ability registered as: Martial Arts Mastery — NO RANK]
Kai stared at the screen.
"No rank?"
[The system has no precedent to classify this ability.]
[Recommendation: Seek an Academy and request an official evaluation.]
"They gave me an ability even the system doesn't understand. Nice."
He said it without anger. In the same tone someone would use to say "I forgot to buy coffee."
The stream had been live for thirty seconds.
He already had viewers.
[GarcíaFTW: bro where did this guy come from]
[EternalNight99: LMAO "no rank" even the gods rejected him]
[StreamerHunter: 5 coins says he dies in 10 minutes]
Kai saw the comments floating at the edge of his vision. A system feature, he assumed.
"Hey," he said, without taking his eyes off the forest. "Not sure how often I'll be able to respond. I'm trying not to die."
[GarcíaFTW: LMAOOOO]
[EternalNight99: at least he's honest]
The first monster showed up three minutes later.
A wolf. But the size of a truck. Two heads, red eyes, and enough muscle mass to crush a car without effort.
[Beast detected: Shadow Two-Headed Wolf]
[Rank: B]
[Estimated danger to user: CRITICAL]
[Recommendation: Flee.]
"No," Kai said.
[StreamerHunter: NO??? BRO WHAT]
[GarcíaFTW: zero magic zero weapons and he says no to a giant wolf]
The wolf charged.
Kai didn't move until the last second. When the beast's jaws were about to close over his head, he shifted his body five centimeters, let the bite pass, and drove a hook straight into the left skull with his full hip behind the punch.
The sound was dry. Final.
The wolf's left head snapped ninety degrees the wrong way.
The beast dropped.
Kai shook out his knuckles.
"Rank B," he muttered. "Alright."
[StreamerHunter: MY MONEY. MY MONEY IS GONE.]
[EternalNight99: ONE HIT. ONE HIT ON A B-RANK]
[User_4421 has joined the stream]
[User_4421: WHAT DID I JUST WATCH]
[Beast defeated. Experience gained.]
[Skill: Martial Arts Mastery — NO RANK... updated.]
[Martial Arts Mastery — NO RANK updated.]
[Martial Arts Mastery — NO RANK updated.]
[The system cannot assign a rank. Progress recorded internally.]
Kai looked at the notification.
"So you're telling me I leveled up but you don't know how to show it?"
[Correct.]
"Perfect."
What Kai didn't see was what happened in the forest behind him.
Three kilometers away, something massive lifted its head.
It wasn't a wolf. It wasn't anything that had a B-rank or an A-rank or anything measurable by Aethon's standard systems.
It was old. It was huge. And it hadn't felt an aura like that in centuries.
It stayed still for a moment.
Then it started moving toward the scent.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[SSS Entity detected within a 3 km radius]
[Intent classification: UNKNOWN]
[Recommendation: Flee immediately.]
Kai read the notification.
"Again with the running."
[GarcíaFTW: BRO RUN]
[EternalNight99: WHY DOES THAT SYSTEM EVEN EXIST IF HE IGNORES IT]
Kai didn't run.
He crouched to pick up something the wolf had dropped—a fang the size of his forearm—and examined it with genuine academic interest while something the size of a house forced its way through the trees behind him.