Chapter 1
2024!
It was a sunny evening. People walked around the streets, cars honked through the bustling roads, and the loud voices of street vendors filled the air.
But, amidst this lively city, tucked away in a corner, stood a rough, old apartment.
Inside the dilapidated ground floor, bottles of energy drinks and scattered garbage littered the space. In the center, a youth lay staring up at the greasy, aged ceiling.
“Sigh, I need to fix it,” Eryke mumbled, dark circles under his eyes. He reached for a pizza from the table beside him and began to munch on it.
“Pineapple on pizza… I have committed treason against my ancestors.”
He uttered, shaking his head in a mix of exhaustion and laziness.
The foul stench was overpowering, but Eryke remained unmoved, his gaze fixed on the TV. A news anchor appeared on screen, speaking with a stern and serious expression.
“It has been determined, following the frequent appearance of gates that emerged out of nowhere in the city over the past few days, and the actions of S-class heroes…”
Eryke turned off the TV, letting out another long sigh.
“Just let me die in peace… but I’m too lazy to die. Hmm, what should I do then?”
Back in 2019, a terrifying disaster had shaken the world.
Almost two billion people had vanished without a trace, and as if the world wasn’t already in turmoil, dimension rifts, known as gates, began to open, spilling forth ferocious monsters and plunging the world into chaos.
All weapons were essentially useless against the monsters. Machine guns, bazookas—nothing could even put a dent in them.
In desperation, the world leaders gathered and decided to unleash nukes.
At first, the strategy seemed effective. But then the gates expanded even further, and with them came monsters that could only be imagined in myths: Dragons, Sirens, Typhon, Fenrir, Jörmungandr, Leviathan and many more.
One by one, they appeared, each more terrifying than the last. Their might was so overwhelming that it made the world tremble beneath their feet.
Humanity fell into despair. Even from nuclear sites, mutated monsters began to surface. But then, something unexpected happened. The people who had vanished, presumed lost forever, returned.
They came armed with powerful weapons—capable of killing the monsters, one by one, slaughtering them without mercy.
“Yada, yada,” Eryke muttered, shaking his head as the loud announcement echoed from the streets outside.
He looked at himself in the mirror…
Unkempt long golden hair.
Blue eyes.
Beard thinly growing from his chin.
A lean body with a slightly protruding stomach.
“Awakeners have to go to another world where they can grow, just like in a fantasy…”
He gritted his teeth as he grabbed his crutch, hatred simmering in his eyes. With a grimace, he forced himself to his feet, his limp steady as he looked around the messy room.
“I don’t wanna be an Awakener. What can I even do with this weak body? I’d be dead in a minute—”
[Congratulations, you have been chosen as an Awakener! You have ten minutes before you will be teleported to another world. Best of luck!]
“Huh!?”
Eryke’s legs gave out, and he crashed to the ground, his head slamming against the floor.
“What the fuck, why?” He thrashed in place, sweat dripping from his forehead as panic took hold.
“Even if I want to fight, I’m disabled! How the hell am I supposed to fight?”
He gripped the crutch tightly, then limped toward the kitchen, trying to steady his breath. Reaching the counter, he grabbed a glass and drank deeply, gulping down the water in desperate, uneven swallows.
From the two billion people who had disappeared, only a hundred thousand came out alive, the chance of surviving was 0.005%.
For a tense five minutes, Eryke remained where he was, his eyes vacant as they stared blankly at the wall.
“I don’t want to die, so I must do it and stay strong.”
He took a deep, steadying breath, focusing. Then, his gaze shifted forward, and in his mind, he called out. Instantly, the blue panel materialized in front of him.
[Name: Eryke
Title: None
Talent (SSS-class): Clone [Level 1]
Skill: Cloning allows the user to clone himself (use: 1)]
[Destiny Points: 0]
[Shop]
“Eh!?”
His eyes widened in shock. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself.
“I heard there are only two SSS-class Awakeners in America, and now I’m… the…”
He clenched his fist with an unknown hatred simmering in his eyes
“But how do I fight with this broken leg?” Eryke muttered under his breath while looking down at his disabled legs.
Despite his doubt, he focused, forcing himself to calm his thoughts. With an SSS-class talent, it couldn’t be so simple.
Eryke quickly tried to summon his clone, envisioning his own image in a semi-transparent form. His thoughts poured into it, digging deep into his consciousness as he willed the power to manifest.
Puff!
A strange sound echoed as a semi-transparent figure emerged from his body, materializing into a perfect replica of him—but healthier, unbroken.
[Eryke(Clone)
Trait:
Skill:
“Hmm?”
Eryke stared at the panel. He could infer a lot from it, but his curiosity shifted to something else. An idea began to form in his mind.
With only five minutes left before the teleportation, he knew he had little time.
As Eryke was lost in thought, he suddenly saw himself… no, his original self?
His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, his body wracked with pain.
“This… this…”
The memories were overwhelming. The consciousness of two perspectives of two people was jarring and sent his thoughts spiraling into chaos. He couldn’t focus. Both of them writhed on the floor, crying loudly as the mental strain became too much to bear.
[4:00]
[1:00]
[0:03]
[0:02]
In the midst of the turmoil, Eryke(Clone) snapped his eyes open. His finger shot forward, accepting the teleportation just before he passed out, crumpling to the ground.
For a time, his world was blank—empty, dark, and disorienting. Then, a foul smell assaulted his nose, thick and unmistakable.
Eryke(Clone) groggily woke up to a clear sky and cow dung at the side. He blinked, disoriented, looking around at the unfamiliar landscape, the dense forest stretching out in every direction.
“Eh, did it really work?”
He tried to focus, gathering his fractured consciousness. Slowly, a mental image of his limping state formed in his mind and his consciousness gradually returned to the main Eryke.
The next moment, his vision snapped back to his room, where he lay on the ground in a daze.
“This is too hard. Ahhhh—”
The overwhelming sensations surged through him again, and veins popped on his head as his body struggled to process everything. Instinctively, he opened his parched lips and gasped out:
“Cancel, cancel.”
[Congratulations, you are the fastest awakener to return from another world. You have gained the title:”Fast Finisher”]
[Your Destiny Points have increased by a million points.]
[Hidden Quest completed! You have not accomplished a single Destiny Points in your traveled world. You have gained access to a gate to the same world.]
[Accomplished the Impossible Task! You have gained a unique title:”World Traveler”.]
Eryke’s eyes widened as the notifications flooded his mind.