[Scene: Underground Dungeon – Level F, Sector 12]
Dark.
Damp.
Dripping blood echoes off cold stone walls.
The smell of rot and sulfur fills the air.
"Ugh. What a mess…" Kaito muttered, wringing a dirty cloth in a rusted bucket. The water turned black.
A monstrous body lay behind him, its head caved in. Steam rose from the corpse, still warm. The hunter team had just cleared the floor. Kaito was here to do what he always did.
Clean up.
A scavenger. A dungeon janitor. The lowest of the low.
His hands trembled from fatigue. He hadn't eaten properly in two days. His system window was blank—as always.
[No Class Assigned]
[No Skills Detected]
[Level: 1]
Everyone else awakened with a power. He got… nothing.
"Hey, Trashito!" a voice barked.
Kaito flinched and turned.
Three hunters stood over him, laughing. The lead one, Shin, a smug D-rank with a massive blade, smirked.
"You done licking monster guts yet?" he sneered. "Or are you gonna beg us for scraps again?"
The others laughed.
Kaito clenched his fists. But he said nothing.
He couldn't fight them.
He wasn't even a Hunter.
Just a weak, powerless kid with no System and no future.
"Leave him alone, Shin," a girl's voice called out. Reina, the healer of the team, stepped forward. Her golden ponytail swayed as she glared at them. "He's just doing his job."
"Whatever. Let's go," Shin scoffed. "We've got two more levels to clear. Trash-boy can play with the blood."
They walked off, their laughter echoing through the stone corridor.
[Scene: Deeper in the Dungeon]
Kaito exhaled and kept scrubbing. His fingers were numb. His knees ached.
"Just a little more…" he whispered.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled.
BOOM.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
A distant scream pierced the air.
Then—silence.
Kaito stood up slowly, heart racing.
"…Reina?" he called out.
No answer.
Then he saw it—blood splatter on the wall. Fresh.
He ran toward the noise.
[Scene: Boss Room – Unauthorized Access]
Kaito entered the massive chamber—and stopped cold.
Bodies.
Reina, Shin, the whole party—dead.
Their limbs twisted. Eyes wide. A stench of burning flesh filled the air.
Standing above them was the boss monster. A towering ogre-beast, hunched and drooling, with glowing orange eyes and chains around its arms.
It turned toward Kaito—and roared.
RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!
Kaito froze.
"I—I can't run… The gate's behind the boss."
The monster charged.
STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.
He ran left. Barely avoided its fist as it smashed the ground, cracking stone.
He tripped—fell—rolled.
"I'm going to die here…"
The monster raised its fist again.
I'm weak.
I'm useless.
I've always been nothing…
Tears streamed down his face.
"Would you like to live?"
A voice.
Deep.
Ancient.
Inside his head.
"Say my name… and devour this world."
"…What?" Kaito gasped.
The monster lunged.
A blinding flash.
The world turned black.
[Scene: Mindscape – Dark Void]
Kaito floated in nothingness.
In front of him, a massive screen blinked:
[SYSTEM ERROR: USER DATA INVALID]
[NO CLASS DETECTED]
[OVERRIDE ENGAGED]
[INITIATING GOD-PROTOCOL CLASS ASSIGNMENT…]
He gasped. A system?!
[CLASS: DEVOURER]
[Welcome, Host: Kaito Ryu]
Then he screamed.
Agony exploded in his chest. His veins burned. His body twisted.
[Skill Gained: Predator Core – Rank ???]
[Active Skill: Devour – Absorb enemies to gain abilities]
[Warning: You are no longer fully human.]
[Scene: Boss Room – Moments Later]
The monster raised its fist to strike again—but Kaito caught it.
CRACK.
The ogre stared in confusion. This weakling had stopped its attack?
Kaito's eyes snapped open.
They glowed a deep, violent purple.
His voice was low. Calm. Cold.
"My turn."
FWOOOSH!!
He leapt—moving faster than humanly possible.
The ogre swung—missed.
Kaito's clawed hand glowed black.
He thrust it into the ogre's chest.
"DEVOUR."
BOOM.
A black vortex erupted from his palm. The monster howled in pain as its body turned to ash and shadows.
Its core floated out—glowing green.
Kaito grabbed it.
[Skill Absorbed: Berserker Strength – Rank C]
His muscles surged. His heartbeat roared.
He fell to his knees, gasping.
"What… is this power?"
[Scene: Dungeon Exit – Hours Later]
Kaito stumbled out of the dungeon gate.
His body was covered in blood. His eyes burned like fire. His System hovered silently next to him, pulsing with data.
[Status Updated]
[Level: 5]
[Class: Devourer (Hidden)]
[Skills: Predator Core, Devour, Berserker Strength]
[Warning: You are being watched.]
[Scene: Alleyway – That Night]
Kaito leaned against a wall, panting.
The city buzzed beyond the alley. Neon signs flashed. People walked by, unaware of the monster now living among them.
His reflection in a puddle stared back—eyes glowing, aura dark and flickering.
He smiled slightly.
"I don't know what I've become…"
He clenched his clawed hand, still steaming from the devour.
"…but I'm not trash anymore."