2026-08-12 16:25:25Chapter 6
The three of them charged. Owen gripped his crowbar tightly. The first zombie reached him. He swung. Crack! The crowbar smashed into its jaw, sending broken teeth flying as the creature spun sideways. Before it could recover— Owen stepped forward. Another swing. The second zombie's skull caved in. The third roared and lunged. Owen ducked beneath its arms and drove the crowbar upward. Crunch. Its body collapsed at his feet. Silence. Owen stood there breathing heavily. Not because he was exhausted. But because... The little boy had almost died. He looked toward him. Kai stood frozen. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Then he suddenly ran toward Owen. Before Owen could react, the boy's tiny arms wrapped around his waist. Owen's body stiffened. After a moment, he sighed and gently ruffled Kai's hair. "It's okay." --- A few minutes later, they sat inside the same car. A loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter lay between them. Neither of them spoke. The only sound was the quiet chewing. After swallowing the last bite, Owen looked at him. "So..." "What's your name?" The little boy looked up. "Kai." Owen nodded. "I'm Owen." Kai gave a small hum before taking another bite. Just then— A familiar blue screen appeared before Owen's eyes. --- Warning Tier 3 Rift Danger Level: High The rift must be closed within the next 60 minutes. Time Remaining: 00:59:29 --- Another screen appeared immediately afterward. --- Crucial Decision Would the host like to actively participate in closing the rift? Yes / No --- Owen remained silent. Then he glanced at Kai. The boy was staring blankly into the air. His eyes were clearly focused on something invisible. He could see it too. "You got the notification?" Kai nodded. "Yep." "I pressed yes." "What?" Owen's eyes widened. "You... what?" Kai blinked. "That big thing in the sky is scary." He looked outside the window. "I thought if I pressed yes... it'd disappear." Owen pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't understand." He pointed toward the glowing rift hanging high above the city. "Saying yes means you'll have to enter that thing." "You'll have to fight monsters." "Can you do that?" Kai's face instantly turned pale. "W-What?" "I don't want to fight monsters." "I'm just a kid..." "I thought pressing yes would make it go away." His voice trembled. Owen sighed. Of course. Kai couldn't have known. Owen looked back at the floating screen. There was no way... No way he was letting Kai enter that rift alone. His finger moved. Yes. The moment he confirmed his choice, another message appeared. --- Initiating categorization: 10%...20%...30%... ... ... The host cannot be assigned a category by the Universal Trial System. The Origin System will assign a unique category instead. Assigning... ... ... Category Obtained: Origin Wielder --- Owen stared at the glowing words. "...Origin Wielder?" --- Origin Wielder: While everyone else is assigned to a single category—Combat, Magic, Support, Summoning, Production, or Utility—you can unlock and use any category, provided you meet its requirements. Choose one category and class to unlock for free: Category – Classes Combat: Warrior, Knight, Assassin... Magic: Mage, Warlock, Druid... Support: Healer, Priest, Alchemist... Summoning: Summoner, Beast Tamer, Spirit Caller... Production: Blacksmith, Runesmith, Architect... Utility: Scout, Tracker, Merchant... --- Owen's eyes skimmed across the glowing list before dismissing it for the moment. He turned toward the little boy. "Erm... Kai, did you get to pick a category and class?" Kai shook his head. "No. My category was assigned automatically." "It was?" "Yeah." A translucent green screen hovered before him. "I got the Summoning Category. It only gave me three choices." He read them aloud. "Summoner... Beast Tamer... and Spirit Caller." Owen nodded slowly. "So, which one are you going with?" Kai stared at the screen for a few seconds before tapping one of the options. "Spirit Caller." A faint glow burst from the screen, wrapping around his small body before fading away. Class Selected: Spirit Caller. Congratulations! You have formed your first spirit contract. Kai's eyes widened. "Ooh..." "What is it?" Owen asked. Kai looked up, unable to hide the excitement on his face. "It says I was assigned a Lightning Spirit." A grin spread across Owen's face. "Not bad." Owen shifted his attention back to the glowing blue screen floating before him. He had to choose a category first. That decision would determine the class he awakened. Combat... Not every class fought on the front lines. Assassins relied on speed rather than brute force, while Archers and Gunslingers attacked from a distance. Magic. Devastating at long range... but what if a monster slipped past his spells and got close? Support? He dismissed that immediately. He wasn't about to entrust his life to someone else in a trial where one mistake meant death. Summoning. It wasn't much different from magic. Sure, summoned beasts could fight for him, but if something fast or clever got past them... He imagined a monster lunging straight at him while his summon was occupied elsewhere. No thanks. Production? Utility? Those were for later. After he survived. After he got strong enough that he didn't have to bleed for every scrap of food and medicine. Right now, survival meant killing faster than the thing trying to kill him. "Maybe another time," he muttered. His finger hovered for a moment before tapping Combat. --- Combat Category Available Classes: Warrior – Frontline fighter with high Strength and Endurance. Knight – Defensive tank specializing in shields and taunt skills. Assassin – High Agility, stealth, and deadly critical strikes. Archer – Expert in bows and long-range combat. Gunslinger – Master of firearms and ammunition. Monk – Hand-to-hand combat enhanced with ki. Paladin – Holy warrior capable of both defense and healing. --- Owen's eyes scanned each description. "Front line?" He shook his head. "That's the last place I want to be inside a rift." His gaze moved lower. "Knight... too defensive." Then Gunslinger. He frowned. "What if I run out of bullets at the worst possible moment?" His eyes settled on one class. Assassin. Fast. Lethal. Strike first before the enemy even realized he was there. The Assassin class felt like the safest option. If he could kill enemies before they reached him, he wouldn't need to rely on heavy armor or brute strength. Without another thought, he selected it. --- Hidden Category Assigned – Origin Wielder Category Selected: Combat Class Selected: Assassin – High Agility, stealth, and critical hits. --- Strength: 25/50 Agility: 50/50 Stamina: 27/50 Endurance: 35/50 Owen's body suddenly felt lighter. His muscles tightened, and the world seemed to slow for a brief instant. Assassins are not frontline fighters. They specialize in eliminating enemies through speed, precision, and surprise. Their lethality should never be underestimated. Curious, he tapped on Gunslinger. Another notification appeared. To unlock Gunslinger class: 400 Tier One Energy Orbs or 200 Tier Two Energy Orbs required. Owen blinked. "So I can unlock other classes..." His heartbeat quickened. If this was true... Then unlike everyone else, he wasn't locked into a single path. His eyebrows shot up. "So expensive." He'd killed a lot of zombies so far and gotten only a few stat points. At this rate, it would take him months just to buy one more class. Unless monsters inside the rifts dropped Energy Orbs. His eyes drifted back to the swirling wound in the sky. High risk. High reward. That was the main purpose of the Trial, wasn't it? "Owen." Kai's voice pulled him away from the screen. "Have you picked your category yet?" Owen looked over and smiled. "Yeah." He hesitated for a second. "Kai... does your system mention a hidden category called Origin Wielder?" Kai frowned thoughtfully before shaking his head. "No. Mine analyzed me first, then assigned me to the Summoning category. After that, I had to choose a class." "So it assigned your category automatically?" "Yeah." Owen nodded slowly. "But you could still see the other categories, right? Combat, Magic, Support..." "I could." "Okay." Silence settled between them. Only the distant cries echoing through the ruined streets broke the quiet. Then, as if responding to everyone's progress, another system notification appeared before every participant. --- All participants who agreed to close the rifts have now been assigned a category and class. Proceed to the rift in your city. Important: Never enter a rift with fewer than twenty participants. Doing so will almost certainly result in your deaths. Those who survive and successfully close a rift will officially begin their journey toward immortality. You will become an Awakened. Good luck. --- Owen let out a slow breath. "I guess it's time." He turned toward Kai. "Ready?" Kai swallowed before giving a small nod. "As ready as I'll ever be." They climbed out of the abandoned car. A cold breeze swept across the empty street. In the distance, hanging above the heart of Seattle like a wound torn into the sky, the colossal rift churned with dark, violent energy. Lightning flickered inside it. For half a second, Owen thought he saw shapes moving in the darkness. Too big. Too many. His instincts whispered one word in his mind. Run. He ignored it. Somewhere beyond that swirling darkness waited monsters powerful enough to wipe out entire cities. That was their destination. And in just a few minutes, they would enter a place from which many would never return.
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The screech
Chapter 39Crazy.This was crazy. Especially the last part.He could grant a class ability to people who the universal system had not granted a class. Wasn't this system way too overpowered?Of all the system novels he had read online, he had never read one where the MC could grant a skill or an ability to others.With a system like this, he could gather an army of his own. Especially in a world like this, where martial law was the order of the day."No," Owen said to himself. "I don't need an army. Becoming some leader is not part of my plans right now. Especially not until I've seen my family."He looked up at the dark night sky."Mum, Vivian? Please be okay."---The next morning, everyone was jolted awake by a loud explosion.Owen jerked out of bed immediately. He had retired to the bedroom closer to the balcony the previous night. He made for the balcony but paused.Whatever had caused that explosion, he wasn't the only one who heard it.He looked out the window towards the ten-s
Unlocking a fragment of the origin system
Chapter 38Owen took the room with the window closest to the ten-story building.Vanessa disappeared into the kitchen and returned some time later with a pot of rice. Nobody complained about the plain meal. They simply sat around the table and ate, the only sounds being the occasional clink of spoons against plates.Matthew barely spoke.Kai kept glancing toward the window.Vanessa ate slowly, her eyes distant.Owen said nothing.His mind was already on the building outside.By nightfall, the others had settled down, but Owen stepped onto the balcony and rested his forearms against the railing.The darkness swallowed most of the compound.At first, the ten-story building looked abandoned. No lights. No movement. Nothing but rows of dark windows staring back at him.Then Owen narrowed his eyes.There.A figure moved behind the gate.Then another.And another.They weren't civilians.The faint glint of metal caught the moonlight as one of them passed beneath a broken streetlamp. Armour.
The slave dealers hideout
Chapter 37In less than the blink of an eye, Owen was already halfway down the stairs.He stormed into one of the rooms at the end of the house and froze at the sight before him.Vanessa was cornered against a wall, surrounded by three zombies.His eyes widened."Help!" Vanessa screamed as she desperately tried to keep the creatures at a distance with a piece of wooden board. Her arms trembled as she swung it at the nearest zombie, forcing it to stumble backward.But the other two were closing in.Without wasting a second, Owen dashed forward, unsheathed the Sword of Vertyx, and swung it in a swift, powerful arc.Three heads flew into the air.The headless bodies collapsed to the floor with heavy thuds as the severed heads rolled away. Black blood splattered across the wall, and some of it landed on Vanessa's face.She stood frozen for a moment before letting out a shaky breath.Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled to catch her breath."Are you okay?" Owen asked, sheathin
Scouting
Chapter 36Three stares pressed into the back of Owen's neck.He stopped mid-step on the cracked asphalt. Kai, Vanessa and Matthew had all stopped too. Waiting.Owen turned. "What?"Vanessa folded her arms. "We're waiting for you to tell us which way.""Why me?" His eyebrows knotted together.Matthew rolled his eyes so hard his whole head moved. "Because you're practically our leader. In case you haven't noticed."Owen's jaw tightened. He looked down the left street, then the right. Both were empty, lined with shuttered shops. Both had fresh footprints in the thin layer of dust.He exhaled through his nose and started left. The shuffle of three pairs of feet followed him. After ten steps, he stopped again, crouching.The prints were clearer now. Boot marks, small and large, overlapping. Some were deep, as if the people who made them had been carrying heavy loads. Others were lighter, almost dragged across the ground.He stood and crossed to the right street.Same thing.A mess of prin
Left or right?
Chapter 35Owen drew his sword out of the monster's corpse. The blade slid free with a wet sound, and dark blood dripped from its edge onto the pavement.He flicked the blood off and looked up.Kai's elemental spirit hovered a few feet away, its tiny body crackling with lightning. The last two monsters lay motionless at its feet, their bodies twitching faintly as the remaining electricity fizzled out.Owen's gaze shifted to Vanessa.She stood over a dead creature, a machete clenched in her hand. Her knuckles had turned white around the handle, and blood streaked her forearms. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, but her eyes remained alert, darting between the surrounding buildings.Then he looked at Matthew.The man stood a few steps behind her, his machete hanging loosely in his right hand. His fingers trembled around the handle, and every distant growl made his shoulders jerk. He kept glancing over his shoulder as though expecting something to leap out of the shadows.Owen's eyes linge
A council beyond the clouds.
Chapter 34None of them needed to be told what was waiting outside. The growls echoing through the streets were enough to tell them that the mutated animals had already taken over the city.Matthew swallowed hard. His eyes darted toward the gate as another growl rumbled somewhere in the distance. His fingers curled against his knees, and he shifted uneasily in his seat.Vanessa wiped her sweaty palms against her trousers. She glanced at the gate, then at the others, her lips pressed into a thin line."I... I think we should wait till tomorrow early in the morning when it's safer to go look for them," Matthew stuttered.Vanessa clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white, but she said nothing."No."Owen's voice cut through the silence.Everyone turned toward him."We leave now."Matthew's head snapped toward him. His mouth fell open slightly, and he stared at Owen as though he'd just announced they were going to walk straight into a monster's mouth."Dude, are you out of your mind?
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