The God-Level Scavenger

They called it waste, but to me, it was breakfast.

I crouched in the sticky mud right outside the giant steel walls of Sector 4. My fingers dug through a pile of cracked iron plates and old monster bones. My F-rank skill, Debris Sorting, worked behind my eyes. A tiny green outline showed up around a sharp piece of metal hidden under a rotten dragon scale.

High-grade copper scrap. Value: Three copper coins.

"Hey, garbage boy! Get moving!" a guard shouted from the high checkpoint.

I stuffed the metal into my torn canvas bag and wiped the sweat from my eyes. I was nineteen, but my ribs showed through my shirt, and my boots had holes big enough to let the wet dirt swallow my toes. In this world, if you did not have a high-rank magical skill, you were nothing. The rich people lived in beautiful glass towers at the center of the city. People like me lived in the dark corners, cleaning up what they threw away.

But I did not care about being poor. I only cared about making enough money to survive, and I cared about Amina.

Amina was my childhood friend. We grew up in the same crowded orphanage, sharing hard pieces of bread and dreaming about the day we would turn eighteen to find out our magical ranks. I got a completely useless sorting skill. Amina, though, got a rare B-rank light magic skill. The big fighting guilds noticed her right away. Still, she never treated me like a loser. She always walked with me, shared her good food, and promised we would get married as soon as we saved enough coins.

Tonight was her big celebration party at the Golden Leaf Hall. The elite warriors of the city were welcoming her into the biggest guild in Sector 4. I spent every single coin I saved over the past three years just to buy a clean white shirt so I could stand by her side.

I walked through the heavy city gates, sold my bag of scrap to the local merchant, and went straight toward the bright lights of the inner district.

The Golden Leaf Hall looked amazing. Large crystal lamps hung from the ceiling, and wealthy people wore silk dresses that cost more than my entire life. I stood near the main door, looking down at my cheap shoes.

Then, I saw her.

Amina looked beautiful. She wore a long blue dress, and her hair was tied up perfectly. But she was not alone. Walking right next to her was Young Master Tariq, the son of the richest guild leader in the city. Tariq had an A-rank fire skill. He wore a heavy golden badge on his chest, and his eyes always showed how much he liked to hurt people.

I took a deep breath and walked right toward them. "Amina," I said softly.

The loud room suddenly went quiet. Dozens of rich guests turned around to look at me. When they saw my cheap clothes and the bad smell of trash that never left my skin, they began to laugh.

Tariq stopped walking. He looked at me like I was a bug on his expensive leather boot. "Who let this dirty scavenger into the hall? Did someone leave the back door open?"

The laughter grew much louder.

I ignored him and looked only at Amina. "Amina, I brought the ring we talked about. The one from the old market." I reached into my pocket, my heart beating fast.

Amina did not smile. Her face was completely cold. She looked at me with deep disgust. Before I could take the small wooden box out of my pocket, she raised her hand.

She grabbed a glass of ice water from a nearby waiter and threw it straight into my face.

The freezing water splashed over my eyes and soaked my new white shirt. I froze as the wet fabric stuck to my chest.

"Get away from me, Kofi," Amina said. Her voice was loud and sharp. It cut right through the big room. "Look at yourself. You are nothing but a garbage collector. Did you really think an F-rank loser like you could ever stand next to me?"

My breath caught in my throat. "Amina... what are you saying? We promised each other—"

"That was before I knew my own value," she said, stepping closer to Tariq. She wrapped her arm tightly around Tariq’s elbow and smiled up at him. "Tariq is an elite warrior. He can give me a real life. You can only give me a box of old trash. Stop following me like a dog. You make me sick."

My hands started to shake. The pain in my chest was so heavy I could barely stand up straight. The girl who used to wipe the dirt off my face was now looking at me like I was a piece of garbage.

Tariq laughed, his hand resting on Amina's waist. He leaned forward, his eyes full of joy. "You heard her, trash boy. You don't belong here."

Tariq snapped his fingers. Two massive bodyguards stepped out from the wall. They grabbed my arms, twisting them behind my back so hard I gasped. They dragged me across the shiny floor while the crowd cheered and clapped.

Amina turned her back to me, taking a slow sip of her drink. She did not look back once.

The guards threw me down the grand stone stairs of the hall. I hit the gravel hard, cutting my hands and knees. Before I could stand up, Tariq walked out onto the balcony above me, holding a black iron token. It was a dungeon key.

"Since you love garbage so much, you can go rot with the rest of it," Tariq said. He threw the heavy iron token right at my feet. "Take him to the Black Ant Dungeon. Let the monsters have some dinner."

The guards lifted me up again, tying my hands with heavy ropes. They shoved me into the back of a large armored truck. My mind felt completely blank. The image of Amina smiling at Tariq kept playing in my head. Why did she do it? How could she change so fast?

An hour later, the truck stopped. The guards dragged me out and threw me down a steep, rocky slope. I fell hard into a dark, damp cave. The air smelled like old blood and bad meat. Behind me, a heavy iron gate slammed shut, locking me inside.

I was alone in a high-level dungeon with my hands tied.

A loud, low growl came from the dark corners of the cave. Two glowing red eyes opened in the darkness, moving fast right toward my throat.