The Marked; Absolute peak of Chaos

Marked among dead

"Damn, is it this cold?"

Kent slowly opened his eyes, his head pounding as though someone were hammering against his skull. His body felt heavy and sluggish, and his vision remained blurry.

As his sight gradually cleared, he looked down at his hands. His eyes widened.

"Wait... I'm alive?"

The last thing he remembered from the previous night was Mika being dragged away while he lay helplessly in a pool of his own blood.

He immediately looked down at his stomach, searching for the wound that should have killed him.

But there was nothing.

"I was stabbed in the stomach, too. Where are the wounds? What the hell is going on?"

Confused, he shifted his attention to his leg, only to discover that it was bound by a chain.

His eyes followed the chain to his surroundings.

Thousands of corpses were scattered around him.

Kent's stomach churned at the horrifying sight. Some bodies were missing their heads, while others lay with their intestines spilling onto the ground. The stench was unbearable, and flies swarmed over the remains.

He could barely stand being there any longer.

Gritting his teeth, he struggled to his feet and attempted to find a way out. However, after taking only one step, he stumbled and fell onto a corpse, sending a swarm of flies buzzing around his face.

"What the hell was that?!"

He hurriedly pushed himself away from the body, only to notice something that made his blood run cold.

The chain attached to his leg was fastened to a bloated, chubby man.

Kent stared at the corpse in irritation before grabbing the chain with both hands and pulling with all his strength, hoping to loosen it.

But no matter how hard he tried, the chain wouldn't budge.

"How the hell am I supposed to get this thing off?"

He approached the bloated man, hoping to find a way to free himself. To his surprise, however, the chain wasn't attached to that corpse alone.

His gaze followed its length, revealing that it was connected to several other bodies.

Kent's eyes widened in disbelief.

Before he could make sense of what he was seeing, a series of strange messages suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations! You have been marked.]

"Am I seeing things? What the hell is this?"

[You are now an Awakened Human.]

Kent's heart skipped a beat.

An Awakened Human?

He didn't know whether he should be happy or worried when another message appeared.

[Dreadcores are highly recommended to obtain within three days. Failure to do so will result in a penalty.]

"What?! I'm an Awakened Human now? How is that even possible?"

His mind raced as he stared at the message.

"Where the hell am I supposed to find a Dreadcore? Does this thing expect me to join the Awakened and get killed by those monsters? You've got to be kidding me! And what kind of penalty are you talking about?"

Another message appeared before his eyes.

[You have the right to choose your fate.

Reject or Accept.]

Kent stared at the two options, his mind filled with conflicting thoughts.

Although becoming an Awakened meant gaining extraordinary abilities, to someone as poor as him, it was more of a curse than a blessing. From everything he had learned over the years, only a handful of poor Awakened ever managed to reach the higher ranks.

Yet, if he wanted to find Mika and discover who had taken her away, he needed enough power to stand against whoever stood in his way.

Unfortunately, the system's demand for a Dreadcore presented another problem.

"There's no way I'll survive this. I'd rather report everything to the higher authorities than become an Awakened. Who the hell has the strength to chase monsters around?"

He stared at the two options, growing increasingly frustrated.

"How do I reject this thing?"

His eyes shifted between the choices before settling on the rejection option.

Immediately, another series of messages appeared.

[Your fate has been sealed as a Marked Human.]

[Nothing can reverse this fate.]

[Would you like to check your attributes?]

Kent's face turned pale.

He stared at the messages in disbelief, unable to understand how he had mistakenly selected acceptance instead of rejection.

But it was too late.

His fate had already been sealed.

Grabbing his face, he pulled at his cheeks in frustration.

"How the hell did I make such a terrible mistake?! There's no turning back now. I don't even know if I'll survive this!"

He slumped onto a nearby corpse, his mind consumed by regret and countless unanswered questions.

Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention.

His body stiffened.

Without wasting a second, he lay flat on the ground and pretended to be dead.

Through the narrow gap between his eyelids, he spotted two men wearing red shirts and black caps. They stood among the corpses a few meters away, seemingly waiting for something.

"Who are these people, and what are they doing here?" he wondered.

Suddenly, another man stormed into the building.

Unlike the other two, he wore a green shirt and a black cap. His face was twisted with anger, and his thunderous voice echoed throughout the building.

"Why the hell are you idiots taking so long to do something that should only take a few minutes? If you don't get these bodies into the designated location, you won't receive a single Credit! And believe me, you'll be dealt with accordingly!"

One of the men in red frowned before speaking.

"Sir, our other colleagues aren't here. It's difficult for just the two of us to load all these bodies into the wagon."

According to popular belief, humans killed by the Dreadborn brought misfortune and attracted further invasions. Consequently, their bodies became government property, and the authorities decided how they would be disposed of. The exact reasons behind their methods, however, were never disclosed to the public.

The green-shirted man's face twisted with fury as he approached the man who had spoken.

"How dare you question my authority, you lazy bastard? The government has ordered you to dump these bodies into the ocean instead of burying them, and you're standing here making excuses!"

Before the young man could respond, the green-shirted man suddenly punched him in the stomach.

The young man doubled over, gritting his teeth as pain spread through his body.

The green-shirted man then turned toward the second worker.

"This will be your fate if you don't learn to behave yourself!"

Covered in cold sweat, the second man immediately lowered his head.

Satisfied, the green-shirted man turned and stormed out, muttering curses under his breath.

"Throwing bodies into the ocean? Why can't they give these people proper burials? This is inhuman," Kent thought, his heart filled with disgust.

After watching the supervisor leave, the man who had been punched kicked a nearby corpse in frustration.

"Are you okay?" his companion asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The man roughly shoved his hand away before heading toward the wagon parked outside.

He climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine, driving forward without hesitation. Several corpses blocked his path, but he crushed them beneath the wheels without a second thought.

The other worker watched with sadness written across his face.

When the wagon finally stopped, the driver climbed out, slammed the door, and approached a nearby corpse. He grabbed it and threw it into the back.

"They're human beings just like us. At least treat them with some respect," his companion said quietly.

The driver snorted.

"Are you going to do the job we're being paid for, or not?"

The second man fell silent.

Without further argument, they began loading the bodies into the wagon.

From his hiding place, Kent watched their movements carefully.

He gradually understood the purpose of the chains. They appeared to separate the corpses into different batches for transportation, while also preventing anyone who might still be alive from escaping unnoticed.

The government clearly didn't want anyone escaping the disposal site, only to die somewhere else.

Kent's heart tightened as one of the red-shirted men approached him.

"Shit! Am I going to be taken away with this batch?"

The man drew closer, and cold sweat trickled down Kent's face.

He knew that if they carried him away, escaping would become even more difficult.

The man stopped just in front of him, his black shoe nearly touching Kent's face.

"The wagon is full. We can't take any more bodies."

Kent remained motionless, barely daring to breathe.

After a few seconds, the man turned around and walked back to the wagon.

Both workers climbed inside and drove away.

Kent waited until the sound of the engine had completely disappeared before slowly opening his eyes.

"That was close..."

He pushed himself upright, relieved to have escaped being taken away with the other corpses.

But his relief didn't last long.

The chain was still attached to his leg, and he had no idea how to remove it.

Worse still, the two men would eventually return for another batch.

Kent clenched his fists and stared at the chain.

"I need to get this thing off before they come back."