The world did not end in a single day.
It bled out slowly.
The first Raft appeared above a coastal city, tearing the sky like rotten cloth. From it came creatures that did not belong to Earth—beasts immune to bullets, indifferent to bombs, and driven by instinct older than civilization. Entire battalions vanished within hours. Governments collapsed within weeks.
History would later name it The First Collapse.
Modern warfare failed because it was never meant to fight predators that ignored fear.
Humanity survived only because something within it awakened.
At first, it was dismissed as hallucination—a mist-like substance flickering around a handful of survivors. But as Rafts multiplied and cities burned, patterns emerged.
Those who fought with their bodies—knives, broken steel, bare hands—manifested a force that wrapped around muscle and bone. It amplified strength, hardened skin, sharpened reflexes.
They called it Aura.
Those who shaped destruction from afar—fire, lightning, invisible pressure—manifested a different force. It gathered in the heart, circulated through invisible channels, and obeyed calculation rather than instinct.
They called it Mana.
This power was not gifted by gods.
It was not taken from Rafts.
It was born from humanity's refusal to go extinct.
The first awakened did not wait behind walls. They entered Rafts willingly, knowing they might never return. They killed monsters so cities could breathe for another night.
They were not soldiers.
They were not heroes.
They were called Hunters—because they hunted what hunted humanity.
Power, however, breeds chaos.
Some Hunters grew too strong. Some ruled cities. Some decided humans were no longer worth protecting. When clashes between Hunters caused more damage than monsters themselves, humanity nearly collapsed a second time.
That was when the Hunter Association was formed.
Every awakened individual was registered.
Every Hunter was ranked—from F to SS.
Rafts were regulated.
Guilds and companies were licensed.
Profit was allowed, rebellion was not.
Officially, human knowledge ends at SS-rank.
Anything beyond that is classified, denied, or labeled myth.
That was the world now.
And in that world lived Kalyan.
Twenty-three years old.
Unawakened.
Unranked.
By day, he worked at a convenience store. By night, he took construction and carpentry jobs—anything that paid enough to support his sister's education. Their parents had vanished years ago when a Raft opened near their home and closed before Hunters arrived. The case was archived. Forgotten.
Kalyan was ordinary—except for one thing.
He studied monsters obsessively.
He knew their names.
Their tiers.
Their habits.
Their weaknesses.
Not because he dreamed of becoming a Hunter—but because knowledge was the only weapon civilians were allowed to carry.
That knowledge saved his life.
The Raft opened without warning.
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Reality screamed.
From the distortion crawled a wolf-like creature, its body half-rotted, ribs exposed, eyes glowing with starving madness.
C-tier. Bonehide Wolf.
Fast. Relentless. Fatal.
Kalyan ran.
Escape was the only option—until the ground betrayed him. A support pillar shattered under pressure waves from the Raft. Concrete collapsed. His leg was pinned.
The wolf lunged.
Its fangs stopped inches from his face.
Then—
[System Notification]
[Congratulations. Awakening Confirmed.]
[Welcome, User Kalyan.]
[System: The Ledger of Survival]
A voice followed—cold, precise, merciless.
"Human knowledge ends at SS-rank.
Your survival does not."
Aura ignited around Kalyan—thin, unstable, screaming against his skin.
[Skill Granted — Kinetic Evasion]
[Status: Active]
[Cost: Pending]
The Ledger continued calmly:
"Power is never free.
You are now in debt."
The wolf struck again.
And for the first time in history, a man meant to be nothing more than an F-rank civilian stepped onto a path humanity was never meant to walk.