The city lights flickered as Kalyan stepped into the quiet of his apartment.
His leg still ached, his body still burned from yesterday's encounter. But pain had become familiar—a reminder of survival, of debt unpaid.
[Ledger System — Active]
[User: Kalyan | Rank: F | Potential: Worldly]
[System Shop: Available (Preview Mode)]
A cold voice whispered inside his head:
"You survived a C-tier wolf, defied the Association, and borrowed power illegally. You are now in arrears. Welcome to your ledger."
Kalyan clenched his teeth. "Show me the shop."
The Ledger pulsed. The apartment flickered with translucent icons, shelves, and floating screens.
[System Shop — Temporary Access Granted]
[Items: Skills, Weapons, Artifacts, Bodies]
[Warning: Every purchase incurs debt, every desire compounds interest]
Kalyan's gaze swept over the offerings.
Skills. Every conceivable weapon. Every legendary technique, from basic swords to dragon-forged claws. Even unarmed combat styles—the system classified fists as weaponry.
Ledger:
"These are not toys. They are contracts. Every skill you acquire costs life, strength, and sanity. Nothing is free."
Kalyan hovered over a skill labeled "Dragon Fang — Unarmed Combat".
Price: 10,000 System Points
His stomach dropped. System Points were earned through hunting monsters, completing high-risk tasks, or absorbing lessons from dangerous Rafts.
Ledger:
"And yes, I will calculate interest. The more you buy, the higher the cost for the next. Your first debt is small. Your future debt… astronomical."
He clicked "preview." A ghostly aura wrapped his fist. He felt strength, speed, precision beyond human comprehension—but the cost struck instantly.
Pain ripped through his arm. Not injury, but cellular exhaustion, as if the skill temporarily rewrote his body.
Ledger:
"This is how survival is bought. You may use it once, and only once, without permanent consequences. Reuse without payment, and the ledger collects in full."
Kalyan pulled back. He could feel the weight of every decision, every skill, every desire pressing on him.
"So… I have to earn it," he muttered.
Ledger:
"Earn it, steal it, borrow it. Every choice is debt. Every power… a chain."
A new tab flickered on the shop:
[Dragon Heart — 500,000 System Points | Requires F-rank user to survive activation]
[God Vessel Body — 1,000,000 System Points | Temporal access only, extreme risk of death]
Kalyan swallowed.
Ledger:
"Even I cannot protect you from failure. You are mortal. That is why you are valuable. That is why the world will notice you."
Outside the window, the city slept—but Rafts never rested. Monsters, unseen, prowled.
Ledger:
"A human can only do so much. Your debts will be paid in blood, sweat, and tears… sometimes others'. You have a choice: avoid payment or embrace it. Choose wisely."
Kalyan's eyes glowed faintly.
"Then I'll pay. But I'll collect more than I owe."
The Ledger hummed, amused:
"Ambition is the only currency that excites me."
A faint shadow moved across the horizon.
Not a Raft. Not a human. Something older. Something that had seen systems like this before.
Ledger whispered:
"Interest is due. And they are watching."
Kalyan clenched his fist. The glow of the first skill wrapped his hand like a promise—and a warning.
He had touched the Ledger's shop.
He had seen what survival would cost.
And the first chapter of his debt had officially begun.