Waking up the next morning felt unreal.
Two dungeons cleared in a single day.
Most A-ranks wouldn't even attempt that without a squad of elites backing them. Some wouldn't even survive it.
But I did it solo… and I wasn't even tired.
I stretched, rolled a blunt, cracked a Red Bull, and sat on the edge of the bed. The place was luxurious as hell — high security, thick mana-shielded walls, reinforced windows, the whole package.
"No wonder this shit's expensive," I muttered, taking a slow hit.
Time to check the spoils of yesterday's carnage.
I exhaled, cleared my mind, and thought:
[Status]
[Inventory]
The windows unfolded in front of me in a shimmering cascade of platinum and obsidian code.
KILLS: 875
Redwater Sinkhole: 375
• Ebon Veil Labyrinth: 500
I whistled.
That was a lot of bodies.
A normal awakener?
From that number of kills, they'd get maybe 500–600 cores.
But me?
My bonuses were insane:
Boundless Potential
• Boundless Sovereign
• First Clear Bonuses
• Solo Clear Multiplier (Ebon Veil)
• Boss Core Multipliers
• Boundless Upgrade Chances
That 60–70% "normal" drop rate?
It exploded into absurdity.
A soft chime hit my ears:
TOTAL CORES ACQUIRED:
6,260
My eyes bulged.
"That's… holy shit… that's around $800,000,000.
$800 MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS."
Just from cores.
Not even counting items.
Not skills.
Not mats.
Not achievements.
Just the cores.
I froze.
A wave of emotion hit me out of nowhere.
If I'd had this back then…
If I'd been this strong back then…
Flashback — The Last Good Memory
Mom laughing in the kitchen.
Dad grilling outside like it was a holiday.
Both of them calling my name, telling me to stop being glued to my phone.
We took a picture together…
the sun behind us, all three smiling.
I didn't know it'd be the last moment like that.
Then came the apocalypse.
The monsters.
The world falling apart.
I hid in the basement.
For three days.
Watching the news.
Frozen.
Scared out of my mind.
I didn't call them.
Didn't run to them.
Didn't even try.
I stayed.
Coward.
My fists clenched. Knuckles turned white.
After everything…
after scraping by, after crawling through life, after saving every penny…
I finally risked everything yesterday, buying that seed.
And now—
I wiped the tears away.
I spoke the words again — the same vow I carved into the universe itself:
"I won't lose anyone in this life.
Not family.
Not friends.
Not myself.
Gods, demons, monsters, humans —
I'll destroy anything in my way."
The air around me pulsed.
My soul responded.
The vow deepened.
New Skills
Time to use the boss drops.
I set the two seeds on the bed.
They pulsed softly, recognizing me.
[Iron Will: Paradox Fortress]
[Endless Cycle Pulse]
One defensive.
One passive.
Both game-changing.
I picked up the first seed and crushed it in my hand.
A burst of white light.
Ten seconds of pressure around my skull — like my mind was being reforged.
Then clarity.
Total clarity.
The second seed pulsed in my palm.
This one felt alive.
I swallowed it.
A shock ran through me — like lightning threading through nerves, bones, memories.
My heartbeat synced with something infinite.
Ten seconds.
Then silence.
Both skills activated.
Both slotted perfectly into place.
I kept the Ultimate Cores and Boss Cores for myself.
All of them.
One by one, I consumed them.
Each core dissolved on my tongue like a spark.
A faint glow washed over my skin every time.
My muscles tightened.
My bones thrummed.
My aura deepened.
Halfway through, room service knocked.
I answered, grabbed my food, sat back down, turned on the news—
—and instantly regretted it.
There he was.
Damien Fucking Pierce.
And his little Dollar Tree Party.
On TV.
Claiming THEY cleared the Ebon Veil Labyrinth.
Talking like they were kings.
Like they risked life and limb.
Like they weren't the same clowns who couldn't handle a Level 1 Wraithling without crying.
I turned off the TV before the urge to implode the hotel kicked in.
I finished eating and kept consuming cores.
After about 45 minutes, something inside me clicked.
[STATUS]
Two panels appeared:
OLD STATUS
(Vitality, Strength, Focus — baseline D-rank values)
Then the new panel unfolded over it:
NEW STATUS
(Everything skyrocketed — Boundless boosts + 6k cores + boss multipliers)
Vitality: BUILT DIFFERENT
Strength: ENHANCED MONSTER
Focus: BOUNDLESS / INFINITE
Occupation: ???
Skills: All at 100% proficiency
Passives: Upgraded
Titles: Stacked
My whole body vibrated with the new power.
I jumped in the shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs to catch my Uber.
Next stop:
The Awakeners Center — Downtown Sacramento
The place was HUGE — the old Sacramento Kings stadium retrofitted into a megahub for awakeners.
Packed. Chaotic. Loud.
My first stop?
A core-buying shop.
By the time I walked out…
I had: $91,083,750
Ninety-one million dollars.
Just from selling the regular cores.
Not the Ultimate ones.
Not the Boss ones.
Just the "trash."
"I'm set for life," I muttered.
Then something caught my eye.
A massive glowing sign:
[SKILLS — WE GOT THEM ALL!]
Inside?
Thousands of skill seeds.
Runes.
Talents.
Everything.
And heavy guards, for good reason.
I walked the aisles until something tugged at me.
A dusty seed behind thick glass.
[Slipstream Sense]
Cobwebs.
Old.
Forgotten.
But humming with potential.
Perfect for me.
I flagged a clerk.
"Put this to the side."
I moved on.
Another seed caught my soul.
[Surface A.I.T]
(Appraisal • Insight • Truth)
Weird name.
Weird vibe.
But it called to me anyway.
"Put this one aside too."
When I finished browsing, I headed to the counter.
The clerk — a skinny dude with a bad haircut — raised an eyebrow at my picks.
"These dusty-ass seeds? Man, you sure? People never buy these. They're old. Outdated. Hell, the Slipstream one's so old it's practically vintage."
I stared.
He shut up quick.
"That'll be $480,000 total," he said.
I paid without blinking.
The guards watched me walk out like they sensed something wrong with reality.
I ordered another Uber and headed back toward my run-down apartment.
I had work to do.
And a whole new path forming in front of me.