Lowest Point
Baek Jin Hwan's eyes cracked open to the dim morning light filtering through the blinds. His body ached. His ribs throbbed with every breath, and his jaw still felt sore from last night's beating.
For a moment, he lay there in silence, staring at the ceiling. His mind was blank, empty—until the memories flooded back.
The Awakening Ceremony.
The whispers.
The disgust in people's eyes.
The fists slamming into his ribs.
Yun Hee standing in front of him, her body trembling as she activated her system.
The Ranking up system that appeared in front of him
He sat up, gripping his face. "…Damn it."
He had hoped, just for a second, that everything was just some nightmare. That he'd wake up and none of it would have happened. But no. His reality was still the same.
He was still weak. He was still useless.
He sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair, then winced when his fingers brushed over a sore bruise on his cheekbone.
"Guess I should be thankful they didn't break anything," he muttered bitterly.
A knock at his door made him look up.
"Oppa." Yun Hee's voice was soft.
Jin Hwan cleared his throat, forcing himself to sound normal. "What's up?"
"I'm heading out for hunter training," she said from the other side. "I'll be back late."
"…Alright."
A brief silence. Then—
"Oppa."
Jin Hwan could hear the hesitation in her voice.
"…What?"
"About yesterday…"
Jin Hwan closed his eyes. He didn't want to talk about yesterday. He didn't want to hear her pity, didn't want to deal with the guilt in her voice.
So he forced a chuckle. "What about it? It's not like I died."
"…I just—"
"Focus on your training, Yun Hee." His voice was calm, controlled. "You're an A-Rank now. You've got more important things to worry about than me."
Silence. Then, finally—
"…Okay."
Her footsteps faded down the hall. The front door clicked shut.
And just like that, Jin Hwan was alone.
He leaned back against the wall, staring at the floor.
What now?
He had no plans. No direction. No future.
He had spent years preparing for that Awakening Ceremony, training his body, learning combat techniques—because he had believed, deep down, that his bloodline would carry him through.
The Baek family was made for war.
But when it was his turn?
[No Awakening Detected.]
His fingers curled into fists.
"…Shit."
The word barely left his lips before his vision blurred.
Tears.
No.
He gritted his teeth, trying to hold it back, but the weight in his chest was suffocating.
He had failed. Completely.
His sister—his younger sister—was now a hunter. She would fight demons. She would grow stronger. She would stand on a battlefield while he sat here, doing nothing.
What was he supposed to do? Get a normal job? Watch from the sidelines while the world moved on without him?
He laughed bitterly, but the sound was hollow.
"All that training… all that work… all for nothing." His voice cracked.
He covered his face with his hands.
"I'm pathetic."
His shoulders trembled.
"What's the point of me?"
His own words crushed him.
For the first time in his life, he truly felt like nothing. No matter how hard he had trained, no matter how much effort he had put in, it had meant nothing in the end.
His body was strong, but his fists were meaningless without power.
If he had been born in an era before the Demon Gates, maybe things would've been different. Maybe he could've been a soldier, a fighter—someone with purpose.
But in this world?
If you weren't a hunter, you were nothing.
He clenched his jaw. "I hate this."
[DING!]
A sound.
A sharp, mechanical ding echoed through the silent room.
Jin Hwan froze.
The air around him felt different—like something had shifted. He slowly lowered his hands, blinking.
Then—
A glowing interface appeared in front of him.
A translucent blue window, floating in midair.
[Qualifications Met.]
[Would you like to activate the Ranking Up System?]
[YES / NO]
Jin Hwan didn't breathe.
He stared.
His heart pounded.
"…What?"
His body tensed as his mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening.
A system.
A system.
That wasn't possible. He had been tested. His Awakening had been public. Nothing had appeared back then.
And yet—
Here it was.
A system window, clear as day.
His fingers twitched. Slowly, almost afraid, he reached out toward the interface. His hand trembled as he moved to touch the glowing text.
It didn't disappear. It didn't fade.
It was real.
"…I don't understand," he muttered.
Was this some kind of joke? A hallucination? Had he finally lost his mind from how worthless he felt?
But no.
It was there.
And it was waiting for his answer.
[Would you like to activate the Ranking Up System?]
His lips parted slightly.
"Ranking… Up?"
The words tasted foreign in his mouth.
His mind raced. Most hunter systems had pre-determined rankings. An F-Rank could never become an S-Rank, no matter how hard they worked. They were stuck at whatever level they awakened at.
But this—
Ranking Up System.
Did that mean he could grow? Could he… change his fate?
His heart pounded harder.
This was dangerous. It didn't make sense. He had never heard of something like this before.
But—
Did it matter?
He had nothing to lose.
His throat was dry as he licked his lips.
And then, he whispered—
"…Yes."
The moment the word left his mouth—
[System Activated.]
The air around him shifted.
A pulse of energy surged through his veins. His muscles tensed, his skin prickled, and for a brief second, his body burned from the inside out.
His vision flickered.
Then—
The pain stopped.
The silence returned.
And new words appeared.
[Welcome, Baek Jin Hwan.]
[You have been chosen by the Ranking Up System.]
Jin Hwan stared, his hands trembling.
breath was shallow. His fingers trembled as he stared at the glowing blue text in front of him. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears that he could barely hear his own thoughts.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be real.
Yet—
Another notification appeared before him.
[System Profile]
Name: Baek Jin Hwan
Rank: F-Rank
Title: None
Tip: The more enemies you kill, the more you rank up. The more you rank up, the stronger you become.
Goal: F-Rank → E-Rank
Jin Hwan swallowed, his throat dry as sandpaper.
He felt like his body wasn't his own, like he was watching this unfold from the outside.
A system.
His own system.
But how?
He had failed his Awakening. The Hunter Association had tested him in front of hundreds of people. The scanning device had confirmed it—he was just an ordinary human. No abilities. No system. No power.
Yet now… this?
His mind raced.
"Did something go wrong with the test?"
No. That was impossible. The Awakening process was absolute. If you had a system, it would appear the moment your body came into contact with the Obelisk.
He had touched it.
Nothing happened.
His fingers clenched into a fist.
"Then how the hell do I have this now?"
His pulse hammered in his throat. He forced himself to breathe, but it wasn't working. His body felt hot, his vision slightly blurred.
The words on the screen remained.
[Tip: The more enemies you kill, the more you rank up. The more you rank up, the stronger you become.]
Jin Hwan's eyes narrowed.
The more enemies I kill…?
That was… different.
Most hunters were locked into their initial rank forever. If you were born an F-Rank, you died an F-Rank. The only way to get stronger was through weapons, artifacts, or training—but there was always a ceiling.
But this system…
Ranking Up.
Not by training.
Not by artifacts.
By killing.
His hands were cold.
This wasn't how normal systems worked.
Most hunters awakened with pre-set abilities—fire control, enhanced strength, healing, spatial magic. The system would assign them a skill based on their natural talent and affinity.
But this—
This was something else entirely.
Something unnatural.
"Why me?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
What had changed between yesterday and now?
Was it because he had hit rock bottom? Because he had cursed his own existence?
Jin Hwan exhaled sharply, dragging his hands down his face.
No, this doesn't make sense.
But the more he thought about it, the more his gut screamed that this wasn't a mistake.
It felt… deliberate.
As if the system had been waiting for something.
But waiting for what?
His body trembled, not from fear, but from sheer disbelief.
He had spent yesterday convincing himself that the world was unfair. That no matter how hard he trained, no matter how much he struggled, he would always be powerless in this society.
Yet now—
[You are now the sole user of the Ranking Up System.]
The sole user.
That meant no one else had this.
This was his.
His alone.
He gritted his teeth, his mind still struggling to process everything.
He needed answers.
But who could he even ask?
He couldn't go to the Hunter Association. If they found out he had a system after failing his Awakening, they'd throw him into a lab faster than he could blink.
The government strictly controlled system research. They didn't take kindly to anomalies.
Even if they didn't experiment on him, they would never let him keep something like this to himself.
He thought of Yun Hee.
Should he tell her?
No.
Not yet.
He didn't even understand this system himself. Until he knew exactly what he was dealing with, there was no point in telling anyone.
He took another deep breath.
Okay. First things first—
He needed to test this.
His fingers twitched.
Jin Hwan had never killed anything before—not even a wild animal.
He had trained in combat, sure. He had sparred, fought, and even endured brutal beatings from stronger hunters. But killing?
That was different.
Yet, if the system's words were true…
If this was real…
Then the only way forward was through blood.
His stomach twisted.
He glanced at the system window again.
[Goal: F-Rank → E-Rank]
100 kills.
That was the number the system gave him to advance from F-Rank to E-Rank.
Which meant…
He clenched his fists.
If he wanted to become something more than a failure, he had to start somewhere.
His gaze hardened.
"…I need to find something to kill."