Mikael_Guerrero_3059

In a world where nearly everyone awakens to powerful abilities at the age of fourteen, Ren Kisaragi remains powerless. Scarred by the trauma of his father’s death in a dungeon collapse, his awakening never comes, leaving him to survive as a scavenger—harvesting monster corpses to support his ailing mother and little sister, Yui.
Looked down on by hunters and ignored by society, Ren bears the weight of his family’s survival with quiet determination. But everything changes the day he encounters a forgotten creature deep within a dungeon. Marked by a strange symbol, Ren unlocks a terrifying new power—not from the world of light, but from the void itself.
As dungeons grow unstable and ancient threats awaken, Ren begins a dangerous descent—not just into the depths of the earth, but into the heart of what he truly is. Guided by pain, grounded by love, and shadowed by a power that could consume him, Ren must forge his own path. Not as a hero. Not as a monster.
But as the boy who refused to break.

Dungeons Scavenger:The Boy Who Couldn’t Awaken

Ren stood deep below the city now, far beneath the roots of the dungeon, in a place where even the void hesitated to linger. Shadows didn't move here—they clung. The air was thick and cold, pressing against his skin like water.

And in the silence, for the first time in a long time, Ren felt… nothing.

Just a hollow echo where his heart should be.

He whispered it aloud, but the dark didn't answer. Not this time.

His thoughts spiraled. His chest felt tight.

Would Yui understand if he didn't?

Would Kaede forgive him if he broke his promise?

Was there even anything left of Ren Kisaragi to come back?

"I'm not human," he muttered. "Not fully. I'm just a monster pretending to care. Pretending to belong."

The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. They sounded like the truth. But a voice—small and familiar—rose in the back of his mind.

"You're still Ren. That's all that matters to me."

And then Yui's laughter. Their mother's humming. The rooftop evenings. The warm tea. The scarf he wore when it got too cold.

"No," he said. "I made a promise. I said I'd come back."

"But what if I break that promise?" he asked the dark. "What if I can't win this? What if I lose myself in here?"

Ren took a deep breath. The emptiness didn't vanish. But something solid formed beneath it. A thread. A shape. A memory.

He was the boy who couldn't awaken… who carried the world anyway.

"I'll come back," he whispered. "Even if I have to drag myself out piece by piece."

And in the distance, something older than time stirred awake.

Chapter 35: The Promise I Can’t Keep