The sky had already deepened into a bruised purple by the time Alleno Amethyst left the school gates behind.
His steps were slow but sure, the faint clatter of his boots echoing against the cracked sidewalks. Slung over one shoulder was his school bag — though in this city, carrying anything less than your pride and a switchblade was considered suicide.
Alleno shoved his free hand into his pocket, hood tugged low over his messy hair as he slipped into the thinning crowd of students and workers. The streetlights flickered overhead like dying stars.
In this city, you learned two things fast:
One — the streets didn't care about you.
Two — you'd better not care about them either.
He sighed, weaving around a group of loud kids shoving each other toward a noodle stand. One of them swung a careless elbow, almost clocking him in the ribs. Without even looking, Alleno sidestepped neatly, the way you sidestep a puddle or a corpse.
"This place…" he muttered under his breath, kicking a stray soda can into a gutter, "is rotting from the inside out."
---
This was their world.
A world where law and order were just bedtime stories for kids.
Where gangs ran entire districts like kings without crowns. Where mafias weren't shadows lurking behind closed doors — they were your neighbor, your landlord, your teacher, your best friend's father.
Here, strength wasn't just respected — it was survival.
Fistfights in alleys? Normal.
Knife fights behind convenience stores? Tuesday afternoon.
Shootouts between rival families? Eh, as long as you didn't catch a stray bullet.
Even schools — supposed to be safe — were just slightly more polite warzones.
At best, it was "no killing on campus" — a rule more honored in spirit than in practice.
At worst, it was free-for-all brawls behind the gym with teachers pretending not to see.
Alleno slipped his hands deeper into his pockets as a motorbike roared past, two teenagers on it, laughing and flipping off a vendor they'd just robbed.
No one screamed. No one chased.
The world just moved on, like nothing had happened.
---
In this city — Silver Ash — if you wanted to live, you needed three things:
Guts. Smarts. And someone willing to drag your unconscious body out of trouble when you screwed up.
Like he'd done for Auzra.
Alleno's lip twitched into a faint smirk at the memory — the dumbass flailing at the floating panel, karate-chopping the air like a dying pigeon.
The smirk faded just as quickly.
Because Alleno knew... the real fights hadn't even started yet.
And in this city, when you started standing out — when you showed you were different — you attracted attention.
The wrong kind.
---
As he reached the narrow alley that led to his apartment, he paused, scanning the shadows out of habit.
Two figures lurked near the dumpster — some punk kids with cheap jackets and cheaper knives.
Alleno gave them a look colder than winter.
They shrank back immediately, muttering apologies before vanishing into the night.
Smart.
He wasn't in the mood to bury bodies tonight.
Adjusting the strap of his bag, he ducked into the alley, boots crunching over broken glass.
The air smelled like rain and old metal.
A cat meowed somewhere above, perched precariously on a rusted fire escape.
Home sweet home.
He climbed the rickety stairs up to the third floor, where a battered door waited. No locks. No fancy alarms. Just one faded sticker peeling off the wood:
> "Enter if you dare."
Alleno pushed the door open, the creak loud in the silence.
Tossing his bag onto the couch, he kicked the door shut behind him, peeled off his jacket, and stood there for a moment — staring out the cracked window at the sprawling, dying city.
He didn't know why he bothered saving idiots like Auzra.
Maybe because — even in this rotting world — something in him still believed.
That some people were worth saving.
Even if they were absolute morons who karate-chopped space air.
---
---
Meanwhile…
Somewhere across town, in a rundown apartment barely holding itself together, Auzra was busy doing very important things.
Namely: poking invisible buttons in midair.
It had been a full day since the rooftop mess. His side still ached where that goon had kicked him, and his right arm refused to lift properly. Every movement made him wince.
He hadn't completed his first mission yet — not because he didn't want to — but because moving felt like getting hit by a bus. Twice.
So instead of dying in a second round of street brawls, Auzra decided to do the smart thing:
Tinker with the weird blue screen floating in front of his face.
He leaned back against the creaky bedframe, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
"Alright," he muttered, "what the hell else can you do, you stupid thing?"
He poked. He swiped. He tried yelling at it. Nothing useful happened.
After a few hours of sheer stubbornness — and a lot of muttering curses — a thought suddenly clicked in his brain.
> "Wait… all games have novice packs, right?"
Maybe — just maybe — this was like some RPG starter pack thing.
Feeling half-ridiculous, he focused his mind and shouted inside his head:
> "OPEN NOVICE PACK!"
Ding!
A tiny chime echoed in his skull.
A panel materialized, almost shyly.
[Congratulations! Novice Pack Unlocked!]
Trait: Perfect Body (Level 1)
Auzra blinked.
Then he blinked again.
"...what?"
Before he could even ask, the system dumped the explanation directly into his mind:
> Perfect Body (Lv.1)
-Perfectly Balanced Body Made By Heaven
Auzra raised an eyebrow, eyes wide with excitement. "Hold on, this is it!" he thought, practically bouncing on his bed. This was exactly the kind of ability he needed, something that could help him recover faster, grow stronger, and actually survive in this crazy new world with the system.
But there was no time to waste.
He felt a surge of energy shoot through him. He could practically feel his bruises begin to heal faster, his muscles tightening and repairing themselves at an accelerated rate. He could sense his body becoming lighter, more agile, and more powerful with each passing second.
The system had already registered the change, and he could feel it deep within him. His previous exhaustion seemed to evaporate as his strength was renewed, and his body felt as though it was finally catching up to what it needed to be.
---
Suddenly, a 'Ding' sound was heard by Auzra
Mission Update:
Main Mission: Recover 80% Health
Status: Complete
Reward: Skill - Extreme Agility Level 1
---
Auzra grinned widely, a mix of relief and exhilaration flooding through him. "I did it! I actually did it!"
He flexed his fingers, feeling the newfound strength in his limbs. His body, which had been aching so much earlier, now felt like it could take on the world. His movements were sharper, quicker, and the pain in his ribs had mostly faded away. He even felt like he could stand up without falling over.
He sat back, closing his eyes for a moment, basking in the glow of his new abilities. The system's rewards had already started to work their magic. He felt stronger, more capable, and he knew that this was only the beginning.
---
[Mission Reward Unlocked]
Skill: Extreme Agility - Level 1
---
Auzra couldn't help but laugh, the sound escaping him before he could stop it. "I can't believe this is happening," he muttered to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.
He had completed the mission and received a skill to boot. Extreme Agility—something that would give him even more of an edge when it came to moving fast and outmaneuvering opponents. If his body could heal this quickly and enhance his physical abilities so easily, what else could the system provide?
As he pondered this, the system's interface flickered again, the panels and missions now more vivid in his mind. Auzra's hand instinctively reached for the panel, ready to explore more and get to the next level.
---
Next Mission:
Mission Name: Discover Your True Potential
Objective: Master the use of Extreme Agility in combat.
Reward: Access to new abilities.
---
Auzra leaned back, feeling the excitement swell inside him. He had no idea where this crazy journey would take him, but at least he knew one thing: he was ready for it.
"Let's do this," he muttered under his breath, a determined smile on his face. The System had given him the tools he needed, and now he was going to see just how far he could push them.