Two days passed in a blur of mandatory lectures, miserable food, and the same dead looks on the faces of everyone in Class D. No one was excited. No one expected to impress. The instructors didn't care, and most of the students seemed more concerned with avoiding injury than achieving anything.
The day of the survival exam arrived with overcast skies and a cold wind slicing down from the western mountains. It felt like even the weather was warning them to turn back.
The students of Class D stood near the forest's edge, outfitted with basic supplies: one canteen, a ration bar, a dull knife, and a single-use mana flare to call for help. There was no armor. No weapons worth using. Most of them hadn't even activated a single skill.
Seokhyun adjusted the strap of his worn-out satchel and looked up at the trees. The outer forest wasn't considered particularly dangerous—at least not for proper adventurers. But for them? For Class D nobodies?
This place could kill.
"Three days," Baros repeated, his voice loud over the wind. "Stay alive. Bring back proof of one kill. Those who do get evaluated again. Those who don't? You'll be recycled into support roles or expelled. Up to you."
No one asked questions.
No one thanked him.
When the instructor finally gave the signal, the gate to the forest groaned open and the thirteen students walked through. Some moved in groups of two or three, desperately clinging to the idea of safety in numbers. Others—like Seokhyun—walked alone.
He entered the woods without hesitation.
The forest was dense, its branches clawing at the sky like twisted fingers. Shadows pooled beneath the trees, and the air was damp with decay and old magic. Birds didn't sing here. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the distant cracking of branches under heavy footsteps.
Seokhyun walked calmly, his thoughts focused. He needed one thing.
A kill.
He didn't care what it was—wolf, goblin, monster. Anything breathing. Anything that bled.
His Mana stat remained locked. The Gluttony trait inactive. The system quiet.
But he could feel it. The pressure. The hunger.
[Objective: Kill a living creature. Unlock Mana.]
Time passed. The sun crawled overhead, shrouded behind thin, colorless clouds. He found broken tracks in the dirt, signs of old campfires, claw marks on bark.
Eventually, he heard a sound—wet growling. A shuffle of movement in the underbrush.
He crouched, stepping behind a fallen log.
A creature emerged into view, sniffing the air.
It looked like a malformed boar—twice the size of a regular one, covered in matted fur and thick muscle. Its tusks were crooked and yellowed, and its eyes glowed faintly with green light. A low-tier mana beast. Ugly. Vicious. But killable.
Seokhyun gripped his dull blade tightly.
He waited for it to get closer.
Then he moved.
He burst from cover, aiming low, driving the blade under the creature's jaw. The boar squealed in pain, thrashing violently, knocking him back with a swipe of its thick neck.
The blade tore free from his grip.
Blood sprayed across his face.
The beast charged.
Seokhyun rolled aside, grabbing a thick branch from the ground and jamming it into the beast's side as it passed. It skidded, losing its balance, crashing into a nearby tree.
Seokhyun was already moving again, diving for his blade.
He caught it—then turned.
The boar lunged.
He stepped forward, driving the blade into its throat with all the strength he had. The edge wasn't sharp, but it sank in deep enough. Blood poured from the wound, steaming in the cold air.
The beast staggered, gurgled—
—and collapsed.
Seokhyun fell to his knees, panting. His arms trembled.
Then the system came alive.
[System Notification: First Kill Confirmed]
[Mana Unlocked: +10]
[EXP Gained: +40]
[Current EXP: 40/100]
[Trait: Gluttony – Activated]
Analyzing target…
Trait Detected: Beast Instinct (F)
Would you like to consume? [Y/N]
He didn't hesitate.
Y.
The world flickered.
He felt heat in his spine, a ripple through his blood, like something raw had just been grafted onto his bones.
[Trait Acquired: Beast Instinct (F)]
– Slightly increases reaction speed and danger sense when under threat.
Minor. But it was something. The first brick.
He looked at his status window.
[Class: &@62$- (Otherworlder)]
[Level: 1 | EXP: 40/100]
[Mana: 10]
[Strength: 5 | Speed: 5 | Intelligence: 5 | Luck: 50 | Charm: 10 | Vitality: 5 | Mana: 10]
His stats hadn't moved yet—but they would. Each level would let him increase them. All but Luck and Charm, which remained locked outside of the EXP system.
As he stood, wiping the blood from his hands onto his already-filthy sleeve, he heard something else.
A scream.
Faint.
Female.
Farther east.
He turned in the direction of the sound, already moving before he could think twice.
Not for heroism. Not even for Aine.
He just smelled another kill.