Chapter 11
"Come on!" Han slammed his palm on the desk, glaring at the glowing rejection notice on his monitor.
[APPLICATION REJECTED]
This was the twelfth time.
He gritted his teeth, eyes locked onto the blinking message as if sheer willpower could force it to change. "Tch… don't they see it right there?" he muttered, clicking on the corner of his digital badge.
Class: E — Rank: #1
Only two battles. Two monsters. That's all it took for him to dominate the E-class rankings. But it meant nothing to them. Squad leaders barely looked past the letter E before tossing his application in the virtual trash. To them, an E-rank was cannon fodder—regardless of hierarchy.
With a dry chuckle, Han leaned back in his chair. "Worthless, huh?" he whispered, eyes empty.
But there was no time to sulk. He clicked "Apply Again" with practiced apathy and stood up, muscles tensing with determination. If he couldn't get stronger by entering portals, then he'd forge his strength his own damn way.
Time for the daily grind.
---
Daily Quest: "Earn It"
10,000 Sit-ups, 10,000 Push-ups, 10,000 Squats
3 Full Laps around Serenya City
Spar with 1 Opponent
---
As always, Han blitzed through the physical routines like a machine possessed, the sun casting streaks of gold on his sweat-soaked frame as he completed his final lap around Serenya.
When it came time to spar, he scanned the training ground.
Ron? No—too easy. Han had grown bored of turning him into a ragdoll. These days, even when Han held back, one hit knocked the poor guy out cold.
Instead, he picked a fresh trainee.
"Begin!" shouted the instructor.
A blur. A kick. A thud.
The match lasted all of two seconds.
"Quest complete," Han mumbled, collecting his daily system reward with an emotionless flick of the wrist.
---
Back home, the scent of noodles lingered faintly in the air.
As he entered, Han caught sight of Rin, slouched on the couch, gamepad in hand, eyes locked onto the TV screen. The boy's fingers danced across buttons like a virtuoso, his character pulling off a combo that'd make pro gamers weep.
"No sign of Laura or Xin," Han noted silently, heading to his room.
"Yo," Rin called without looking up, "wanna get wrecked again?"
Han raised an eyebrow but declined. As strong as he was in real life, Rin crushed him every time they played. The digital world was Rin's battlefield.
---
Lying in bed, Han opened his laptop, flipping through the new headlines.
[INTERVIEW: CLASS A HERO - BLAZER SPEAKS ON RISING MONSTER THREATS]
On screen, the red-haired hero known as Blazer, flames subtly flickering from his shoulders, sat in a sleek studio. The interviewer leaned forward.
Interviewer: "Blazer, citizens are concerned. Monster sightings have tripled, yet we've had no significant portal breaks reported. What's happening?"
Blazer (frowning): "Portals don't always open in plain sight. Some appear in remote locations—abandoned zones, forests, wastelands. If a break occurs there, monsters can spill out unnoticed until it's too late."
Interviewer: "And what's the Hero Association doing to counter this?"
Blazer: "We Class A heroes aren't at the top. We're waiting for directives from Class S. Once the orders come down… we'll act."
Han scoffed.
He knew better.
The monster he'd killed at the hospital—human, but twisted—had revealed something before it died. Something about the transformation. This wasn't about random portal breaks. It was something else.
And the purple-haired man. He was the key.
If I want to save Aunt Mei, Han thought, clenching his fist, I need to find him.
PING!
A system notification dragged him out of his thoughts.
> [Application Accepted]
He blinked.
"What?"
The screen didn't lie. He stared at it in disbelief, then smiled slightly.
---
Later That Day
Han adjusted his cloth as he stepped off the subway and made his way to the marked location. His heart thumped, not with fear—but excitement.
A chance.
Finally.
The portal stood ahead like a glowing wound in the fabric of reality, swirling with soft blue energy. Around it, five figures waited.
One of them, a burly man with a giant battle axe strapped to his back, glanced up. "Hey, looks like the last guy's here."
Han approached. After a few exchanges of greetings, a thin, serious-looking man stepped forward.
"I'm Cay," he said, extending a hand. "Squad Leader. Rank 12, Class C."
Han shook it, activating Analyzer Eye as he looked around the group.
[Cay Brady - Class C Hero]
Skill: Surface Walker
Ability: Can leap and adhere to any solid surface. Excellent for mobility and vertical combat.
Han raised an eyebrow. It wasn't flashy—but with the right equipment, Cay could be deadly.
He turned to the battle axe guy.
[Rico Strawn - Rank 15]
Skill: Weight Nullification
Ability: Reduces the weight of any object he carries.
No wonder he can swing that monster of a weapon like a twig, Han thought.
He scanned the others, collecting data until he paused on one member.
A quiet girl in a hoody stood near the back, eyes closed, arms crossed.
[Name: Clara Mason]
Skill: —None Detected—
Han blinked.
"None?" he muttered.
Han stood frozen.
No skill, no reputation—what the hell was this girl doing in a portal-clearing squad?
He narrowed his eyes, about to call out the girl when something glinted under the dim light. A badge. A Class C badge.
Impossible, Han thought. His Analyzer Eye didn't lie. But what he saw made no sense.
Before he could say more, a cocky voice pierced the air.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
A green-mohawked man sauntered over with a swagger that screamed arrogance. His flame-marked gloves flickered with embers. Class C. Rank 25.
His ability? Basic flame sparks—not powerful, but enough for him to look down on others. Especially someone like Han, an E-Class.
"You the new guy?" he sneered. "What rank are you?"
Han didn't answer. Instead, he tapped his badge.
A digital screen hovered mid-air.
Class E. Rank 1.
The man burst into laughter. "Wow! Number one in the trash heap. Listen, rookie—if you want to survive, stay the hell away from the frontline."
He walked off still chuckling, while others looked on, expecting Han to react.
But Han remained still. Cold. Silent.
His eyes didn't flicker. His lips didn't move.
Only one thought crossed his mind: Defeat as many beast as possible . Getting more resources is the mission.
"Let's go," the leader called. The team stepped into the portal—blue and swirling like a window into another dimension.
---
Moments later… chaos.
"YAAAAHHH!"
A massive battle axe crashed down with a thunderous clang, slicing through the final rat beast in a crimson arc. Blood sprayed the stone walls.
The axe-wielder collapsed beside the corpses, panting, gasping for air. Around him were the mangled remains of rat beasts, fangs bared in death.
Han walked past them all—unbothered.
He knelt over a fallen rat and plunged his hand into its chest. A faintly glowing crystal slipped from its heart.
A beast core.
A notification pinged in his mind.
[Convert Beast Core to CP?]
Han was tempted—but he didn't.
This wasn't my kill.
He calmly gathered the cores from every beast, his white-black hair swaying gently as he moved. His gaze flicked to the distance.
The portal was marked blue, which meant it covered an expansive area—easily the size of a small city.
---
The team advanced deeper until they reached a split in the path:
Left or right.
Han activated his Analyzer Eye.
To the right: heavy movement. Too many heat signatures.
To the left: fewer beasts—but stronger. One signal pulsed darker and more erratic.
The boss.
"Tom, do your thing," the leader said.
Tom knelt, placing his palm on the ground. His eyes shut tight, veins glowing faintly with his seismic skill.
Han, without waiting, already started down the left path.
"The right," Tom suddenly said, eyes snapping open.
Han halted.
The right? But he was certain the boss is at the left.
He clenched his fist, but didn't protest. No one would believe him anyway.
They turned right.
---
It was a mistake.
The tunnel exploded into chaos.
Rats surged from the shadows—larger, faster, sharper.
"BATTLE UP!" the leader roared, drawing his sword mid-leap.
The axe-wielder charged in beside him, blades flashing. But these rats weren't like the first batch. They were faster, smarter, their claws capable of tearing through steel.
Amidst the clash, a hooded figure danced between death.
Two white spheres hovered around her. With a click—gun barrels extended.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots tore into the beasts, but it wasn't enough.
"They're... tougher," she muttered, leaping back as a claw narrowly missed her eye. A third sphere spiraled into the mouth of a rat—
Boom!
Blood splattered the walls.
She caught her breath, scanned the chaos.
Wait—where's the E-rank rookie?
Her eyes darted across the blood-soaked floor, expecting to see limbs, maybe a shredded body.
Nothing.
He ran. Took the cores and ran! she thought, gritting her teeth.
With a flick, her spheres shifted—forming tech goggles over her eyes and white boots that shimmered with kinetic thrusters.
She bolted through the tunnel, reaching the split in seconds.
But something was off.
The footprints...
Not toward the exit.
He went… left?
What the hell is he thinking? Is he hiding? Avoiding battle?
Coward.
Still, she pressed on.
---
She hadn't gone far when she abruptly skidded to a halt. Her eyes widened
Littering the pathway were bodies. Not just one or two—but ten dead rat beasts. The same mutated monsters that had just nearly overwhelmed her team. But these…
Their heads were gone.
Cleanly obliterated. Each one precise. No excessive bloodshed. No mess.
Her breath hitched.
What… what the hell?
She crept forward, eyes scanning the corpses. The way they'd been killed wasn't just brutal—it was clinical. Efficient. Like the killer had done it a hundred times before… without breaking a sweat.
Her mind raced.
Han? No. That's impossible. He's E-rank. Weak. A rookie. There's no way he—
But the deeper she went, the more bodies she found.
Fifteen… twenty… thirty.
Each one slain the same way—decapitated. And not a single core left behind. Someone had collected every last one.
Her mouth went dry.
Whoever did this didn't just kill them. They hunted them.
And they had the composure to take their time.
Then she saw it.
A towering door stood at the end of the corridor, twice her height. Before it, the last line of defense—two colossal rat beasts, twice the size of the others.
Dead.
Heads vaporized.
She stopped just short of the door, heart thundering in her chest. A chill ran through her spine.
If the team had taken this path… she realized grimly, we'd be dead.
No strategy. No teamwork. No power they had could've saved them from this carnage.
It… can't be him. It just can't. No E-ranker could ever—
She pushed the door open.
What she saw inside made her stop breathing.
---
In the center of the chamber, slumped against a stone pillar, was a behemoth rat king—its bulk six times that of the others, claws like blades.
But its head was gone.
Sitting atop its back, glowing white core in hand, was Han.
White-black hair. Calm eyes. Not even a scratch.
No blood on his face. No sweat. No expression of triumph.
He looked…
Disappointed.
"Too easy," he muttered, bored, standing up as though he'd just woken from a nap.
The tech girl froze, her goggles recording every second.
In her ear, the white bud picked up his whisper with perfect clarity.
Then she blurted it out—voice shaking with disbelief:
"Are you really an E-ranker?"
To be continued.