Misfit.

  The lowest rank that anyone receives in today's society after being a convict. And that title shadowed Elliot throughout his short life.

  It is the name given to a person who failed their awakening, and the injection gave them a certain strength, which can never be increased further.

  Although it is a strength generally above that of ordinary humans, it is not amazing.

  This group of people is called outcasts because society rejects them. They are stronger than the average human but cannot fight beasts, so what use are they?

  They cannot even cast spells, and the injection contaminated some.

  So, if that title haunts you since you were fourteen, you couldn't feel good.

  Even more so when you are the weakest among them.

  "Elliot, be careful on your way home. Do you hear? If you come across a dog, remember to run or shout for help. Try to keep yourself safe."

  Elliot turned to look at his boss, an ordinary-looking man with nothing to distinguish him. He was about 40 years old, a little tall and muscular, and his expression was slightly mocking.

  He nodded, although he remained expressionless and said nothing.

  'Damn old man'.

  If only he could express himself, he would vent his anger with a powerful punch to the old man's nose. Being mocked for something that happened in the past bothered him, but the scenario in his head was off the table, knowing that he would be the one who would end up dead if he swung his fist.

  Because of the boss's words, his coworkers started to laugh.

  "Hahaha! Boss, don't be mean. Is it okay for one of us to go with him? If he faces a dog, he might not even be able to run away."

  "Right, boss. We must look out for our colleagues. If a pit bull came out... I'm afraid it would be the last day of our most outstanding worker."

  "Now, now. We can't worry about minor issues; get back to work." After laughing for a moment, the leader calmed them down. "I must do something, so don't wait for me."

  Then he turned and left.

  Elliot went another way as the taunts kept ringing in his ears. But he turned a deaf ear to them.

  'It's not like I can ask the system for a fight against these bastards. I don't even have the system.' Once again, he was forced to sigh helplessly.

  In the last 48 hours, he had loaded more than 200 boxes weighing 75 kg each without help. It was pretty complicated for him, but he had to pay his debts, and hard work was the best way to do it. That's why he didn't feel like paying attention to his stupid colleagues.

  Even though his colleagues raised their voices to make him feel uncomfortable, he didn't feel awkward. In fact, at that moment, he was smiling.

  When he looked up, he found the sun was already beginning to set.

  The sun's small rays illuminated the clouds with an exotic amber color, while the roofs of the tall modern buildings and the large windows were bathed in a spectacular yellowish tone.

  Loen City is a beautiful, modern city. Thanks to its strategic position, it is ideal for admiring sunsets. This time, the sunset was very beautiful, but that was not what made him smile.

  He smiled because today was September 3rd, his 18th birthday.

  It was not a cause for celebration or one in which he could say he was finally of legal age; none of that was useful. Vain things did not make him happy.

  But on his 18th birthday, it would be his third attempt to Awaken.

  That's right. Unlike his companions, who failed to awaken, he had not failed yet. In other words, he was not a Misfit; he simply had to live like that because it was the only thing he could do to earn money.

  That's because the previous two times he tried to Awaken, he couldn't. In the end, many thought he was a misfit, and because of his mortal enemies, who spread the rumor, he had been seen that way for years.

  But today, on his 18th birthday, although all the odds were against him, the desire for power inside him did not allow him to be pessimistic; the desire had grown so strong that, despite the setbacks, he still smiled and held himself upright.

  'Even though everyone calls me the outcast among the outcasts, today I will prove to you that I am different from all of you.'

  As he walked, his determined steps did not seem like those of a misfit, much less those of a person with little chance of awakening. His mind was only filled with a message to himself:

  "Today, my destiny will change."

  And he was right.

  If he managed to awaken, it would undoubtedly change.

  If he couldn't do it, he would probably die or become a Misfit. If the second happened, he would leave the city to find his own destiny.

  Whether it was to die at the hands of an evil beast or to have a chance encounter, whatever his destiny, he would seek it out and find it at all costs.

  Between rambling thoughts, he walked among the mocking glances of people traveling along the long, busy roads where cars crossed from one side to the other at high speed.

  He soon arrived in front of a slightly abandoned apartment building.

  Upstairs was a sign that said: 'Misfits' Room'.

  It was a mocking sign, but it described it perfectly.

  This is a small complex of rooms in poor condition, built by someone who probably hated misfits, as it was very poorly constructed.

  All the rooms were the same size: 3 square meters and cost $75 monthly.

  As soon as he found his room, he got inside.

  There wasn't much on the other side of the door, but everything was perfectly organized.

  A small bag was hanging on the wall, and on the other side was a single bed, a small living room table, and a one-burner electric cooker. It had everything he needed to live, although if he wanted to use the bathroom, he would have to use the establishment's public facilities.

  Upon entering and verifying everything was in order, he went to the bed and grabbed a small box on the living room table.

  Then he took out a syringe from inside, which contained a red liquid similar to blood.

  "All my savings for a year, in debt for two months, and without eating properly for three months to be able to buy you. I hope you hear my wish and finally answer my call. I fully trust that you will awaken me... From this nightmare."

  After taking off his shirt, his well-developed, although somewhat undernourished, body was exposed. His arms were quite muscular for his age, but they did not look like those of someone who could lift 15 tons in 48 hours.

  Even so, he didn't care much about that.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  He had been working hard for a long time for this day, so he was a little nervous, but he did not feel impatient.

  He cleaned the area where he was going to inject himself and took a deep breath.

  'The Awakening Injection... It's not the first time I'll have it in my body, but this will be the first time I'll inject it myself. This will be dangerous.'

  He stared at the syringe and his arm, trying to trace the line correctly.

  If he missed the vein, he would surely die, as his body would not be able to withstand the red liquid. That is why it is always advisable to have another specialized person do it for you. The problem is that hiring a professional is out of his budget; they are too expensive these days.

  He took a deep breath and relaxed.

  His hand held the syringe firmly, and without hesitation, full of determination and desire, he injected it into his vein.

  'Today will be different.' Determination shone in his eyes.

  At the same time, the desire for power inside him reached its peak, longing to reach the peak of his life.

  Since childhood, he has always wanted power. When his father disappeared on his 14th birthday, he wished for the power to find him.

  Then came his 16th birthday, and he wished for the power to save his mother and sister, who were murdered in front of him.

  Unfortunately, fate is sometimes not in your favor, and he has to learn to live with that.

  Maybe his luck was shit, or perhaps he really had no talent.

  Whatever the reason, he had to learn to live with the feeling of uselessness, but his desire always burned deep inside him, and today, it was at its peak.

  The red liquid that looked like blood soon mixed with his blood, telling him he had hit the target. That increased his hope.

  Then, a voice of supplication rose in his heart that, at least for once, he wanted fortune to smile at him.

  Suddenly, the effects of the injection disappeared in his body. It seemed it had searched every corner of his body and had not found what it sought.

  His heart grew anxious, but so did his hope. A voice in his head seemed to tell him to have a little more faith, that his hopes shouldn't stop there.

  Maybe he was going crazy, but he trusted that voice.

  So, even though his mind screamed that he wouldn't awaken, his heart still held firm. One was rational; the other was sentimental. But both longed for power.

  After three or four endless minutes, a strange sound invaded his mind.

  Ding~

  [The Global Awakening System has found an Awakened One]

  [Welcome to the Global Awakening System, Newbie Player Elliot Clark. Congratulations on your awakening]

  [Your intense desire for power has shaken the foundations of the world]

  [The world has agreed to fulfill your wish, oh man.]

  [You have awakened a Unique Class]

  Part 2.

  Joy and ecstasy suddenly invaded his body. The messages from the Awakening System flickering before him caused all kinds of waves inside him, from happiness and nostalgia to sadness and euphoria.

  A flood of sudden emotions reached his throat, but he swallowed them hard. He pinched himself, wondering if what he saw was real and not a dream.

  When he could verify that it was real, the last system message left him in shock.

  "Did I awaken a Class?"

  It didn't matter what type of class someone could awaken; if it was a class, it was incredible. Only one in a million awake a class, and the difference may be even more exaggerated.

  In the process of awakening, you can obtain a Skill, Trait, Talent, Power, or Class. Of all these, the one with the lowest probability of appearing is the class, with less than 1% chance.

  Because if you obtain a class, you can acquire skills and traits (for example) that make you much more powerful than your peers.

  But there are many class ranks: Common, Rare, Epic, etc. Among all those ranks, there is the 'Unique'. Only Unique Classes fall into this category, and they can be of Common Rank or Epic Rank or higher, but they must be unique.

  Although the Unique Class system is random, Elliot doesn't care about the rank.

  He had awakened!

  And of all things, he got a class.

  Now, that is a cause for celebration.

  Without wasting any time, he quickly pressed the messages flashing before his eyes to open the interface. Suddenly, his statistics appeared before him, but he ignored them. He was impatient to know the type of class he had awakened.

  He scrolled through the system, looking for the class window, and he found it.

  [Class Monarch of Energy: He who rules energy, its three Talents and two Manifestations]

  | Rank: Unique.

  [First Manifestation - Lord of Energy]

  | You can use the Energy of Attributes in your body to create Summons of Attributes. These summonses are formed with pure energy, and depending on the type of energy used, they will have one capacity or another.

  | When creating, you choose the amount of energy to use to enhance your summons. The more energy, the more power they will have.

  | Conversion: 1 aggregate Stat Point equals 5 Points in the summoning.

  Example: Using 1 Physical Attribute Energy Point when creating a summoning will have 5 Stat Points in Strength.

  Amazement hit him hard and left him unable to react.

  Being an emotional person, his body and mind roared with uncontrollable joy when he saw that his class looked amazing at first glance. However, his mind managed to calm down quickly.

  'A Class that brings Three Talents and Two Manifestations... Although I don't understand exactly what a manifestation is, this one it gave me at the beginning is amazing,' he thought.

  Although he could see some problems, such as that it would take him longer to reach a certain level of power if he had to focus on increasing the power of invocations, in general, it seemed like it would be important since they were much stronger than he was, with the same stat point.

  But he didn't want to be a weakling, so he dismissed the idea of simply being an invoker; if he didn't fight at the front, he wouldn't feel satisfied.

  As his mind wandered, his eyes focused on the next window of the system.

  [First Talent]

  | The Harvester: You can harvest the surrounding Attribute Energy. Stay close to where it is created to benefit much more.

  | Additional Talent Bonus - 1: When killing a beast, human, or any other race, you can collect an additional 50% of the energy if you sacrifice 50% of the victim's body.

  | Additional Talent Bonus - 2: If you find a BEAST that you did not personally kill, you can absorb around 50% of the energy it had before dying in exchange for destroying 100% of the body.

  Detail of Talent Bonus 2: Only works on beasts.

  | Additional Talent Bonus 3: You are the reaper of what you once sowed; therefore, Attribute Energy is created faster for you.

  'The Harvester... A person capable of harvesting the surrounding attribute energy...'

  If what he had read before seemed absurd, this first talent did not make any sense, mainly because of the exclusivity that Attribute Energy enjoys.

  When the world awakened 500 years ago, it was filled with beasts, dungeons, and portals. Even new territories emerged from ancient times and merged with this world.

  Fantastic and mythological races became reality overnight, and along with that, came the ability to strengthen themselves: the Global Awakening System.

  This was like salvation for humanity, which was frightened by what might come.

  They didn't think that many things would change with the system's arrival, but the change was drastic. In the ancient era, the world was divided into countries with large armies that fought each other, killing innocent people for their ambitions.

  But in the Age of Awakening, the world changed and was never the same. Now, it is divided into Guilds and territories, and competitions decide everything.

  Since the awakening, the laws have changed, and the so-called Laws of the Game have come into force.

  For example, Loen City is within the territory of the Arce Guild, commonly known as the Kingdom of Arce. This guild is registered in the system under the Laws of the Game.

  Many things cannot be done without the game's laws. For example, armies disappeared, and now wars are less common. This means that civilians are relatively safe, which has made the world a better place.

  But at the same time, it is a playground of absolute competitiveness, where the weak seek ways to strengthen themselves to reach the highest heights, win the system's main competitions, and achieve Glory.

  This is because the System can grant everything.

  Lands, titles, classes, abilities... Even Divinity.

  There is nothing that the system cannot grant.

  This is why, as long as you act within the Laws of the Game, you could go to another Kingdom and ask its Leader for a one-on-one fight, with the Kingdom as the bet. If you win, you will be the new King, and no one can oppose you.

  Now, along with the System, something has also arrived that governs passively and that no one can ignore: Attribute Energy.

  It is the energy that the awakened use to increase their power—a peculiar and strangely powerful energy in every sense.

  It naturally has many restrictions. For example, you shouldn't be able to absorb the energy created by someone because his actions create that energy.

  That's why this talent didn't seem to make sense, which made him feel that there was something he didn't know about that energy.

  'Stay close to where it is created.'

  He repeated this to himself so that he would not forget it. He had planned to go to the place where it was created to do research.

  While he was deep in thought, his door rang.

  *KNOCK*

  *KNOCK*

  He frowned and got up.

  'Who?' He had never had visitors before. So, he carefully approached the door to peer through a crack and frowned when he noticed it was his boss.

  'Strange... I'm sure he's not supposed to know where I live.'

  Maybe he went to the wrong door, or maybe...

  Elliot turned around, opened one of the drawers of the living room table, and took out a small sheath with a dagger—no, it was more like a knife. It was a very low grade, but he had kept it since his mother and sister were alive.

  Although the most dangerous people in this world are the Awakened, they should not generally attack a normal person head-on, as the system could penalize them.

  There is no real restriction if you try to kill someone, but there could be a penalty if you break any of the rules, and it is very easy for an Awakened one to break the rules when attacking a civilian. So, for the most part, the Awakened avoid attacking these people.

  Now, the Awakened are not saints who will not choose to kill anyone. Murders still happen daily, and there are occasions when the Awakened carry out large-scale killings of civilians. This can be for two reasons: they have the system's permission or use a particular group.

  The Misfits.

  They are like the hands and feet of the Awakened in the world of civilians; they constantly do their dirty work for them, as they are not tied to the System.

  And getting permission from the system is not too difficult, besides the fact that it is still possible to cause carnage without the system's permission with the risk of being penalized.

  Be that as it may, the system has loopholes in its rules that the Awakened tend to take advantage of, and he was facing one of those loopholes.

  That's why... Elliot grabbed the knife.

  The world is not safe these days. It was better to be safe than sorry.

  'For safety.'

  He tucked the knife into his clothes and then opened the door.