Morning came faster than expected, and as sunlight streamed through the window, Sam slowly sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"It's 8 a.m.," he muttered to himself after glancing at the digital clock near his bed. "The ceremony's at twelve… I've got time."
He didn't have a phone right now, so nothing else could be used.
His voice was calm, but his heart beat just a little faster.
Today was important—not just for him, but for his entire future.
Stretching once, he stood up and shuffled toward the small kitchen space in his apartment, casually opening the fridge.
Nothing. Not even a single slice of bread. Of course.
Truthfully, the apartment didn't even feel like a place someone lived in.
The walls were bare, the counters nearly dustless, and there was barely any furniture beyond the essentials.
It looked and felt more like a placeholder, a place meant to exist for one reason only: to house him after reincarnation.
No more, no less.
And that was fine. Sam wasn't here to settle into some quiet life. He had plans. Big ones.
Without wasting another moment, he turned on his heel and walked toward the small table near the edge of his room.
He reached for the black ID card resting there and slipped it into his pocket.
But his eyes soon drifted toward the object lying next to it: the sword.
Yesterday, he'd dropped it the moment the eerie aura had swirled around him.
That dark energy had been overwhelming at the time.
But now, he felt like he shouldn't ignore something like that.
This sword wasn't normal. It was special, and he couldn't afford to leave it behind.
Reaching forward, he firmly grasped the hilt with both hands.
The moment his skin made contact, that same dark aura returned, snaking around his arm and swirling upward toward his chest.
It was cold. Strange. But this time, he didn't let go.
Fwish! Fwish! BOOM!
A sudden pressure pulsed through him as the aura surged, crawling across his body and pressing into his skin.
But rather than resist it, his body absorbed every ounce of it. It sank deep into his flesh, his bones, his soul—
Ding!
A blue panel blinked into existence in front of him.
[You have received the SSS-Rank class: Primordial.]
Sam blinked. For a moment, his mind went blank, then—
"…Oh."
That single word escaped his lips before he let out a slow exhale.
His fingers clenched tighter around the sword's hilt.
Thrown into this world without warning, Sam had expected to start from the bottom.
Sure, the world was based on a game he used to know, but real life wasn't a game.
He had expected to struggle, to adapt, and possibly to fail.
But now? All those worries dissolved.
Because in the entirety of [Forsakened], there was only one other person in the game with an SSS-Rank class—the protagonist.
"This means…" Sam's eyes widened as his lips slowly curled into a smile. "I might actually have a chance."
A small one, maybe. But that didn't matter. All he needed was a path forward, and now, he had one. The rest was up to him.
Before heading out, he decided to do what every player in the game did first after awakening their class.
He straightened his posture, looked forward, and spoke the command with confidence.
"Status."
Fwish! Ding!
A new panel appeared before his eyes, glowing slightly as it displayed his details.
---
[Name: Sam Walker]
[Class: Primordial (SSS)]
[Rank: Novice]
[Level: 0]
[Strength: 4]
[Agility: 3]
[Constitution: 4]
[Soul: 6]
[Affinities: Shadow]
[Class Skills: Spatial Inventory, Primordial Evolution]
[Skills: —]
---
"Just like I remember," he muttered, inspecting the window closely.
It was surreal, seeing it in real life, with his name plastered across the top.
But it also confirmed that everything in this world operated exactly like the game.
He might've started from level 0, but at least he wasn't powerless.
His stats were nothing impressive, average at best, but he had class skills like all the others, meaning he wasn't any weaker.
Without wasting time, he began to check each skill's description one by one.
---
[Spatial Inventory]
[Description: Allows the user to store or retrieve objects from a personal inventory space. (And no, you can't go inside yourself.)]
---
His eyes then shifted toward the sword in his hand. He hadn't been able to inspect its stats yet.
---
[Primordial Sword]
[You cannot view the information of this weapon yet.]
---
"Hm."
Locked. As expected. But he was more curious about trying the inventory skill anyway.
He focused his mind on the command: Spatial Inventory.
A small void tore itself open in front of him.
It looked barely large enough to store a book, let alone a sword, but as he moved the blade closer, the void adjusted, stretching to accommodate the sword's full length.
The moment it touched the edge, the sword vanished into the inventory.
Sam tried the retrieval next.
He reached inside the void while thinking about the sword, and sure enough, the hilt materialized in his hand like magic.
"Convenient," he said quietly. "Very convenient."
Next, he turned his attention to the affinity section, which displayed only one element.
---
[Shadow Affinity]
[Description: You are born from shadows and live in them. Leave none of them standing in the light.]
---
"The hell does that even mean..." he mumbled.
Still, he then quickly moved on to his second class skill.
---
[Primordial Evolution]
[Description: Once per day, you can select one of your skills or items and evolve it to its next stage.]
---
"Huh."
He noticed that none of these class skills had any rank, meaning they couldn't be upgraded.
Still, the last skill sounded extremely useful, but unfortunately he had no skills or items to evolve just yet. That would have to wait.
Done with preparations, Sam grabbed the black backpack resting on his table and tossed it into the Spatial Inventory as well.
With everything stored, he stepped toward the door, pausing just once to look back at the quiet, empty apartment.
Somehow, he had a feeling he wouldn't be coming back.
"Oh well..." he shrugged as he left.
---
It took a bullet train to get to his destination, Eclypsia Academy, located in Ashbourne City.
Sam had no cash on him, but flashing his ID card at the station was all it took for the guards to let him pass.
"Just like the game," he thought as he boarded. "Awakeners are privileged."
The trip lasted around three hours as the train was much faster than any other available on his original Earth.
Once he arrived, he made his way through the city, eventually stopping before the academy gates.
The entrance was flooded with students, all dressed in sleek uniforms, all buzzing with nervous excitement.
The new students didn't have access to their abilities yet.
Not until they officially stepped into the Forsaken Realm. That made things safe, at least for now.
But as Sam moved toward the main plaza, whispers began to drift into his ears.
"Wait, he actually showed up?"
"Is he crazy or something? I thought he gave up."
"Didn't he go to a different city? What's he doing here now?"
Sam's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced around. He noticed the stares, the quiet judgment, the curiosity, the disbelief.
He had no idea what they were talking about.
Still, he didn't stop.
He walked toward the large gathering ahead, where a tall stage had been set up.
Atop it stood a man with violet hair and a long staff in hand.
He seemed to be speaking to another person beside him, but his voice didn't carry far.
Sam ignored the looks and murmurs, choosing instead to find a place to stand among the crowd.
If this followed the same script as the game, then he already knew how the next hour would unfold.
It was just a matter of time. He waited.
And sure enough, thirty minutes later—
BOOM! Ding!
A sudden explosion roared into the sky as the man on stage launched a fireball upward.
The bright light flared, forcing all heads to turn toward him.
The crowd instantly went silent.
With a smile, the man looked over the gathered students.
"Let us begin, then," he announced. "Today marks the most important day of your lives!"
And with those words, the ceremony officially started.