Juan Taraki stared blankly at the examination result screen, the red font practically burning itself into his memory.
FAILED - Criminology Licensure Exam
Third attempt. Same result.
He didn't cry. He didn't scream. He just closed the browser tab on the computer at the net shop in Sampaloc, took a deep breath, and walked out into the searing Manila heat. Life didn't stop for failures. It barely paused for the dead.
Six months passed. Juan had traded his books for a shovel, a uniform for a neon vest. He was now a construction worker on a mid-rise condo project in Taguig. The pay was decent, enough to scrape by. Every morning was a struggle against muscle pain and Manila traffic; every night was a battle to find the strength to get up again.
But he endured. For his family.
For Althea.
His younger sister, sixteen, hopeful, brilliant. The opposite of him in every way. She still believed in dreams.
Then came the day everything changed.
It started like any other: heat, sweat, and dust. Juan was hauling bags of cement when the ground shuddered.
Not an earthquake.
Not yet.
The sky over Metro Manila cracked like glass. Purple lightning tore through the clouds. Something shimmered above Makati—a glowing rift, suspended in the air like an open wound in reality. And then they came.
Portals. Hundreds of them.
Monsters spilled out.
Chaos followed.
No one knew where they came from. Government agencies were useless. The police fought valiantly—and died quickly. The military set up perimeters, tried to evacuate, but the creatures were relentless.
In a single night, the city fell into terror.
Juan rushed home. The sky was blood red. Cars were overturned, buildings aflame. Screams echoed from alleyways.
He found their small home in Pandacan destroyed, a beast the size of a jeep still tearing through their neighbor's sari-sari store.
He found Althea, bloodied but alive, crouched behind a slab of concrete.
His parents were not.
They died shielding her.
Juan never forgot the smell of burnt flesh. Or the silence in her eyes.
After that, Manila changed. The world adapted. Portals became regular occurrences. Hunters emerged—people who awakened powers and fought back. Guilds formed. Laws were rewritten.
Life went on, for those who could afford it.
Juan couldn't.
He and Althea lived in a relocation zone in Pasig, near a guarded portal watchtower. He worked odd jobs. She studied hard.
Years passed.
Now 19, Althea had just graduated from high school. She got into a college in Quezon City. It was her dream. Juan made it his mission.
But tuition wasn't cheap.
So he signed up.
Not as a Hunter. He had no powers. No rank.
But as a Porter
A glorified pack mule who followed licensed Hunters into dungeons and carried loot. It was dangerous. High-risk. High-pay. Perfect for desperate men.
Today was his fourth run.
"Listen up," barked the squad leader, a broad-shouldered B-rank Tank named Sarge. They stood in front of an active portal in the remains of SM Sta. Mesa—now a Guild-controlled raid zone.
Juan clutched his reinforced backpack. Around him were three C-rank Hunters, a D-rank healer, and three other porters. The portal shimmered blue.
C-rank, they said.
Doable.
They were wrong.
As they entered, the air changed. The temperature dropped. The stench of copper and mold clung to Juan's nostrils.
They emerged into a stone fortress lit by glowing crystals. The silence was wrong. No low-tier goblins. No beasts. Nothing.
"Too quiet," muttered one C-rank with a bow.
The portal behind them pulsed.
WARNING: Dungeon Evolution Detected
Rank Shift: S-RANK PORTAL CONFIRMED
"What the hell?!"
"Form up!"
The dungeon roared to life. Walls twisted. The air buzzed. A massive metallic creature burst from the ceiling—ten feet tall, humanoid, made entirely of dark steel. Its eyes burned like furnaces.
"GOLEM!"
The Hunters charged. Juan and the other porters backed away.
He watched the B-rank leader slam into the golem with a shield, buying seconds.
Seconds.
The golem raised its arm and swung. The C-rank with the bow shattered against a wall. The D-rank healer screamed as molten shards pierced her chest.
Juan ducked behind rubble. Around him, chaos.
The B-rank fell next, split in half.
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
But the portal behind them flickered.
Sealed.
One by one, the others died. Crushed. Burned. Torn apart.
Juan couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
Then came the silence.
He was the only one left.
The golem loomed over him.
He looked into its molten eyes.
The massive foot of the creature rose high, aiming to stomp him out of existence.
Juan shut his eyes.
A deep rumble shattered the air.
BOOM!
A beam of golden energy slammed into the golem's side, sending it crashing into a pillar.
Figures in silver and black armor landed in front of Juan with incredible speed.
"Reinforcement unit: S-Rankers!" someone shouted.
A woman with blades of light carved into the golem's knee. Another man summoned chains of fire to hold it down.
"Get the civilian out!"
Everything blurred.
Juan's vision faded. His ears rang. Someone grabbed him by the shoulder.
Then darkness swallowed him.
Beeping.
Faint voices.
He opened his eyes slowly.
White ceiling.
Hospital.
Althea was by his side, asleep, her hand gripping his.
Alive.
He tried to sit up—pain flared through his chest.
He groaned.
And then he heard it.
A voice, inside his mind.
SYSTEM BOOT COMPLETE.
Congratulations, Subject Juan Taraki. You have survived death inside an S-rank portal."*
New Skill Acquired: METALBOUND.
You are now Bound to the Metal Core. Classification: UNKNOWN.
Primary ability unlocked: Total Metal Manipulation.
ron, Steel, Gold, Titanium... All respond to your will.
Secondary condition detected: Metal Integration. Warning: Extended use may alter biology.
Juan gasped.
His hand trembled.
The IV stand next to his bed bent—metal twisting toward his palm like it was... alive.
Welcome, Forged One.
His heart pounded.
"What the hell am I?" he whispered.
And in the corner of the room… the steel door began to hum.
**TO BE CONTINUED...*