Standing beside an old shack, Santiaga's expression was cold as he witnessed an absurd scene. The place where his house was supposed to be—there was a bed factory there instead.
He was currently wearing a plain white shirt with black shorts, and he was walking barefoot. At least they gave him clean clothes before he got buried.
His grey-colored hair looked disheveled and dusty, his cyan-colored eyes looked around the surroundings, observing.
Now, with nowhere to go, Santiaga decided to go ahead with his plans immediately.
Santiaga was currently in the capital of the human continent, Elarion—Argenta.
Argenta was where hero activities were most prominent. It was also home to the Academy of Heroes and the Church, which oversaw hero activity and national governance.
'The hero agency.' He thought of that place.
If he wanted to become a hero, he had to register. Of course, if he could get a very high score, then he would be able to go to the Hero Academy.
But he already knew what his skills were. He hadn't exactly had time to test them out too much, so before heading over to the hero agency... he'd get to testing it out.
A sudden thought flashed in his head as he walked in a particular direction, making him frown. People couldn't help but stare at him, referring to him as a man with bare feet.
But he didn't care.
"Ruin, a parasite..."
[Who exactly are you calling a parasite? I'm the best thing that happened to you.]
Seeing Ruin's response, he frowned, squinting his eyes.
"Oh yeah? How would you know how my life has been?" he asked with a low chuckle.
[Because I've been there with you from day one.]
"What? Then where were you all this time?" Santiaga asked.
This was what he suspected before. He was wondering why the parasite chose him—and only him. There were hundreds of talented heroes out there, yet it chose this random, struggling man.
[I've always existed within you. You couldn't hear me because I was very weak.]
"...Then how did you grow strong?" Santiaga asked, standing at the end of a crosswalk.
[By feeding on your misfortune. It is a curse to be my vessel. Therefore, your bad luck is because of my existence.]
Santiaga frowned, looking ahead of him.
The traffic lights soon turned red, and the people around him began to cross to the other side.
But he stayed still, lost in thought.
"What?"
[Yes. You never wondered why you could only hear negative thoughts of people towards you. Never positive ones.]
'You mean you ruined life for me?' Santiaga thought in his head, and the sentence on the screen changed to one word:
[Yes.]
A smile formed on Santiaga's face as all the pieces were now coming together. At least he knew now that he wasn't the problem.
'My life may have been ruined, but I can ruin it for everyone too. Starting from that bastard at the hero academy.' He stepped onto the crosswalk with a wide smile on his face.
Argenta was not a very small place. From the cemetery where Santiaga woke up, it took him over two hours to walk to the hero agency.
The building itself was a marvel, made with pure red marble that glittered under the bright rays of sunlight – a fortress of status and power. Wide crystal windows reflected the city's skyline, and golden statues of past heroes flanked the entrance like silent protectors.
Santiaga stepped into the building, instantly seeing mundane people like him walking about.
This was because the hunters usually handled business on the higher floors of the agency building.
"Hello, er... how can I help you?" A beautiful receptionist stood up from her seat, looking at Santiaga with a weird look.
~'Ugh, another commoner to ruin my day.'
Santiaga remained calm, despite hearing her thoughts.
"I'd like to register as a hero," he said, remaining completely calm.
The beautiful lady then fiddled with her keys before opening her drawer, pulling out a transparent orb.
Santiaga was directed, and he placed his hand on the orb, making it shine a bright blue light before it slowly turned red.
"Huh? S-rank skill!!" The lady was shocked, seeing his awakened skill in the orb.
Her outburst caught a lot of attention around them as well, and Santiaga wasn't liking the crowd that was about to form.
"Who awakened an S-rank skill?"
"Could it be that filthy commoner?"
"It has to be the receptionist herself, right? I knew she was not an ordinary person."
"Stop simping for the bitch."
"What? She has a nice rack."
The murmurs in the crowd grew as they waited for the receptionist to break out of her stunned state.
"S–Sorry for wasting your time, sir. I–I'll immediately get you registered," she said, scrambling around with a bunch of documents.
"Your mana level is that of an F-rank hero, but as you grow, there will be changes to your license, along with more privileges," the receptionist explained with a wide smile, handing him an F-rank hero card.
He was about to leave when a heavy presence descended upon the entire ground floor.
A beeping sound reached the receptionist's computer, and she looked at it and nodded.
"Mr. Santiaga, the agency leader has called you for a meeting. I'll take you immediately," she said, walking out from her post.
'I already know what he wants. It would be rude to walk out on his invitation.' He sighed, turning around and following the woman to a door that led into an elevator.
They were going to the top of the building, which had multiple floors. Each of these floors served a purpose for heroes.
There was the potion market, weapon market, library, teaching lounge, practice lounge, and a few other more important ones like the alchemy garden.
Ding!
The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open, revealing a long corridor with doors on the sides and an open lounge ahead.
Right?
"Hm?" Santiaga frowned.
The place he assumed to be an open lounge turned out to be the actual office.
It was huge!
There were multiple sofas so far away from each other that it was going to be hard having a meeting with normal people.
Ahead of the sofas was a large rectangular black table, which seemed to be made out of high-quality material. Sitting behind it was a man that looked to be in his early thirties.
The man stood out like a flame in a room full of ash. His white suit was crisp and expensive looking, but it was the blood-red hair and the gleam in his dark eyes – too bright, too friendly – that made Santiaga pause.
"Welcome, young hero!" the man smiled brightly.
The man's smile was actually so bewitching that one would never think he was capable of bad things.
But Santiaga knew that this man could bless him... Or end him.