"Look at this trash. He wasn't even able to awaken a talent!"
"Is this really what the Ikerson Family amounts to nowadays?"
"Unable to awaken... What a fucking disgrace."
Nobles from all over the region had united to watch the awakening of the youth on the main stage, Yike Ikerson—the son of one of the most prestigious awakened families, with two SS-Rank Awakeners at the helm.
However, nothing had gone according to plan; he failed to even awaken, putting the Ikerson Family to great shame, something that they couldn't let go. They needed to act before they were humiliated before everyone present.
"Yike," the Ikerson Patriarch called. "Come here."
Yike gulped, unsure what his father would do.
They had invested so many resources in him. They had done everything in their power to make sure that he would awaken. But Yike had failed when they needed him the most.
Once Yike was before his father, things went by extremely quickly.
"Yike Ikerson. You are now banished from the family and are not to step foot inside the Ikerson Family ever again."
"As a punishment for your lack of talent, you will be dragged all the way to the nearest SSS-Rank Danger Zone."
Everyone standing in the room had their eyes widen.
"How cold!"
"He is sentencing his own son to a death sentence..."
"No wonder they're so powerful."
While most nobles present lost their minds, Yike stood there with an empty gaze.
He knew that his father wouldn't change his mind. Once he made a decision, he would never go back on it.
'A-Am I really going to die like this?' he thought in the back of his mind as he continued to listen to his father.
"Untalented beings have no place inside the Ikerson Family."
There was no emotion in the patriarch's voice; he was as cold as ice.
"Guards, bring him away."
Immediately, two A-Rank Awakeners appeared on the stage, grabbing Yike from both sides, making sure that he wouldn't move a single muscle.
"Please, father! Reconsider!"
Yike tried his best to convince his father. But before he could even say another word, he was being dragged away under the gaze of everyone present.
His sister, brother, mother, father.
Not a single one of them looked at him with pity. They all had the same gaze: disgust.
'Y-You traitors!' Yike thought in the back of his mind. 'If I ever awaken, I will make sure that every single one of you suffers by my hands!'
***
One hour later.
"Good luck. Try not to die too quickly," the two A-Rank Awakeners said with grins on their faces.
They hadn't given him the slightest chance to survive.
They had dropped him right in the middle of the SSS-Rank Danger Zone. Before they had even left, he could already hear dangerous monsters wandering the woods, ready to pounce at any given moment.
"Go fuck yourselves!" Yike shouted as he watched the two Awakeners flying away in the distance while laughing.
Then, within seconds, he could no longer see them.
They were gone.
They had truly left him to die.
"I guess this is it."
There was no way in hell that he would manage to kill one of those monsters.
Even S-Rank Awakeners would struggle to do so for a few hours.
Yike only had minutes left, and that was being optimistic.
'Huh?! What was that?'
He snapped his head, looking around as the weak sound of leaves being moved echoed in his ears.
A monster had already heard him and had come to take his life.
-Grrrr.
It showed itself.
A massive wolf with piercing red eyes stared at him while drooling aggressively. It was at least twice his size, and its muscles were much bigger than his own.
Yike's fate was truly set in stone.
There was no longer anyone or anything that could save him.
In the blink of an eye, the wolf pounced on him, aiming straight for his throat.
But just as it was about to kill Yike, the wolf was pushed aside extremely fast into a large tree.
-Creakkk!
The sounds of its bones cracking even reached his ears.
'Was that a gust of wind?' he thought in the back of his mind.
However, he quickly realized that it was something else as the monster began being smashed into the ground repeatedly until it could no longer move and could barely breathe.
Yike looked around.
'Did someone save me?' he thought to himself.
But then, as if someone was listening to his thoughts, he received a reply.
-Ding!
[You have awakened the SSS-Rank Infinite Plunder Talent.]
[By killing monsters, you can plunder their attribute points; by killing boss-level elites, you can plunder their talents, skills, and special attributes.]
"D-Did I just awaken?" he muttered under his breath as Yike didn't waste a single moment and promptly opened his Status.
[Status]
[Name: Yike Ikerson]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human/???]
[Talent: Infinite Plunder]
[Talent Rank: SSS]
[Strength: E-Rank]
[Agility: F-Rank]
[Endurance: E-Rank]
[Charm: D-Rank]
[Overall Stats: E-Rank]
[Skills: None]
He couldn't believe his eyes.
He had just awakened.
However, a question entered his mind.
'Who helped me?'
He tried to find an answer as he looked around once more. But there was no one; he was all alone in the middle of nowhere.
Whoever had helped had decided to stay hidden.
Still, Yike knew he couldn't spend hours thinking about this question. Even if he had awakened, his stats were terrible, and he needed to get the hell out of here before another monster found him.
'Let's try this new skill of mine.'
It was clear that whoever had given him this gift wanted him to finish off this enraged wolf.
Clenching his fist, Yike began hitting it.
Again and again and again.
Until he heard a similar noise as before.
-Ding!
[You have killed a S-Rank Enraged Wolf.]
[You have obtained a S-Rank Skill, Berserk.]
[Berserk - Lv.1 (Active Skill): Once activated, you lose all reasoning and aim to kill whoever is facing you. All of your stats triple in the process.]
Yike smirked.
He had just hit the jackpot.