[Name: Rio Flash]
[Class: Swordsman]
[Rank: F+]
[Max Rank Potential: C+]
[HP: 800/800]
[MP: 300/300]
[STR: 37/100]
[SPE: 29/100]
[AGI: 27/100]
[DEF: 35/100]
[INT: 26/100]
[Talent: Sword Aptitude (C)]
[Techniques: Basic Swordsmanship (F+)]
[Skills: Body Strengthening (F-)]
[Evaluation: You are not worthy of an evaluation.]
"As expected of an extra…" Rio sighed quietly.
"Well, at least I'm still a little stronger than the main protagonist, for now." He smirked faintly. "After all, he doesn't get his cheat until just before the midterm exams."
In the novel, the protagonist was a constant target of bullying. Then, one week before the midterms, he awakened his heaven-defying system, face-slapped every bully, topped the written exams, and jumped straight from the lowest ranks into the academy's top hundred.
"It's such a cliché story."
Rio shook his head. There was no point dwelling on it. What mattered now was acting first.
After preparing for about half an hour, he left the student dorms and headed to the nearby station. Although he had inherited Rio's memories, he was still amazed by the sheer amount of advanced technology around him, especially the flying bus he boarded.
An hour later, he finally arrived at his destination.
"So this is the famous Rift Mountain…" he muttered. "It's really tall."
The mountain towered into the sky, surrounded by numerous space rifts. No one had ever climbed it. Even the summit was engulfed by unstable rifts leading to unknown regions of the void. Once lost inside, returning was nearly impossible.
Of course, such rules never truly applied to protagonists.
They were children of heaven, after all. How could they die to something as trivial as a space rift? In the novel, during a sightseeing trip, a villain kicked the protagonist into one of these rifts. Unlike the others, it led not to the void, but to a hidden chamber inside the mountain.
"Hm…" Rio narrowed his eyes. "A black, sinister-looking rift… surrounded by five blood-colored rifts… on the backside of the mountain, near a lake."
"Oh. Found it."
The rift looked ominous, radiating an unsettling aura. But hesitation wouldn't change anything. This was the only path to power.
After a brief pause, Rio stepped forward and jumped in.
A sudden sense of weightlessness struck him as his perception dulled and his senses were completely blocked.
Several minutes later, he found himself standing inside an ancient-looking chamber. Everything around him was dilapidated, covered in cracks and age-old dust.
Walking to the center of the room, Rio retrieved a dagger from his storage ring and made a small cut on his finger. He let a few drops of blood fall onto the floor.
In response, a complex magic circle spread across the entire room, glowing brightly.
"Argh!"
Pain erupted throughout his body. It lasted for five agonizing minutes before finally fading away. The magic circle dimmed, and a portal slowly opened in front of him.
Without hesitation, he stepped through.
Moments later, he found himself standing beside the same lake outside the mountain. Dusk had already begun to settle. Checking the time on his wrist, Rio frowned slightly.
"Only an hour has passed…"
"I'll check my status later. First, I need to leave."
After nightfall, due to an unknown phenomenon, the surrounding rifts would generate a powerful suction force, strong enough to swallow someone as weak as him with ease.
Only those above Rank C could resist it.
Not wasting another second, Rio turned and headed toward a nearby hotel.