The silence of 3:00 AM was usually Malcolm Star's sanctuary. In his cramped, third-floor apartment, the only sound was the hum of a dying refrigerator and the rhythmic clicking of his mouse as he finished a freelance coding job. Malcolm was a young man of unremarkable build, with dark hair that hadn't seen a barber in months and eyes that looked perpetually tired. He was twenty-one, broke, and largely forgotten by a world that moved too fast for him.
Then, the world stopped moving entirely.
A sound like a shattering tectonic plate ripped through the atmosphere. It wasn't just loud; it was metaphysical. Malcolm dropped his headset as a searing white light bled through the cracks of his window blinds.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING... 1%, 15%, 50%...]
The text didn't appear on his monitor. It burned directly into his retinas, floating in the air like a holographic ghost.
[CALIBRATING PLANETARY MANA LEVELS...]
[CRITERIA MET: THE GREAT AWAKENING HAS BEGUN.]
"What the hell?" Malcolm stumbled back, his chair tripping over a stack of empty ramen cups. He scrambled to the window and pulled the blinds.
The city of New Crest was glowing. Great pillars of blue light were erupting from the pavement, piercing the clouds. People were spilling out into the streets, some screaming in agony as their bodies transformed, others staring at their hands as sparks of fire or frost danced between their fingers.
But Malcolm didn't feel a surge of fire. He didn't feel the rush of super-strength. Instead, he felt a hole.
It started in the center of his chest—a cold, ravenous, infinite void. It felt as if a miniature black hole had replaced his heart, and it was demanding to be fed.
[ALERT: UNIQUE TRAIT DETECTED.]
[HOST: MALCOLM STAR]
[AWAKENED CLASS: DARK EATER (RANK: UNKNOWN)]
[LEVEL: 1]
"Dark... Eater?" Malcolm gasped, clutching his stomach. He collapsed to his knees, his breath coming in ragged hitches. The hunger was physical. It was sharp. It felt like his own stomach was trying to digest his spine.
Suddenly, a heavy thud shook his front door. Then another. The wood groaned, splinters flying inward. A screech, high-pitched and predatory, echoed from the hallway.
[WARNING: LEVEL 1 'VOID GOBLIN' HAS DETECTED YOUR MANA SIGNATURE.]
The door burst open. A creature the size of a large dog, but with the proportions of a twisted man, leaped into the room. Its skin was the color of a bruise, and its eyes were glowing yellow slits. In its hand, it gripped a jagged piece of rusted rebar.
Malcolm scrambled backward, his hand hitting the side of his heavy, mahogany desk—a hand-me-down from his grandfather.
The goblin lunged.
Malcolm didn't think. He didn't have a weapon, and he didn't have a plan. He simply threw his hand out to shield his face. As the goblin's clawed hand gripped Malcolm's forearm, the void in Malcolm's chest roared.
"Get... OFF!"
A swirl of obsidian smoke, darker than the deepest shadows of the ocean, erupted from Malcolm's skin. It didn't just push the goblin back; it wrapped around it. The smoke acted like a thousand tiny mouths, tearing at the creature's essence. The goblin didn't even have time to scream. In a sickening, slurping sound, the creature was compressed into a ball of black energy and sucked directly into Malcolm's palm.
[YOU HAVE CONSUMED: VOID GOBLIN (LVL 1)]
[EXP GAINED: 50/100]
[STRENGTH +1 | AGILITY +1]
[SKILL ACQUIRED: 'GREEDY SENSES' (F-RANK)]
The hunger subsided—just for a second. It was replaced by a rush of euphoria so potent Malcolm nearly blacked out. His muscles tightened, the fatigue of his late-night shift vanishing instantly.
"I ate it," he whispered, looking at his clean palm. "I actually ate it."
But the hunger returned, sharper now. It wasn't just satisfied with flesh. His eyes darted to the mahogany desk. The System interface flickered.
[OBJECT DETECTED: AGED OAK DESK (DURABILITY: HIGH)]
[CONSUME? Y/N]
"Yes," Malcolm hissed.
He placed both hands on the wood. The black mist flowed like ink, dissolving the heavy furniture in seconds.
[YOU HAVE CONSUMED: AGED OAK DESK]
[DEFENSE +2 | STAMINA +1]
He felt his skin toughen, a slight metallic sheen appearing on his forearms before fading. He turned to his computer, his expensive GPU, his refrigerator, the linoleum flooring. He was a whirlwind of shadow. By the time he reached his kitchen, the room was half-empty.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL: 2]
[REWARD: 100 CREDITS, 1x BRONZE LOOT BOX]
"Loot boxes?" Malcolm wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "So the world really is a game now."
He tapped the floating icon of the box. A bronze chest appeared in the air, rattling violently before bursting into shards of light.
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED: 500 CREDITS]
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED: RUSTED IRON SWORD (F-RANK)]
[HIDDEN PASSIVE: 'MASTER OF THE HOUSE' TRIGGERED...]
[SPECIAL REWARD GRANTED: CONTRACT ORB - THE MAIDEN'S CALL]
Malcolm frowned. "Maiden's call? Is that a summon?"
He crushed the small, glowing orb in his hand. The air in the kitchen began to shimmer and distort. The smell of ozone was replaced by the scent of fresh lilies and expensive tea. A circle of white light formed on the floor, and from it, a figure emerged.
She was tall, dressed in a sharp, black-and-white Victorian-style maid outfit, but with tactical leather plating at her shoulders and waist. A long, silver rapier hung at her hip, and her eyes were a piercing, robotic violet. She knelt on the floor, her head bowed.
"Designation: Seraphina. Combat Maid Unit 01," she said, her voice like silk. "I have answered the call of the Star. My blades and my service belong to you, Master Malcolm."
Malcolm stared. Outside, the world was ending. People were being slaughtered by monsters, and the lucky ones were huddled in corners praying to gods that had finally sent a System instead of salvation.
He looked at his empty apartment, then at the lethal, beautiful woman kneeling before him, and finally at his own hands—hands that could devour the world.
"Seraphina," Malcolm said, his voice gaining a cold, hard edge. "Are you ready to hunt?"
"The monsters in the hallway have already been marked for termination, Master," she replied, standing up and drawing her rapier with a melodic schwing. "Shall I clear the path?"
Malcolm felt the void in his chest pulse with anticipation. The hunger was back, but for the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a victim of it. He felt like a predator.
"Clear the whole building," Malcolm commanded, stepping over the threshold of his ruined home. "I'm still hungry."
[QUEST STARTED: THE ASCENSION OF THE STAR]
[OBJECTIVE: REACH LEVEL 10]
[REWARD: ???]