In a reinforced meeting hall.
Five figures were gathered. The place was quiet for a few moments when suddenly, the sharp sound of something shattering echoed through the room, cutting through the silence like a blade.
A drastic change appeared on the face of a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties. His fingers curled slightly, the veins on the back of his hand rising as though barely restrained.
"My daughter is… dead." After a while, he finally said under his breath.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees.
Finally, one of them broke the silence.
"The last thing we did was send her to watch over that abandoned noble. Since his wife was pregnant with a child, we planned to take it once the child was born."
Another one nodded slowly. "Since he'd been abandoned, we didn't think there would be any danger with the mission."
A woman leaned back slightly and ran her hand through her hair, her brows faintly knit as she spoke. "Could they have secretly assigned a guard to watch over the family?"
"That's unlikely." The reply came almost instantly. "For the past ten years, we haven't encountered anything suspicious despite watching him."
Various guesses rang out, one after another, but none of them held weight. Each theory fell flat the moment it was spoken.
Finally, the man slammed his palm onto the table.
The sharp crack resounded across the hall, dragging everyone's attention back.
"I don't care if there's a guard protecting the family or not." His voice dropped, low and heavy. "As long as they killed my daughter… I will have my revenge. A life for a life."
"You know you can't touch the little infant, right?" the woman from before shifted slightly before interrupting, her tone calm but firm.
The man cast a glance at her. His eyes were cold, and the veins on his temple pulsed faintly.
He exhaled slowly, forcing the rage down.
"If not his daughter… then his wife."
"Count me in." A faint smile appeared at the corner of the woman's lips, almost eager, causing the middle-aged man's lips to twitch slightly.
He glanced towards the others.
The guy from before, Jackie, shrugged lazily. "I'm not interested in losing my life over some petty revenge. Don't forget why we're here."
"I'm with Jackie on this one…" another added, his voice lowering slightly. "I can't afford to have the master pissed off at me."
Finally, the eyes of the four landed on the fifth figure.
Jackie let out a quiet scoff, shaking his head slightly upon noticing that she was sleeping peacefully, as though she didn't have a care in the world.
Completely unaffected.
The room fell into silence for a few seconds.
Then, the man spoke again.
"Get ready. We'll leave in a few minutes… we should arrive a day later."
"Okay!" the woman said lightly, her voice carrying a trace of excitement. "Finally, some action."
Standing up, he walked out of the meeting hall.
The others soon followed after.
Leaving the sleeping woman behind.
…
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Her fingers twitched slightly.
The room, for no clear reason, felt even heavier… colder… as if something unseen had just stirred.
…
Back at the Cold Moon District, where Amon lived.
Unaware of the troubles that had been drawn toward him, Amon woke up to a brand new day.
Or rather, he hadn't really slept.
Due to the tension in his chest and the lingering fear for his wife and daughter's safety, he hadn't closed his eyes the entire night.
'System,' he called out.
Instantly, the blue screen materialized in his line of sight.
[Master: Amon Moonstone.]
[Level 4 (300/500)]
[Talent: Danger Sense (D-rank).]
[Skills: Flame Sword (E-rank).]
[Techniques: Elegant Netherblade Sword Technique (Divine Rank).]
[Fate Points: 1]
Reading through the information, Amon paused slightly as he deliberated on what to do with the fate point.
'The system said I can either use it to sign in or enhance any attribute.'
'System, enhance divine rank, Elegant Netherblade Sword Technique.'
[Note: insufficient fate points.]
'Insufficient fate points? Not impossible?' a flicker of surprise crossed Amon's eyes.
'So… after gathering enough fate points, I'd be able to enhance even a divine rank technique. But how many is "enough"?'
Amon pondered for a moment.
Unable to arrive at an answer, he pushed the thought aside and moved to the second option he had in mind.
'System, enhance Danger Sense.'
Previously, perhaps due to Danger Sense's low rank, Amon hadn't been alerted to his daughter's crisis in time.
He didn't intend to let that happen again.
The system flashed briefly, and the 'D' quietly changed to 'C'.
So subtle that it could easily be overlooked.
However, as the fate point dissipated, and Amon felt something shift within him, faint and difficult to grasp, he knew the enhancement had taken effect.
…
Pushing himself up from the bed, Amon walked into the sitting room and turned on the television.
He had been given a week off from work due to the birth of his daughter, so for now, there was nothing pressing he needed to do.
The news came on.
A female news anchor, dressed professionally, stared straight ahead as she spoke with a practiced smile.
{Recently, the Fire Dragon Guild has conquered a B-rank dungeon, earning a reputation as one of the hundred guilds to achieve such a feat.}
{A group of awakeners has gone missing for a few days now. Sources believe they are already dead, however the academy continues searching for them, but all to no avail.}
{In the eastern border, the weather is becoming increasingly difficult to survive in. The temperature has dropped to negative degrees, and the snowstorm keeps appearing more frequently.}
{The Awakeners Association is forced to believe that an S-rank dungeon is forming in that region. Only a behemoth of such magnitude can affect a whole country. Please ensure not to panic as the association is doing all it can to secure the perimeter and clear the dungeon as soon as possible.}
Amon's attention was completely drawn to the screen as he absorbed the information.
As one could already tell, this world was far different from Earth.
This was a game-like world where everyone had stats, skills, and could level up by killing monsters.
Not only that, but there were dungeons spread all over the world, along with new ones still forming as time went on.
It was a brutal world.
One where power meant survival.
And weakness meant death.
This was the kind of world Amon had been transmigrate
d into with no prior knowledge…
'Soon…' Amon whispered softly. 'Soon, I'll surpass their level…'
The flickering light of the television reflected in his eyes.