Keep Low Profile, Hero!: Abyssbound

Arov Quills sat in the school library, eyes glued to the lines in his textbook, a look of unwavering determination on his face. The late afternoon sunlight slanted through the windows, casting a warm glow over the study tables. Around him, other students were preparing for the upcoming semester finals, but amid the calm atmosphere, Arov felt a strange, unexplainable sense of dread.

At just sixteen, Arov was known as a serious student. Some might say too serious. But it was this dedication that drove him to always push further, reaching for something just beyond the visible.

As he wrote down notes, his fingers wrapped around a blue pen that had nearly run out of ink, it suddenly slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor and rolling under the table.

Before he could reach down to pick it up, someone else got to it first. Arov looked up, ready to say thank you, but his words froze.

The person was looking back at him, yet their face… had changed. The once ordinary eyes had turned into an eerie red, the skin pale with dark veins crawling under the surface, and a twisted smile stretched too wide. Arov stared, paralyzed by fear, unable to process what he was seeing. In the next moment, he felt his chair tip backward, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Thud!

The person's face was back to normal, their expression filled with concern. "Hey, are you okay?"

Arov stammered, trying to make sense of what he'd just seen. Everything felt foggy, like a distant memory slipping away as he struggled to catch hold.

---

The alarm jolted him awake.

Arov blinked open his eyes slowly, sunlight peeking through his bedroom curtains. His head spun slightly as he processed that it had all been a dream.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, he took a moment to catch his breath. "What kind of dream was that…?" he muttered, shaking his head a bit. The alarm was still blaring, and after turning it off, he walked to the bathroom, feeling the lingering unease of the strange, vivid dream.

As he splashed water on his face and looked into the mirror, a transparent screen suddenly appeared before him.

[Congratulations, you have been chosen as an Awakened.]

[Your trait is "Sight Beyond Space-Time" (Low-God Tier).]

[You have one chance to see the future. Would you like to use it?]

Arov blinked in disbelief. "This… this must be a dream," he thought. But curiosity outweighed his doubts. He pinched his arm, trying to confirm that this wasn't just another dream. The pain was real. This… this was real.

With a trembling hand, he whispered, "Yes."

The moment he uttered the word, his vision blurred, and he felt himself pulled into darkness. A purple mist enveloped his surroundings, cold and thick.

What he saw was a world transformed. Towering buildings lay in ruins, the streets were broken, and the sky was filled with toxic smoke that blocked out the sun. Corpses lay scattered, some torn beyond recognition, while monstrous creatures with horrifying features roamed, hunting for survivors.

The sight made Arov want to vomit, but he managed to hold back. Another screen appeared before him.

[Abyss has descended.]

[All life forms have perished.]

[The foundation of billions of years of evolution has collapsed.]

[A sudden quest has appeared: "Prevent the Descent of Abyss."]

Arov's body froze. The world he'd just witnessed was unlike anything he'd ever known, as if standing on the brink of destruction. When his vision returned to his room, he understood—this wasn't a mere dream or illusion. This was a warning.