Chapter 1 - Awakening

Over nineteen years have passed since the so-called red night, and humanity is still struggling to survive in a world transformed by the emergence of the Transcendent and Awakened.

Society has been changed to only focus on the existence of the Awakened Ones, who started to get more idolized than the heroes of the old comic books. But such fame was not just in vain. Since the year 2050 the global population has been reduced from 10 to only 5 billion, the citizens now lived in cities, settlements, and security areas scattered all over the world, and the only few that could travel around with flying cars were the ones previously authorized by governments or their unions.

There was not a single part of the would that ever returned to resemble the days before the red night, after all, the portals can still appear anywhere and at any time, just as anyone can be affected by the deep sleep. But for the regular citizens, getting affected by Lethargic Encephalitis was not that bad for those who live in extreme poverty, as the slightest chance of becoming an Awakened is probably the only gasp of air they can have in this dishonored world.

As any other regular citizen, Kaito was a young man living in an ordinary safe zone, far away from the big districts and the great cities, with a mostly boring life, he never had the misfortune or luck to see a Transcendent with his own eyes in his entire life, as the Awakened Ones usually enter the portals before they can escape.

Kaito was far from fit, but his dark red hair and strong green eyes would get the attention of those who see him, he loves the history of the Old World and the materials from all that is left of it. As such, he would spend most of his days reading books about how the world used to be, learn about the Transcendent and the Awakened Ones, and since his childhood, he had the only focus of of playing a classic MMORPG that was created before 2050 but is kept online to this day.

However, in today's Earth situation, anyone who is not completely focused on military studies and martial arts is considered strange and out of touch with reality. Thus, Kaito's fascination with monsters from games and stories has alienated him from ordinary people, not to mention his appearance.

Ever since he was a child, his life has always been garbage. When he was only five years old, his parents divorced and his mother left. His father explained years later that she went to study and live in one of the 26 big capitals. Later Kaito realized that this was just a huge lie to hide that she had left them to become a concubine of some rich guy. Alone and raised only by his father, and although his father's financial life was not comfortable, they had a comforting life if you may call so.

Kaito's father worked for 15 hours a day as a plumbing supervisor in the sewers of the safe area where they live, with his salary he could provide just an ordinary life for his son, with ordinary schooling and ordinary growing supplies. However, on a certain day, the accumulation of so much effort took a heavy toll on Kaito's father. He became seriously ill and, days later, was fired from his job for supposedly not fulfilling his obligations.

From that moment on, life became more complicated for both of them.

To begin with, Kaito was obviously not one of the popular kids. And being fat and talking about weid subjects was far from helping him, he often suffered bullying from his classmates, while most of the other kids and instructors at school pretended not to see it.

Although Kaito did not like going to compulsory school because of these things, he persisted, as his father once told him that to be a good man one had to learn a little bit of everything, especially how to protect oneself, which would not really be the case, as the other kids would train their new martial arts moves on Kaito. Moreover, since there was a chance that anyone could become an Awakened if they got the Lethargic Encephalitis, he was also forced to receive basic training, only this hypothetical fate was more than unlikely in his opinion.

The two months with his sick father were far from great for Kaito, but the young man did his best and continued going to school and doing everything his father asked him to do. But his father's medical condition only worsened. Over time, he began to sleep more and more, and since physical weakness was not a symptom of Lethargic Encephalitis, he did not get free medical help from the Alliance, Earth's main governing body.

Few day after Kaito's fifteen birthday, his father would finally have some rest. The day after Kaito's only family member closed his eyes forever, an Alliance lawyer visited him at the empty funeral with a letter of the testament in hand.

Before his last breath, Kaito's father still left some money saved in a card, as well as a letter authorizing his emancipation, so that he wouldn't have to live in some orphanage in the security area, at least if he didn't want to.

Six months have passed since then and Kaito continues to live alone in his small apartment, which is now almost empty after selling most of the furniture to grab some quick money. The few that he inherited practically run out from the trent and the abusive taxex that only help the rich and awakened. With less and less options, the only thing that could sustain Kaito was the job as a cleaner.

After the lost of his father, he had no reason to go to school, and with the few time left from work, he would continue to play Death Tower, his favorite MMORPG since childhood.

However, even after a few years of playing, Kaito has never managed to explore all fifty floors of the game, and from all the time he spent in the game, he was only able to visit fout of them. When he started playing, Mortal Tower was a very famous game and at one point in its past there were almost four thousand simultaneous players, but after all this time, Kaito realized that he was probably the only player left on the server.

Even so, he insisted on playing, as he found the history of the world, the NPCs, and everything else so fun. It was maybe his last form of relief, as the place where he could live a life different from his meaningless and boring life.

In Death Tower, he always tried to act like a powerful villain, so that the other players could have someone to fight, but even this wouldn't save the game. And at one point, the game seemed to adapt to Kaito and exalt him as the villain to be defeated by the great hero. So when Kaito finally reached the forty-first floor, the hero was waiting for him at the door.

Sitting in his chair in front of his dusty old computer desk, with the shining screen brightening the dark room, Kaito fought with everything he had against the hero and still lost, and when a player dies in Death Tower, there is no reviving. Therefore, as he is the last player to die, Kaito does not see the typical death words, instead, he hears a line from the narrator of the story.

"... And so, the hero's journey has come to an end, leaving behind a world that will never be the same again, now that he has finally rid himself once and for all of the Vampire King's shadow of evil."

Hearing those last words made Kaito feel a little uncomfortable, for an obvious reason. This was not quite the ending he wanted for his gameplay from the beginning, however, there was no other way. This was inevitable, and maybe it was time for him to grow up.

After listening to the monologue, the game closed and Kaito felt his body strange. His eyes started to close and his breathing started to get weaker and weaker. Slowly blinking and trying to understand what was happening, the game closed and he fell asleep.

''I've been pretty tired these days… Guess I'm ending just like dad…" he said, trying to remain awake.

"So much work everyday, it's normal to feel tired right? I am just trying to do my best" The fatigue is so great that he could barely keep his eyes open. Even trying to fight the urge to sleep, he still lost the battle.

Getting up from his chairs and slowly walking towards his bed, Kaito fell into the soft mattress with a smile on his face. With closed eyes and a resting face, he sinks into a deeper sleep than he imagined.

After what seems like only a few hours, Kaito slowly awakens from a long and empty dream. He felt his body hot and his throat thirsty, and even feeling like he overslept he was still felling tired.

With difficulty, he stands up a little and unconsciously reaches out for his weblink at the head of the bed. Automatically, he puts the weblink on his wrist and hears a message in his mind.

[Battery extremely low.]

Even though he hears the message from the Weblink, he presses the slim button on its side, to show the holographic clock, but the time and date were not appearing.

"...Huh? Ah..."

Disoriented, he wonders how much time has passed, but he was too dazed to even be concerned about a possible delay to his work. Suddenly, he feels an itch on his chest and scratches as he goes through the classic spiritless phase of every morning, but as Kaito runs his hand down his abdomen, his fingers find defined muscles.

Kaito looks down, still feeling sleepy, and after a few seconds of staring at a defined abdomen without recognizing it was his own, his brain finally processes the information and his eyebrows rise in surprise.

"What is happening here?" he said to himself.

Immediately, Kaito runs into the bathroom, stumbling over the furniture in the darkness and sliding with his bare foot on the wooden floor.

And when Kaito finally looks in the mirror, he cannot believe his eyes.

His body is no longer fat, no longer full of pimples, and his skin is no longer oily. He is different, very different. Not only does he have a defined body, but his face is thinner and his skin looks as smooth and pure as a jade vase.

Kaito is perplexed as he looks at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes are a deep red, like those of a wild animal, and his ears are pointed, almost like those of an elf. He brings his hand to his face and feels the sharp fangs, as sharp as those of a dog. He cannot understand what is happening.

"How is that possible?"

He pinches the very skin of his arm to check that he is not dreaming, but

"Ouch!" Kaito exclaims.

The pain is real.

Then immediately he remembers his last moments before sleep, and so the connection between his appearance and that of his avatar in Mortal Tower becomes clear in his mind.

"Why the hell do I look so much like... him?" Kaito wonders, running his left hand across his face.

Suddenly, his weblink displays a sequence of messages in mid-air.

[Error!]

[Error!]

[Error!]

[Data needs to be updated].

[Updating physical changes...]

[We have identified that you have become an Awakened. Do you wish to call an ambulance...?...?]

[Error!]

[The system will be updated and rebooted].

[The Merchant's store will be added.]