Zero Ranker

Earth, 6th Month of Year 3230

Strong winds harshly swept the plyboards within a construction site in the middle of Shen City. Although the morning reports have not suggested anything concerning weather abnormalities, the ominous winds indicated something else which most of the New Humans would easily know about.

"A bestial rift would soon open here. Everyone! Prepare yourselves!"

A tall bearded man with branding on his right arm signaled a crowd behind him, opting them to brace for an upcoming fight.

These people are New Humans hired by the Xin Corporation, the owners of the site being constructed on; to defend it from the upcoming destruction of a Bestial Rift.

These otherworldly portals, Bestial Rifts, were the remains of what once was known as the Great Rift: a Divine-Level calamity that flattened out almost a third of the human population over a thousand years ago.

After surviving said tragedy, humans have genetically evolved within a very short period of time to cope with such drastic change. Although the rift had been closed after a hundred years since its appearance; small-scale rifts such as the Bestial Rift became a common occurrence, as they were residues from the former Great Rift's destruction.

*Roar!*

A loud bellowing of a beast echoed from the pitch black portal that appeared only a few meters away from the foot of the construction site. The walls made of thin steel platings shook from that very roar, showcasing how powerful the upcoming beast was.

"Do not be afraid! According to the reports from HQ, this is no more than a 2-star threat! We can easily take this one down with our numbers!" The branded man leading the charge yelled once more, boosting the confidence of the people that were with him.

Obviously, they felt like a 2-star Rift Threat did not need more than 20 people that were at least 1-star ranked, even more so when there was over 50 of them at the moment.

*Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp* ...

A wolf-like creature that stood at 7-feet in height whilst standing on all fours suddenly appeared out of the pitch black rift. It was indeed a bestial rift, but as to the reports of it just being a 2-star Rift Threat, the people amongst the crowd immediately started doubting.

"Titan Wolf (4-star), Class: Rift Beast"

"No… The reports were wrong! This isn't just a 2-star threat! It's double that!" A spectacled man at the back most part of the crowd exasperated, his trembling hands clutching on to what seemed to be a scanner of some sort.

With it, he was able to immediately assess the danger of the beast. Without skipping a beat, the spectacled man immediately turned towards the opposite direction and ran as fast as he could...

"Ahhh!"

A scream soon followed, as the spectacled man who just ran a few moments ago instantaneously became meat paste from a powerful stomp coming from the Titan Wolf, which suddenly appeared at the backmost part of the crowd.

"Wh— What? That... speed! How… How was that possible!" The branded man stuttered due to shock, his face turned pale and the vainglorious courage he displayed a few moments ago completely disappeared.

'Tsk! There are at least 40 other people within this party, if I time it right, I could run and escape when this thing is distracted from killing the others.' No other thought ran in his mind but the will to leave the vicinity immediately.

"Si… sir! What's going on! Are we not hired to dispose of a 2-star threat? Why are we suddenly dealing with a 4-star beast!"

"Wh- what should we do sir? How are we able to defeat this thing? Surely, we can make something happen with our numbers!"

'Screw numbers! Damn it, this thing isn't just double the threat of a 2-star beast! Inexperienced bastards!' The branded man inwardly rebuked. With the looks of a veteran, he was a person that indeed encountered a few more threats than any other within the group.

A 4-star could not be simply assessed as double that of a 2-star threat. Each star corresponds to a much higher placement; Bluntly explained, If a 1-star threat corresponds to a thousand, and 2-star is a hundred thousand— then 4-star threats could easily reach millions or a hundred million.

*Roar*

Another growl suddenly echoed, turning spines ice cold. The crowd was doomed to suffer a grueling fate. A fight that could easily lead to death.

---

"Obviously, the reports were wrong…" Xenith muttered as he chewed on a chocolate bar he had bought from the local grocery store. "And I don't think this 'energy snack' is correct either, It tastes… odd"

Turning his attention towards the direction of the Xin Corporation's construction site, he immediately hurried his pace. "The local police radio reported the appearance around 20 minutes ago. The fight should be reaching the climax by now… Finally! I can do my part as a New Human!"

With a gleaming expression painted across his face, the 20-year-old Xenith excitedly made his way towards the rift zone with nothing but a bag of groceries and his passion to become a full-fledged New Human.

---

The fight indeed reached a climax, with only 4 people alive— barely, the Titan Wolf stood forth strongly amongst the remains of what used to be a crowd of determined 1-star New Humans.

Amazingly enough, the Titan Wolf was not unscathed either.

Although he toughened through the wounds dealt unto him, it was obvious that the Titan Wolf was indeed hurt. If only the four remaining New Humans could at least muster the last hurrah for an attack, they might have a chance at winning—

But alas, it seemed like they couldn't…

"I can't just die here! I am one of the best 1-star New Human amongst the Mainland Warriors!" The bearded man with a burnt brand retorted, his body soaked in blood. A huge gash, probably from the Titan Wolf's claw slash, was visible on his chest.

His bellowing caused the Titan Wolf to turn its attention toward him, however. The other three that were practically still alive cleverly played dead as soon as they dropped down the ground after struggling against the Titan Wolf.

Most 1-star New Humans do not have abilities to be able to conjure magic. It would be a very rare case for such a low ranker to be able to do so. Most of them were just benefitting in their abnormal physical strength that differs them from normal humans. But other than that, they were still weak in comparison to these otherworldly creatures.

"... I could not die like this."

Dragging another person's corpse closest to him, the branded man hurriedly stood up and ran towards the exit of the construction site. He could only use another person as a meat shield to at least slow down the weakened Titan Wolf and buy him some precious few seconds.

Grabbing and throwing dead bodies to either be bitten or stomped by the ever slowing Titan Wolf, the branded man shamelessly made his way out of the construction site alive.

Without faltering on his steps, the branded man successfully escaped the perilous situation, leaving behind what once was a party of over 40 people under the feet of a tyrannical otherworldly beast.

…

"This should be the place, right?" Xenith finally arrived at the location only a few breaths after the branded man escaped. What he saw was a little more gruesome than he had anticipated earlier.

The site was puddled with blood. Bodies that were close to being unrecognizable littered the entire place. Alarms and sirens were ringing all over the place due to the emergency... But seemingly, none of the authorities were here to respond to all this.

'I could've reported the miscalculation, but who would even listen to a zero ranker… It's definitely a shame to be this weak.' He muttered. As a zero-ranker— someone lower than a 1-star New Human, his say on things such as rifts would easily be neglected as that of a prank or a made-up story.

Xenith did not despair with such disadvantage though. Being weak was one thing, but being 'weak always' is entirely something else. With that said, he could only categorize himself as someone weak… for now.

New Human: Xenith

Rank: 0-star

Job: None

Abilities: None

Power Rating: 10

Innate Trait: Gift of the Great Rift

Innate Talent: Experience Equals Mastery

The ability to view his own status page wasn't anything special though. New Humans that have been born with 3-star ranks or higher have been known to possess such trait. Oddly enough, he could do the same despite being a 0-star.

"If I have arrived even a tad bit sooner… I would've been included in this massacre as well… Tsk, it sucks for the HQ to not even hear me out when I reported the mistake." Xenith retorted.

Despairing upon the lives of New Humans who were foolish enough on their own to take risky jobs was not something he does very often. But if it had been possible to avoid such unnecessary loss, Xenith would've gladly done a thing about it.

*Stomp* *Stomp*

Resounding footsteps echoed behind the curious Xenith, who was not even wondering, or even paying much attention, as to where the culprit of the whole massacre went.

*Huff*

A cold breeze from what seemed to be a puff blew behind Xenith… Turning around-

"...Oh, you're a lot bigger than I thought, heh."