Prologue

"Idiot, understand... there are no heroes, not even villains; everything is driven purely by one's own desires and goals. That's how it is and must be.

Do not be deceived, do not cling to the notion that with power, you are obligated to help the weak. This is not true. In this world, weakness is a flaw. The worst flaw.

From the perspective of monsters, hunters and other humans are as horrific as one can imagine. Being able to understand them, you, more than anyone else, should certainly grasp this.

But the absence of innocents doesn't mean you cannot help those you deem worthy. As I said before, do what you want, when you want, and for whom you want. Do not be bound by races. If you wish to help, even if it's a goblin, do it. In this world, nothing stands above your desires, nothing except family, except us.

We are each other's weakness, remember that, understand that, and strive to reach a point where nothing could affect you even if you had prior knowledge of this fact.

We are the most powerful in this universe, but this is not a burden, much less a curse; this is what makes us free, our greatest blessing. So don't stop. Always seek more, no matter the level you have already reached. In this universe, we are the most powerful, but this is only the beginning.

Being my brother, do not accept being beneath anyone else, whether demigods, gods, or dragons, do not let anyone tarnish our name, her name. And if ever this happens, if for some reason any of them turn against us, be prepared; we will not rest until they have all been erased from existence. This is my greatest desire. My promise to you."

***************

The year was 2012. December 21, 2012. It was nearly 13 years since the emergence of systems, dungeons, and monsters around the world, but a worldwide system message, the first message even non-awakened could see, came to supposedly put an end to it all.

[Notice]

[The tutorial will end in 20 hours]

Many thought that perhaps this was salvation, that something or someone had finally heard their prayers. Others believed that the end of the tutorial would be just the beginning of another long and bloody journey. Despite thinking this way, even they didn't want to believe that this would actually happen, that this path was the only one awaiting them. Even in these people, there might still have been a trace of something akin to the faith devotees have in entities, something that made them hope to be saved, that made them think they deserved it, despite knowing that this was the least likely to happen.

However, even if the end of the tutorial were to indeed liberate them, they would probably never find that out. At least not that day.

[The tutorial was not completed]

[The Leviathan roams the earth freely]

The world's most powerful hunters were gathered, all in one place and with one objective. For the first time in ages, all humanity had a single purpose, the end of the tutorial. But even that was not enough.

Difficult. They expected the end to be harder than any dungeon ever seen, but not this hard. Not to the point of being impossible to complete.

With the emergence of the monster that would mark the end of the tutorial, everyone lost the few sparks of hope they had left. That monster was not something that could be defeated by mere humans. Its size extended for dozens, perhaps hundreds of kilometers, and for hunters who had never seen anything like it, it was colossal. Its greenish scales didn't break, crack, or even scratch, no matter how many blows they took. Its roars shook the planet, causing hurricanes, floods, and even tsunamis, which first destroyed cities, then entire countries.

Swimming slowly away from that monstrous creature was the last living hunter, who had been sent along with the others on that suicide mission. The Leviathan noticed his presence, and just with its gaze, it made the hunter freeze in his tracks. The monster attacked. Its mouth was enormous, and even its teeth were at least twice the size of an adult human, perhaps larger, but Daniel wasn't curious about that.

Frozen, the hunter couldn't move a muscle. However, at that moment, when humanity's despair was at its peak, what could be seen as a new light emerged.

[Lucifer feels disgusted]

With the emergence of this worldwide message, the Leviathan's attack halted; in fact, everything stopped, everything except the humans.

[He offers humanity a new chance]

Humanity was indeed in complete despair. But would they accept the help of the devil himself? Yes. Being the only one who emerged, the only one who extended his hand to the weak, he was inevitably accepted by all.

[Do you accept his help?]

It didn't take long for an almost unanimous decision, which didn't need a single exchange of words among the voters, to happen. For before the last message appeared in the system, everyone already had their answers. Well, everyone except Daniel Rich, the hunter in the open sea.

'Is it worth it?' he wondered. 'Apparently they forgot who owns that name, if not, then despair really drove them all mad.'

[Yes] [No]

The system message continued floating before him; but his time was running out. 10 seconds, that was the time he had to decide whether to sell his soul or be indirectly responsible for the destruction of humanity. Daniel closed his eyes and went against what he himself believed. "Yes!" that was his answer.

Time resumed, those about to die, whether by hurricane or tsunami, had no other way out but imminent death. The chance offered by Lucifer didn't extend to that; it was limited solely to the Leviathan, after all, the devil couldn't be that "generous."

A terrifying light appeared before Daniel and the Leviathan. Before it, the giant serpent trembled.

'What is this?' Daniel wondered.

Before him, for the first time in ages, Lucifer himself set foot on earth.

"You couldn't kill a mere serpent... truly pathetic."

Strange words from afar seemed to make Daniel's head compress, as if it was about to explode. He didn't know what they meant, not even if they were actually words, but one thing was certain: even that simple sound belonged to an existence far superior to his own.

While trying to lift his head and look into the center of that light, to see what was inside it, Daniel didn’t notice that he was also being slowly pulled upward, along with the ocean waters and everything in them.

‘Human... even in complete despair, facing death, you still hesitated in making a choice... you were the only one who hesitated...’

Daniel was far away, kilometers from the source of the light, but even so, he already felt the pressure. He had regained his senses, but it was in vain. His body did not obey him. His mouth did not open. He didn’t even know how he was still alive, as he was certain that the pressure wouldn’t allow him to breathe or move a single muscle. Normally, he should have been completely crushed by now.

Looking at the Leviathan, Daniel had a unique vision: that fearsome being, which made the world tremble with its roars, was now bowing its head to the source of the blinding light, Lucifer.

"Interesting..."

Merely by being in this world, Lucifer was causing rifts in the fabric of space and time. Small tears in the fabric of reality appeared around him; these were pathways to other realities, other universes. With a slight movement of one hand, Lucifer made the monster disappear. He raised one finger and pointed at Daniel.

"I hope you can show me something even more interesting next time..."

Daniel felt his vision blur and a strange warmth envelop his body, but he didn’t know if that was also caused by those strange "words." Suddenly, something stabbed him. His chest burned, and he didn’t know why.

Despite the light before him, his already blurry vision went completely dark. His body, which had been taken by a comforting warmth, now seemed to be on fire. But at some point, perhaps after minutes, hours, or maybe days, it ceased to be painful; that feeling had become strangely comforting.

[A unanimous decision has been made]

[The end of the tutorial has been indefinitely postponed]