Kaien stared at the pistol in his hand.
It was real.
Not an illusion.
Not some glowing magical construct.
A real handgun.
He turned it over, examining every part.
There were no markings. No manufacturer logo. No serial number.
Just a clean black finish.
Kaien pressed the magazine release.
Nothing happened.
He pulled the slide.
Click.
A round was already chambered.
Kaien blinked.
"Okay. That's convenient."
He looked at the floating system window.
[Beginner Weapon: Handgun]
[Weapon Quality: Common]
[Enhancement: Locked]
[Weapon Points: 0]
Kaien frowned.
"Zero?"
Of course.
He hadn't killed anything yet.
He dismissed the weapon.
It vanished from his hand.
Kaien stared at the empty space.
He concentrated.
The handgun appeared again.
He dismissed it.
Again.
It appeared.
He dismissed it.
Again.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"So I can just do this whenever I want?"
The system didn't answer.
Kaien looked at it.
"Right. Forgot you're not a person."
He dismissed the weapon and sat on the edge of his bed.
The excitement was slowly being replaced by curiosity.
Weapons Master.
He knew this ability.
In the original comic, it was considered one of the worst combat classes.
The problem was simple.
Weapons didn't grow with their users.
A sword wielder could reinforce their sword with mana.
A mage could strengthen their spells.
But a normal bullet remained a normal bullet.
No matter how powerful the person pulling the trigger became.
That was why Kaien's class had such a terrible reputation.
But Kaien had an advantage nobody else had.
He knew how the system worked.
Or at least...
He hoped he did.
A new window appeared.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
[Unique Quest]
[Basic Mana Control]
Objective: Learn to control mana with precision.
Reward: 10 Weapon Points
Kaien looked at the reward.
"That's it?"
The system remained silent.
"Fair enough."
He closed his eyes.
There was something inside him.
A warmth.
Small and faint.
He had felt it when he first awakened.
Mana.
Kaien focused on it.
He tried moving it toward his hand.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
"Come on..."
He concentrated harder.
The warmth moved.
Slowly.
It traveled through his chest, down his shoulder and into his arm.
A tiny glow appeared around his fingertips.
Kaien's eyes opened.
The light disappeared.
He stared at his hand.
"Okay."
He smiled.
"That's progress."
He tried again.
The same thing happened.
Again.
And again.
For the next few hours, Kaien barely moved.
He practiced controlling his mana.
He learned how much he could move at once.
How quickly it responded.
How long he could maintain it.
Every time his concentration broke, the mana scattered.
It was frustrating.
But Kaien didn't mind.
He had two years.
He didn't need to become powerful overnight.
He needed control.
That was something he could build.
Eventually, his stomach growled.
Kaien opened his eyes.
"...I should probably eat."
He stood up.
His legs immediately felt numb.
He stumbled.
"Okay. Maybe I sat for too long."
He walked toward the door.
Before he could open it, his mother called from downstairs.
"Kaien! Breakfast!"
He froze.
"Coming!"
He glanced back at his room.
The pistol was gone.
Nothing looked unusual.
Perfect.
He opened the door.
Then stopped.
His mother was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
She looked at him suspiciously.
"You've been in your room all morning."
"I was studying."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Studying what?"
Kaien paused.
"Physics."
"You hate physics."
"I've changed."
"Since yesterday?"
Kaien thought about it.
"...People grow."
His mother stared at him.
Then sighed.
"Just come eat."
Kaien smiled.
"Yes, ma'am."
He walked downstairs.
His father was already sitting at the table.
He looked up.
"Morning."
"Morning."
His father glanced at him.
"You look tired."
"I was studying."
His father nodded.
"Physics?"
Kaien looked at his mother.
She was already smiling.
"Apparently."
His father laughed.
Kaien quietly sat down.
This family was going to be the death of him.
One Month Later
Kaien stood inside an abandoned warehouse outside the city.
A paper target was positioned twenty meters away.
He held the handgun with both hands.
His breathing slowed.
Mana moved through his body.
Into his arm.
Through his hand.
And finally into the weapon.
The pistol gave a faint vibration.
Kaien pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet struck the target.
Not the center.
A few centimeters to the left.
Kaien lowered the weapon.
"Not bad."
He looked at the system.
[Mana Infusion Successful]
[Mana Efficiency: 82%]
Kaien nodded.
Then raised the gun again.
BANG!
The second shot landed closer.
[85%]
Again.
BANG!
[88%]
Kaien smiled.
This was what he'd been working toward.
Not raw strength.
Precision.
He wanted to know exactly how much mana he could put into a bullet without wasting any.
He kept practicing.
His accuracy improved.
His mana control improved.
His efficiency slowly climbed.
Then—
[Quest Complete]
[Reward: 10 Weapon Points]
Kaien stopped.
"Finally."
He opened the system.
[Weapon Points: 10]
[Weapon Evolution]
[Handgun — Common]
[Available Evolution]
[Cost: 10 Weapon Points]
Kaien stared at it.
He'd spent an entire month earning those points.
And the system wanted all of them.
He hesitated.
Then smiled.
"Well, I didn't earn them just to look at them."
He selected the option.
[Weapon Evolution Confirmed]
The handgun disappeared.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then it reappeared.
It looked almost identical.
The design was slightly cleaner.
The barrel was a little longer.
The grip felt more natural in his hand.
But the biggest difference wasn't something he could see.
He could feel it.
Mana flowed through the weapon far more easily.
[Handgun evolved]
[New Property acquired: Mana Conduction]
Kaien's eyes widened.
He slowly infused the weapon with mana.
The energy flowed through it without resistance.
He aimed at the target.
BANG!
The bullet struck the center.
The paper target tore around the impact point.
Kaien lowered the gun.
He stared at the target.
Then looked at the weapon.
A smile appeared.
"So that's what evolution does."
He turned the pistol in his hand.
"Not bad."
He dismissed it.
The weapon disappeared.
Kaien looked at the system again.
His smile faded slightly.
[Weapon Points: 0]
"Back to zero."
He sighed.
"Guess I need more monsters."
That evening, Kaien sat on the roof of his house.
The city stretched beneath him.
Cars moved through the streets.
Buildings glowed beneath the night sky.
Adventurers returned from their work.
To everyone else, it was just another evening.
To Kaien, it was the beginning.
Two years remained until the academy.
Two years before the original story began.
Two years to prepare.
He knew the characters.
He knew the major events.
He knew the first dungeon incident.
He knew the villains.
Most importantly, he knew what happened to Mira.
He wouldn't let it happen again.
Kaien looked toward the outskirts of the city.
Monster zones were scattered around the area.
Weak monsters occasionally wandered outside their usual territories.
It was dangerous.
But manageable.
If he wanted Weapon Points, he needed to hunt.
He stood up.
A notification appeared.
[System Functions Locked]
[Requirement: Level 5]
Kaien stared at the message.
"Level five..."
He looked toward the distant lights.
Then smiled.
"Looks like I've got somewhere to go tomorrow."
The wind blew through his hair.
His large afro shifted over his eyes.
The two small braids remained in place.
Kaien touched one of them.
His mother's voice came back to him.
They're yours.
His smile softened.
Then he looked back toward the city.
He had a family now.
Friends he'd yet to meet.
People he already knew would need him.
And a future that was supposed to follow a story he'd already read.
But Kaien had no intention of letting the original plot decide everything.
He had two years.
And he was going to use every second of them.
The first bullet had been fired.
Now it was time to learn what happened when he pulled the trigger.