Cain trudged through the city streets, his mind numb from the humiliation he’d experienced at the Awakening Ceremony.
As he moved along the brightly lit sidewalks, hushed murmurs followed him.
Passersby glanced his way, some whispering behind their hands.
"That’s him, right? The guy from the Awakening Ceremony?"
"Yeah... Cain Wright. I heard he awakened as a Rank E. Must be humiliating."
"What a joke. How can someone from the Wright family be that weak?"
Cain gritted his teeth, his fingers curling into fists. He forced himself to keep walking, ignoring the quiet laughs and pitying glances.
The ache in his nose made every breath painful, but it was nothing compared to the hollow pit in his chest.
He just wanted to get home, lock the door, shut the world out, and figure out his next move.
He reached his apartment and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
"The hell..."
He tried again and again, but the door wouldn’t open. Then he noticed something different about the locks. They were new.
Cain’s stomach twisted.
"No way..."
He stepped back, staring at the entrance.
"Have I been kicked out?"
He looked around, and after a couple of seconds, he saw a familiar item of his by the sidewalk.
He walked toward it.
His belongings had been stuffed into garbage bags and dumped haphazardly on the sidewalk.
The cheap furniture he had managed to buy, his clothes, even his old training manuals... all of it discarded like trash.
A single envelope sat on top of the pile.
Cain tore it open.
His breath caught as he read the title.
[Eviction Notice Due to Outstanding Rent]
"Outstanding rent?"
His payment was only due today, and he had planned to pay it with the little money he had. So what was this?
[Due to outstanding rent payments and the property’s recent transfer of ownership to the buyer, Adrian Wright, your contract has been terminated. All personal belongings have been removed as per the eviction policy.]
At the bottom of the letter, the buyer’s name stood out in bold print.
[Adrian Wright]
Cain immediately crushed the paper.
Adrian had orchestrated this?
Cain’s phone vibrated.
He took out his phone, tapped the screen, and saw an email from his bank.
[Account Update]
The recurring monthly deposit linked to your account by the Wright family has been terminated. Future deposits will no longer be credited.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
"Seriously?"
Things were spiraling so fast.
It had barely been an hour since the Awakening Ceremony.
He had planned to use the monthly allowance he received from the family bank to pay his rent.
Now he had no apartment, and he couldn’t even find another place because he was broke.
He’d been cast out of the mansion years ago when his potential had been deemed worthless. Now, they had stripped him of even the scraps he was surviving on.
A raindrop splattered onto his phone. Then another.
The skies opened up, and within seconds, it started to rain.
Cain stood frozen in the downpour. It was like heaven was mocking him as well.
His gaze drifted to his scattered belongings, now soaked and ruined by the rain.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"Where am I going to sleep?"
He couldn’t even afford a motel for the night.
Shivering, Cain took cover in the apartment entryway and opened his phone.
There was only one person he could turn to now.
A former classmate of his named Isaac. The only person Cain could call a friend.
They had attended the same academy together and had been quite close until Isaac’s family relocated and he was forced to change academies.
At the Awakening Ceremony, Cain had spotted him and seen that he had awakened as a D-Rank Hunter.
Isaac must have seen him awaken as an E-Rank as well.
The thought embarrassed him, and he hesitated to call and ask for help.
But he had no other option.
Summoning his courage, he dialed Isaac’s number.
The phone rang.
A few seconds later, Isaac answered.
"Cain...?"
"Hey, Isaac. How are you doing?"
Cain asked warmly, but Isaac responded harshly.
"What do you want?"
Cain hesitated but swallowed his pride.
"I... I need a place to stay. Just for a night. Please."
There was no response.
Cain’s grip tightened around the phone.
Nervous, he called out again.
"Are you still there?"
A sigh came from the other end.
"Why? I thought you rented an apartment."
"I was kicked out. Turns out Adrian bought the place."
"Then... rent a motel for the night or something."
"I would have. But my father cut off my allowance. I have nothing."
Another long silence. Then Isaac said,
"Cain... check the group chat."
Cain’s stomach twisted.
His hands shook as he pulled up the chat. And he saw it.
The picture Adrian had posted of him sprawled across the restroom floor was trending everywhere.
The chat was flooded with cruel laughter and mocking comments.
[Is that the so-called "genius"? LMAO.]
[Damn, I’ve seen F-Ranks put up a better fight.]
[No wonder his dad walked away. Even I wouldn’t claim this embarrassment.]
[Dude got folded like a wet napkin.]
[E-Rank? More like Error-Rank. Should’ve never been born.]
[Bro really thought he could be a Hunter.]
[If failure had a face, it’d be this screenshot right here.]
The messages kept coming, each one a fresh dagger to Cain’s gut.
Cain’s throat tightened.
He couldn’t understand why Isaac wanted him to see this.
His request had nothing to do with it.
"What about it, Isaac?"
"You’re seriously asking me that? You’re an E-Rank. If I associate with you, my chances of getting into a good guild become slimmer than they already are."
Cain bit his lip, forcing down the frustration rising in his throat.
"That’s ridiculous. You know that’s not true."
"Tcch... I can’t help you, Cain. I just... can’t help you."
Cain’s grip tightened around the phone.
"Wait... just twenty dollars."
"What?"
"Just twenty dollars. Enough for a room. Just for one night. Please."
"Seriously? Begging for money now? How are you so shameless?"
Cain went still. It felt as though something brittle inside him had just snapped, leaving him strangely empty and painfully aware of how low he’d fallen.
"Look... your family is just too scary, alright? I don’t want trouble. I’m sorry."
The call ended.
Cain stared at the screen, the empty silence pressing down on him.
He lowered his phone and stared at the dimly lit display.
He had suspected it before, but now he knew for certain. Isaac had never been a real friend.
Isaac had never stood by Cain in public, never defended him when people whispered behind his back or when Adrian came to beat him up.
He was only ever around when he needed something, copying homework, having theories explained to him, getting tutored before exams, or borrowing money he never paid back.
And now that Cain needed help, Isaac had discarded him just as easily as everyone else.
Cain exhaled shakily.
There was no one left.
And as if things couldn’t get any worse, a group of men entered the apartment entrance, black umbrellas shielding them from the downpour.
At the front stood an older man in a sleek raincoat, Mr. Graves, the building caretaker.
His face held no sympathy.
"You need to leave now. The new owner doesn’t want you anywhere near here."
"I’ll leave when the rain stops," Cain replied, but Mr. Graves wasn’t having it.
At his signal, the men stepped forward, boots splashing through puddles as they moved to force him off the premises.
Cain frowned.
He wanted to fight. To lash out. To unleash the rage he felt on them.
But what was the point?
It wouldn’t make his situation any better.
It wouldn’t change the fact that he was still trash.
He turned and hurried away before they reached him, ignoring Mr. Graves’s shout to come back and collect his belongings, or else they’d burn them.
The rain poured harder, soaking Cain’s clothes.
His hair stuck to his forehead, his breath coming in uneven gasps as he walked.
The city lights stretched before him, cold and distant.
Cars sped past without a second glance, nothing more than blurs of metal and motion.
One veered too close to the curb, and a wave of filthy rainwater splashed over him, soaking him completely and chilling him to the bone.
Cain stood there motionless, water dripping from his hair.
His expression was numb.
Even the damn city was against him.
Then he felt it, a strong desire to fight back.
His chest burned, not just from the unhealed bruises or the betrayal, but from a fierce refusal to accept this.
The world wanted him broken, wanted him helpless, wanted him forgotten.
He balled his fist.
Like hell he was going to give them what they wanted.
If the world wanted to cast him aside, then he would claw his way back, no matter what it took.
He found shelter, and under it, he took out his phone.
Long ago, back when he still lived in his father’s mansion, Cain had used Leonard’s credentials to access restricted databases meant only for high-ranking Hunters.
He had no right to be there, but no one could stop a curious teenager.
He had heard rumors about a forbidden serum. A drug that could forcibly awaken powers in civilians.
The Guild Association had spent years hunting down its distributors, branding them as criminals. Countless reports detailed crackdowns, raids, arrests, and entire networks being wiped out. And yet, the whispers persisted.
Cain’s pulse quickened.
He had linked the database to his phone back then, and even now, he still had access to it.
With a few quick taps, he navigated through layers of classified data, his eyes scanning operation summaries and flagged incidents until something caught his attention.
A scheduled operation.
The Guild Association was preparing to carry out a raid and intercept a trade taking place today.
A crazy thought came to his mind.
If he could somehow steal the serum during the chaos, or meet the distributor and negotiate terms, that would be ideal.
But even as the thought formed, Cain already knew the chances were slim to none.
There was a far greater chance of losing his life or getting caught up in something far more dangerous.
But what choice did he have?
He had nothing left. No home. No future. No place in this world.
If this serum could give him power, then even if he had to steal it, even if he had to risk everything, he would.
Because in a world that only valued strength, the only true crime was weakness.
Having made up his mind, Cain exhaled slowly, locked his phone screen, and hurried toward the raid location.