Somewhere between living and dying, Fin opened his eyes in a warm black space without walls or a ceiling.
The darkness supported his back without leaving him anything to stand on.
He waited for the pain in his ribs, counting ten breaths before checking again.
"No pain. No floor either. I suppose I should complain about those in order."
’So this is hell huh, cozy at least,’ he thought, trying to look around with eyes he wasn’t sure existed. ’Weird, I always pictured more fire and brimstone.’
"You wish, little spark," the voice said warmly from everywhere at once. "Hell has standards, and you my dear aren’t anywhere near evil enough."
Neither heaven nor hell wanted him, matching his experience with employment offices.
"About that deal of yours," he said, deciding talking to an invisible voice was still better than rotting in an alley. "Depends on the price. No offense, but who exactly are you supposed to be?"
"Ooh, asking about the price first," the voice purred with delight. "Smart little spark. Most souls just drool and say yes without reading the terms."
’This voice is giving me chills, why does she sound so playful,’ he thought.
"I doubt most souls have been kicked around by life the way I was."
"Language, little spark... but fair. Then let me introduce the market first."
The darkness pulsed once, and suddenly it showed him visions the size of arenas.
An S-rank wreathed in flames sliced through a boss, filling every billboard above the street. More champions flashed past, their colors washing across the faces below.
"You know these names," she said. "Big flame, big blade, all top hundred blessed with one gorgeous unique ability, and the channels call it talent, hard work, destiny."
"Let me guess, it’s none of those."
"Gold star. Every single one of them has a patron, a god who picked them young and lent them that power at a price. Talent is the cover story, little spark. Nobody climbed that ladder on their own, they were carried up it."
He laughed, genuinely unable to stop himself after four years of watching highlight reels on cracked screens at the plant.
The whole time, the top of the ladder was just a rented penthouse.
’Fairness is a bedtime story, yeah, no kidding.’
"Which brings us to the fun part," she said, clearly enjoying this conversation. "You asked the price before the seller, and now you know the seller. Any other questions?"
"Just one." He would’ve crossed his arms if he felt his shoulders. "Why me? I’m a nobody without talent or money, and I’m sure you saw me get folded by an orc five minutes ago."
"Hmm, let me explain before I answer," she said as the darkness pulsed again.
The highlights changed into hundreds of gates, spilling light across cities as hunter teams marched inside.
"You live in a world of doors," she said, her tone losing some of its playfulness. "Doors open from both sides, and your side is very thin and soft."
’Cheap seats, huh.’
"In two years, the biggest gate of them all will arrive. Every diviner and prophet-class patron has agreed on the exact date."
"Normal gates give you thirty days to clear them before they break. This one won’t give you a single minute. It opens the moment it lands and everything inside pours out into your streets. Cities, little spark, whole cities, and humanity isn’t ready."
"So your big plan is what, a champion?"
"Gold star again. Keep this up and I might actually like you. One champion at the tip of the spear, strong enough to drag every hunter on this world up behind him."
"I’ve spent an eternity watching souls to find him, millions of them, little candles flickering everywhere."
"And mine what, glows the brightest?" He chuckled at his own joke. "Lady, I pack protein boxes for twelve hours a day."
The silence that followed left him waiting for another accusation.
"...you’re serious."
"Of course I’m serious."
"I failed my clinic test at fourteen and went home with a sugar candy."
"I know. I took a peek into your thoughts, hope you don’t mind," she said, her tone softening until it sounded almost gentle.
"Do you know what most souls do at the end, little spark? They beg, bargain, and blame, but you only cared about your little sister."
’That’s...’ He was left with nothing to fire back with. ’...damn.’
"As for my price, what I want is..." The voice suddenly broke.
It happened mid-word, static tearing through the warm space and ripping her speech in half.
When she came back through the hiss, all the playfulness vanished. "It seems they’ve spotted me."
"Who’s they?" He asked, trying to find footing where there was no ground. "Hey, spotted you doing what?"
"There’s no time, listen closely little spark, because I’m about to do something reckless for you."
"Eh? What are you talking about?" A rush of heat struck his center.
He searched for words to describe the sensation, finding none. Heat flooded him from the inside out, a second pulse igniting under his ribs.
Something vast poured into a vessel that was far too small, his soul stretching, tearing, and knitting together stronger with every heartbeat.
"Grow strong," she said, her voice already fading into distant static. "Stronger than any before you. When you’re worth my name, little spark, I’ll find you again."
The darkness peeled away like burning paper, revealing the alley again.
He snapped back into his body with a gasp, arching off the rubble as one hand slammed against his chest.
"I’m alive?" He asked, touching his ribs in disbelief. "No... something changed, I can feel it humming under my skin."
Smoke drifted past the alley mouth, carrying screams from nearby streets while the ground shivered beneath the brute’s footsteps.
’Right, the monsters, I’m still in the middle of an active gate break.’
"Alright, focus, first I need to get out of here..." Golden light bloomed in front of his eyes, folding into clean floating brackets.
[ Infinite Absorption System: online ]
[ Host: Fin ]
[ Class: none ]
[ Rank: unranked ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Health: 100/100 ]
[ Mana: 40/40 ]
[ Strength: 8 ]
[ Agility: 9 ]
[ Endurance: 7 ]
[ Sense: 10 ]
[ Pulse: 4 ]
[ Potential: SSS ]
[ System function: absorb: ??? ]
"...huh?"
He waved a hand through the golden text, but his fingers passed straight through the light without disturbing a single letter.
"Infinite Absorption," he read aloud, staring at the golden letters in disbelief. "System online? Host... Fin?"
’Is this the power she gave me?’
He went through the lines again, reading from top to bottom while checking his limbs. His body felt strangely light, the background ache in his joints gone without a trace, replaced by a steady current of energy.
"Class none? Okay, rude." He squinted at the numbers. "Strength eight, agility nine, sense ten... what even is pulse? Rank unranked too, well, yeah, that matches my clinic test from back then."
’If the goddess gave me this, there has to be a way to use it,’ he thought, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white. ’A way to get stronger, fast.’
His gaze dropped to the second to last line and froze.
"...potential, SSS?"
He looked down at his rough hands, then toward the smoke rising over the rooftops, then back at the golden panel.
"What in the world did she just hand me..."