At that moment, it felt as if the world had come to a halt.

In reality, everything except me had stopped.

Even the messages from the gods had frozen, and the demon beasts charging at me were suspended in midair.

Yet, the voice echoing in my mind remained as clear as ever.

《Child, do you still cling to hope?》

The voice carried a leisurely, mocking tone.

It spoke as if ridiculing me.

《Poor child, look at how pathetic what you possess truly is.》

In the frozen world, my Fortune Window materialized.

A single sentence was written there.

[Your Twelve Zodiac is ‘Rat’.]

The rat, the weakest among the twelve animals.

Just as a person’s Four Pillars of Destiny are determined at birth, so too is a human’s Twelve Zodiac deity.

It was one of the unchangeable fates I had carried since the day I was born.

[You can acquire one new Special Ability related to the ‘Twelve Zodiac’.]

Several small scrolls floated before my eyes.

Paintings were drawn on the scrolls, and all of them depicted rats.

Rats being chased by something, scavenging for garbage, or lying dead and scattered.

《Even if you gain a rat-like ability, what could you possibly do?》

As the voice said, among the Twelve Zodiacs, the rat’s Special Ability was the weakest.

If I had been born in the year of the tiger or the dragon, I would have gained a much more useful ability.

There was a time when I cursed my Eight Characters while thinking like that.

Then, the voice asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

《Why are you smiling?》

It seemed I was smiling without realizing it.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but laugh, for I had been waiting for this very moment.

I slowly walked forward into the world where everything had stopped.

In my past life, I couldn’t raise all my stats to level 30, so I never obtained a Twelve Zodiac ability.

However, like a rat, I gathered, gathered, and gathered again the information people had scattered.

I knew exactly which scroll connected to which ability.

“I’ve heard plenty of times that I’m like a rat, and anyway, the only way I know how to survive is like a rat.”

Dragon or tiger abilities wouldn’t suit me anyway.

A rat must live the way a rat does.

“It’s true that the rat is the weakest beast, but…”

I reached out my hand toward one of the scrolls spread out before me.

Light began to leak from the scroll I chose.

“There’s nothing as terrifying as a cornered rat.”

The scroll depicted a rat bleeding to death.

Yet, its eyes were burning with a killing intent more intense than anything else.

[You have acquired the Special Ability ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’!]

The moment I grasped the scroll, the world began to move again.

The demon beasts frozen in midair opened their maws toward me.

I didn’t dodge the demon beasts lunging at me.

Because that was exactly what I wanted.

-Eudeudeuk!

They bit into my side and shoulder, and blood burst out in an instant.

The teeth sinking into my flesh sent a chilling, excruciating pain through me.

【Hey, Kangrim is going to die!】

【You idiot, why aren’t you dodging that?】

【Seriously, hurry up and receive a Divine Descent!】

【Are you just going to keep ignoring my messages?】

Messages requesting Divine Descent were popping up one after another, but what I needed wasn’t a god.

I swallowed my blood and activated my ability.

[The Special Ability ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’ is activating!]

═══════════════

[Special Ability] Roar of the Cornered Rat

[Rank] First Human Grade

[Description] An ability that grows stronger the more dire the situation. Can only be used when your stamina is below 10%.

While the ability is active, you become nearly invincible, but upon its conclusion, you suffer a severe penalty.

═══════════════

-Chwaak!

As I swung my sword, everything in front of me was cleaved in half.

The demon beasts biting me were instantly bisected.

Amidst the demon beasts being swept away like waves, my shadow alone stood firm.

So much so that it seemed impossible for me to ever win.

However, a cornered rat will bite the cat.

[The Special Ability ‘Fighting Instinct’ is active!]

[The Special Ability ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’ is active!]

Activating both abilities simultaneously, I felt a power incomparable to my usual state.

The shadow seemed flustered, but it summoned the demon beasts once more.

I carved through the demon beasts blocking my path with my entire body and pushed forward.

Even as I felt my stamina draining drop by drop, my body surged with even more vitality.

Like a flame burning fiercely right before it extinguishes.

《Child, you are going to die anyway. If you are to die, then sleep peacefully within me.》

“I told you.”

I trampled over the corpses of the demon beasts.

Karma was piling up beneath my feet once again.

Nevertheless, I kept slashing and slashing, advancing forward.

“Even if I die, I’ll get Shin Sooa out of here first.”

Before I knew it, all the demon beasts had fallen.

Yet, the shadow didn’t cower or shrink back.

Instead, I could feel it looking at me as if I were foolish.

《You still don’t realize that a mere rat flailing about is utterly useless.》

The moment those words ended, the aura swirling around us instantly changed.

This feeling as if the oxygen was thinning.

Then, a notification window popped up before my eyes.

[The target’s Twelve Zodiac attribute has changed to ‘Tiger’!]

[The Special Ability ‘Mountain Hero’ is activating!]

[The effect is increased due to the match between ‘Mountain Hero’ and the Twelve Zodiac attribute!]

It seemed there was someone born in the year of the tiger among the dead.

For it to steal even their Twelve Zodiac and make it its own, it was an intimidation I couldn’t believe came from my own shadow.

[The ‘Rat’ feels fear toward the energy of the ‘Tiger’!]

My feet froze in place without me realizing it.

The shape of a tiger surged behind the shadow.

As a rat, I couldn’t help but feel an instinctual fear in the presence of a beast of prey.

《Child, do you understand now? The rat is ultimately the weakest…》

-Chwaak!

I forced my body to move and slashed deeply at the shadow.

The shadow couldn’t dodge, seemingly not expecting me to move.

A normal rat wouldn’t be able to move an inch in front of a tiger.

But thanks to ‘Fighting Instinct’, I was a maddened rat.

The attack struck hard, but the shadow’s wound healed in an instant.

It spoke in a voice full of indignation.

《You still don’t know your place.》

《Are you still not giving up?》

《Then I have no choice but to chew you up whole.》

As my vision darkened in an instant, the endless darkness began to change its shape once more.

The shadow filled the room.

It was the shape of a beast—no, a divine beast.

[The target’s Twelve Zodiac attribute has changed to ‘Dragon’!]

[The Special Ability ‘Dragon Transformation’ is activating!]

[The effect is increased due to the match between ‘Dragon Transformation’ and the Twelve Zodiac attribute!]

The dragon, the only divine beast among the Twelve Zodiacs.

As the shadow turned into a dragon, karma and foul energy overflowed in all directions.

-Keuoooo!

The black dragon roared, and the wind pressure scraped past my entire body like a blade.

Blood splattered out.

The shadow also bore a scar in the same spot, but it immediately healed.

《Give up, child.》

《The rat’s role ends here.》

As if agreeing with those words, the gods were making a fuss.

【What, it can even transform into a dragon now?】

【Besides, it has a recovery ability too, doesn’t it?】

【Can you really win against that?】

【Hey, just run away already! Stop acting tough!】

Everyone was predicting my defeat.

If a dragon and a rat fought, the outcome was obvious.

But I looked at the dragon and smiled.

“It probably would have been better for you to stay a rat.”

I took out the sword I had been saving from the Storage Pouch.

Those who try to kill rats aren’t recorded in history, but those who try to kill dragons are remembered by posterity.

Sensing the dragon’s energy, the sword flashed awake.

[‘Royal Heirloom Saber’ has detected the dragon’s energy! Attack power increases significantly!]

Royal Heirloom Saber, a sword with a history of slaying dragons.

It brings a more powerful effect than any other weapon when killing a dragon.

I swallowed the screams of my instincts and stepped forward.

[The target has become stronger than ‘Seo Kangrim’!]

[The effect of the Special Ability ‘Fighting Instinct’ increases significantly!]

Blood overflowed everywhere I walked.

The premonition of death felt even thicker.

[‘Seo Kangrim’s near-death state has been confirmed!]

[The effect of the Special Ability ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’ increases significantly!]

The stronger my opponent, the more I was cornered, the more I burned.

Because even the weakest possesses the potential to become the fiercest.

-Keuaaaa!

The shadow charged at me as if making its final death throes.

I gathered every last ounce of my energy and focused it into Royal Heirloom Saber.

In the fleeting moment my vision burned white, a sensation of piercing something traveled through my hand.

-Ga, gagak….

My karma, my shadow, vomited a scream.

I saw the dragon with its throat pierced by Royal Heirloom Saber.

Putting all my body weight into it, I cleaved the shadow in half right then and there.

-Kuung…!

The massive dragon knelt before the rat.

The moment the shadow crumbled into ash, I also collapsed onto the floor.

[The Special Ability ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’ is ending.]

As ‘Roar of the Cornered Rat’ ended, a pain like my entire body being torn apart rushed in.

Moreover, my body wouldn’t move.

I couldn’t do anything anymore.

I couldn’t move a single finger, and I felt death breathing right down my neck.

I heard the penalty was severe, but I didn’t know it was this bad.

I felt a bit empty.

If I had known I would die after all this suffering, I should have just killed myself.

Through my blurry vision, I caught sight of Shin Sooa.

She was crawling toward me.

My vision was too blurry to make out what expression Shin Sooa was making.

Still, either way, my shadow was gone.

Even if I died, Shin Sooa would be able to get out of here.

With Rini and Yorongi here too, they would be able to escape safely.

I had done everything I needed to do.

Now I could rest.

My vision blurred, and my surroundings grew dim.

Through the haze, someone’s voice reached me.

【…. ….? …. ….】

…A god?

I couldn’t make out what it was saying; I could barely catch the tone of its voice.

I had heard the voices of many gods, but this one was somehow different.

Even though I was hearing it for the first time, it was strangely familiar.

And simultaneously, hatred and disgust surged up within me.

【…. …. …. ….】

It wasn’t speaking.

It was laughing.

As if it were immensely enjoying itself.

Amidst the echoing laughter of the god, I lost consciousness.