Chapter 1 – Prologue I

“Damn it…”

Yuki Asutо lооkеd uр at the sky whilе сrawling on thе ground.

“Damn it!”

Тhе skу wаs fillеd with аn overwhеlming number of Моnsters—

Тhоsе bеings with рure whitе wings like Аngels werе lооking dоwn upon thе eаrth.

Armed humans lеаpt toward the humаnоid figure floating in the sky.

Еаch one was a tор-tier Huntеr, amоng thе bеst in Jаpan.

Yet, theу were bеing shоt dоwn without evеn bеing аble to lаy a fingеr on it.

Who could hаvе imagined thаt еven Jаpan’s grеatest militarу forсе would be so utterly рowеrlеss?

In thе blink of аn eyе, thеrе were nо morе Нuntеrs stаnding аgainst thе humаnоid figure.

In lеss thаn an hour, every Hunter who had risen to defend the capital had died.

That said, Japan still had many renowned Hunters. However, most of them did not show themselves before this Monster of Heaven.

“Damn it!!”

Asuto lamented his own powerlessness.

—If only he had even a little bit of power…

Fifteen years ago, humans who suddenly gained new power—Awakened—began to appear.

When one Awakened, at least one Skill would always manifest.

—An Innate Skill.

What Asuto gained upon his Awakening was only a Trash Skill whose usage he couldn’t understand.

A Hunter with only unusable Skills had no rights to speak of.

No matter where he went, he couldn’t join a Party and was always pushed away like garbage.

Even so, trying to operate alone quickly reached its limits.

With Asuto having no combat-usable Skills, proper combat was impossible.

No matter how hard he tried, he only gained experience equivalent to or less than a porter for a mid-tier Party.

He couldn’t level up properly and couldn’t obtain new Skills either.

To begin with, he was barely scraping by earning daily wages and had no leeway to operate properly as a Hunter.

—If only he had more power, he wouldn’t have to grit his teeth in humiliation, forced to just watch with his hands tied right now.

The Monster of Heaven formed a distorted smile.

It felt exactly like mockery directed at him.

—The weak don’t even have the right to live.

The Monster raised one hand.

A terrifying power converged in its palm.

The power became a bullet of light, rapidly expanding.

Just as the bullet emitted a light like the sun, scattering plasma—

The Monster of Heaven unleashed its power of destruction upon the earth.

—He just wanted power, that was all.

The next moment, along with the light that vaporized the earth, Asuto’s consciousness was erased.

○

“—!?”

The moment his consciousness Awakened, Asuto gasped.

He should have been in a Shinjuku alley just moments ago, but now he was standing on a building rooftop.

The scenery had changed so drastically he nearly lost his balance and fell over the railing.

Regaining his balance, Asuto raised his gaze.

Before him was Tokyo, completely unchanged.

“Tokyo… it wasn’t destroyed…?”

There was no sign of the Monster in the sky. The ground was also as before, with no traces of destruction.

He touched his own body.

His body was unharmed.

Nothing was out of place.

“What… happened…”

Just as he tilted his head in confusion—

A familiar Window appeared before his eyes.

○Name: Yuki Asuto

Level: 1 Aptitude: Assassin

Combat Power: 10 SP: 5

Held G: 1000

○Physical Ability

Strength: 2 Stamina: 2 Magic Power: 1

Spirit: 1 Agility: 2 Perception: 1

○Skills

・Return Lv1 (0%)

“This is…”

The Status Screen of the System Board.

One of the powers that those who Awaken as Hunters can wield.

He still remembered these current values well. They were from right after his initial Awakening.

Seeing this Status back then, Asuto had been overjoyed.

‘Now I’m a Hunter too!’

He thought his dream had come true.

It would be a little later that he realized that dream was a nightmare…

“What is this… what’s going on!?”

The moment Tokyo was being destroyed, Asuto’s ability was Level 9.

Once a Level increases, it doesn’t decrease except under extreme circumstances—for example, being injured and resting for a month.

Asuto hadn’t done anything that would cause his Level to drop.

Despite that, he had reverted to his Status from the time of his Awakening.

However, that wasn’t the point that shocked Asuto.

He was shocked by the Popup Window that appeared before the Status Window.

Condition: Skill user’s death confirmed

Skill: 〈Return〉 Activated

Returning at Memory Point

Due to excessive distance from Memory Point

Status Information was Lost