Volume 1 - CH 1

Chapter 1 Insect Rank

The “Four Pillars of Destiny” was a really shitty concept.

Four Pillars of Destiny. Innate fortune. 

It meant that one’s future was determined literally from the moment of birth. Some were fated to become presidents, while others were born with less fortunate futures.

There were those who did not believe in the Four Pillars of Destiny. After all, it was quite absurd that one’s fate was determined based on the date and time of birth.

However, no one would say such a thing now after the Day of the Awakening where everyone gained abilities based on their Four Pillars of Destiny.

“Everyone, please make sure to check your supplies, and go to your assigned team and position,” someone shouted to the hundreds of people gathered in front of the massive entrance to the Demon Realm.

Not too long ago, I heard that the Alliance discovered a large gate to the Demon Realm. I thought that many personnel would be recruited, but it seems that the scale of the mission was even larger than I had anticipated.

Around me, I could hear people from various sects talking.

“Wow, is this the first we’ve come together in such a big alliance like this?

“Yeah, that’s right. Even the Flying Tiger Sect participated.”

“I hope I get scouted by them in this mission.”

While listening to the mundane conversations around me, I busied myself by maintaining my weapons to be ready for my assigned position which was at the rear. At this moment, a man I had never seen before approached and started talking to me.4

“Hello, I think we’re on the same team. You are from the Flying Tiger Sect, right?”

I glanced at him briefly and then lowered my head again, but the man, perhaps oblivious to my reaction, started babbling away on his own.

“You know, it’s my first time joining an Annihilation Mission, so I’m really nervous. But I’m very glad to be fighting alongside your sect…”

Approaching me like this, it seemed like he was a newbie. Perhaps noticing the ignorance of the man, another member of our team approached and called him over. They kept a bit of distance but I could still hear them whispering to each other.

“Hey, be careful. That man is Seo Gangrim.”

“What?!”

The newbie appeared extremely startled by the revelation. Our eyes then met, making him hastily avert his gaze. His reaction wasn’t particularly surprising or unusual. Even the members from other sects in our team were openly showing their displeasure. It wasn’t because I was intimidating or strong that they were avoiding me. It was all because of my lousy Destiny, which nobody would be afraid of.

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[Name] Seo Gangrim

[Rank] Insect Third Class

[Element] Fire

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Based on the Four Pillars of Destiny, there were those who were fated to become a president, a king, a beggar, or even a murderer. The same applied to Awakened Abilities as well. Humans had gained abilities and rank based on their own Four Pillars of Destiny.

My rank was Insect Third Class, which was the weakest. God rank was the strongest rank, followed by Dragon rank, Spirit rank, Human rank and lastly, Insect rank. The other classification was the class, from strongest to weakest were the First Class, Second Class, and Third Class.

The Insect rank was akin to a worm-like life. With such a low rank, my life was truly filled with misfortune. The reason people avoid someone like me with Insect rank was because of contempt.

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[Ability] Destiny Analysis

[Rank] Dragon First Class

[Description]  Ability to view your own and other’s Destiny Windows.

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[Ability] Destiny Stealing

[Rank] Dragon First Class

[Description] The ability to extract and claim a portion of the Four Pillars of Destiny from a corpse as one's own, but it will accumulate negative karma.

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When I was young, I heard about a miracle. I often wondered if it was because of that miracle that I gained my current abilities–the ability to discern the destinies of others, and the ability to acquire them for myself.

When my abilities were exposed early on, several nasty rumours about me started, which resulted in my current situation of being rejected and alienated. 

[Many people who accompanied Seo Gangrim have either returned injured or severely wounded.]

[Seo Gangrim killed his companion and took away their abilities.]

[Soe Gangrim’s fate is filled with various signs of violence, so if one accompanies him, misfortune will befall them.]

Unfortunately, there was some truth to the rumours. Many of the people who had accompanied me indeed did suffer injuries. Perhaps it was due to my innate unlucky fate that they also became entangled with misfortune.

Nevertheless, I never killed anyone. If I had killed someone and taken their Destiny, I would have more than just two abilities, wouldn't there? The people who were aware of this fact would often wonder why I chose not to use my ability to steal other people’s Destinies. In fact, it was not that I chose not to use my ability, but rather I was unable to use it. This ability consumes a significant amount of magical power, especially when used on old corpses. Moreover, as someone with the lowest rank and class, my magical power was not even worth a handful, let alone sufficient for such a demanding ability.

I had visited cemeteries and morgues several times, but it was all in vain. I failed because I have insufficient magical power when attempting to extract the Destiny of a person who had been dead for a day or even a few hours. With my current level of magical power, I needed a corpse that had died for just a few minutes. A very fresh corpse.

The problem was that it wasn't very easy to find such a fresh corpse, unless some died right in front of me. Directly taking someone’s life might seem like the most viable option, but it is highly unlikely for someone like me,  with such a low rank, to be able to kill someone.

I once thought that someone might luckily die right in front of me, so I diligently followed people for a while, but I failed to find such an opportunity. In the process, I was able to join the Flying Tiger Sect, so it’s not a complete loss.

People found it quite bizarre that someone like me, an insect of such a low status, had entered the prestigious Flying Tiger Sect.

“Why would someone like him be a member of the Flying Tiger Sect?”

“I heard he was one of the early members of the Flying Tiger Sect.”

“I don’t think him being an early member of his sect matters in this mission. What could he possibly do?”

“Yeah, what could he do during this mission?”

During their discussion, a man suddenly approached them. He was a tall man with a somewhat rough appearance. People were startled and took a step back upon seeing his face.

“Um, are you Jang Taeheon?”

“Hello, Mr. Jang Taeheon…!”

“Jang Taeheon, a high-ranking member of the Flying Tiger Sect.”

The man was also famous in other sects, and his Destiny was on a completely different level from someone like me.

He patted the back of the person who was gossiping about me.

“There’s no need to worry because the members of our sect are chosen by our sect master herself!”

“Oh, okay…”

“And as our sect master, Shin Sooah, has said…” Jang Taeheon smiled broadly as he spoke.

“If anyone dares to harm our members, it is as if they are challenging the entire Flying Tiger Sect.”

“........!”

“If you don’t want to fight our sect, remember those words.”

They nodded their heads awkwardly.

Jang Taeheon chuckled again and lightly patted someone’s shoulder.

“Alright then, let’s finish preparing for the mission!” Jang Taeheon exclaimed.

As soon as he gave the order, everyone started to disperse in an orderly fashion. Jang Taeheon approached me as he observed the scene unfolding.

"Gangrim, don't mind them. Damn it, where else can we find someone as kind as you, hyung..."

“I never cared in the first place.”

“Then that’s good. We’ll have a party after today’s mission. You’re coming, right?” Jang Taeheon said with a grin.

Despite knowing about my unusual ability and the accompanying misfortune, Jang Taeheon showed no signs of distancing himself from me.

“I have no intention of going.”

“What? Why?” 

“I would be treated like shit there anyway, so what’s the point?”

As Jang Taeheon continued to persuade me, someone approached us.

“What are you two doing? Hello, Seo Gangrim!”

The person who approached us was Yu Harang, another high ranking member of our sect. She was a girl in her early 20’s, with a hint of baby fats still visible on her face. However, in terms of strength, she’s one of the five strongest of the sect.

Jang Taeheon’s face seemed to light up when he saw Yu Harang, as if he had seen a cheerleader.

“Ah, Harang. Well, it seems like Gangrim won’t be coming to the party again.”

“What's the matter, Seo Gangrim? Are you skipping again? Are there people bothering you? Tell me! I'll knock them all down for you!”

Yu Harang spoke energetically, as if she was ready to go fight someone. Beside me, Jang Taeheon looked despondent, knowing that he couldn’t persuade me.

Why are they so upset that they couldn’t take me? 

We became friends during the early days of the Awakening, and it had lasted for years. I think they misunderstood me as a good person. I wonder when I would be able to shake off this misconception. 

Someone approached us at this moment.

“Yu Harang, Jang Taeheon. I understand your desire to hang out with Seo Gangrim, but the mission is about to begin. Return to your positions,” the man said. He was Kang Dohyeon, another skilled member of our sect. 

The two nodded to him and turned to go.

“Alright, I understand. Seo Gangrim, see you later.”

“Hyung! You have to come to the party later!”

“Seo Gangrim, take care of yourself, got it?”

The three left, going to the vanguard position. All the while, Jang Taeheon kept shouting to me that I should come to the party later.

As Kang Dohyun said, the announcement of the beginning of the Annihilation Mission was soon made.

“The Special Demon Annihilation Mission is about to begin! All teams, please carry out your assigned orders!”

Due to my limited combat abilities, I was assigned to the rear team, responsible for dealing with low-level monsters. After all, with my current level, I even barely qualified to participate in this mission, let alone fight higher-level battles.

“Gangrim, please take good care of us!”

“Let’s do our best! Let’s not worry about other sects,” a man said. He was a fellow sect member who was on the same team as me.

After nodding my head, I slowly entered the battlefield with the others, stepping into the entrance.

With this number of people, one would naturally feel intimidated, but the demons didn't seem to care and charged forward without hesitation. There were more of them than I expected.

As I kicked a demon’s lifeless body with my foot, a scream pierced the air.

“Ahhhhhh!”

As soon as he fell, the small demons quickly caught him, and pounced on him. All of a sudden, thorny vines started growing rapidly from the floor, piercing the demons. The man narrowly escaped death, he struggled to get up and looked up.

“It’s the ability of the Flying Tiger Sect’s leader!”

The Way of the Leaf. This ability to grow trees belonged to Shin Sooah.

I glanced upwards and saw her standing on a huge tree branch, looking down on us. At such a young age of 20, she rose to the position of a sect leader. She was both beautiful and strong. Her eyes were green and her brown hair cascaded down to her waist. One of her eyes was covered by an eyepatch, but it didn’t diminish her sharp and penetrating gaze. She looked at us for a moment, and then started moving forward again.

“I heard when the Flying Tiger Sect is involved, there are no casualties…”

People were quite moved by the statement. Indeed it was true that there were no casualties in missions where Shin Sooah participated. It was a record that had been continuing for the fourth year since the establishment of the sect. While it was a regrettable record for me, it was better than having my fellow sect members die.

“Everyone, get back into formation!”

Seeing Shin Sooah’s ability up close, the morale of everyone rose. They all began to eliminate the demons in front of them, and ventured deeper into the battlefield.

Everyone’s equipment was stained with blood, the same goes to my sword. I think I need to clean it, but I didn’t have a suitable cloth. I noticed a dead demon lying in a corner, so I moved towards it and removed the tattered scraps it was wearing.

“The magic aura is getting thicker…” someone muttered.

“I think we are halfway there.”

The entrance to the Demon Realm was relatively bearable, but as we went further inside, it became quite difficult to breathe. 

Venturing further inside the Demon Realm was a bit unnecessary for us since our role was to deal with low level demons, so it seemed proper that we should start withdrawing.

-Goooh!

At this moment, everyone fell silent as the howl of a powerful demon echoed throughout the cave. The cave shook, causing dust to slowly fall from above.

“What is that? Is it the boss?”

“Isn’t there still a long way to go before the boss?”

It was definitely too early for the boss to appear. Moreover, there was something odd about this situation. The howl just now felt more like death cries rather than howls of anger. 

“Retreat, retreat at once!”

Before our team leader could finish speaking, a massive demon leaped out in front of us. Everyone froze in place as they laid eyes on the demon. 

The demon was gigantic, it was so massive that its head almost touched the ceiling of the cave. Its head was of a lion, with the trunk of an elephant, and its tail was of an ox. It was undoubtedly a mythical demon–an Invincible. A ridiculously powerful demon.

However, the demon was currently covered in blood. It let out a painful groan, and after a few steps, it collapsed to the floor, causing the cave to shake.

“What?! Why the hell did the boss demon end up like that?”

“Did another sect intervene?”

Amidst the uproar of the people, the dust gradually began to settle. The blood flowing from the body of the demon stained the floor of the cave. Then, someone walked forward, stepping on the puddle of blood.

That someone was a woman with white hair, a stunning beauty as cold as ice, but everyone’s attention was drawn not to her face but to her sword, where blood was dripping steadily from its tip.

The woman whispered, though it was heard as clear as day since everyone was deathly silent.

“Where is Seo Gangrim?”