Aravark, a Dreadnought-class battleship from the Galactic Federation, had suffered a terrible defeat after being ambushed by space pirates.

Almost all of the crew onboard, including the officers, had been killed in battle. The only survivor was the mechanic operating the spare thermal core in the secondary engine room.

And even that mechanic was currently critically injured, and the System had to mobilize the few remaining maintenance golems it had to move it to the cryonic section of the main hull to preserve his life.

[Pursuit team detected.]

[Automatic evasive measures will be executed in fifteen seconds.]

[Warp activated.]

In a last-ditch effort to prevent the Dreadnought’s technology from going into the hands of the space pirates, the ship used a large portion of its energy to warp to a faraway galaxy.

[Energy remaining: 5.12%]

[Searching for habitable planet.]

[Planet capable of sustaining life detected.]

[Distance: 16.3 billion kilometers.]

[Initiating Emergency Landing Protocol.]

[No officer above Captain rank has been detected onboard Aravark.]

[As per Article 917, Section 6 of the Revised Emergency Fleet Succession Law, the nearest in rank shall be temporarily promoted to Admiral level.]

[Changes shall be revoked immediately upon return to home planet.]

[Ship mechanic, Petty Officer Isaac Segarus has been promoted to Ship Admiral.]

[Requesting permission to land from Admiral Isaac.]

[Request timed out.]

[Initiating Emergency Landing.]

[Target: Planet EA908-XRV of the LY78 System.]

[Increasing Speed.]

[Everyone, please brace for impact.]

[May the Aether be with us.]

[Long live the Galactic Federation.]

***

[Planet EA908-XRV of LY78 System, commonly known as Earth]

Thirty-five years had passed since portals connected to the other world appeared in this world.

The mana seeping out of the portals caused mutations in nearly half of all the animals in the world, turning them into grotesque, mindless beasts.

Moreover, from the portals came out creatures heard of only in books and legends.  Goblins, ogres, orcs, harpies, kobolds, minotaurs, lizardmen, undeads, and even dragons – all kinds of monsters imaginable came out of the portals and started inhabiting the planet.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

And to make matters worse, the weapons the humans were so confident of proved nearly useless before these monsters.

Firearms could somewhat deal with the mutated animals and weaker monsters, but they did little to no damage against larger and stronger beasts that came out of the portal.

Backed into a corner, the human race lost half of its territory during just the first year since the portals opened. And by the fifth year, only a tenth of their original territory remained.

On the sixth year since the portals opened in this world, Awakened Ones started appearing among humans.

Awakened Ones were humans whose body had become mutated by the mana seeping out of the portals. The changes in their constitution granted them power capable of fighting even against the monsters that came from the portals.

They were real life superhumans. Strategic weapons deployed by the human race during the war in order drive away monsters and reclaim lost lands.

With the help of the Awakened Ones, the human race finally started to slowly recover the territories they’d lost, one region at a time.

***

[Republic of Krista]

“Huff… Huff….”

A man huffed as he pushed the cart containing the dismantled carcass of a minotaur. His entire body was filled with sweat, but he didn’t stop as he continued pushing the cart toward the receiving station.

“Faster! We didn’t hire you bastards to idle around like this!”

The high-pitched voice of the angry Manager resounded in the dismantling center.

Dozens of F-ranked awakeneds roamed around, carrying and moving stuff here and there. Some operated the cranes, some dismantled carcasses, and some hauled the flesh to containers.

This place was the Fifth Dismantling Center in the City of Inaka in the Republic of Krista.

Only mid-ranking monster corpses and above were being sent to this place, their dismantled parts transported and processed later on in another center.

It was one of the largest dismantling centers in the entire country.

“Rocky! You piece of shit! Did you nick the minotaur’s bones again?!”

Rocky, the man pushing the cart containing the minotaur’s carcass, halted in his tracks.

He was a man in his late twenties. And based on his dark skin, it was apparent he was an immigrant.

“Manager, the femur was already in that state when I received the body.”

Manager Craug, a D-rank awakened, strutted. His bulging belly bounced as he sneered, “Hah! Evading responsibility again, I see. This is why I kept telling the Director we shouldn’t hire Carvians! Another useless mouth to feed! Our city is nearly saturated because of damn immigrants like you!”

Rocky had been experiencing bullying and humiliation from this workplace since he’d transferred here half a year ago.

A minotaur was a C-ranked monster that required a party of awakeners to subjugate. The monster was the very definition of brute strength. Its skin was tougher than hides, its flesh as tough as iron, and its bones stronger than steel.

Even if Rocky tried, he would never be able to nick its bones with his meager strength.

The Manager also knew this, too, but still chose to reprimand Rocky regardless.

“Listen, mutt from Carvia,” said the Manager. “You should be grateful you’ve been given a job. If not for us, you would have been wandering the ruins and the Wasteland right now, scavenging for any food on the ground.”

Rocky felt his blood boiling, but he reined in his anger.

He needed to endure it. Otherwise, he would be kicked out of this city along with his family.

Manager Craug started poking Rocky’s chest with his stubby fingers.

“I can fire you wish just a snap of my finger,” said the Manager. “You got mouths to feed, no? I heard your mother was sick recently. Surely, it’s not monsterization?”

Hearing the word monsterization, Rocky almost snapped.

Carvians like him were commonly known in the world as spawns of the devil. They were one of the few races that were susceptible to monsterization, a process opposite of awakening.

Although both processes granted a person immense power, they were a stark contrast from each other. Awakening allowed one to retain their humanity, while monsterization turned one into a beast devoid of all rationality.

This was the reason why Carvians were commonly shunned wherever they went.

It was also the reason why their country was abandoned by the Grand Alliance a decade ago, resulting in the death of nearly all of their citizens.

Now, the surviving Carvians had been scattered throughout the world, working like slaves for a pittance.

Rocky deeply breathed in and out. He clenched his fists so hard that blood started to drip out.

“It’s not monsterization, Sir,” said Rocky through gnashed teeth. “My mother has already recovered from her fever.”

Noticing his anger, the Manager smiled, “Heh~ is that so? That woman… she recovered? Good for you then. Keke.”

For a moment, Rocky’s vision turned black from rage. Thankfully, he managed to control himself at the last moment.

Noticing this, Manager Craug smirked.

“You want to hit me, don’t you?”

“…No, not at all, Sir.”

“Lies. Keke, no matter. It’s really fun seeing you struggle like this.”

Manager Craug looked at the minotaur carcass on top of the cart, then at Rocky’s shaking pupils. He tapped Rocky’s shoulders twice.

“I’ll let this one pass. Be careful next time, alright? It’ll be a pity if you lose this job. Imagine what would happen if you and your family get kicked out of this city after failing to pay the tax.”

Rocky swallowed his anger and pride. “…Thank you, Sir.”

The Manager spat on the ground.

“Ptooey! Ah, clean that one, too. You can do that for me, no?”

Rocky slowly nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

Broadly smiling, the Manager started walking away. “Tsk, tsk. This is why Carvians should be banned from this center. Haaah, my head hurts just thinking what would happen if they suddenly turn into monsters.”

After the Manager left, a tall, muscular man approached Rocky.

“Rocky.”

The man looked in the direction of the Manager and frowned.

“If you have plans on reporting that pig to the Director, I’ll help you.”

The man was a fellow dismantler from the center. Although his hairy chest and large build made him look menacing, he was also just an F-ranked awakener.

“…Jack.”

“He’s been going way overboard recently. I understand he’s stressed out due to the sudden increase in quota, but that’s not enough reason to take out his frustrations on us.”

Seeing a fellow dismantler being angry for his sake, Rocky’s emotions started calming down somewhat.

“I’ll clean that spit on the ground for you,” said Jack. “You still haven’t transported all carcasses from your storage, right? Go.”

If Rocky failed to transport all of the carcasses from his assigned storage on time, he wouldn’t be paid his daily wage. As underpaid as he was, a single day of loss would spell the difference between life and death for his starving family.

Missing a single day of pay would snowball into debt, eventually leading to failure to pay their taxes.

Those who’d failed to pay their taxes would be always kicked out of the city, no exemptions.

And being kicked out of the city meant they would have to defend themselves against the monsters on their own. For a low-ranking awakener like himself, it was no different from a death sentence.

“Thank you, Jack. I owe you one.”

“Nah, just go. Devil spawns, my ass. All I can see is a man trying to survive. You’re a good guy, Rocky. I hope you’ll stick around.”