The rain did not stop for an entire day. Water rushed down drain pipes like a raging river. Students leapt over small puddles and covered their heads from stray water droplets.
As Shai went to get a snack, he suddenly felt a presence behind him, looming over his shoulder.
The Awakening and Ranking event was done. The results were going to be posted in a few hours, but it was already clear where Shai would end up.
‘Dead last,’ Shai sighed, already expecting what came next.
The world blurred for a moment, and in the next, Shai’s face met the cold, wet floor. The pouring rain fell on his back like drum, sending a literal chill throughout his body.
“HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA,”
There was an eruption of laughter.
“Look! It’s the unawakened going back to sleep! As he should!”
"I can’t believe how weak he is. It was only a slight push but I sent him flying!”
“Quick! Take a picture. It looks like some kind of painting!"
The jeers and the voices buzzed in Shai’s ears. Still dazed from hitting his head on the ground, he silently engraved this humiliation in his heart.
There was no use in fighting back.
He would only suffer more.
Thus, despite the chilling rain drops soaking his clothes, he simply laid there. Motionless. As if unconscious.
Seeing as Shai had no further reactions, the students all moved on, still giggling like little children. Other passersby were clueless as to why Shai was targeted, but no one went up to help him. As they had all awakened to their mana, it was easy to discern when another person had not done the same.
They could not feel any mana emanate from Shai’s sad form.
‘Bastards,’ Shai cursed.
Although he had played the game for years on end, experiencing the oppression of the talented himself was a jarring experience. Rage welled from deep within him.
He wanted to annihilate everyone around him. Paint the walls red with their blood.
But alas, he could not anything of the sort.
Not yet.
***
Eventually, Shai was able to stand up. However, he was too cold and too wet to continue going to class.
So, he went back to his dorm room, showered in hot water, and changed his clothes. With his runny nose, he slid into his sheets, and allowed himself to drift into dreamland.
Sickness was surely going to reach him.
After all, the rain today was special.
It was the catalyst for hell-mode’s difficulty. A cause of mutation. A disruptor of mana itself.
The lore-engrossed players dubbed it, the [Downpour of Filth].
***
Meanwhile, Thomas Veridias noticed his absence. He looked at the glaringly empty seat in the middle of the class and could already guess as to what had happened. However, other than a few words of condolence in his mind, he brushed the thought away.
This was the fate of those who could not awaken.
Surely, Shai had expected this to happen when he applied as a scholar.
He had no reason to protect such a person like a mother hen defending her chicks. It was not in his job description.
He was merely there to make sure that the students in his classroom would be able to enter the tower and scale its heights. What was he supposed to do with a student that could not even do the bare minimum?
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
***
Shai had a valid excuse to stay in his dorm room for three days straight.
He was sick.
Aside from his obvious fever, an invisible and dark, disgusting energy permeated around him, causing changes to his body on a structural level. No one other than him could see what was happening.
—Ding!
[Warning! You have been afflicted with the Curse of Filth! Your body is mutating!]
—Ding!
[Warning! You have been afflicted with the Curse of Filth! Your body is mutating!]
—Ding!
[Warning! You have been afflicted with the Curse of Filth! Your body is mutating!]
If he allowed this to continue, Shai would become one of the first monsters who would appear in the game — a Rotting Shadow.
Hulking masses of dark, gangrene-like substances, walking with limbs far longer than its own body, and melding into the darkness of the night.
Rotting Shadows were nearly impossible to see in the darkness. The only telltale sign of their presence was the immense stench that they naturally exuded.
A dizzying, debuff-inducing stench.
To Shai, however, this was an opportunity.
It was the invasion of mana in his body. Mana that was becoming his own as his body slowly mutated. Although the mana was dark and disgusting, it was still mana nonetheless.
Lying in bed for three days straight, Shai was slowly waiting for right moment to act. Food was being delivered to him, but he could only ever take a few bites before throwing it all up.
It was clear that his body was rejecting normal human food.
What he was slowly craving for… was human flesh.
—Ding!
[Warning! You have been afflicted with the Curse of Filth! Your body is mutating!]
—Ding!
[Warning! You have been afflicted with the Curse of Filth! Your body is mutating!]
—Ding!
[Warning! You have been afflicted with the Curse of Filth! Your body is mutating!]
The notifications kept coming. And the days slowly went by.
After a week of being bedridden, and at the moment that Shai felt his consciousness wane, there was a sudden pulse of mana.
Shai’s eyes jolted open, desperately fighting the monstrous instinct that threatened to control him.
He tapped into the filthy mana within him, reaching out despite the pain.
He coughed up blood as the mana raged from his aggression. It fought back, like a savage with no morals.
Havoc swiftly erupted as his blood vessels burst. His nose began to bleed, and his eyes were completely bloodshot.
Eventually, he began crying tears of blood. The pain was unimaginable.
Yet Shai persisted.
This was his only opportunity. This was also a part of his plan.
Even if his classmates had not pushed him into the rain, he would have willingly stepped into it as well.
“GRAH!”
With a bestial roar, Shai used his all his willpower to connect his mind to the filthy mana.
Suddenly, something clicked.
—Ding!
[You have sensed the presence of mana. Your soul has come into contact with a higher energy!]
[Mana is pouring into your body!]
[Warning! You are not an Awakened! The mana is corroding your body!]
“Damn it!” Shai cursed as he felt the power of mana in his soul. It was like walking straight into a powerful headwind. Every step was laborious.
Every step was a strain.
However, all he needed was that one moment.
That one moment when his stats would activate.
And that moment arrived faster than he expected.
—Ding!
[Mana has been detected within your body and soul.]
[!@$*#-Rank Creation is stirring!]
—Ding!
[The Title, ‘One True Maker’ has been fully unlocked!]
[The effects of the Title, ‘One True Maker’ is now clear to you!]
“Finally!”
Shai gasped. This was what he was waiting for.
[Title: One True Maker]
[Description: The title given to the entity with the highest attainments in Creation.]
[Effect 1, All-Maker: You have the ability to Create anything that comes to mind, as long as the right materials are available. (A-Rank Effect)]
[Effect 2, Atomic Handler: Wastage in any field of Creation is reduced by 99.9999%. (?-Rank Effect)]
[Effect 3, Conceptualiser: You have the ability to Create a [Concept] when certain conditions are met. (!@-Rank Effect)]
[Effect 4, Idealist: You have the ability to Create an [Ideal] when certain conditions are met. ($*#-Rank Effect)]
[Effect 5, Entropic Mage: You have the ability to manipulate [Entropy] when certain conditions are met. (!$*?-Rank Effect]
[Effect 6, God-making: You have the ability to Create [Existence] when certain conditions are met. (!@$*#-Rank Effect)]
Seeing this screen, Shai only had one word for it.
“Crazy,” Shai closed his eyes and spread his influence over his entire body.
He then invoked [Creation].
—Ding!
[Conditions have been met.]
[The A-Rank Effect, All-Maker, has been activated!]
[The following materials have shown themselves to you for your usage: Filth Mana, Mutated Human Body, Otherworldly Soul]
Shai’s mind spun rapidly.
Filth Mana.
A mutated body.
A soul that was not from this world.
Eventually, he fell upon a certain decision. It was what he needed the most. He had to give himself a body that was capable of handling mana.
“Create, [Mana Circuit]!”
—Ding!
[The Title, ‘One True Maker’ is reacting.]
[Acknowledging the One True Maker, Shai's, original intent…]
[The requirements for [Eldritch Circuit], Mutated Human Body, and Otherworldly Soul, have been met!]
[Adjusting to match!]
[Mana Circuit → Eldritch Circuit]
Shai was stunned.
“No way,”
This was from a certain ‘talent’ that existed in the game, held only by a single monster. It was a biological construct that bordered on spiritual. It allowed the monster to manipulate mana in ways that any other being in the game could not.
A freak of nature.
However, his title was not yet done reacting.
[Due to the presence of Filth Mana, a further change is occurring!]
[Eldritch Circuit → Aberrant Circuit]
At that point, Shai was beyond speechless. A small tinge of fear for his own existence sprouted within him.