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5 | Why Am I Ranked So Low?!

You have defeated a [B-rank Cyclops]! You have leveled up!

[Level: 7 (40/100)]

[Strength: 18.5]

[Speed: 23.5]

[Magic: 0]

[Vitality: 114/114]

Riley’s heart starts beating; this isn’t the system he had before. This is entirely different. This system allowed you to level up—you couldn’t with the normal system. This is unique; once a person awakens. They’re stuck with their stats; they can train, but it wouldn’t raise their stats significantly. Also, there are no titles. The only thing a normal awakened could see was their stats and skills. His heart dropped when he saw his magic stats; it was so low. He has no magic whatsoever; he had magic in his past life. So why is it different here?

This is horrible news; most of the skills he developed had to use magic. This means that he’s stuck with the basic, no-magic skills such as [Pierce], [One Slash, One Life], etc. Riley looked at the dead Cyclops; he finally awakened. “Attention! The ‘Portal Leak’ has been solved! Please wait until it is completely safe." The announcement blared throughout the S-district. Riley looked around the area; blood covered the area. Riley looked back at the system window; he still doesn’t know what’s a ‘True Awakening’ or whatever they called it.

Riley decided to check his rank. Riley finally arrived at the agency; Riley entered. Riley went to the front desk. “I would like to get my ‘Hunter’ license,” Riley said to the lady. “Sure, name, date of birth, and district, please,” the lady asked. “I am Riley Whitlock, June 11, 2001, and I am from the S-district,” Riley replied; the lady started to type away the information. Riley tapped his foot on the marble flooring. He looked around. He will no longer be a damn ‘Crystal Miner.’ He looked back at the lady who was still typing.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the lady looked at Riley. She took out a round crystal under the desk and placed it on the counter. “This is a ‘Magic Affinity,’” the lady said. “Please put your hand on the crystal. It’ll measure your magic.” Riley looked at the crystal; he placed his hand on the crystal. The crystal started to glow. After a few seconds, the lady opened her mouth to speak, “You can take your hand off.” The lady took the crystal and started to analyze it. “Unfortunately, you do not possess any magic. However, you are ‘Awakened.’ You are an E-rank,” the other hunters in the agency turned their heads to look at Riley.

Riley’s mouth was closed; his eyes widened. E-rank is the lowest of the lowest; you’re only stronger than a human by a small margin. He looks at his system’s window; he has no magic stats. The lady gave him his license; he looked at it. He looked at the rank. It was an E-rank. He clutched the license in his hands; he stashed it away. He turned around and took his departure. On the way home, hunters stopped him. “Are you a hunter?” They asked. Riley took out his license and showed it to them. They grabbed it and analyzed it.

“E-rank? I guess they deployed anybody for the leak,” the hunter said as he analyzed the license. He gave it back to Riley; Riley grabbed the license. He walked toward his apartment; he saw cleaners cleaning up the blood and corpse. They carried the monsters and human bodies. He finally reached his apartment; his eyes widened at the sight. The building was destroyed during the leak. “Open system,” Riley said as he rubbed his temples.

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System:

Name: Riley Whitlock

[Level: 7 (40/100)]

Title: [True Awakened]

[Strength: 18.5]

[Speed: 23.5]

[Magic: 0]

[Vitality: 114/114]

Skills: [One Slash, One Life], [The Threads of Life], [Hack n Slash], [Pierce]

Passives: [The Mad Swordsman]

Items: [NONE]

Riley looked at the title; he tapped on it. The blue translucent screen rippled from his touch.

[The Mad Swordsman]

Riley carefully read the buffs and description. This passive skill was good—really good. He exits the description area and analyzes the system’s window again. He’s level seven; that’s good, he thinks. It looks like his stats increase with each level. Riley quickly does the math in his head. His strength and speed increased by 0.5 levels; his magic did not increase whatsoever. The vitality stats increased by 2 levels. He looked back at his apartment. He had nowhere else to go; he had no friends or family. He needed money for a new apartment; he had an idea.

He could farm for ‘Mana Cores.’ ‘Mana Cores’ are located in every monster; the higher rank the monster is, the better grade the core. The cores are used in potions, items, and even weapons. You usually sell them to an agency or a private individual who requests them. Riley started to walk toward the farming location. It would take a while since he had no transportation. He checked his phone, and his heart sank. The background contained a picture of his now-deceased family. He couldn’t protect them.

After a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived at the portal. It was a giant, huge E-rank portal; soldiers were guarding it. He approached the soldier. “I would like to enter, please,” Riley asked as he showed the soldiers his Hunter license. The soldier inspected it. “Alright, please take note that we will not hold responsibility for your death or any misfortunes. It’s recommended to enter with a guild or raid party. It is quite dangerous since you’re an E-rank,” the soldier said as he gave Riley his license back.

Riley nods and heads inside the portal. It’s an open world, with trees stretched across the landscape. Riley explored the forest. He heard some noises.

A goblin appeared; Riley looked at the goblin. The goblin rushed at Riley with its dagger; Riley dodged the attack. He grabbed the dagger out of the goblin’s hand.

[Pierce]

You have defeated a [E-rank Goblin]!

[Level: 7 (80/100)]

Riley grinned; he looked at the dagger in his hands. It was small and worn out. “Eh, a sword would’ve been better, but it’s better than nothing,” Riley said as he looked at the dead goblin. He stabs the goblin’s body; his hand enters the goblin’s gut in search of something. After a few seconds, he takes out his hand revealing a ‘Mana Core.’

Would you like to add [Mana Core] to your inventory?

or

Riley’s eyes widened at the notification. Does he also have an inventory? Riley tapped the ‘yes’ button; his ‘Mana Core’ started to disappear. “It’s time to earn some money!”