The old man passed away, and with my own two hands, I buried his body beneath the earth.

He wasn’t one of my favorites, but I owed him a great deal. He let me live in his home for a long time—from when I was fifteen until I turned twenty.

My parents were dead, so I had no one—no siblings, no family. My father had already pawned the house and everything we owned before he died, so I lost everything. Because, as I’ve said before… in this world, the strength of your Ghinn determines your ability to survive.

“I need a new place to live now…” I muttered, my face pressed against the table, hands over my head, staring into the abyss. That was all that occupied my mind at that moment.

Not long after, the government seized the old man’s house. Believe it or not, it turned out that his home had been mortgaged to them as well. That’s when I set off for the royal capital.

“I never thought I’d end up traveling to Hades in search of work.”

Hades—the royal capital—was named after the ruler of the underworld, the bringer of wealth.

It was one of the three great capitals, the kingdom’s beating heart, its lifeblood. All trade and goods passed through Hades before spreading across the kingdom. It was also home to the Adventurers’ Guilds.

Maybe I’d find work as a vegetable vendor or something.

The journey took two days by carriage before I finally reached the capital. I wasn’t paying much attention at first, but the first thing I laid eyes on was a thief.

Right in front of me, he was using his abilities to force an old woman to hand over her money. Everyone just stood and watched. I didn’t blame them. Even I stood and watched.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Well, that’s quite the welcome for my first day in the capital…”

I checked into a small inn down a narrow alley and sat, lost in thought. The old man’s words wouldn’t leave my head:

"Use your Ghinn to live a better life."

Damn it. What kind of dog crap was he talking?

I drifted into sleep, sinking into my thoughts.

In that dark space, I felt gravity pressing down on my shoulders, like a massive boulder had fallen on top of me.

The silence was deafening. The air was thick. The darkness was suffocating. It felt like I was deep under the ocean.

And then, in the middle of that void, I heard the old man’s voice calling my name.

“Damn it… even now, this old man won’t leave me alone…”

“You’ve always been an ill-mannered brat!”

“You’re appearing in my dreams now, old man?!”

I actually said that out loud—but… was this really a dream?

My chest felt like it was about to split in half from the pressure, yet the old man stood there, completely fine.

“Why don’t we have a little chat, kid?”

“What?! You come to me in the middle of all this just to talk? You’re dead! I buried you! I feel like I’m drowning, my chest is about to explode, and yet you’re standing there like nothing’s wrong?!”

“You must be sensing the Ghinn radiating from me… This isn’t a dream. This is your subconscious. You’re awake, but you’re also asleep. I left the last of my Ghinn inside your memory so I could tell you this after I pass on.”

I went silent for a moment, staring at the old man seriously.

I had so many questions…

How did he even have Ghinn? Why hadn’t I ever sensed it before? And why was he telling me this now, after he was already dead?

These thoughts swirled in my mind, but I kept quiet and let him speak.

“Alright, say what you need to say.”

“You know you’re special, don’t you?”

“I’m not.”

“Heh. Caught me. Look, all I want is for you to live a fulfilling life. And we both know that the life of a non-adventurer is nothing but dull and miserable. You need to become an adventurer—but you need to live, too.”

“And how did the people of these kingdoms survive without being adventurers?”

“They live, but they live under the rule of adventurers and their system. At any moment, adventurers could upend the entire kingdom—no, the entire world. But adventurers are just one small piece of the bigger picture.”

The old man was right. I could see it in his eyes—he was serious about every word.

I didn’t hate adventurers, but I despised the class divide. I wasn’t some warrior for justice. But I was a warrior for my own rights.

And if I wanted to survive in this capital, I would survive—no matter the cost.

The old woman who was robbed was a clear example: only the strong survive. The government might claim to help, but that was nothing more than a comforting lie.

Being an adventurer didn’t come with restrictions—it placed you above the law. It gave you a certified license to rule.

“Well, kid, I don’t think I need to say anything else. Seems like you’ve already got it figured out.”

I gave him one last look before he began dissolving into the air.

He scattered like salt in the ocean.

The crushing weight that nearly split me in two vanished, and the fog began to lift.

The world around me blurred, fading into an overwhelming, pure white.

It was an empty, featureless room—a cube of nothingness.

Was this my subconscious?

“…Am I really this empty?”