[Year: 1982]
[Location: An Undisclosed Monastery, Japan]
The winds howled through the desolate temple, carrying with them the whispers of something unnatural. The room was dimly lit, a circle of candles flickering violently as if resisting the power that threatened to engulf them.
In the center stood five figures, their faces hidden beneath tattered hoods, surrounding a massive stone tablet that pulsed with an eerie blue glow. Inscribed upon it were ancient markings, pulsating as though alive.
One of the figures stepped forward, his voice calm but heavy with authority.
"Tonight... we rewrite fate."
Another scoffed, his voice sharper, filled with impatience.
"Spare the theatrics, Master Renzou. We all know why we're here."
Renzou's gaze lingered on the tablet. "Do we?" he murmured. "Do you truly understand what it means to force open the gate?"
A third voice, softer yet filled with unshaken resolve, spoke from the shadows.
"The Life Scale keeps us separated... humans and spirits. But if we succeed tonight, we will ascend. We will become more than human."
A tense silence followed.
Then, the fourth figure, a woman spoke, her voice laced with reverence.
"The spirit world holds power beyond imagination. The monks of old feared it, but we..." she stepped closer to the tablet, her hands trembling, "...we will wield it."
The fifth figure remained silent, his hands gripping a ritual dagger. He had no words, only conviction.
Renzou exhaled, closing his eyes. "Then let it begin."
He raised his hands, and as he did, the markings on the tablet flared to life, their glow intensifying.
The others followed suit, chanting in unison
A language long forgotten, forbidden.
Crack.
A single fracture split across the surface of the tablet.
The candles snuffed out instantly.
The air turned heavy, as if the entire temple had sunk into an ocean of pressure. The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then a sudden scream.
Not human. Not of this world.
The room erupted in an explosion of dark energy, sending the five figures flying across the temple. The stone tablet shattered, and from its broken remains, a black mist began to seep out, twisting, growing... alive.
Eyes.Dozens of them.Opening within the mist.
The first spirits had emerged.
Renzou, coughing blood, tried to push himself up. His voice was weak, filled with horror.
"What... have we done?"
But there was no answer.
Only the sound of laughter, low, inhuman, endless.
And thus, the first crack in the Life Scale was made.
The world would never be the same again.
....
Narrative:
"Forty-five years…"
That's how long it's been since the breach. Since the world cracked open and let the monsters in.
They called them spirits, but they weren't the kind you pray to. They were twisted, hollow beings born from chaos, hate, sorrow. And for forty-five years, humanity has been clawing to survive.
I've never seen the world before the breach.
No peaceful sky. No cities without sirens. No childhood without nightmares.
I grew up in a world where humans and spirits coexisted… but not by choice. More like a forced relationship, with death constantly third-wheeling.
Anyways, I'm Takami Ryusei. Twenty-three years old.
A licensed spirit slayer.
And, if we're being honest... probably the weakest one alive.
Nah, scratch that. The weakest to ever exist.
I first saw a spirit when I was eighteen, never wanted to, but somehow I unlocked this stupid Grant.
Well you don't forget the first time. Not when it ends with your father collapsing beside you. Not when no one else sees the gaping hole in his chest or the bony hand pulling back into the shadows.
Only me.
That day changed everything.
The spirit slayer who saved us didn't say a word. Just ended it and vanished.
Meanwhile, I stood there shaking, heart pounding like it was trying to escape me.
After that, things spiraled. My mom got sick, but hid it. I had two younger siblings who still needed food on the table. So I dropped out of college, tried getting a job… something, anything to help. But you know, life doesn't care about sacrifices and pure heartedness, it spits you on the face and asks for more. In this world, there's only one thing people pay for that could be my last hope:
Killing spirits.
So I took the evaluation, hoping, praying I'd have at least some worth.
I thought I'd be decent. Maybe mid-tier.
But the system spit back my results like a cruel joke.
Rank-3 Low Grant Level.
Bottom of the barrel. The weakest category of spirit slayers.
And even among them... I was still the weakest.
I could've quit. I should've. But my friends didn't let me.
They supported me, gave up parts of their pay just to keep me going.
I couldn't keep living like a leech. So I started following them on their missions and taking on public missions from the JSSB (Japanese Spirit Slayer Board). Weak ones, ones meant for cowards like me.
But every mission… felt like rolling dice with death. If near death experiences were to be a human, then that'll be my closest friend. It's not like I chose this life willingly, I just had no other option.
Then came that mission.
The report said it was a small threat, at least for my friends not me. Something easy. But the moment we stepped into that village, I knew we'd been lied to, or worse, set up. That wasn't a low-tier spirit. That was something deadly… something cruel.
My friends were bleeding. Trying their best to make sure I could escape. Dying.
And I stood frozen again.
I hated myself.
When I could finally get a hold of myself, it was too late. And this wasn't near death, I was more than 100% sure I wasn't gonna see the morning sun another time.
That's when it happened.
Time slowed. The world muted. And something,no… someone whispered to me.
"You don't have much time left."
At least that's all I could remember. The figure gave me this strange orb that changed my life and the way I view it completely.
Once you awaken, your rank is a constant. No going up, no coming down…but I broke the system.
I wasn't supposed to grow. That's not how this world works.
But I did.
And that moment rewrote my fate.
Now… I'm being pulled into something deeper.
The spirits want me. The world is afraid of me. The gods watch.
They're whispering.
This isn't just a fight for survival anymore.
It's the beginning of a war.
And this is just the beginning of my journey from the weakest slayer ever…to becoming the strongest this world has ever known.