In this post-apocalyptic world, humanity forged its last line of defense: warriors ard with a weapon known as the Eater Blade. With every kill, the blade absorbs energy, evolving and ranking up alongside its wielder. These warriors begin as Unranked upon graduation, and through accumulating enough Feed Count, they can ascend through the ranks: Bronze, Steel, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Adamantite, Mythic and ultimately, GodEater.
In a world where rank ans everything, Johnquis remained Unranked.
A teenage boy with black hair and a lean body sprinted through the shattered streets, his high-tech black suit enhancing every step. His footsteps slamd the cracked ground and dodging rusted cars.
Behind him, a tall, ghoul-like creature shrieked. Its skin was bone-white, stretched tight over a fra of ribs and exposed spine. Its long arms clawed the ground as it chased, fast too fast.
The creature let out a throaty noise mix of a zombie and a wild animal.
"KHHHRRRAAAHH!"
The boy scread,
"WAAAH! Why are these things so damn fast at night!?"
He slid under a half-collapsed bridge, popped up, ran up a tilted concrete slab, and jumped to a higher level of the ruined building. He grabbed a dangling pipe, swung, landed hard on a tal platform, and kept running.
He muttered, vaulting over a crushed fence.
"Shit! Don’t you damn Eaters ever get tired? We’ve been running all day, it’s already dark!"
The Eater screeched as it followed him.
"SKRRAAAAGHH!
He shouted back,
"Shut the hell up, you walking corpse! Your breath reeks from all the way over here!"
He leapt through a shattered window, rolled across a dusty floor, and dash through empty rooms, dodging loose wires and collapsed beams. He climbed a crumbling stairwell, kicking debris as he went, his lungs burning.
He turned a corner and then stopped.
Dead end. Just a wall of rubble. No way up, no way down.
He turned slowly.
The Eater crawled in after him, head low, bones clicking with every movent.
A system ssage flashed in his vision:
[EATER]
Level: [1]
Feed Points: [ 100]
He sighed, chest heaving,
"Of course. Nowhere left to run. Guess it’s ti to fight to the death."
He clenched his fist. On the back of his right hand, a black stone glowed.
He shouted,
"BLADECALL!"
The Eater Stone sank into his skin. A violet vein crawled up his arm. Suddenly, chains appeared, wrapping tight around his right arm. They clanked heavily on the ground. No blade just cold, heavy steel.
"Everyone else gets swords, spears, even guns... real weapons. ? I get a damn leash."
The Eater lunged. He sidestepped fast, hooked the chain around its arm, and pulled hard. He drove a punch into its gut, slipped behind it, and looped the chain around its neck.
It thrashed, but he didn’t let go.
"You think I’m weak?! Just because I’m still unranked? Struggling to kill a Level 1 Eater ’cause my weapon doesn’t cut? Screw that. I’ll climb the ranks no matter how hard it gets!"
The creature slamd him into a wall. His vision blurred. Blood dripped from his lip. Still, he pulled the chain tighter.
"I’m not dying here!"
"KHRRAAH!"
"I have to get to my sister!"
The bones in its neck snapped. He didn’t stop.
"Breaking your neck won’t stop you."
He launched upward.
Chains rewrapped around his fists.
"I’ll smash your face in!"
He hamred it. Again, again, again until its skull caved in, bone cracking, violet blood spraying.
The Eater collapsed.
And so did he. Gasping, shaking, covered in blood.
"You almost had ... But almost doesn’t count."
[LEVEL 1 EATER DEFEATED]
[Feed Count: 100]
[Feed Count: 9,900/20,000]
"Damn it... still not even 10,000. After all that crap, and I still don’t have my first skill. Guess I better find another quest. Took too long again, huh?"
A chi echoed in his ears.
[Quest Complete]
[Difficulty: F Tier]
[Status: Solo]
[Quest Ti]
[5 hours and 42 minutes]
[Feed Count Gain]
[ 300]
[Previous: 9,600→ Current: 9,900 ( 300)]
[Damage Taken]
[Injury: Minor wounds]
[BONUS FEED COUNT CONDITION]
– Clear with no wounds.
Status: [FAILED]
- No bonus feed count obtained.
He wiped the blood from his lip and pushed himself up. He unsheathed his Eater Blade. It return to the black stone embedded in his right hand.
"Of course I didn’t hit the bonus... That’s why I’m grinding slower than everyone else."
The night was silent again, but the weight of failure pressed down on him.
Not even 10,000 feed count. No skill unlocked. Still stuck at unranked.
He looked up at the skyline. Broken buildings slicing through the moonlight. A mory hit him.
"We beca Eater Blades with one goal: to avenge everyone. You know that, Johnquis. Push yourself! If you’re weak, I’ll leave you behind. I won’t let you drag down!"
He muttered,
"Jiana... if I don’t get stronger soon, I’ll never be able to avenge them all. She’s out there alone. I’m supposed to protect her, I’m her big brother. Why did this happen to us? We never left each other. You always wanted by your side..."
The black Eater Stone on his hand still glowed faintly. A cold wind swept through him.
"I should do another quest... One more feed count and I’ll unlock my first skill. It might help rank up and catch up to my sister."
He raised his right hand and tapped the Eater stone.
In an instant, it flared to life. A faint digital screen lit up across the darkness, his profile blinking into view.
[PROFILE]
Na: [Johnquis]
Rank: [Unranked]
Feed Count: [9,900 / 20,000]
StarRate: [★☆☆☆☆]
Role: [Supporter - Control]
Status: [Solo]
He said quietly.
"Unranked... nearly 10,000 feed points left. It’s been three months since Jiana and I graduated. Heh... she’s probably way ahead by now, probably high rank."
He looked at his star rating.
"My star rating’s barely holding up. One star ans failure. I keep ssing up my quest scores. The quests drag on because I struggle to kill Eaters and barely survive. All because my Eater Blade is just a leash chain..."
He swiped to the next screen.
[SQUAD FINDER]
[Searching...]
[FILTERS]
Rank: [Any]
Rank Requirent: [None]
Role Needed: [Supporter]
[Searched completed!]
[Available Squads (4 found)]
[1] "TWILIGHT"
Captain: [Edword (Gold Rank)]
Rank Requirent: [None]
Role Needed: [Supporter]
[Join Request Rejected!]
[2] "TITANIC"
Captain: [Jocck (Silver Rank)]
Rank Requirent: [None]
Role Needed: [Supporter, Finisher]
[Join Request Rejected!]
[3] "KING"
Captain: [Cong (Silver Rank)
Rank Requirent: [None]
Role Needed: [Any]
[Join Request Rejected!]
[SSAGES]
[Rejection Notice — "Twilight"]
[Rejection Notice — "Iceberg"]
[Rejection Notice — "GIANT"]
Johnquis clenched his jaw, staring at the rejection ssages.
"Tch... Rejected again. Three squad. Three rejections. I didn’t expect to get accepted, but... everyone just shuts out. Not even one person willing to give a shot."
He looked down.
"Who’d want an unranked loser with a one-star rating, no skills, and a supporter role, right? Am I gonna spend my whole life stuck doing solo missions? Everyone else is ranking up fast. They’ve got teams. Teams an better quests, more feed count..."
He swiped again.
"I better find another quest. Night’s still young. One more run... just need to hit that 10,000 feed count."
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