I walked out of the hospital through the back door.
The air outside was cold, but I didn't feel it. My Level 5 body was like a heater. Every muscle felt tight and ready. I looked at my reflection in a dark window. My silver eyes were glowing like twin moons. I pulled my hood up to hide them. In this world, looking different was a fast way to get unwanted attention from the police or the military.
The city was a complete mess.
Police sirens were everywhere, their red and blue lights bouncing off the glass buildings. People were running and screaming because of the red numbers in the sky. They thought the world was ending. They were right, but they were panicking the wrong way. They were wasting time crying and praying. I was using every second to grow stronger.
I turned into a dark alleyway where the streetlights were broken.
In my past life, I heard stories about the "Ghost Market." It was a secret place that appeared the moment the countdown started. It wasn't for normal people. It was for those who already had mana stones—the currency of the new world.
[Ding! Ghost Market Entrance Detected.] [Requirement: 10 Mana Stones to Enter.]
A gold screen appeared in front of a brick wall that looked like a dead end. I reached into my pocket and pulled out ten glowing blue stones. They felt cold, like ice cubes made of light. I pressed them against the rough bricks.
The wall didn't move, but the air did. It rippled like water in a pond. I took a deep breath and stepped through it.
Suddenly, the noise of the city vanished. No more sirens. No more screaming. I was standing in a long underground tunnel lit by purple torches. The fire didn't produce heat; it produced a strange, sweet smell. There were stalls on both sides of the tunnel. The people working the stalls weren't human. They were hooded figures with long, gray fingers and no faces.
This was the Black Market of the Void.
"Fresh blood has arrived," one of the shopkeepers hissed. It sounded like dry leaves rubbing together in a graveyard. "What do you want, little ant? I have swords that never dull and potions that heal any wound."
I didn't answer. I didn't even look at him. I walked past the cheap stuff. I didn't need rusted daggers or basic health potions that tasted like dirt. I had 40 High-Grade Mana Stones left. In this early stage of the game, that was a massive fortune. I was probably the richest person on Earth right now.
I stopped in front of a small stall at the very end of the tunnel.
There was no one working there, just a wooden box sitting on a black cloth. Inside the box was a single, dusty cloak. It looked like it was made of old rags, covered in spiderwebs. Most people would walk right past it, thinking it was trash.
But my silver eyes saw the truth. To me, the cloak was glowing with a deep, dark purple light.
[Item: Cloak of the Nameless (Rank: S)] [Effect: Hides your Level, Stats, and Name from everyone. You become a ghost to the System and to other players.] [Price: 30 High-Grade Mana Stones.]
"How much?" I asked the shadows behind the stall.
A tall, thin figure appeared out of thin air. It had no face, just a dark hole under a heavy hood. It leaned forward, its long fingers tapping on the table.
"Thirty stones," it whispered. "A very high price for a piece of old cloth, don't you think, boy?"
"It's not just cloth," I said. I didn't want to argue. I tossed the 30 blue stones onto the table. They glowed brightly, lighting up the shopkeeper's hooded face.
The figure grabbed the stones with its claws and disappeared back into the shadows. The cloak was mine.
I put it on immediately. The moment the cold fabric touched my shoulders, I felt a shiver run down my spine. The glowing silver lines on my skin faded away. My silver eyes stopped glowing and turned back to a normal brown. To anyone else, I now looked like a normal, boring teenager in a hoodie.
[Ding! S-Rank Item Equipped: Cloak of the Nameless.] [Your identity is now hidden. Even the Gods cannot see you.]
This was exactly what I needed.
If I wanted to stay at the top, I couldn't let the government or other "Awakened" people find me. I needed to be a ghost. A shadow that kills and disappears before anyone can ask questions. Information is the most dangerous weapon in the apocalypse, and I just took mine off the map.
I moved to the next stall. This one was filled with old books.
"Looking for knowledge?" a voice rasped.
I ignored the shopkeeper and looked at a small, black book in the corner. It wasn't a skill book. It was a map. A map of the city, but with red dots marked all over it.
[Item: Map of the First Wave (Rank: B)] [Effect: Shows the locations of all Level 1 to Level 10 Rifts for the next 48 hours.] [Price: 4 High-Grade Mana Stones.]
I bought it without thinking. Knowing where the monsters would appear next was worth more than gold. It meant I could hunt while others were still hiding in their basements.
I had 6 stones left. I looked around one last time before leaving.
Near the exit, a small, dirty cage caught my eye. It was sitting in the mud. Inside was a black egg about the size of a football. It was covered in cracks, and it looked dead and dried out. A small sign on the cage said: Trash - 5 Stones. No Refunds.
I walked over and touched the egg. It felt heavy and cold.
[Warning: Unknown Lifeform Detected.] [Soul Link possible? (Success rate: 0.01%)]
My heart skipped a beat. In my past life, there was a legend about a "Black Dragon" that hatched from a trash pile and destroyed an entire country in a single night. No one knew where it came from or who owned it.
I looked closer at the egg. The cracks weren't from being broken. They were veins. Beneath the shell, I could feel a tiny, rhythmic pulse. It was breathing. It wasn't dead; it was starving.
"I'll take the egg," I said, tossing 5 stones to a small, goblin-like creature nearby.
I tucked the heavy egg under my arm, wrapping it in my new cloak. I had 1 stone left and a bag full of S-Rank gear. The sun was starting to come up over the city, turning the sky a dusty pink. The first day of the countdown was almost over.
I stepped out of the Ghost Market and back into the real world.
The red numbers were still there, ticking down the end of everything.
[29:18:12:05]
I looked at the hospital in the distance. I looked at the crowds of people crying in the streets, holding onto each other for comfort. They were so weak. They were waiting for a hero to save them. They didn't know that heroes died first in the apocalypse.
"The hunt is over for tonight," I whispered. "Now, it's time to hatch a god."
I started walking toward my small apartment. I had a lot of work to do. I needed to feed the egg with my own mana, learn how to use my new 'Shadow Blink' skill, and get ready for the next rift.
The world was dying. But for the first time in two lives, I was truly alive. And this time, I wasn't going to let anyone take it away from me. I had thirty days to turn this city into my kingdom.
I felt the egg vibrate against my side. It was hungry.
"Patience," I told it. "Soon, there will be plenty of blood for both of us."
I disappeared into the morning fog, just another face in a world that was about to burn.