The Weakest Hunter's Evolution

Chapter 8 ; Reawakening

The first thing Ethan heard was a beeping sound.

A slow, repeated noise.

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

His mind felt heavy.

Like he had been asleep for years.

His body felt strangely unfamiliar.

For a moment, Ethan couldn't remember where he was.

Then memories rushed back.

The shrine.

The ancient knights.

The king's terrifying smile.

The final attack.

The darkness.

The system.

His eyes suddenly opened.

Bright white light filled his vision.

The ceiling above him was not made of ancient stone.

There were no giant statues.

No monsters.

No enemies.

Only a hospital room.

Ethan stared blankly.

"Where..."

His voice was weak.

The sound immediately caught someone's attention.

"Ethan?"

A shocked voice came from beside him.

He slowly turned his head.

And froze.

A girl was sitting beside his hospital bed.

Her eyes widened.

Tears immediately appeared.

"Ethan!"

She stood up quickly.

"You woke up!"

Before he could respond, she hugged him tightly.

Ethan was surprised.

For a moment, he didn't move.

Then his expression softened.

"Sera..."

His younger sister.

The one person who had always believed in him.

Even when everyone else called him useless.

Even when other hunters laughed at his rank.

She never once looked at him that way.

"You idiot..."

Her voice trembled.

"Do you know how long you were unconscious?"

Ethan looked away.

"How long?"

"Eight days."

His eyes widened slightly.

Eight days.

He had been gone for eight days.

Sera wiped her eyes.

"The Hunter Association said your team was found outside the dungeon entrance."

Ethan became serious.

"My team..."

"They're alive."

Relief immediately appeared on his face.

Victor.

Lena.

Everyone escaped.

His sacrifice wasn't meaningless.

Sera noticed his expression.

"You really were only thinking about them, weren't you?"

Ethan smiled faintly.

"Someone had to."

She sighed.

"You never change."

Before Ethan could ask more questions, the hospital door opened.

Two people entered.

Their presence immediately changed the atmosphere.

They were not ordinary visitors.

The first was a middle-aged man wearing a formal black suit.

The badge on his chest showed his rank.

A-Rank Hunter Association Official.

Beside him was a woman wearing glasses and a dark coat.

Her badge showed an even higher position.

A special investigator.

Sera became nervous.

"Ethan..."

The man stepped forward.

"Ethan Ardent."

Ethan looked at him.

"Yes?"

"We need to ask you some questions about the dungeon incident."

Ethan remained silent.

He expected this.

The dungeon had been classified as E-rank.

But it had nearly killed an entire team.

Something was wrong.

The woman opened a file.

"According to the report, your team entered an ordinary E-rank dungeon."

She looked at him.

"Then something happened inside."

Ethan didn't answer immediately.

The shrine.

The king.

The trials.

The system.

He couldn't explain everything.

Not yet.

The official continued.

"You survived an event that should have been impossible."

The woman studied him.

"There is a possibility that you experienced a second awakening."

Ethan looked confused.

A second awakening.

Some hunters experienced a rare phenomenon where their abilities evolved dramatically after extreme situations.

It was incredibly rare.

Those individuals can rise to higher ranks like A or even S ranks.

And usually happened to talented hunters.

Not E-ranks.

The man placed a testing device on the table.

"Please allow us to check your mana."

Ethan nodded.

The device scanned him.

Everyone waited.

The machine processed the results.

Then...

A message appeared.

Rank: E-Rank

Ability: Energy Reinforcement

Mana Capacity: E-Rank

Evolution Status: None Detected

The room became silent.

The woman looked at the results.

Then at Ethan.

"No reawakening."

The A-rank official frowned.

"Are you certain?"

"Completely."

She looked at Ethan.

"Your condition is unusual, but your power remains unchanged."

Ethan stared at the screen.

Still E-rank.

After everything.

After surviving the shrine.

After receiving the system.

To everyone else...

He was still the weakest.

The official closed the file.

"Your recovery is considered a miracle."

He looked disappointed.

"But there is no evidence of an awakening."

They left shortly after.

The door closed.

Sera looked at Ethan.

"Are you okay?"

Ethan looked at his hands.

A small smile appeared.

"Yeah."

Because they were wrong.

They only measured what they could see.

They didn't know about the system.

They didn't know what was inside him.

Later that night, Ethan sat alone in his hospital bed.

The room was dark.

He stared out the window.

For years, he had wanted people to recognize him.

But now...

He realized something.

He didn't need their approval anymore.

A familiar blue screen appeared.

Only he could see it.

[Sacrifice System Activated.]

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

Finally.

The system.

A new message appeared.

[Daily Quest Available.]

Quest: Rebuild the Weak Hunter

Requirements:

Complete 100 push-ups.

Complete 100 sit-ups.

Run 10 kilometers.

Train combat skills for 1 hour.

Time Limit: 24 Hours

Failure Penalty: Unknown

Reward: System Points + Special Item

Ethan stared.

A training quest.

After everything he had experienced...

The system wanted him to start from the beginning.

A small smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Even the system thinks I'm weak."

But unlike everyone else...

The system wasn't mocking him.

It was giving him a chance.

Ethan looked at the quest again.

Then he clenched his fist.

"Fine."

"If this is where I start..."

"Then I'll climb from the bottom."

The weakest hunter had returned.

But this time...

He was no longer walking the path alone