Thalen is an E-rank Awakened with a Mythic-tier class: Questgiver.
His skill, Quest Granter, allows him to assign quests to others, but he must personally provide the reward.
Recently, the system began assigning dangerous kill quests to him.
He's under pressure to kill an A-rank hunter within six months, or face death himself.
Despite this looming danger, Thalen finds a brief moment to use his power for something small and selfish: to live.
Chapter: A Day Without Fear
There was a kill order hanging over his head like a guillotine.
Not from the guild. Not from a hunter.
From the system.
Kill an A-rank hunter in six months or die.
It wasn't a metaphor. The timer was real. The consequences were final.
Thalen Gray, E-rank Awakened and owner of the most ironically useless Mythic-class in Korea, was living on borrowed time.
But even the condemned needed to eat.
And maybe—just for one day—live like a person, not a walking obituary.
It was this desperation wrapped in a veneer of calm that led him to the wealthiest part of Valis City, wearing a thrifted hoodie and cracked sneakers, praying no one would look too closely.
The plan was simple.
Manipulate the system before it manipulated him.
He waited outside the lobby of the Skyglass Tower, a luxury residence stacked like golden bricks into the clouds. The kind of place where even the parking lot had more square footage than Thalen's shipping container.
He picked his mark carefully.
A man in his fifties, wearing a double-breasted suit and a wristwatch that could pay off Thalen's lifetime debt. His driver trailed behind him, murmuring updates. The man's face was bored—rich people always looked bored unless they were controlling something.
Thalen followed at a distance, pretending to tie his shoe by the valet entrance.
His fingers shook slightly as he pulled out his tablet. He whispered into the interface.
Quest Title: Divine Tribute
Description: Wire 1 million won to an unknown recipient. Trust in the unseen will.
Reward: Emotional clarity and a sense of higher purpose.
Penalty: Temporary anxiety and vague spiritual dread.
Duration: 5 minutes
He tapped the interface again, eyes narrowing.
Target Parameters: Human, non-Awakened, wealth above ₩10B.
[Quest Sent: Recipient – Han Joon-sik (Private Wealth: ₩22.4B)]
Thalen didn't breathe.
[Quest Accepted]
[₩1,000,000 has been transferred to your account]
He blinked.
Again.
It worked.
Not just in theory—in reality. The system had pushed the idea into the man's head. Nudged his emotional bias, maybe. A tiny tilt. A whisper in the subconscious.
And the man—who had never heard of Thalen—had followed through.
No alarms. No arrests.
Just cash.
Cold, clean, glorious won.
That afternoon, Thalen wasn't sitting on a concrete stoop, sipping boiled rainwater and chewing on regret.
He was in a book café, surrounded by warm lighting, honey bread, and the quiet hum of students pretending to study.
He'd ordered actual food. Bulgogi, kimchi pancakes, green plum soda—the good kind.
He didn't even look at the prices.
"I could get used to this," he muttered, chewing thoughtfully.
For a moment, he imagined a different life. One where he wasn't shackled to a suicide quest. One where the Questgiver class was something more than a cosmic joke. One where he didn't have to feel guilty about enjoying food.
Then he remembered the first time he used his skill like this. The food quest with the Oh couple next door. The debt that followed. The tray of bulgogi that tasted like despair.
This time was different.
This time, he wasn't tricking himself.
Later, he stopped by a department store.
He bought a set of new clothes—not fancy, but clean. Durable. He got sneakers that didn't leak in the rain. A secondhand but functional coat. A proper power bank so his tablet wouldn't die on him during raids.
Then came the small luxuries.
A sandwich from a bakery where the bread was still warm. A bus pass with actual money on it. A ten-pack of premium socks.
He even treated himself to something dumb: a novelty capsule toy. Out popped a little cat figurine with a smug face.
It made him laugh.
Not the empty, bitter kind he'd mastered, but a real one. Quiet. Honest.
That evening, he walked home through the old city, his duffel bag full of essentials slung over his shoulder, earbuds playing soft lo-fi beats.
The sky was overcast, but there was no rain. For once, the air didn't smell like rust and exhaust—it smelled like tteokbokki from a street stall and roasted chestnuts in foil.
Thalen sat at a park bench with a hot can of coffee.
He watched the city blink around him. People hurrying home. Lovers holding hands. Old men arguing over a chessboard.
A normal world built on top of a terrifying one.
Then came the system ping.
[System Notification: Behavioral Milestone Achieved]
[New Subskill Unlocked – Suggestive Influence (Rank E+)]
You may now apply slight emotional pressure to non-Awakened individuals to accept quests with minimal resistance.
Thalen's breath caught.
So the system had seen what he'd done.
Not punished it.
Rewarded it.
It was watching. Learning. Adapting with him.
Was this what it wanted all along?
For him to become a manipulator? A divine trickster whispering into people's decisions?
He didn't know.
But for the first time, he wasn't powerless.
That night, Thalen returned to his container not as a starving loner, but as someone with choice.
He heated water using an electric kettle he'd bought, not borrowed. He laid out the clothes neatly. Charged his devices. Even lit a cheap scented candle from the corner store.
His balance still showed ₩423,500.
Enough for a week or more if he was careful.
Tomorrow, the system might assign him another impossible quest.
Tomorrow, he'd still be the same E-rank, stuck in a game designed for people stronger and richer.
But tonight?
Tonight, Thalen had outplayed the world—if only for a day.
And for now, that was enough.