“What?”
I blinked several times and muttered under my breath.
“What kind of bullshit is this?”
A bad feeling came crashing over me, making me frown.
A main quest right after a hidden quest? Are these quests going to keep coming like this?
“And this one even has a time limit.”
You're seriously giving someone who just died and came back only two hours?
It was ridiculous—but I couldn’t ignore it, not after the kind of reward I got from the hidden quest. I carefully examined the quest with the timer.
Main Quest: Meet the villain implanted with the ‘Seed of Catastrophe.’ (Time remaining: 1 hour 58 minutes)
Find the villain locked somewhere inside the research facility—the one implanted with the Seed of Catastrophe—and become their ally.
Seed of Catastrophe
Anyone implanted with this seed will eventually become the Catastrophe.
Fear, pain, and anger serve as the best fertilizer for the seed.
Once the seed blooms, the host awakens as the Catastrophe.
Even if the host is killed, the seed itself does not disappear—it transfers.
“Hold on a second...”
If the description is accurate, that means the one I have to find within the next two hours might actually be... that Catastrophe I faced before I regressed?
A chill swept through my chest.
The stench of blood, the floating ash, and in between... those piercing green eyes and black hair.
The man who slaughtered dozens with just a wave of his hand... I have to save him? Wait—he’s here? In this facility?
That ominous feeling I had... was now reality. My face twisted in disgust.
“...I can’t do it.”
It’s not just anyone—I’m supposed to save the bastard who killed me? Who killed the people I cared about?
Screw this quest and the sketchy system that gave it to me. I was about to ignore it altogether—when another message popped up.
⚠ WARNING! If the quest is not completed within the time limit, it will be marked as failed.
Quest Failure: Catastrophe Occurs
“...Ha.”
It was almost comical, like the system was begging me not to kill the villain.
So what—you’re saying that if I don’t save him, the Catastrophe happens? But if I do save him, it won’t?
“...Fuck.”
I clenched my fists and cursed. It felt like someone was tightening a rope around my throat.
Just how much am I supposed to trust this system? Am I really supposed to believe this and save the bastard who’s destined to become the Catastrophe?
Time remaining: 1 hour 43 minutes
The timer in flashing red letters blinked rapidly, as if urging me to make a decision.
I rubbed my sore eyes with both hands after a dry face wash. Cold sweat trickled from my forehead down my temples.
Time remaining: 1 hour 32 minutes
Time was flying by way too fast. It wasn’t nearly enough to decide I was going to do something I’d rather die than do.
“...Haah.”
I let out a sigh from deep inside and lifted my head.
“Fine. I’ll do it. You want me to do it, right?”
Yeah. Might as well.
I’ll save him myself—and then I’ll keep watch to make sure that seed doesn’t sprout. If anything happens, I’ll stop it myself.
He’s only at the seed stage. He hasn’t become the Catastrophe yet, so he should be way weaker than he was before. I’ve even got an S-rank skill now. I should be able to handle this on my own.
Alright. With my mind made up, I sprang to my feet.
There was still a ton of information I hadn’t sorted out yet, but now wasn’t the time to be calmly reading my status window. The quest came first—everything else could wait.
To do that, I need to see if I’ve really gotten stronger.
The S-rank skill I got from the hidden quest.
Without that, there’s no way I’ll be able to handle the facility’s guards and reach this so-called villain. Just as I was thinking that—
Ding!
《The sun has set. Night has begun.》
《Hidden Skill: Silver Blessing is now available for activation.》
《Would you like to activate the skill?》
“Oh.”
It even tells you when the skill can be activated? That’s way more convenient than I expected. Impressed, I answered immediately.
“Activate.”
Crackle!
“...!”
The moment I spoke the word, a burst of white electricity surged over my entire body, lighting up the room.
A jolt of pain shot from my feet to the top of my head. I dropped to my knees, biting down hard as the overwhelming sensation overtook me. My hands, which had hit the floor, grew bigger and thicker.
“Ugh...”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Thankfully, the pain didn’t last long. Panting heavily, I slowly raised my body.
I immediately noticed my vision was much higher than usual. Not just my view—my entire body had grown more muscular and solid.
I quickly checked my reflection in the mirror. The face staring back at me looked more angular, with stronger features than before.
The most shocking change was my hair—it had turned from plain black to a near-white blond.
Is this from the skill?
It wasn’t uncommon for Awakeners to undergo physical changes based on their abilities. And the stronger the skill, the more noticeable those changes tended to be.
This pale blond color reminded me of the moon in the night sky. Not bad at all—it even made my expression look sharper.
Weird though... why does it feel so familiar? Like I’ve seen this face somewhere before...
As I stared into the mirror, still fascinated, a new system message appeared.
Hidden Skill: Silver Blessing (S-rank) [Active]
Strength: F → S
Attack Power: F → S
Attack Speed: F → S
Movement Speed: F → S
Agility: F → S
So this... is the body of an S-rank Hunter?
I clenched and opened my hand in front of my eyes. That wasn’t enough—I had to test it. I turned to the wall next to me and threw a punch.
Boom!
With a deafening bang, the wall cracked in an instant and chunks of cement crumbled down. Even though I’d just shattered a solid concrete wall, it felt like I’d punched through tofu. My hand didn’t have a scratch on it.
“...Ha, haha.”
That was when it finally hit me—I’d really become S-rank. A giddy laugh slipped out of me from the rush.
I’d originally been a B-rank Hunter, but my skill was a supporter type, so my physical stats were no different from an average person. That’s why I couldn’t do a damn thing when the Catastrophe wiped out the guildmates I thought of as family.
But now it’s different. With this skill, I can become an S-rank every night. And not just as a supporter—but as a full-fledged front-line fighter with the strength to match.
“What the hell was that noise in there?”
“Hey! Number 70!”
A guard outside had heard the sound of the wall breaking and started banging on the metal door.
“...Hoo.”
I took a short breath, lifted my leg—and kicked the door with all my strength.
Crack—BOOM!
“Gaaah!”
The force tore all the hinges off. The crumpled metal door slammed down, and the guard standing nearby was sent flying, screaming as he tumbled down the hall.
I stepped into the now-open corridor. One guard stood frozen with his mouth wide open. Another had smashed his head into the door and was already unconscious.
The guard still standing kept looking back and forth between me and his collapsed comrade. After finally grasping what had happened, he shouted:
“You—What the fuck! What are you?!”
He pulled out a three-section baton from his belt and raised it high. I calmly watched it swing toward my head—then reached out.
Smack. I caught the thick baton cleanly in my palm.
His eyes widened, and he tensed his arms, trying to break free. But no matter how hard he strained—his baton didn’t budge an inch from my grip.
The old me would've taken that hit right to the skull—or, if I was lucky, barely dodged it. But now that every physical stat was S-rank, I didn’t even need to try.
Crack!
Smiling, I added a little pressure to my hand. The baton, likely crafted from monster-grade materials, snapped like a dry twig.
The guard stared in horror, face turning pale.
“Hello there.”
I greeted him with a grin—then drove my fist straight into his solar plexus.
“Guh—!”
Even though I tried to hold back, the man flew into the air and crashed into the wall. With a loud boom, he slumped to the floor, unconscious.
...He’s not dead, right?
I scratched my cheek as I watched his twitching body with his head drooped low.
I guess power can be a problem. It was harder than I thought to control, and now I was worried I’d hit him too hard. But guards like him were probably at least A-rank or B-rank physically, so he’d survive.
“Damn... I shouldn’t have broken that baton.”
I stared regretfully at the shattered baton, then tossed it aside.
I had no idea where the villain with the Seed of Catastrophe was, but this illegal facility was surprisingly well built—and huge. The guards I just knocked out were only the beginning. Dozens more were probably on standby.
Even with my enhanced body, it wasn’t going to be easy wandering through this place without a weapon. Especially when I didn’t even fully understand my new strength yet. I needed a backup weapon.
I glanced around, already regretting breaking the baton so carelessly. I’d have to find another guard to knock out and steal from—or, failing that...
WEEOOO! WEEOOO!
“...!”
Right as I was piecing together my plan, alarms blared throughout the entire building, and a voice rang through the speakers in the hallway.
Intruder alert! Intruder alert!
All security personnel report to Sector A! I repeat, intruder alert!
All personnel, immediately move to Sector A!
“Intruder...?”
That announcement jolted my memory—like a flash of lightning across my brain.
Before I regressed, I had been kidnapped and imprisoned in this very research facility. And I wasn’t the only one—other Awakeners with no affiliations, mostly orphans or drifters, had been captured and used as lab rats in this insane place.
Then, one day, the facility was suddenly attacked. A joint raid by guilds who’d discovered the facility’s existence collapsed the entire building. The imprisoned Awakeners were freed, and the staff were all arrested.
That raid... is happening now?
I had no way of knowing the date or time while locked in solitary, so I’d never expected this moment to be now.
This... is my chance.
I looked around at the hallway filled with flashing red lights and quickly took off running. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» There was no time to waste. If my memory was right, the Hunters raiding from the outside would storm through Sector A and reach Sector B in no time.
I had to find the villain with the Seed of Catastrophe before they got here—before Sector B was emptied out.

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