I'm Xavier Black, and I'm in the top 1% of men.
Not in terms of wealth; I'm no millionaire. I earn about as much as a middle manager. But when it comes to something far more exclusive, I'm part of a club that only 1% of men belong to: gate-runners.
When the gates first appeared 45 years ago, people began to develop extraordinary abilities, powers that helped humanity survive the monsters pouring out of those dimensional rifts. But awakening wasn't something you could control, and it came with an unusual twist: 99% of those who awakened were women. That statistic has held true to this day.
I'm one of the rare exceptions. A man with powers. A gate-runner. An awakened.
Unfortunately, I'm also an F-class.
That's not uncommon among awakened men. Only about 5% of us rank above C-class. Most, like me, are ranked in F. At this level, I'm just strong and fast enough to survive low-tier gates. Even if I pushed myself and levelled up a lot, my growth potential is still capped.
My current abilities? I'm slightly stronger and more agile than a pre-awakening Olympic athlete. I have a martial ability: [Twin short-spear prowess], and I possess a storage ability: [Item box], that lets me store physical objects in a pocket dimension. It's not glamorous, but it makes me invaluable in one particular role: a porter.
Thanks to my skills, I'm not your typical porter. I don't need to haul around a massive backpack or drag a cart behind me. Everything goes straight into my item box, weightless, seamless, and out of sight.
One of the box's quirks is that time inside it seems to pass incredibly slowly. If I cook an extra portion of dinner the night before and stash it immediately, it'll still be piping hot when I pull it out for lunch the next day. That little trick alone makes me a favorite on long runs. Food will stay hot for almost 3 weeks inside my [Item box]. Also, the box cannot store anything sentient inside, so I can't trap people or monsters in it.
This is how I earn my living: I join hunting teams as their logistics support. While they handle the fighting, I handle everything else: monster drops, gear, mana crystals, rare loot. I charge a flat fee plus a small cut of the take.
On top of that, I earn extra by selling supplies mid-raid. Potions, hot meals, energy drinks, medicine, sometimes even single-use magic items like spell crystals. If it helps a runner stay alive or boosts performance, I probably stock it.
Finding work is simple. There's an app where runners post gate runs, listing team members, locations, and what they're looking for. I scroll through listings, send my info, and get picked up for the run.
Since so few men awaken, I almost always work with women. I don't mind, it's just the nature of the business, but sometimes it gets... complicated. Some of them get pushy about wanting to date me.
I suppose I understand it. I'm over six feet tall, have dark hair and dark eyes, and I'm one of the rare awakened men. That combination makes me pretty desirable.
The thing is, most awakened women don't want a partner who enters the gates. They want a man who stays home, keeps in shape, and supports their lifestyle. A house husband.
But that's not me.
The dungeon is part of who I am. I've tried dating women who claimed they were okay with my gate work, but the moment I came back with a scratch, they'd start pushing ultimatums, demanding I stop running gates, or we break up. Those relationships never last.
These days, I've learned to be practical. I never enter a gate above E-rank. Even with a strong team, one wrong move against a higher-tier monster could end me. I know my limits, and I stick to them.
During a raid, I follow the team all the way to the boss room if needed. Along the way, I gather loot, monster drops, crystals, and chests, and I document everything meticulously. It avoids disputes when it's time to divide the spoils.
If I don't find a team through the app, I stake out E-rank gates and offer my services to anyone going in. I rarely go home empty-handed.
Other low-ranked male hunters take a different path. Without useful utility skills like mine, many try forming small teams or guilds. A surprising number of these guilds are just influencer collectives; streamer houses filled with effeminate men chasing sponsorship deals for cosmetics and lifestyle products.
Every time one of those guilds has tried to recruit me, they start by hyping follower counts and social media perks. I'm sure the money's good, but that life's not for me.
When I first started entering gates, I was reckless. I refused to accept my F-rank limits and kept pushing beyond my abilities. I wound up in the hospital more times than I care to admit. I've learned better since then.
I'm not chasing glory anymore. I'm not dreaming of fighting S-ranked bosses or awakening hidden potential. I'm a working-class awakened, a porter.
Of course, even as an F-class, I'm still far beyond an ordinary human. In F and E-rank gates, I can hold my own against most enemies, just not the bosses.
My combat style revolves around twin short spears. They're unusual weapons, each about the length of a longsword, half blade, half shaft. I can wield them like short swords or throw them like javelins. My skill lets me recall them instantly after a throw, making me versatile in both close and ranged combat. (Picture)
As for my storage ability, it's difficult to measure its limits. I've never hit a size cap, not even when I tested it by storing my grandfather's combine harvester. (I damaged it pulling it back out, though. Grandpa wasn't pleased, and let's just say I accepted the whooping like a man.)
Anyway, today's just another normal day. I've got a team waiting for me, one I matched with through the app last night. Time to gear up, head to the gate, and earn my cut.