'I was sacrificed to a god I never knew.'
The young man was shrouded in fuel and tied to a huge stick in the middle of a deserted land.
Blood trickled from his wounded body, dropping onto the ground where hundreds of people stood below.
Oh, how their gazes were filled with hunger.
Many sang in praise of the god to whom this young man was to be sacrificed.
Some threw spears, arrows, and blades alike, all in the name of this god, as they pierced the young man's skin.
Barbaric? Or perhaps it was just sad.
These people, dressed in red and carrying torches of fire, danced around him, watching as he suffered, barely able to breathe.
They knew not his name nor where he came from.
So, how could he have ended up in his predicament?
The simple answer to that was that he was betrayed, abandoned by his own parents.
The young man came from a home that was suffering financially. His father was a guard for the royal church, and his mother was a street performer.
Hardworking as they may have been, they could not provide for the entire family.
So, they made a hard choice.
That was to sell their child to a secret organization looking for a specific type of person.
And it so happened that the young man fit the description perfectly.
He was used to pain, but this hit a little deeper.
After dancing for hours and darting weapons at the young sacrifice, the red moon finally showed itself to them.
Since he was so far up, the young man could not hear what the people below were chanting to themselves.
But he could vividly tell what happened after.
One by one, they all brought out daggers—red mana-imbued daggers—and began stabbing themselves in the throat.
Hundreds of people impaled themselves one after the other, painting the ground red with their own blood.
What could they want so badly that their own lives held no merit?
As shitty as his life was, the young man valued his life more than anything.
It didn't take long for every single person circling the young man to collapse to the ground, dead and wasted.
The young man was all alone, the red light from the moon shining right on top of him.
Judging from the injuries and the blood he had lost, he was fairly sure he was not going to live for much longer.
And the chances of the county's police showing up to such a secluded area were almost next to none.
Dying for such useless gods—how infuriating.
'I don't know if any of you gods can hear me out there, but if you can—'
He raised his head to the sky.
'Suck my di—'
Before he could complete his words, he was instantly struck by lightning, his body scattering into multiple pieces.
…
[The god of life has rejected this sacrifice.]
[A host who dislikes the gods—the god of life has taken a liking to that.]
[You may carry on the legacy, not as a reincarnation, but as a tool.]
[You shall be one with the god of life and have access to his limitless inventory.]
[The Book of Terack: Codex of Life.]
…
The sun glistened over the thick forest, the ground embellished with dying grass and trees that stretched far and beyond.
Rivers coursed at the outskirts, where beasts and monsters opposed, each dominating their position in the cycle of life.
In the sky, giant creatures with wings soared in search of prey they could feast on.
Their prey were humans.
A group of four people wandered the forest—four males, carrying weapons to protect themselves from any predator that might try to hunt them.
Not that they were any match for them; they only survived by sheer luck and nothing else.
"Hey, the monsters are more lively these days. Don't you think we should settle down somewhere before roaming about?" a male with a timid voice uttered.
"Uhn?! You're saying something back there? You ought to be happy we're keeping you with us; you're deadweight enough as it is."
Another male retaliated.
"I am sorry, I'm sorry, don't throw me away."
"Hahah! This dude is so pathetic, man. Why even go to the Grand Altar to get a sigil if you are this pathetic? Surely you knew the downside to this if you failed." A more muscular man chimed in, laughing his ass off.
"I-I just wanted to survive. I-I didn't know it was going to be like this."
"Ahhhrgh, brotherrrrr, shut up already!"
Suddenly, the individual at the very front stopped, noticing something right in front of their path.
"OI! Why did we stop?"
All four of them stood in a straight line, their eyes focused on the body of a young man sleeping naked on the ground.
His muscles were huge, and his skin was uncluttered, as though he had just been born.
Seeing that he had little to no injury on his body, the group was forced to believe this person had to have been sent to this place not too long ago.
"What should we do?" the muscular man asked. "Killing would be such a waste; I doubt he has any kind of essence gathered yet."
Smarty, seeming to be the savviest person in the group, took a second to examine the young man.
Just from his butt cheeks alone, he could tell this person was too young to have been sent to such a place.
"We should take him with us. It's almost afternoon—the raptors will soon be wandering around. He might prove to be useful."
Sharkteeth was not having it, as he was ready to reject the offer.
"Dude, maybe he's lost. I agree."
"Y-yeah, me too."
It didn't take long for Sharkteeth to look away in surprise, wondering how they could easily take in a stranger.
At the end of the day, he could not do anything about the matter.
So, they decided to take the young man with them and take shelter in a nearby cave.