The rat lay curled on Rin's shoulder, eyes half-lidded, tail swaying slowly with his breath.
And Rin... felt something new.
It wasn't a rush. Not power.
But something shifted.
A warmth in his chest. A thread of energy weaving under his skin.For the first time since his F-rank awakening, Rin felt... alive.
Not strong. Not confident.But no longer completely empty.
He stood up from the dirty alley floor, knees stiff from hours in the cold.
That's when he heard them — voices cutting through the alley.
"—Dungeon team's short a few hands."
"Don't need hunters. Just porters. Someone who can cut open bodies and pull cores."
"Pay's one gold per clean core. Cash. No guild records."
Rin walked toward the noise.
At the alley's mouth stood four men around a rusty van, half in armor, half in scavenged gear. One of them leaned against the hood — taller, bulkier, iron-armored with a jagged scar down his temple.
Rin stepped forward, voice low but steady.
"I can be a porter."
They all turned. The iron man squinted at him, then burst into loud, wheezing laughter.
"You? First-time sewer rat? You even know how to hold a knife, kid?"
Rin lifted his chin slightly.
"I can learn. I won't slow you down. This—" he nodded at the rat on his shoulder, "—is my beast. I just awakened."
One of the others snorted. "That thing looks half-dead."
But the man in iron kept staring. Then finally grunted.
"You ever done porter work before?"
Rin shook his head.
"No. But I need the coin."
Silence. Then the iron man spoke:
"One gold per beast core you clean. We kill. You cut. You carry. You puke, bleed, or run — that's your problem. No guild. No insurance. Still in?"
Rin nodded once.
The man jerked his thumb toward the van.
"Get in. First-timer or not, if you can keep up, you get paid."
Rin climbed in, heart hammering. The rat shifted, nestling tighter into the crook of his neck.
No weapons. No real training.
But he had something.
A beast. A spark.
A start.