Starting With SSS-rank: I Get A New Skill Every Livestream

"This is chaotic," Melissa muttered, releasing a sigh as she leaned back in her seat and gazed out the window.

Amanda hummed in response. "What is? I thought you were finally moving back to your quiet life."

Melissa had finally managed to free herself from her father’s clutches after Hades had spoken with him, granting her the freedom she had always desired. On top of that, the Maylith clan had received an assurance from the central administration that the PSC would no longer bother Melissa Maylith for any reason.

Her creations might be considered invaluable items, but unless she willingly chose to develop something and provide it to the authorities herself, no one could force her to do so.

With that settled, Melissa was on her way to join a company specializing in the creation of new gadgets and equipment. The company also had a dedicated development department, where she would apparently be working.

Melissa loved creating tools, and Amanda had connections with trustworthy people who would neither steal her work nor exploit her talent. They would treat her well and, more importantly, pay her fairly. In that regard, her life in Fortis should have been more or less settled.

And yet, there was something about the current situation that refused to let her relax.

"I have a feeling this sudden surge of rifts is going to drag me into the field sooner or later," Melissa said, her expression turning somewhat resigned. "And when that happens, that’ll probably be the last day you see me."

Amanda chuckled. "I’ve seen you fight, sis. You’re fooling no one."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "There’s something called experience." She shook her head, her expression turning faintly displeased. "I’ve never liked spilling blood. It’s just so not my type."

Amanda added sarcastically, "Or you could just admit you’re lazy."

Melissa let out a weary sigh and nodded. There was no shame in admitting it. She simply had no interest in spending her days moving from one place to another, hunting monsters and returning covered in blood and sweat. Just the thought of it made her tired.

She would much rather spend her days surrounded by snacks, watching a good show on the television with the air conditioner running at full blast, a thin blanket draped over herself while the rest of the room remained comfortably dark.

Now that sounded like the recipe for her dream life.

And if she settled into her new job without any trouble, Melissa was determined to build exactly that kind of life for herself.

As the car came to a stop at a traffic signal, Melissa’s attention wandered toward a family walking along the pedestrian path. The sight reminded her of something.

"Your parents were talking about your marriage recently, weren’t they?" she asked. "I mean, Uncle seemed reluctant, but your mum appeared quite determined to find someone and get you engaged."

Amanda froze for a moment before slowly exhaling a sigh.

Melissa hummed thoughtfully. "You don’t seem too reluctant about it."

A faint smile appeared on Amanda’s lips. "I’m just thinking about how I’m going to go through all of that again."

"Huh?"

....

"We predicted this. And yet we aren’t prepared."

The chief of the Surveillance Department exhaled a long, weary breath, his usually composed demeanor finally cracking as he watched another procession of corpses being transported back to the base.

As the eyes and ears of the nation, it was his foremost duty to keep the officers informed of the dangers emerging across the country. He was supposed to identify threats before they became disasters, to recognize patterns before they turned into catastrophes.

And lately, the patterns had been anything but reassuring.

The sudden decline in the number of Rifts had left people grasping for explanations. Some believed it marked the beginning of the end of the Chaotic Age. Others believed the Rifts were preparing for the endgame, gathering their strength for one final, full-fledged invasion. Then there were those who believed the decline was merely part of an evolution, a period in which the other side was studying humanity before deciding how best to strike.

Pascal had come to realize that the third theory was the one closest to the truth.

The Rifts had changed their behavior.

According to the reports reaching his department, the massive attacks involving Majins had declined significantly. In their place came smaller, more concentrated forces of Ghouls, attacking in clusters rather than sending entire battalions through the gates.

Under normal circumstances, that should have been good news. Smaller forces meant fewer casualties, and the Nightwalkers could focus on eliminating the boss and closing each Rift before the situation escalated.

But these were not normal circumstances.

Not when Rifts were appearing in such numbers.

The Nightwalkers were limited in number, and unlike the monsters they fought, humans could not simply replenish their forces or recover from exhaustion through magic alone. Injuries needed time to heal. Exhaustion needed time to fade. Dead soldiers could not be replaced overnight.

They needed time.

And whatever was happening on the other side of the Rifts was making certain they never got it.

"Sir." His assistant suddenly entered the room, his expression bright with excitement.

Pascal hummed, glancing up from his work. "Finally, something good."

The man nodded. "Indeed, sir." He extended a document toward him before adding, "Three cases came to us within the last twelve hours."

Pascal opened the document and briefly scanned the reports. His brows rose slightly.

"A twenty-one-year-old girl, huh?" He looked genuinely surprised. "And not just one?"

There were reports of a thirty-year-old man and a twenty-eight-year-old woman as well.

Pascal went through each report, noting when they had awakened and where they were currently being kept. Naturally, the PSC had taken them under its care. An awakened person could be easily overwhelmed by the Aether World, particularly someone who had no prior experience dealing with the supernatural.

Raising his eyes from the documents, Pascal asked, "Is there anything common between them besides the fact that they awakened well beyond the usual age?"

A person generally awakened around the beginning of their teenage years. These three were, by all conventional standards, anomalies.

The assistant nodded. "I went through their personal backgrounds and found something interesting. The eldest, the man, is a well-known soccer player. The youngest, the twenty-one-year-old girl, is a fitness influencer with more than three million followers. And the twenty-eight-year-old woman is a retired figure skater who now works as a coach."

Pascal hummed thoughtfully. "So, for one reason or another, all three are exceptionally physically fit and healthy. That would certainly be one common factor associated with awakening."

"But, sir, in the past, we’ve had overweight children, people suffering from various ailments, and even patients on their deathbeds who awakened." The assistant presented the obvious counterpoint.

Pascal’s lips curled into a faint smile.

"Maybe we’re evolving too?"

It was far too soon to make such a conclusion, and Pascal knew that. Three cases were hardly enough to establish a pattern, let alone prove anything.

Still, perhaps this was the beginning of something good.

°°°°°

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