How to survive as a beggar count

Chapter 1

What’s the most excruciating way to die?
In this cursed world, it was a topic of conversation that came up often.

“Wouldn’t it be getting your head chopped off? They say you stay conscious for a few seconds after.”

“No way. Burning alive has to be the worst. The pain is unmatched.”

“Wrong. Have you ever seen someone fall into Qi Deviation? The way they scream—it looks agonizing.”

As with most discussions like this, there was never a definitive answer.

The experience of dying is unique to each person, and once you’re dead, that’s it.

No one comes back to say, “Hey… this is the most painful way to die…”

But now, in this very moment, I feel like I can confidently say this: the process I’m going through is the most painful of all.

Grrrrk!

A grotesque noise emanated from my stomach, which was practically glued to my back.

“Damn it…”

I survived 13 cataclysms, only to meet my end like this? It’s so absurd that I almost feel like laughing.

“Hah… haha…”

The year was 2035.

A peaceful world called Earth was visited by an uninvited guest.

The Demon God, Ashtar.

While humanity deliberated on how to respond to this unknown entity, Ashtar casually swung his first hand.

It was just a single motion. But the result was anything but insignificant.

With one devastating blow, the earth crumbled like cookie crumbs, leaving scars that would never heal.

And as if that wasn’t enough, his grotesque maw began spewing forth endless streams of monsters, the likes of which humanity had never seen.

This event marked the First Cataclysm.

On that hellish first day, countless lives were lost under the banner of this so-called “Cataclysm.”

Humans, once known as the apex of the food chain, were swiftly relegated to its very bottom.

Everything humanity had built—what we called civilization—was reduced to useless junk in the face of these monsters.

They seemed as if they belonged to another dimension, as every attempt humanity made to fight back failed to leave so much as a scratch.

As the world braced for inevitable extinction, something appeared.

Almost as if orchestrated, the Valhalla System revealed itself.

A divine blessing accessible only to a chosen few—the Awakened.

It granted humanity a sliver of hope by bestowing upon them the power to resist the Demon God. How it came to be, or what made it possible, remains a mystery to this day.

Though riddled with suspicious aspects, humanity had no time to question it.

The Awakened clung desperately to the Valhalla System, using it to survive.

Complete with features like status screens, skills, and even a community chat, the system empowered countless Awakened with newfound strength.

Thanks to this blessing, humanity managed to stave off extinction.

For about ten years.

“Pointless.”

Though the Valhalla System allowed us to survive, it only delayed the inevitable.

Even with the system, the world continued its steady march toward destruction, enduring thirteen cataclysms.

The land rotted away, the once-clear rivers became toxic geysers spewing deadly fumes, and all life was wiped out.

Convinced that everyone would perish at this rate, I gathered the last remaining survivors.

After an unimaginable number of sacrifices, we finally managed to defeat the Demon God, Ashtar.

And that was the end.

A cursed wasteland emitting nothing but poisonous fumes, where not even a single blade of grass could grow.

With no crops, there could be no livestock.

Could we eat the monsters, you ask? Sorry, but those creatures vanished along with Ashtar when he died.

All my comrades perished, leaving me as the sole survivor.

In this desolate, dead world, I am dying alone.

It’s not that I have some grievous wound. I’m just slowly, excruciatingly starving to death.

“Sigh…”

Summoning the last remnants of my strength, I opened the Valhalla System.

[Name: Lee Jin-su (Lv. 999)]
[Skills: Sage’s Eye (Max), Overflowing Mana (Max), Sword Master’s Body (Max), Unyielding Conviction (Max)…]

An endless list of skills appeared.

It was these combined skills that enabled me to defeat the Demon God.

But now that the Demon God is dead, ironically, all of these skills are nothing more than useless lines of text.

[Friends: 0]
“As expected.”

Every day, out of faint hope, I searched for others. But as you can see, my efforts were always in vain.

Click.

With my skeletal fingers, I clicked the screen.

The destination was the “Community” tab within the Valhalla System.

[Community]
[No new posts.]

I scrolled through the posts from the past year.

[Looking for survivors. 2045/07/14]
[Looking for survivors. 2045/07/13]
[Looking for survivors. 2045/07/12]
…

A flood of posts appeared, all written by the same person.

[Author: Lee Jin-su]

With trembling hands, I typed out another post.

Please, someone.

No matter where you’re hiding on this Earth, please respond.

[Looking for surv—]

Click.

My fingers stopped typing.

“…What’s the point of this?”

At this stage, even an idiot would understand.

If they were ordinary humans, they would’ve died just from breathing in this toxic land. If they were Awakened, they would’ve seen my posts.

There are no survivors left on Earth anymore.

It was hard to admit, but it was time to face the harsh reality—especially when you’re on the verge of starving to death.

“Sigh…”

With hollow eyes, I scrolled through the community’s post history.

One month… Two months…

The remnants of past activity were still there.

There were posts about rallying survivors across the continent to form raiding parties. Others were meaningless troll posts.

While I was the only one posting recently, the community had been quite lively until last year.

[“World Domination Through Rank Advantage! Chapter 2,245”]

“Haha…”

Right. That guy. The lunatic who used to upload a serialized novel in a community accessible only to Awakened beings.

If this were on some platform like NaviX, it might have gone premium, but there were no such monetization systems here.

He wrote purely for self-satisfaction, steadily posting his story.

At first, his posts were flooded with hate comments, but as time went on, people seemed to admire his persistence. By the later chapters, the hate had nearly disappeared—replaced by comments like miso stew recipes.

I enjoyed it too.

In a world like this, there wasn’t much left for leisure, and I’d been a fan of web novels before the cataclysms.

What I liked most was how, despite the ridiculously cheesy title, the story had an oddly intricate world-building and a bizarre obsession with detailed historical timelines.

My comrades had called it a lore dump and rolled their eyes, but I found it endearing.

[“The next chapter will conclude World Domination Through Rank Advantage!”]
[└ “This guy’s really consistent.”]
[└ “Miso stew recipe: 1. First, boil water with anchovies and kelp…”]
[└ “This recipe guy might be more consistent, lol.”]
[└ “For real, hahaha.”]

“Pffft!”

The “miso stew guy” left a recipe comment on every single chapter. In a way, you could call him a dedicated fan.

Unfortunately, the novel was never completed.

It stopped at Chapter 2,245.

[└ “Where did the author go?”]
[└ “No idea. Probably dead.”]
[└ “Now who’s going to post recipes?”]

It wasn’t particularly sad. The world was like this.

The author probably died. The commenters probably died too.

Everyone’s dead. I’ll be dead soon as well.

My strength was slowly draining away. The world around me was growing darker and darker.

“So, this is how it ends.”

It was a pity. My parched throat burned with thirst.

“Ha… come to think of it, we didn’t even have a proper celebration.”

That’s right.

After every raid, my comrades and I would gather for a meal. It wasn’t fancy food, but we would laugh, talk loudly, and enjoy ourselves.

We’d toast to honor the fallen and share a sliver of joy with those who survived.

But I was going to die without even having that.

“Let’s have a drink in the afterlife…”

With a bitter smile, I closed my eyes.

Ding!

“…Huh?”

Just as I was about to let go of my last thread of consciousness, a familiar notification sound made my skin prickle with goosebumps.

That notification sound was unmistakable…

[A new post has been created. Would you like to view it?]
“A… a new post?”

Impossible. Everyone was dead—weren’t they? Who could have written a new post?

With trembling hands, I refreshed the community page.

[“World Domination Through Rank Advantage! Chapter 2,246 (Final)”]
“Wha… what?”

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The newly appeared post was none other than the final chapter of World Domination Through Rank Advantage.

Was the author still alive? Had they been writing a novel while the world was ending? Why would they even do such a thing?

Before I knew it, my hand had clicked on the post.

“What… is this…?”

Something was off.

The latest chapter was a string of indecipherable characters.

The Valhalla System automatically translated any text from anywhere in the world.

But the text on this screen was entirely incomprehensible.

Panicking, I scrolled down the page. I needed to leave a comment before the author disappeared.

I had so many questions: Where were they? How did they write this? Were there other survivors?

[Where are yo—]

One question after another spiraled through my mind, but I never managed to finish typing the comment.

Flash!

Suddenly, a bright light burst from the Valhalla System screen, and I lost consciousness.

***

My entire body felt heavy, like it was soaked in waterlogged cotton.

‘…Where am I?’

All around me was dark, an oppressive, shadowy void. I couldn’t begin to guess where I was.

‘Did I… finally die?’

It wasn’t surprising. My body had been on the brink of collapse for a long time.

It had been months since I’d last eaten. Without the enhanced body granted by the Valhalla System, I’d have died long ago.

So, was this the afterlife… or something like it?

“Ugh…”

But it didn’t feel like the afterlife. My limbs were intact, and I could faintly hear my own voice.

“…”

Cautiously, I opened my eyes and looked around.

It turned out I was lying on a soft bed. Surrounding me was a room filled with antique furniture, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling.

“…What is this?”

It looked less like an afterlife and more like the bedroom of a medieval noble from some movie.

Clunk!

Just as I was starting to lose my grip on reality, the door swung open.

A woman with chestnut-colored hair and pale skin walked in.

Her outfit stunned me even more: a black-and-white maid uniform.

Who… is this?

“…Young Master!”

‘Young Master?’

The woman’s eyes welled up with tears as she ran toward me.

“You’re finally awake! I was so worried!”

‘Young Master? Awake? What is she talking about?’

I had lived in a world where monsters rained down from the sky, but “Young Master” wasn’t something I’d ever expected to be called—let alone by a maid in full uniform.

Then, my gaze drifted over her shoulder to a dusty mirror on the wall.

In the mirror, a blonde man stared back at me with a dazed expression.

“…Huh?”

“Is something the matter…?”

“Wait… just a moment…”

“Oh! My apologies! You’ve only just woken up—you must still be weak…”

Apologies or not, that wasn’t the issue right now.

I looked back at the mirror.

Staring back at me wasn’t Lee Jinsoo from South Korea.

It was a gaunt, foreign-looking man with blonde hair.

“…Ugh!”

At that moment, a searing headache overwhelmed me, and a flood of memories surged into my mind.

It wasn’t my own life flashing before my eyes—it felt more like I was reading someone else’s memories.

Vivid scenes of another life played out in my head like a panoramic movie.

The memories belonged to a drunken, wastrel nobleman who had squandered his life.

Still, his life didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar to someone like me, Lee Jinsoo.

“What… is this?”

Sparkle.

Something in the corner of my vision glinted.

“…Huh?”

The source of the light was my left hand.

On the palm of my left hand were intricate rune patterns etched like a complex script.

“Wait…”

It looked familiar—almost unnervingly so.

The runes on my left hand…

Even though I had never seen it before, I knew exactly what it was.

“Ah…”

The life of a man that felt oddly familiar, and the rune patterns engraved on my left hand.

“This… can’t be…”

It was utterly ridiculous.

Because these were settings from World Domination Through Rank Advantage!

“…”

It made no sense, yet the rune patterns on my palm were eerily identical to the descriptions from the novel.

The opening words of World Domination Through Rank Advantage floated to the forefront of my mind. For some reason, I could recall them vividly now.

“In this world, there exists one absolute truth: ‘Rank.’ The method to verify it is simple. By merely looking at the rune patterns engraved on your left hand, you can ascertain your rank.”

“No way…”

Feeling both curiosity and dread, I slowly opened my left hand and stared at the rune patterns.

Baaaang!

As if on cue, a translucent display projected above my hand. The intricate rune patterns began breaking apart into tiny points of light.

The swirling dots soon coalesced into a cohesive form.

What appeared before me was…

Not the name Lee Jinsoo.

It was an entirely different name.

[Name: Ian Impera]