SSS-Rank Awakening: My Talent Multiplies Everything novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Mash World.

Kael walked out of the Hunter Association without looking back, he hadn’t missed the scowl still lingering on the desk lady’s face. She had tried to convince him to wait, to take more time and prepare properly before stepping into a rift for the first time.

He listened to her, then brushed her off politely.

She probably saw him as reckless now. Maybe even an idiot.

It didn’t bother him.

He wasn’t walking in unprepared. The past few days hadn’t just been about passing the exam. He had trained with the tower tutorial in mind, pushing himself to adjust as quickly as possible.

At some point, more preparation would just be wasted time. It wouldn’t make any real difference.

So why waste time?

He booked a transit and began his journey toward the Mash World, the name of the rift he was headed to.

The ride was quiet. Kael leaned back slightly and pulled out his phone, checking the notification he had received earlier. Just as the desk lady had said, there was an email from the Hunter Association waiting for him.

He opened it and skimmed through the contents. Rules, guidelines, survival tips. The usual. Most of it was information he already knew before the exam.

He didn’t linger on it.

Scrolling down, he found a link at the bottom and tapped it. The Hunter Association website loaded up, clean and structured. It connected all registered hunters, filled with reports, discussions, and shared information.

Kael signed in using his newly issued ID and was taken to the homepage, but he didn’t stay there long. He went straight to the forum.

His fingers moved quickly as he searched for anything related to the Mash World. It didn’t take long for results to appear. Thread after thread filled the screen.

He opened one.

The Mash World, also known as the Poison Marsh. A rift filled with toxic swampland where even the air itself could be deadly over time. Protective gear wasn’t optional. It was necessary.

He kept scrolling.

The most common creatures were mud slimes. They hid within the marsh, blending perfectly with their surroundings before attacking without warning. Their attacks were corrosive enough to melt through flesh, and several comments warned against taking them lightly.

Kael read through everything without reacting.

He had no intention of underestimating anything, especially not creatures inside a rift.

If anything, experience had already taught him how deceptive these places could be.

Rift rankings, for example, were far from straightforward. Most people assumed that lower-ranked rifts were safer, but that wasn’t entirely true. Two major factors determined a rift’s ranking.

The first was exploration. Newly discovered rifts were usually classified at higher ranks because of the unknown risks. Only after thorough exploration would their true difficulty be reassessed.

The second was environmental and behavioral factors. Terrain, monster patterns, and overall conditions played a role. A rift could be ranked lower not because it was harmless, but because its dangers were predictable and manageable.

The Mash World was one of those cases.

The toxic air could be dealt with using basic protective masks. The mud slimes, while dangerous, were mostly passive and stayed within their territories. As long as a hunter didn’t wander into areas beyond their level, the risk remained relatively low.

But that didn’t mean it was safe.

Underestimating a rift based on its rank was one of the fastest ways to die.

Kael locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He had gathered enough information.

Looking out the window, he noticed the scenery had changed. The land had become barren, stripped of life. No vegetation, no movement, nothing but dry, empty ground stretching into the distance.

They were getting close.

Rifts leaked mana into their surroundings, and over time, it poisoned the environment. The closer one got, the more lifeless everything became.

The transit eventually slowed to a stop.

Kael stepped out and immediately spotted it.

The rift.

It looked like a tear carved into reality itself, as though something had sliced the world open. Beyond it lay nothing but darkness, deep and endless.

A few hunters stood nearby, gathered in small groups. Most seemed to be waiting for teammates.

Kael walked past them without paying any attention and headed straight for the rift.

The moment he stepped through, his body reacted violently.

A powerful force pulled at him from every direction, distorting his senses and throwing off his balance. For a brief moment, it felt as if he was being dragged out of reality itself.

Then it stopped.

Just like that.

Kael steadied himself and opened his eyes.

His surroundings had completely changed. He now stood inside a massive hall.

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