Heavy and cold, the gun weighed in his pocket. Rowan rested a hand on it, afraid to let go. His stomach twisted. I have to. There’s no other way.

The Tower loomed over him. Thrusting to the heavens, the gleaming white walls vanished into clouds high above, seemingly endless. Sunlight splintered down its side, brilliant enough to blind. Other skyscrapers climbed around it, but the glass-sided buildings couldn’t compare to the Tower’s sheer white heights.

Hands trembling, he threw open the door and yanked out the gun. “Someone get me the Hero-King! I’m taking this Tower down!”

The receptionist continued to type away at her desk, a bored expression on her face.

Rowan took another step inside. “I’m serious! Get someone who can handle the System, now, or I start shooting!”

On either side of the door, a pair of Guards stepped toward him. The female Guard to his left frowned, but the male Guard on the right laughed. “Where the hell did you find that rusty old relic? What, do you seriously think you can challenge the Tower with that thing?”

He rounded on the laughing Guard and narrowed his eyes. His finger trembled on the trigger. The gun clattered in his hands. “Now! Didn’t you hear me?”

The Guard sighed and shook his head. “I heard you, kid. What, not happy with your class? Sorry, can’t reassign it. Work hard, and maybe the System will let you evolve it one day.”

“I—I can’t even—” Rowan bit his lip, biting back old rage and frustration. He leveled the pistol at the male Guard. “Let me talk to someone! Someone who can do something with the System! Please, dammit!”

Motion blurred in the corner of his eye. He whipped around and fired out of fright.

Casually, the female Guard slapped the bullet out of the air. She reached out for him.

Rowan pulled the trigger again. Halfway there, his finger froze.

“Restraint.” The male Guard yawned, rubbing his eyes with the hand not pointing at Rowan.

Rushing up at him, the female Guard turned her shoulder. Rowan tried to throw himself to the side, but his body refused to respond to his commands. Brace! Brace for impact, at least! Frozen stiff, he watched, helpless, as the female Guard reached him.

She slammed into him with all the subtlety of a bulldozer. He flew backward, arms flying out, and slammed into the wall. Jarred from his hands, the pistol ricocheted off the wall and skittered away across the floor, metal clattering against marble.

The male Guard stepped on it. “Damn, kid. If you pointed this thing at a non-combat class, you could have hurt someone.” He pressed down with his heel, and the gun shattered into a dozen pieces of twisted metal.

No! He reached out for it, hopeless.

Scowling, the female guard grabbed him by the collar. “Deadly weapons are still deadly weapons. Non-combat classes aren’t allowed to possess them. System, scan!”

A familiar, neutral voice sounded in both their ears. Rowan cringed, already knowing what it would say.

Rowan Promet. 18/M. Class: Gardener. Level: 1.

This account is locked. Rowan Promet is disallowed from gaining EXP for ten years for attempting to alter the System.

“Oh-ho-ho,” the male Guard chuckled. “A hacker. I see. I understand, now.”

“Shut up!” Rowan howled. He struggled against the female Guard’s grip.

Her face hardened. Strong as iron, she kept a firm grasp on his collar. “You hacked the System, and you think a lowly support class like you has the right to issue demands?”

“I— This whole System is broken! Can’t you see it?”

“Of course a support class hacker stuck at level one would think the System was broken,” the male guard scoffed.

Rowan grimaced. “Shut up! Combat classes don’t understand. You don’t understand anything!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand anything.” The female Guard threw him to the ground.

Rowan landed hard on his arm and slid over the marble. His shoulder burst with pain, but he bit his lip and managed not to scream. He scrambled up to his feet and glared, clutching his arm.

“Get the hell out of here before I decide to write you up,” the male Guard sniffed, kicking at the shattered gun.

Limping backward, Rowan cast a fierce glare at both of them. “You’ll regret this!”

“Sure. Oh, hey, I need some shrubs trimmed. Think you could manage tomorrow evening? I’ll give you five credits for the evening. You are level one, after all,” the male Guard said, chuckling under his breath.

Rowan lunged at him.

The male Guard drew back his fist and punched toward him. “Air Punch.”

An invisible wall of force hit Rowan in the gut and slammed him through the doors. He tumbled out onto the sidewalk and into the street.

“Shitty name for your ability.”

“Hey, I didn’t name it. Blame the System.”

The doors swung shut, blocking out the rest of the Guards’ conversation.

For a long second, Rowan laid there, limbs burning from the ache of fresh scrapes, face burning with embarrassment. Disgust settled in his stomach. They didn’t take me seriously at all. Not even for a moment.

A car swerved around him, horn blaring. Exhaust burned his face. “Get out of the damn road, asshole!”

Slowly, Rowan untangled himself. He climbed to his feet and stared up, up, up, at the tower above him, so high and lofty that someone like him could never reach. I’m an ant. A no one. Not even an object to those people.

His fists clenched. Resolve stirred in his stomach. The System is broken. The Tower must fall.