Chapter Text
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In a world where preys are hunted by predators, as it is in accordance with the law of the jungle, naturally comes the explicit standing of alphas, betas, and omegas. Now, take this with a grain of salt, but what if there appeared a downtrodden prey, who was particularly given the chance to become the apex predator of this world brimmed with avaricious curs? Will the hunters finally experience the life of the hunted? Or will it stay as is, for the sake of appeasing Charles Darwin's ideals, which have been shaping the world balance for centuries?
[System: Welcome to the Korean Imperium!]
It's 3059, exactly 1200 years since the book On the Origin of Species was published and had been shamelessly utilised by the social Darwinists to justify their notions of ill-begotten attempts to ostracise those of the lower classes. Top it off with the emergence of the secondary gender, now not only the poverty-stricken are subject to the nobilities' profanation, but also those who've turned out to be an omega—or as they say, the god-forsaken species of the earth.
What if you're both impoverished and an omega, one may wonder. Well, most people would shrug their shoulders and advise you end your life—pray God take pity on you and bestow you a finer one next time.
Still and all, to be an omega may not be so bad if you're of the dominant class. Tell that to Choi Yeonjun, and you wouldn't even know what hit you till you wake up in the hospital a week later. Because this feisty one, in particular, is precisely the omega we're talking about—just that he's still on the process to learn to take it nicely.
It's fathomable, for the man had lived half his life as a recessive in the depths of the shanty town—oppressed and abused. To be told he was rather lucky without even properly knowing his history is just obnoxious, is it not? Having said that, the prosperous industry of medicine solely came to be in the wake of the technological advancement, and that may be what convinced Choi Yeonjun to think he might actually be one fortunate dog like they said.
Because then, he received a missive from a research institute about the production of a drug which would enable one to bolster specific traits of their secondary gender. That was how he rose to dominance, which he took advantage of in any way he could.
This Imperium is in search for its true king. This world paid no heed to royal blood, if you grit your teeth and rise, then perhaps the masses will come to favour you, and unanimously crown you as the country's new sovereign. There's only one prevailing rule: be an alpha.
"Three billion. Fabricate it."
Thus, with a fabricated DNA report on the table, Choi Yeonjun eligibly entered the contest for the throne as a "recessive alpha." With that, he stepped into the academy that was built exclusively for all the audacious alpha mutts aspiring to have a pat on the throne.
He was doing so well that two years had passed, and no one suspected a thing. That was until a returning student made his appearance, scrutinizing Yeonjun with eyes implicitly degrading his existence.
"Is this how you socialize now? Poke people until they break?" Yeonjun had quipped one evening.
"No. Just you."
"So I'm special."
Soobin scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not that hard to read. Tired. Tense. Trying too hard not to snap." He clicked his tongue. "As if you're in a place you don't belong. What's got you so guarded?"
Yeonjun's smile thinned, a flicker of tension tightening at the corners. He offered no visible reaction, but in that moment, a quiet certainty settled over him—this man was dangerous.
But Choi Yeonjun was never one to flee from fire—nor to extinguish it. He was danger incarnate, a spark dressed in flesh. And the flame? It was only just beginning to burn.