He’s not trying to be anything. He just never stopped. Kaelen doesn’t speak much. He trains. He listens. He endures. He was six when the world ended. No one came for his block. By the time a rescue team arrived, he had already crawled out—torn up, alone, and changed.

Now he’s nineteen—one of hundreds raised underground to survive what’s still out there.

He doesn’t make friends.
He doesn’t ask questions.
He doesn’t belong on a team—and after a while, no one expects him to.

But he keeps showing up.
Every day. Quiet. Precise. Alone.

And when the others start falling behind,
when instructors stop seeing him as a student and start seeing him as something that doesn’t fit anywhere—he doesn’t flinch.

He’s not there to stand out.
He’s there because nothing else makes sense anymore.

⸻

The Berserker Way is a grounded, psychological dark fantasy about silence, survival, and what happens when you shape yourself into something that doesn’t fit anywhere—but can’t be ignored.

⸻

Originally published on Royal Road by D. Hollow.

I still remember the day of my own Awakening.


I was alone, as usual. No friends. No support.


Most people had dismissed me long ago as the quiet boy with dead eyes—the orphan who barely spoke, who flinched when touched, who never smiled.


When my turn came, I stood silently in front of the crystal.


Everyone else had gone before me, excited, nervous, hopeful.


But part of me still hoped—for something human.


Unique Skill: Pain Conversion—Converts received damage into raw power. 


Bonus Trait: Solo Instinct—Increases all stats while unaided in combat.


Around me, people whispered. Some took a step back.


"Is it one of those aggression classes?" 


"Those are the ones that lose control, right?"


I knew I had just been handed the only weapon that truly matched my soul.


All of it had shaped me into exactly the kind of person a Berserker needed to be.


For those under nineteen, society had created a special system of Training Dungeons.


Think of it as the new form of high school—except instead of desks and homework, students faced monsters and survival scenarios.


Each day, we were pushed into artificial dungeon simulations with real consequences.


Succeed, and you gained scars, reflexes, and maybe—a sliver of control.


It was all meant to prepare us for the real world—the real dungeons that lay beyond the gates of the cities, where death was permanent and mercy was rare.


Those who excelled could apply to Elite Academies—modern institutions designed to train the next generation of heroes.


These academies sent students into actual field dungeons under supervision, teaching them how to operate in squads, manage resources, and execute strategy in life-and-death situations.


I didn't want to join a squad, or a guild, or a brotherhood.


I was never meant to fight beside others.


Because when I fight alone—I don't just survive.


Chapter 4 - Awakening: Part 2