Three days passed like a breath held underwater.
Yoon Taesung spent them alone in his apartment, curtains drawn, lights off, staring at the walls and the flickering edges of the status window he could now summon at will. The blade that had appeared during his Awakening hadn't returned—yet. But the energy still hummed in his chest, faint and deep, like the quiet thrum of a distant engine.
He hadn't told anyone.
Not the cleanup crew supervisor. Not the agency. Not even his mother, who hadn't called in weeks anyway. Taesung didn't have friends anymore. Not since Hunter Academy. Not since he failed out.
That part of his life was long dead.
Now something new had replaced it. Something raw. Dangerous. Alive.
On the morning of the third day, Taesung put on the only decent clothes he owned—clean black jeans, a plain hoodie, and a military jacket from his training days—and walked out under the grey Seoul sky.
He took the subway to Jung-gu, passing strangers who looked right through him, unaware of what he was now. What he was becoming.
He arrived at the Seoul Guild Evaluation Center just after 9 a.m.
---
The building was a towering prism of glass and steel, standing like a sword stabbed into the city's heart. The guild banners flew above it—twelve flags in total, each bearing the crest of one of Korea's Major Guilds. Silver Lions. Night Parade. Iron Howl. Phoenix Dawn. And more he didn't recognize yet.
A giant Rift Crystal was mounted in the center of the lobby, humming faintly with locked energy. Security was tight, but efficient. The guards wore enchanted gear and scanned each visitor with mechanical precision.
Taesung presented the card Seong Jinhwan had given him.
The receptionist, a woman in a clean-cut uniform, raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She tapped a panel, read the data, then nodded.
"Yoon Taesung. Provisional ID verified. Escort arriving shortly."
He waited in silence, watching other Awakened come and go—some laughing in guild uniforms, others in full armor, some too young to carry the deadness they already wore in their eyes.
Eventually, a tall man with a lion-shaped badge on his chest came to collect him.
"This way."
They led him down a private hallway, away from the bustling main floors, into a quieter corridor with reinforced glass and metal. One of the walls bore a large inscription:
> "Power without control is a threat. Control without purpose is a waste."
The evaluation chamber was sterile and massive. Cameras lined the ceiling. Magic runes pulsed on the floors. At the center stood a silver platform, surrounded by holographic panels.
Three evaluators waited near the edge—two men, one woman—all mid-tier Hunters by the look of their gear. Not elite, but experienced. They gave Taesung a glance, exchanged a few words with the escort, then turned to him.
"Yoon Taesung," one said. "Awakened three days ago during Rift Pulse 23-C. Unregistered. No recorded combat training since military school. Self-reported as C-rank, confirmed."
The woman stepped forward with a tablet. "Before we begin, you'll undergo three evaluations: stat assessment, skill classification, and a simulated combat scenario. This determines your official classification. Any attempt to suppress or manipulate your readout will be considered an act of concealment under Article 12 of the Rift Safety Act."
"I'm not hiding anything," Taesung said.
They nodded.
"Stand on the circle."
He did.
The moment his foot touched the center rune, a bright pulse surged upward, scanning his body with an audible hum. Lines of energy wrapped around his limbs and spine, reading his flow, syncing with the System itself.
The result appeared on the glass wall behind the evaluators.
---
[Yoon Taesung – Awakened]
Class: Arcane Strider
Rank: C
Level: 1
Health: 480 / 480
Mana: 650 / 650
Strength: 18
Agility: 22
Endurance: 19
Perception: 21
Intelligence: 25
Willpower: 28
Stat Points Available: 0
Skills:
Dimensional Step (Rank: B, Level: 1)
Mana Severance (Rank: B, Level: 1)
Passive: Rift Efficiency
---
The woman whistled softly. "B-rank skills on a fresh C-rank. That's rare."
The other man looked closer. "Arcane Strider. That's not a common class. Movement-type caster with physical combat traits. Hybrid."
"Mana pool's strong," said the third. "But base stats are average for his rank."
Taesung stayed silent.
They looked at him again.
"You've got control," the woman said. "That's good. But power without control kills more Hunters than Rifts ever did."
The simulation began.
---
They placed him inside a training chamber—a wide, glass-floored arena surrounded by projection nodes. A synthetic Rift zone materialized around him, built from light and mana. Debris. Shadows. Static distortion.
Three holographic enemies appeared: wolf-shaped mana beasts with basic attack AI.
The voice in the ceiling said, "Begin."
Taesung moved.
Dimensional Step activated instantly. One blink—and he was behind the first wolf. His mana blade formed in his hand mid-motion, and with a clean arc, he split the creature in half before it even turned.
The second beast leapt. He dodged, spun, and drove his blade upward into its chest.
The third lunged from the side.
He didn't blink.
He pulsed mana into his hand and slashed with Mana Severance. The arc of blue light cut clean through the beast's shoulder, carving an invisible edge of force into the projection.
The simulation ended. Silence fell.
"Time: 14.2 seconds. Zero damage taken. Clean technique," one evaluator said, typing.
"Mana usage efficiency: 93%. That's elite-tier control."
The woman was staring at him.
"You said you trained at Hunter Academy?"
Taesung nodded once.
She didn't ask why he left. But the question lingered in her eyes.
---
After the test, they led him to a side chamber. A familiar voice was waiting for him.
Seong Jinhwan sat on the bench, arms crossed.
"Well," he said, "you didn't die. That's a start."
Taesung didn't reply.
Jinhwan tilted his head. "The evaluators liked you. I didn't expect that. I figured you'd barely hold it together. But you've got instincts. Not flashy. Not loud. Just sharp."
He stood and handed over a sealed envelope.
"This is your provisional offer from Silver Lions. Starting contract. Basic training. Rookie squad assignment. You'll be shadowing a field team for three months, then reassessed for promotion."
Taesung opened it and scanned the contents. Nothing extravagant. Modest pay. Health coverage. Access to gear and training facilities. Standard first-rank benefits.
But it was more than he ever had before.
"You take this," Jinhwan said, "you're on our track. You play it smart, you'll move up. You play it dumb, you die."
Taesung looked up at him.
"Why me?"
Jinhwan smiled, a rare thing.
"Because I like quiet guys who let their blade do the talking."
He turned and walked out.
---
Later, in the dorms they assigned him for the rookie program, Taesung lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The room was clean. Sterile. A far cry from the cracked walls and leaky pipes of his old apartment.
But he didn't feel safe. He didn't feel comfortable.
He felt... ready.
He summoned the window again. Just to be sure.
> [Status Window Opened]
[Stat Growth available after combat or system point use.]
[New Message: Skill Growth Potential Detected.]
A new message?
He tapped it.
> [Skill Tree: Arcane Strider - Unlocked]
Skill Evolution Available for: Dimensional Step and Mana Severance.
Do you wish to preview the skill tree?
Taesung stared at the words, heart beating slowly.
He didn't answer.
Not yet.