"Sir, you really should stop coming here," sighed the attendant at the Guardian Registration Center, her voice heavy with familiar exhaustion.
The young man she addressed, with grey eyes and jet-black hair regarded her with a nonchalant expression as he adjusted his position at the counter. "Why? Is there some rule against how many times someone can attempt the awakening process?"
The lady pressed her palm against her forehead and exhaled slowly. "No, but perhaps there should be soon—to limit people like you." She wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. His face had become so deeply imprinted in her memory that seeing him was like encountering that one friend you didn't really consider a friend but couldn't bring yourself to say so. The kind who felt entitled to invade your personal space every single day.
"I don't think you should speak to an applicant with such a tone," he said, taking a deliberate sip of his coffee—milky and sweetened with enough sugar, exactly as he always liked it. He'd tried plain coffee once, just for the heck of it, and to this day, he kept his vow of never trying to impress anyone by choking down that bitter mess in the name of maturity
"And I don't think it's normal for someone to keep coming here repeatedly when you clearly know the result." she countered, her patience wearing thin.
"That's none. of. your. business," he said.
"Leave,"
"I really would like to, though. There's a long queue behind me, and you're creating even more work for yourself. Hand me a form and I'll leave. Simple." He gestured toward the growing line of impatient applicants behind him. If this continued, her superiors would certainly give her an earful.
"Fine." She grabbed a form and flung it at him with barely contained frustration.
Kyle placed his elbow casually against the counter and pretended not to notice the paper that had just fluttered to the floor.
"Mr. Kyle, I just gave you the form," she said through a strained smile. "Push me any further and I might just call security to have you thrown out."
"Well, you could do that," he replied evenly.
She narrowed her eyes, then took a deep breath.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice tight with controlled irritation.
"Give me a form," he said simply.
She pulled out another form and held it toward him. "Have it."
He smiled in return. "Thank you." He collected the form and walked away, leaving her to stare at his retreating figure before finally calling out, "Next applicant!"
.
.
.
.
Moving to the area where numerous people sat filling out their forms, Kyle approached a table where a young man with curled black hair was already at work. He spun a chair around and sat down, readjusting it before placing his form on the table and methodically working through each field as he always did.
"Um... morning," came a hesitant voice.
Kyle looked up to see the young man with black hair and slightly green eyes. He was undeniably good-looking by any standard and wore a formal suit—far too dressed up for this place. Probably his first attempt.
"Yeah, morning. Can I help you?" Kyle responded, raising an eyebrow.
"Er..." The young man hesitated, then extended his hand. "My name's Samuel, but you can call me Sam."
Kyle returned the handshake. "Kyle. You can call me... Kyle."
Sam gave an awkward laugh. "I was wondering," he said, raising his form and pointing with his glossy black pen to a box in the top right corner labeled [PASSPORT] in bold letters. "Is this compulsory?"
"Yes, it is. There might be more than one person with your exact name, so it's important to attach a passport photo to the form... just in case," Kyle explained.
"Oh." Sam acknowledged this with a nod.
Kyle then patted his shirt's top right pocket. "Huh?" he muttered, not finding what he was looking for. He checked his trouser pockets, but came up empty there too.
"Well, fuck," he cursed with a frown.
"Is something wrong?" Sam asked.
Kyle gave him an awkward smile. "I forgot my pen."
Silence.
Then they both laughed—though there was no particularly valid reason for it. It just sounded absurd: coming to something so important and forgetting your pen.
"Here," Sam said, offering him one.
"Thanks." Kyle accepted it gratefully and began filling in the form with practiced speed.
"Is there somewhere to take passport photos?" Sam asked.
Kyle, who had just reached the address section, looked up and nodded. He pointed toward a series of booth-like devices—about ten of them stationed across the room, each with a few people queued up waiting. "Just don't smile when it prompts you to," he offered as friendly advice. Experience was the best teacher, after all.
"Right," Sam said, taking his form and heading toward the booths.
[STARVED OF LOVE...~! [RINGING]]
Kyle's ringtone blared suddenly. He quickly answered and turned down the volume, but it was too late—curious glances and weird looks were already being directed his way.
"Tsk, how does she always manage this?" he muttered in annoyance. He'd changed this blasted ringtone countless times, but she always found a way to reset it. It was a strategic move to make him answer quickly—and one that worked every single time.
He swiped to his messenger app.
[Stalker: Where are you? You were supposed to just buy coffee. How long does it take?]
He chuckled to himself at the contact ID he'd saved her under, though this would probably cause him a lot of trouble if she ever saw it.
[You: I'm at the coffee shop. The line here is killing me.]
[Stalker: Then come back.]
[You: That won't be possible. I really need this coffee.]
[Stalker: Fine. I'm coming there now.]
"Eh?" he blurted out.
[You: Wait, you don't have to.]
He texted back, but the message remained [Unread] for several minutes. He realized she was probably hunting for him now.
"Tch." He clicked his tongue and pocketed his phone.
"You done?" came a voice. He looked up to find Sam wearing an annoyed expression.
"Yeah... what happened?" Kyle asked.
"Sigh... I should have listened to your advice," Sam said, then showed him his passport photo. The picture was crystal clear—of Sam with a bright smile that definitely shouldn't have been there.
Kyle professionally held back a laugh and nodded seriously. "It's... fine."
Sam gave him a look that clearly said, Do you think I'm an idiot?
"Whatever," Sam said with resignation.
Kyle handed back the pen and headed for the fourth photo booth, which had only one person in queue.
He wasted no time getting his picture taken, then they headed for the elevator together.
"First time?" Sam asked as they waited.
"Nah, more like the nth time," Kyle said.
Sam nodded absentmindedly, but then the underlying meaning hit him a moment later. "Eh?"
[DING!]
The elevator doors opened and everyone filed out. They stepped into an enormous hall filled with approximately fifty massive crystals, each the size of boulders. Every crystal radiated an ethereal blue light, connected by intricate tubes to what was labeled [Spaces of Pure Energy].
"Wow," Sam breathed in awe. It was beautiful.
The hall seemed to possess some kind of spatial distortion—it was so impossibly vast that it defied logic based on how the building had appeared from outside.
Before each glowing crystal stood a device resembling a chair, with wires and tubes connecting it to the crystals. This was where applicants would sit for their awakening attempts. Beside each chair was a control panel displaying power levels and various settings, manned by staff members dressed in full protective gear. Throughout the hall, Guardians were stationed at strategic points, wielding tranquilizers and other weapons in case things went wrong.
[SUBMIT FORMS TO REGISTER AND RECEIVE PLACEMENT FOR AWAKENING!]
A loud voice announced over the intercom. Kyle gestured for Sam to follow him toward the devices where people inserted their forms and received their queue numbers.
"WHAT THE HELL?! A B-RANK?!" A small commotion erupted as someone successfully awakened a B-rank Aspect.
"Wait, how old is that kid?" someone asked.
"I heard he's only thirteen," someone answered, causing the commotion to grow.
"This is so fucked up. I've been doing this for the past ten years and I'm still E-rank. How the hell did some kid awaken a B-rank on his first attempt?" The complaints grew louder.
Kyle could only sigh as he walked toward the registration device and inserted his form. He was one of the unfortunate ones, after all. He'd been attempting the awakening process for as long as he could remember—probably since he was twelve—and it was always the same result.
"Good luck," he heard Sam say, waving after receiving his own placement number.
Kyle, not in the mood for cheerfulness, simply waved back with a small smile before joining his assigned queue.
The line was painfully long, but eventually, his turn arrived. He stepped forward and settled into the device. Metal cuffs automatically secured his arms and legs in place, while a helmet-like apparatus descended to cover the top of his head.
"Try to endure it. This is going to hurt," the staff member warned.
"I know," Kyle replied quietly.
ZWOOOOOOOOOOOM
The sound of energy—something he couldn't quite identify but had heard far too many times—filled his ears.
And then came the pain.
He wanted to scream, but... he couldn't. Something was holding it all back.
"What the...?" the staff member suddenly exclaimed. "Where the hell is all the energy going?" He frowned at the device readout, which showed absolutely no reaction from Kyle's core whatsoever. It was as though the massive surge of energy coursing through his body wasn't there at all—or rather, something was absorbing it all.
"Let's turn it up a bit," the technician decided, increasing the power output.
Kyle's eyes widened until they seemed to bulge. He felt like his mind was being torn apart.
"Still nothing?" The man sounded incredulous. "I'm maxing it out now. Hold on tight."
That was the last thing Kyle heard before it felt like his consciousness was forcibly dragged from his body.
And then... nothing.
Click.
He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the staff member, still fully geared up including his helmet.
"You couldn't awaken." That was all the man said.
Kyle sighed deeply. He was really getting tired of this. Really, truly tired.
"OH MY GOD!"
The shout came the moment he stood up and began walking away. He looked toward the source—it was coming from one of the other awakening stations.
"AN S-RANK!" someone screamed.
His eyes widened in shock. He rushed forward, and when he saw the face of the person being surrounded by an excited crowd, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Sam."