Chapter 1 Awakening Day
1200 Words
The sky over Raven City was gray.
Not the gray of storm clouds—
but the metallic hue formed after years beneath an energy barrier.
Three colossal energy towers floated high above the city, suspended like inverted blades piercing the clouds. From them spread a web of pale blue light, wrapping the entire metropolis in a silent cage.
Today was Awakening Day.
At the First Awakening Academy of Raven City, tens of thousands of eighteen-year-old students filled the semicircular stands of the central plaza.
At the center stood a three-meter-tall transparent crystal pillar—the Awakening Core.
Its body was pure white, silver energy veins flowing inside like liquid lightning. Whenever someone touched it, those veins would expand, synchronizing the awakened talent data directly to the city’s main system.
Today was the day destinies changed.
It was also the day destinies were ranked.
Rank determined everything.
Education resources.
Residential districts.
Medical access.
Military draft priority.
Even marriage rights.
An F-rank and an A-rank might live in the same city—
but they did not live in the same world.
Leon Black stood at the back of the crowd.
Tall and lean, black hair slightly messy, expression calm to the point of indifference. He wore a plain black uniform, no family crest on his chest.
But his name was not plain.
“Next. Black.”
A faint snicker came from the front rows.
“Which Black?”
“Which one do you think? The South District collapse.”
“Oh… the A-rank hunter who caused the perimeter failure?”
“Heard seventeen people died.”
“And now his son’s awakening? This’ll be good.”
The whispers weren’t quiet.
Leon heard them.
He was used to it.
Three years ago, his father—Kyle Black, an A-rank hunter—had been blamed for a failed extermination mission. The South District perimeter barrier collapsed.
Official conclusion: misjudgment.
Public conclusion: reckless ambition.
Result: demoted, stripped of qualifications, permanently banned.
From that day on, the surname Black became a joke.
Leon walked toward the center of the plaza.
Camera drones hovered above him, livestreaming his image onto massive screens on both sides of the stands.
The announcer’s voice was flat.
“Awakening ID 1097. Leon Black.”
A scanning beam descended from the crystal pillar.
The plaza fell silent.
Not out of respect—
But anticipation.
Anticipation of failure.
Leon raised his right hand and pressed it against the crystal.
Cold.
Then—
Silver energy surged violently up his arm.
His veins felt ignited.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
His mind trembled violently—
Boom.
His consciousness plunged into a white void.
A hazy silhouette of light began forming before him.
The essence of awakening was resonance between mind and rule.
The light grew clearer—
Then suddenly twisted.
Like a signal being disrupted.
In reality, the silver veins inside the crystal spiraled into chaos. The data on the giant screens began fluctuating wildly.
“Energy fluctuation abnormal…”
“Spiritual frequency unstable.”
“System recalibrating.”
The stands erupted in murmurs.
“Seriously? He can’t even awaken properly?”
“Guess bloodlines matter.”
Inside Leon’s consciousness, the forming light shattered.
Fragments of radiance fell like rain.
The system voice rang out across the plaza.
[Talent Detection Complete.]
The giant screens lit up.
The entire crowd held its breath.
Then—
[Talent Rank: F.]
One second of silence.
Then laughter exploded.
“HAHAHAHA!”
“Knew it!”
“Criminal’s son awakening F-rank—makes perfect sense!”
The screen refreshed.
[Talent Name: Misfire]
[Effect: Skill activation failure rate increased by 60%. Energy stability reduced.]
The plaza went wild.
“Sixty percent failure rate?!”
“That’s worse than having no talent!”
“Who’d team up with him?”
The announcer continued mechanically.
“Leon Black. F-rank talent. Registration complete.”
The ranking board updated.
Rank: 1000.
Last place.
Leon slowly withdrew his hand.
The instability inside his body was real.
His mental space was empty, nothing but drifting fragments of light.
A 60% failure rate meant that more than half of his skills would simply fail.
In combat, that was fatal.
He looked up.
At the front of the stands stood the current Rank 1 A-rank—Ava Morgan.
Blonde. Calm gaze.
She wasn’t laughing.
She was watching him.
Not mockery.
Judgment.
No potential.
That was the verdict in her eyes.
Leon’s fingers tightened slightly.
“Hey!”
Ryan Cole rushed down from the stands.
“So what if it’s F-rank? At least he awakened!”
He stood beside Leon, glaring at the crowd.
“Shut up! Fight me if you’ve got guts!”
“An E-rank trash talking?” someone sneered.
Ryan clenched his fists.
Leon stopped him.
“Forget it.”
His voice was light.
Steady.
“You’re not angry?” Ryan demanded.
Leon glanced at his name at the bottom of the board.
“Anger won’t change the ranking.”
At that moment—
His awakening bracelet vibrated.
That wasn’t part of the process.
Leon looked down.
The screen flickered.
A line of red text appeared.
[Skill activation failed.]
He froze.
Failed?
He hadn’t even used a skill.
Another line appeared.
[Failure Count: 1/100]
His breathing slowed.
Ryan was still ranting, unaware.
The screen flickered again.
[Hidden Condition Triggered.]
[Spiritual Stability Threshold Met.]
[Binding — Infinite Evolution System.]
Leon’s pupils contracted.
The voice sounded directly in his mind.
[Binding Complete.]
[Rule: Every 100 accumulated failures → Talent Evolution.]
Time seemed to slow.
The plaza remained noisy.
No one knew what had just happened.
One hundred failures… evolution?
He looked again at the talent description.
“Failure rate +60%.”
If failure itself could become the condition for growth—
Then maybe this F-rank…
Wasn’t useless.
Ryan was still arguing.
Leon suddenly smiled.
Faint.
“What’re you smiling about?” Ryan blinked.
Leon looked back at the crystal pillar.
“Didn’t they say my failure rate’s high?”
He turned and walked toward the exit.
“Then I’ll let it fail as much as it wants.”
“…What does that even mean?”
Leon didn’t answer.
The system interface surfaced again in his mind.
[Current Talent: F-rank · Misfire]
[Failure Progress: 1/100]
He clenched his fists.
His father’s name.
His ranking.
All those mocking eyes.
A weight pressing on his chest.
But this time—
There was no anger.
Only one thought.
If this world defines value by success—
Then he would rewrite the rules with failure.
The sky over Raven City remained gray.
But at the exit of the Awakening Plaza,
an F-rank boy did not stop walking.
From the stands, Ava Morgan’s gaze lingered for a second longer.
“Misfire talent…” she murmured.
“Why does his energy fluctuation… not feel like an F?”
High above, Instructor Kane Rowe folded his arms.
“Interesting.”
He watched Leon’s retreating figure.
“That’s not simple instability.”
“That’s suppression.”
The noise of the plaza continued.
No one noticed—
The lowest-ranked F-rank student
had just obtained the only talent in this city—
That could grow.
[Failure Count: 1/100]
The progress bar hovered quietly.
Like a spark waiting to ignite.
- Writer
