My EX-Grade Skill: Incarnation Summon

Unlike the newly awakened, second awakeners received skills that were similar to what they already possessed. Their existing abilities were strengthened, or they gained evolved versions of their previous skills. And the skill I obtained was none other than Incarnation Summon.

The skill’s description was straightforward. It allowed me to summon my contracted incarnations to my side. This is incredible, isn’t it?

Of course, there were many restrictions. Items brought by a summoned incarnation would return with them once the duration ended. Even if I gave something to the incarnation, they couldn’t take it back to their original world. The skill was likely designed to replace the twenty-four-hour cooldown of Grace for sending items to incarnations, or to prevent receiving physical objects from them without the need for a temple.

Even setting those conditions aside, the skill’s cooldown was absurdly long.

Thanks to my promotion to top-tier constellation, the cooldown for Grace had been reduced to a mere twenty-four hours. In contrast, Incarnation Summon had a full month of cooldown. And for that, the maintenance time was only five minutes.

I had heard that skills could be upgraded using items obtained from the Tower, but that story had nothing to do with me yet. More importantly, this Incarnation Summon was yet another EX-grade skill. For someone like me—pathetically weak and in need of help from my incarnations rather than the other way around—it was the perfect ability.

Of course, I had not used it yet. My only incarnation, Aisha, had been busy lately.

Above all, I can’t possibly summon her into my tiny ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one-room apartment.

If a constellation was seen living in a place like that, any respect the incarnation held would vanish instantly. Well, that much was true.

While I was focused on the other world, massive changes were taking place on Earth thanks to the newly awakened, the gates, and the newly opened Tower.

First came the mana stones. They dropped when you killed monsters from the gates or cleared floors in the Tower. Not only could they be used to create items or strengthen one’s power, but scientists had already developed generators that used mana stones as fuel.

The value of mana stones had skyrocketed. Some people were already calling it a “mana stone bubble,” comparing it to the dot-com bubble of the past. But from my perspective—having seen the world where mana had existed from the beginning—the current prices still felt far too low.

Next were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the awakeners themselves. Even before the Tower opened or gates began appearing, awakeners with high-ranking skills and striking appearances had been treated like top-tier celebrities. Now the Tower was open. Clearing even a single floor granted various rewards, and the clear records were publicly viewable by everyone through the system.

On top of that, gates had begun appearing after the Tower’s opening. These gates popped up randomly with no discernible pattern, spitting out monsters anywhere and everywhere. The monsters that emerged could be dealt with easily using modern firearms even without skills. Many gates appeared over the ocean, and most of the monsters simply drowned. However, the ones that appeared in populated areas caused casualties.

The ones who stopped those monsters before the police or military could respond were the awakeners. People had already been obsessed with their superpower-like skills and good looks. Now these same people were protecting their lives? They even held a monopoly over the new energy source known as mana stones. In other words, awakeners had transcended mere celebrity status and become Earth’s new ruling class.

The drinking party at school that I had heard about from my junior Seol Yu-ra was exactly that kind of gathering. It was a place where awakeners built connections with one another, and where people eager to get close to them came to make a good impression.

I should go after all this time.

Now that I finally had a way to enter the Tower and clear it.

When awakeners had first appeared, the government had established the Awakener Management Bureau out of fear that people who could shoot fire from their hands or fly through the sky might commit crimes or acts of terrorism. There had been concern about whether they would voluntarily register, but the various benefits offered by the Bureau, along with the official grade printed on the Awakener Registration Card, quickly made registration standard.

The card’s grade became the official ranking system among awakeners. Instead of fighting to prove who was stronger—which would get them arrested—they competed through their grades. No matter how strong someone claimed to be or how many S-grade skills they boasted about, without an official Awakener Registration Card, none of it was recognized. There was even a hierarchy system forming within the new awakener fandoms based entirely on these grades.

Me? I was, of course, an F-grade awakener.

How long had it been since the Tower appeared? There was no way the country could accurately measure everyone’s strength yet. They simply had the awakener demonstrate their skill, and civil servants would assign a grade based on observation. It was essentially an eyeball test.

And I, who possessed the EX-grade skill Constellation Status, had nothing I could actually show them.

That was exactly what happened.

“Excuse me, can you not see the screen?”

“Uh… one moment, sir?”

The civil servant whispered quietly to someone who appeared to be her superior.

“Manager, this person might be…”

“No, there are no psychiatric records on file.”

“Really? Should we just send him through then?”

At any rate, the presence of mana had been confirmed by an awakener civil servant, so I received the registration card. But because I had no skill to demonstrate, I was marked F-grade.

There were quite a few other awakeners who felt the same injustice. That was why, after the Tower ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opened, the Awakener Management Bureau established a new policy. From now on, Tower and gate clear records would also be factored into an awakener’s grade.

Right, there’s one thing I need to confirm first.

I sent a message to Aisha, who had somehow become my first incarnation.

“My Constellation! My eyes have been restored to perfection! For you to have even meticulously examined and healed the parts that I so recklessly removed myself—I am eternally grateful!”

No, since you offered your own arm in prayer to me, I had to heal it.

Watching her shed genuine tears of emotion while expressing her thanks felt strangely heartbreaking.

“However, my Constellation… how much longer must I continue wearing this eyepatch…?”

“Yes, I understand…”

Her voice sounded oddly downcast.

Wait, that’s not what I wanted to ask.

“Ah, you mean my graduation project? Of course! Not only have I prepared versions with the original specifications, but I am currently developing an improved model with increased explosive power and extended range!”

As expected of a genius. Although she had bombed the Pantheon, the result was that she had become the incarnation of a top-tier constellation. At Theron Academy she now received treatment that was completely different from before. With nearly unlimited resources at her disposal, Aisha was already working on improvements.

“Hmm, I see… Just as I thought. Hehehe. Understood, my Constellation. What is our next target? The Pantheon once more? Or shall we strike the temple of another constellation…”

I shook my head.

The next day, at a bar near the university.

Whether because there were more awakeners than expected or because everyone who wanted to get close to them had shown up, the meeting place was already packed.

“Senior!”

The moment I walked in, Seol Yu-ra spotted me and waved enthusiastically.

“Hey, Dohyun hyung!”

“Why do you keep skipping class lately?”

My juniors and classmates greeted me one after another. I sat down and answered.

“Ah, I’ve been pretty busy lately.”

“Did something happen?” Seol Yu-ra asked.

“Not really. I was just thinking about entering the Tower. I’ve been trying to get more familiar with my skills…”

She looked momentarily flustered by my words.

“Eh, but Senior, your skill…”

Then, as if she had realized something, her face suddenly brightened.

“Ah! Senior, did you undergo your Second Awakening?”

I gave a small nod.

Thanks to Seol Yu-ra being an awakener, our table was already filled with unfamiliar students hoping to get close to her. After her exclamation, they now knew I was an awakener too. Their eyes began to focus on me—the newly awakened who had just joined their ranks.