Zero Mana
Finally, today.
The long-awaited results of the third examination were coming out.
I headed toward the National Mana Examination Center with footsteps as heavy as if lead weights hung from them. Looking up, a viciously blue sky filled my vision. A stifling feeling. That clear, clear sky only made everything feel more ominous.
"Are you Kang Junghyeok?"
"Yes. I'm Kang Junghyeok."
"Would you follow me?"
I followed the man—whether a nurse or just an errand runner, I couldn't tell—into the room. I was so tense that nothing registered. My heartbeat seemed to echo all the way to my ears.
Inside, a middle-aged man in something resembling a doctor's coat was waiting. Probably not a doctor—more like some PhD or professor type. After a light nod, I sat in the chair placed opposite him. Even though my tense expression was plain to see, the man only glanced at me and ignored it, shifting his gaze straight to the monitor.
What words would come out of that man's mouth? Depending on them, my life would change drastically. Could my life change? It felt like someone was squeezing my heart in a fist.
"You underwent a precision examination?"
"Yes."
"The third time..."
The middle-aged man trailed off, then let out a deep sigh. With that alone, I realized what my results were. How much street sense had I picked up from rolling around in life? So it was no good after all...
The test I had taken was one that detected mana reactions inside the body. Because I wanted to become the Awoken I dreamed of. Most people first took this test when they finished compulsory middle-school education and sat for the Awoken Academy entrance qualification exam. I had been the same, and looking at my current state, anyone could tell what the result had been back then. Including that qualification exam, this was already my third time.
In South Korea... no, even looking worldwide, there wasn't a single person who didn't want to become an Awoken. They were beings chosen by the gods. Beings who lightly surpassed ordinary humans. But those who could become the chosen ones were less than one percent of the humans in the world. That was the current reality, and my reality.
This so-called mana reaction test could be taken for free once in South Korea. Because the number and quality of Awoken became a nation's power. As soon as you graduated middle school they tested you, and those who showed talent would be managed directly by the state. That standard was truly ambiguous. If you had mana above the national baseline you were called a Mana Manifestor, and that was the entrance condition for the Awoken Academy. The chosen ones received special treatment from then on. Special treatment meaning various support from the state, the qualification to become a student at the Awoken Academy, envious gazes from others, sponsorships starting to come in from various companies, and so on...
Fuck...
Damn it, I was just one of the unchosen ninety-nine percent. A human below the standard. That was none other than me, Kang Junghyeok.
"Are you listening, Mr. Kang Junghyeok?"
"Ah, yes. So in the end I'm below the standard again this time, right?"
"No."
"What? Then... did I pass the standard?"
"No."
I had hoped against hope, but as expected.
"Then what is it?"
Even though it wasn't his fault, irritation slipped out of me without realizing. Whether this middle-aged guy understood my feelings or not, he didn't particularly object to my tone.
"Mr. Kang Junghyeok is a bit of a special case."
"Special case?"
"Yes. We couldn't find any mana at all."
I was genuinely irritated. No—beyond that, I was pissed off. So what about that? Whether zero or a hundred, if you were below the standard you couldn't become an Awoken. That was already common sense in the world.
"We couldn't find any mana at all in Mr. Kang Junghyeok's body. I've never heard of a case like this."
"Is that so strange? It's a bust either way, right?"
The middle-aged man's long-winded explanation went like this: even if you didn't have enough mana to become a Mana Manifestor, every human was born with at least a minimal amount of mana. Among the over ten million data points examined so far, a case like mine was the first.
"So what. Doesn't seem like a good thing... Or is it some kind of disease? A terminal illness?"
"It's not that. Looking at how you're living perfectly fine like this, there don't seem to be any health issues. No abnormalities were found in the precision examination either. However..."
Just that it was special. That was all. Making a person tense for no reason. A sigh came out on its own.
"How about it, Mr. Kang Junghyeok. This is a special case not reported in academia. Would you consider participating in my research?"
"Are you telling me to become a subject for human experiments or something?"
"Ah, no. Just occasionally providing a little blood is fine. I'll compensate you generously."
I refused flatly and left the examination center. I lived poorly, but not so poorly that I had to sell blood to eat. I had a job too. Shit, it wasn't like fanning the flames of a burning house.
I came out of the huge building and sat on the stairs. From the stifling feeling I loosened my necktie and unbuttoned my dress shirt. Then one of the buttons flew off on its own.
Haa, fuck. Seriously...
Nothing went right. I threw the necktie down the stairs. I had poured my blood-like money into hearing this goddamn answer. Even at twenty I had worked myself to death on part-time jobs eating only ramen and blown all the money I earned, and this time several months' salary had disappeared. The money I had barely scraped together by working my ass off. I should have bought lottery tickets with that money...
Anger surged to the top of my head.
"Fuck, no mana at all?"
Damn it. In this era where even pebbles rolling on the street detected faint mana, I had none at all? I clutched my hair and groaned. Thoughts of the cigarettes I had quit rose thickly.
Ah... what was I going to say to Haneul...
Shin Haneul. The name of my live-in girlfriend. From the moment I said I would take the test, Haneul had opposed it.
"What test are you taking again? You said you took it at twenty too. Please give up, oppa. The test fee isn't a small amount—are you crazy? If you're going to take the test, don't even think about seeing me again!"
Both she and I were non-Awoken. Life was always without leeway, and both of us were busy working. If our times didn't match it was hard to even face each other once or twice a week. Even if it was hard now, let's endure. Even if it was tough now, let's work hard and live comfortably and happily later—we often talked like that. In that situation, me saying I'd use several months' salary on this test, of course she'd get angry... I fully understood her feelings. But when a person got excited, words they didn't intend came out. I had raised my voice at Haneul saying I wasn't asking for her money. After that we hadn't exchanged a single word for two weeks. Even while living under the same roof.
And today had come. As I dressed neatly and came out to hear the test results, Haneul, who had gotten up from sleep, said,
"Oppa, I hope you have good luck."
That was a bit strange. Was it because it was her voice after a long time? The words themselves seemed like she was trying to reconcile, but strangely it felt cold. I felt an inexplicable distance. So I hoped even more for a good result. No—I desperately wanted to become a Mana Manifestor...
Among those who didn't become Mana Manifestors on the first test, there were cases where the result flipped through re-examination. The current mana reaction test wasn't one hundred percent perfect. A renowned foreign scholar had said that growing humans might have their internal mana levels grow together as well. So he said people who took the test during the growth period should definitely re-test at twenty or twenty-one.
That bastard... he was bullshitting to make money. Definitely. He was definitely a guy with one foot in the testing-machine side of things.
What did I do now. Even if I hated some distant person for no reason, the money had already left my pocket. My head was complicated. I didn't have the confidence to go home like this and face Haneul. There was no one to call for a drink in the middle of the day like this...
Haa...
From tomorrow I had to live again cleaning up after others. And not ordinary people—cleaning up after monsters. Even though I had taken a day off, with nowhere to go I trudged toward the company. The sky I looked up at was still spread out disgustingly blue.
"Mr. Kang Junghyeok. Weren't you taking the day off today?"
"My business finished in the morning so I came out."
"Why? The team members Junghyeok has to manage from now on won't be coming today, you know?"
"Yes. The first meeting is tomorrow. There are documents I need to organize in advance."
Company name: Cool Support Company. A small firm that managed Awoken. Of course that was just the main work—they did almost anything money-making related to dungeons. I had only been employed for six months. It was a tiny company, but if there was an advantage, it was this: a mere six-month newbie got to lead a team. Well, it wasn't that grand. The so-called chick team. Taking novice Awoken into F-rank dungeons that had already been perfectly cleared and supporting them so they could grow.
The problem was... F-rank dungeon. Even though it was a dungeon that had already been cleared, it wasn't that easy—that was the characteristic of this job. Not all Awoken were the same Awoken. The so-called talent hogs who stood out at the Awoken Academy. Those skilled Awoken signed sponsorship contracts with various companies even before graduating the Academy and were taken by those companies right after graduation. What came to small companies like ours were the absolute bottom among Awoken Academy graduates. Trash who had never received sponsorships. Yet with just the title of Awoken, how much they strutted around. When I had been assisting in the previous F-Team section, seeing their behavior, sometimes curses rose to my throat. But I must never show it outwardly. If I got on their nerves it was big trouble. If I just grazed an arm lightly swung by an Awoken, my slender bones would shatter.
I sat at the desk in the office and turned on the work computer. On the monitor, the profiles of the four new novice Awoken who had newly joined our company appeared. Three women. One man. I checked their files and started memoing the things I had to do going forward. I absolutely couldn't be looked down on from the start. Even if I couldn't become an Awoken!
"By the way, with this beauty and these faces. Everyone's a beauty. Are all Awoken like this?"
Watching their photos and training videos, admiration burst out of me without realizing. Their skills were trash, but their looks were all top-tier.
"Well, thanks to the grace of the gods. Mana and looks too! Whoa~ And their wealth on top of that? Ah, I'm jealous. So jealous."
Whether he had heard the words I muttered, the senior started going on about it. Come to think of it, I had never seen an ugly Awoken. Of course most weren't my type, but every single one was good-looking. Not just these novices, but all the Awoken I had watched so far seemed that way. Even if you said the body was natural from steadily taking combat classes, the skin and features were well-balanced. Was this the power of mana? Fuck, then what about me? Just looking at my face I didn't fall short anywhere. Even if my mana was zero... I got irritated for no reason. The bastards who owned what I desperately desired. I earnestly hoped that these bitches and bastards' personalities would fall within the normal range.
I lost track of time watching the videos. Since the seniors weren't leaving work, I didn't even realize time had flown by. On my phone was a text from Haneul, but I couldn't think of an appropriate reply at all.
"She'll be mad... but what does she have to say?"
She might already have figured it out. That it was a vain dream. Where was there a person who took this test three times in the first place. On the way back I stopped by a bakery and bought a strawberry cake. It was Haneul's favorite cake. We hadn't even had a proper conversation for two weeks, so I needed to smooth things over with this. Ah, it had been a while since I'd get some waist action. I headed home trying to end this sad day as positively as possible.