The First Wallet
I played dumb.
Not many people paid nearly ten million won to come for a mana examination, and it had already been a full month since my last visit. Even if my face looked familiar, he would never be certain I was that same guy who had possessed zero mana back then. He would never dream in a million years that someone who had been mana-zero would suddenly reappear as an Awoken.
"Nice to meet you."
"Hmm... nice to meet you."
He stared hard at my face while we shook hands. It was uncomfortable. Ease up a little, mister.
Then something genuinely surprising hit me. This middle-aged guy was an Awoken? His mana sat at a lowly F-1, but there was no mistaking it—he was definitely an Awoken. And a healer, at that.
I shook free of the hand still gripping mine and said, "What do I need to do? I have a busy schedule this afternoon."
"First comes the consultation. How you became an Awoken, the process..."
Something I had heard from my senior. I had only half-listened at the time and barely remembered the details, but I could just wing it.
"I work as an Awoken Supporter. The moment I stepped out of a dungeon, my whole body suddenly burned like a fireball. White steam poured off me and..."
My lies were getting better by the day. Growing faster than our rookies' mana, even.
"I see. Good. First, let's run a simple physical test."
Besides the doctor-type in front of me, several sturdy men stood waiting. I followed the middle-aged man over to them.
"Five hundred kilograms. Can you lift it?"
I raised the dumbbell lightly with one hand. "Is this enough?"
Senior had told me she lifted a thousand-kilogram dumbbell, so this might not even be the end.
"You are clearly an Awoken."
He showed not the slightest surprise; scenes like this were already routine to him. Well, he was an Awoken himself.
"Next is this way."
"Why not just go straight to the heaviest one?"
"Oh, full of confidence. Excellent. No problem at all."
I lifted the one-ton dumbbell with one hand as if it weighed nothing. Whoever built these things was a mystery in itself.
"Indeed... you have every reason to be confident. Good. Originally the test ends here, but recently an incredible person appeared. Would you care to try lifting it with your pinky?"
I understood instantly who that person had been. Senior An, what the hell did you pull here?
"That's enough. This is my limit."
"I see. A shame."
"So I can register at the Academy right away?"
"Of course. Starting next week..."
"No. From tomorrow."
"Doesn't matter... well, alright. We warmly welcome anyone eager to train at the Academy."
Everything was sliding into place. If I had known it would be this easy, I would have quit the company ages ago. I had thought dungeon expeditions would give me chances to build connections with other female Awoken, but in the end I never formed a single link outside our own team. If I had known I could walk into the Academy this smoothly, I never would have put myself through that misery.
After finishing a somewhat tedious questionnaire, I completed my Awoken registration. Attending the Academy's special class paid three million won every four weeks—same as Senior. That was more than my old salary. Why had I been working at that company... like an idiot.
Still, I had no intention of freeloading at the Academy forever. I needed to graduate as fast as possible. Theory was already rock-solid; a quick skim of the textbooks would do. Combat classes were the only real concern, and with my abilities there was nothing to worry about. And during that time I planned to make money. A truly excellent idea for raking it in had just occurred to me. I could hardly wait for tomorrow—to see Senior again after so long, too.
Registration finished in one clean sweep, and I stepped outside. Coming down the stairs in front of the mana examination center, something caught my eye. I squatted and checked: it was the button that had fallen off my shirt last time. I carefully picked it up and brushed the dust away.
"Somehow feels like good luck is going to follow from now on."
Maybe it was only a feeling, but I felt good for no reason at all. Positive energy poured out of me without my noticing. I had finally achieved the thing I had longed for so desperately. Borrowed power or not, I had made it. At last I was an Awoken officially recognized by a Republic of Korea government agency.
Republic of Korea, Incheon.
A place where the international airport was visible far in the distance. Here stood the nation's only Awoken Academy. To reclaim what had once been open sea and raise a facility this massive—monsters clearly were not confined to dungeons alone.
I woke early, bought a single roll of kimbap, ate it on the way, and arrived at the Academy. It was big. Way too big. A place that hundreds of thousands of Awoken had passed through. Today was the meaningful day I became one of them.
I could have taken lodging outside the grounds, but money was tight, so I chose the dormitory. I had heard Senior An had been assigned one as well. Special-class members enjoyed free access unlike ordinary students, so living in the dorm would not mean losing my freedom.
I half-expected to get lost, but thankfully a guide was waiting. Still, something felt awkward. Tens of thousands of Mana Manifestors and Awoken, plus all the staff who managed them—nearly two hundred thousand people lived inside these walls. Having a guide prepared for a newly registered Awoken was only natural. The awkwardness came not from the guide but from me; I simply was not used to this kind of life. Living in such luxury apparently made even bottom-rung mana types forget their manners. Our team kids were different, of course.
"I'll show you to the dormitory first."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
The man assigned to guide me was extremely tall—easily ten centimeters taller than me—and the faint smile he wore gave me the creeps. I handed him my luggage and immediately texted Senior that I had arrived. It was eight in the morning. Classes had not started yet; maybe she would come out to meet me.
"The room is single occupancy, right?"
"Yes. Every room assigned to an Awoken is a private room."
Exactly as Senior had told me. A private room meant night activities would be no problem. While I walked and talked with the man, a call came from Senior. I answered at once. She said she was heading to this spot, so I waited—guide still in tow.
"Sorry."
"It's fine."
While waiting, I installed the Academy-exclusive app on my phone exactly as the man instructed. There was a map usable only within the grounds, plus all sorts of other features. At least I would not get lost. While I was still wrestling with the smartphone, Senior arrived.
"Junghyeok!"
"Senior."
"It's been so long~ I missed you."
"Senior... please restrain yourself a little when people are watching..."
"Mm..."
Catching up properly with Senior after so long would have to wait until tonight. If she started clinging now it would be a problem.
We reached the dormitory. The special-class dorm allowed free entry for both men and women. Bringing ordinary students was forbidden, of course—a policy clearly designed with adult Awoken in mind. Compared with the other buildings, though, this one was strikingly cramped. With so few special-class members it was inevitable... yet it even looked shabby. Senior explained that among late awakeners, people with real mana were rare. In short: few heads, almost all F-rank, so be grateful for what you get.
"But don't worry. I already moved to the regular dorm."
"Huh?"
"Once you have the skills, the treatment improves. You'll be able to come too. Elite-only dorm."
Senior was already being treated as elite. Of course she was. Right now, excluding the instructors, her mana was the highest in the entire Academy. Should I transfer right away myself? I was curious about the elites' abilities too—women only, naturally. I had zero intention of touching minors, but expanding my network never hurt.
I tossed my luggage into the assigned room and stepped straight back outside. I would begin proper classes next Monday. Today I still had another test to take—the mana examination given when a Mana Manifestor became an Awoken. I had enrolled under the claim that I was already Awoken. Would the mana I borrowed from Senior hold up properly? It would not come back as mana-zero again, would it?
"Then I'm off to class."
"Yes. It's fine. Someone's coming to help me."
"What? Who?"
"You'll see. Meet me this evening."
"Evening? What about lunch?"
"I'm busy during the day. Don't you want to see me at night?"
"Ah—no... this girl."
"Then take your class well and let's eat dinner together."
"Okay~"
Senior left for class. I asked the guide to give me a rough tour of the buildings I would be using from now on. Time slipped by until eleven in the morning. A message arrived saying the person who would help me had arrived.
"Thank you for your hard work. This much guidance is plenty. I have the map app now."
"Yes. From now on I'll be permanently assigned to you as an Awoken, so if you need anything or have questions, just contact me by phone or through the app."
"Understood."
The man left. I immediately went to find my one-day helper.
"You've arrived."
"Team Leader-niiim~!"
Lee Donggeul. The moment she spotted me she sprinted over and latched onto my arm. Soft, round, yielding pressure... ugh. She was today's boobs—no, helper. The person who would show me around the Academy, and more importantly the bait who would draw out the person destined to become my wallet.
"Welcome. Thank you for coming. For granting my request."
"No. If Team Leader-nim calls, I come right away."
"How did you get here?"
"I took a taxi."
"Good girl."
I stroked her soft hair.
"Donggeul-ssi, the truth is I called you today for something far more important than guiding me around."
"A request?"
"Yes. Something only you can do... it may be a very difficult request. If you don't want to, just say so."
"No. There's nothing I don't like. I'll do every single thing Team Leader-nim asks."
Every single thing? Ah, my mind kept sliding straight into the gutter. I quickly shook my head to clear the filthy thoughts. Thinking dirty before even making the request was pure trash behavior. Well, I was trash, but still...
I hesitated, then finally opened my mouth.
"Um... could you lure the person who constantly harassed you during your Academy days?"
"The teacher? Why?"
"Is it too hard? I'm sorry. It must dig into old wounds... I made a mistake—"
"No, no. I can do it. Where should I bring them?"
"Um... mainly where did you get... no, where did the harassment..."
"Ah, that place is a bit far from here. The recovery-skill training building."
"Then let's head there first."
While we walked I could not bring myself to say a word. It must have been agony for her, yet I remembered how freely she had spoken of it in front of me. Even knowing that, the fact that I had already slept with her thoroughly meant I was a pervert and a piece of trash for certain. I glanced at Lee Donggeul trailing beside me. No shadow showed on her face. Was it really all right to believe she was fine?
"Um... I plan to take revenge on the person who harassed you."
"Revenge...?"
"Yes. Because they're a bad person."
"Yeees... but similar to Team Leader-nim..."
"What?"
What did she just say? Equating me with that shameless bastard? Had she been dealing with me all this time with that kind of feeling in her heart?! I wilted. The lack of any solid rebuttal made it worse. If I had to draw a comparison—
"Still... I don't touch minors. And I never forced you..."
When I spoke with a shocked face she grew flustered herself.
"Ah, right. Um... Team Leader-nim raised my mana too, and doing it with Team Leader-nim... I don't dislike it that much."
"Thank you..."
Not comforting in the slightest. Not that I was seriously crushed, but still.
"Anyway, you know doing that sort of thing to a minor is a crime, right?"
"Yeees..."
"So I have no intention of leaving that so-called teacher alone today. Please lure them for me, Donggeul-ssi."
"Yes... here. The place we mostly used."
Before I realized it we had arrived at a room inside the recovery-skill training building. It looked like a break room. According to Lee Donggeul, students injured during other combat classes were brought here. Serious injuries were handled by instructors or standby healers, but light wounds were treated by healers like her for practice.
"There are several break rooms like this, but this one is the farthest, so it only gets used when a large number of injured show up."
"I see. You know all that."
"That teacher told me..."
Not just once or twice, damn it... Focus. This part was important.
I carefully laid out the plan that had come to me and asked her to act it out. After a long explanation I finally received a positive answer. Sorry, Donggeul-ssi. It must be a painful memory. But bastards like that still needed to be caught and crushed. When I pushed the same earnestness I had used before, she eventually said she would bring the teacher and left. Apparently they did not even have each other's numbers or chat contacts. I was glad she had not stayed in touch after graduation. Or had the teacher simply discarded her once she was no longer a minor? Ugh... I had no idea. Suddenly the craving for a cigarette surged hard. Hoo... Would this work?
I hurriedly hid myself. Because the room was built for treatment, several partitions stood inside. I slipped behind one and took out my smartphone. A short while later the break-room door opened. Lee Donggeul and another silhouette stepped in. I immediately hit the record button. From this moment Donggeul's acting was critical. I needed evidence for blackmail. That bastard was going to become my very first wallet.
Huk—!
But of all things...
The person Lee Donggeul had brought was strange. Long hair. Tall, curvy figure. Seductive black stockings. Hah... Don't tell me the one who jumped her saying "let's test hymen regeneration" had been a woman?
"It's been a while for this room too, Donggeul."
"Yes, Teacher..."