Awakening
One day, a colossal tower appeared above the clouds.
People began to call it the Sky Tower.
"Oppa, let's break up."
"...What?"
"Sorry. There's someone else I like."
The summer I turned twenty-five.
My girlfriend dumped me.
"Damn it."
Tears clouded my eyes. I only found out later that she'd done the cruelest thing possible — a transfer breakup, dumping me the moment she'd already lined up someone better.
The man who took my girlfriend was a rising Ascender.
That's right. Ascender.
That was the title given to those who climbed the Sky Tower.
What was the Sky Tower, you ask?
An unknown tower that had flipped the entire paradigm of the world on its head — a place strewn with mysteries and miracles that the old Earth could never have imagined.
"This is so unfair, I'm going to become an Ascender myself!"
I shouted at the empty air, choking on my frustration.
But deep down, I knew better.
It wasn't nearly as easy as it sounded.
Because an Ascender could only awaken after being chosen by the Sky Tower.
The earliest anyone had ever awakened was fifteen.
And I, too, had rushed to the Sky Tower the moment I turned fifteen, to undergo the awakening ritual.
And the result?
'They confirmed I had zero potential, and that was that.'
My body was incapable of accepting mana.
Anyone with the aptitude to become an Ascender would have mana slowly seep into their body, even if they couldn't awaken on the spot. But I suffered from Mana Rejection Syndrome — my body couldn't absorb so much as a single mote of mana.
'A 0.0000000001% existence. That's me.'
Statistically speaking.
One in ten billion.
Yes — they said no one else in the entire world had ever been documented as completely unable to accept mana the way I was.
It got so bad that broadcasting stations actually came out to interview me.
Even so, I never fell into real despair.
I was an optimist back then, after all.
So what if I couldn't become an Ascender?
Sure, I'd never join the world's ruling class, but it wasn't like I'd starve on the streets.
"Ugh! 'So what' my ass!"
But that had been the naive thinking of a kid who didn't understand how the world worked.
Society kept revolving more and more around Ascenders, and the space left for non-Ascenders kept shrinking in proportion.
- The world has changed. Climb the Tower — even the 1st floor matters now!
It was guessed that the Sky Tower had at least ten floors, though no one had ever reached the top.
Setting aside the untouched 10th floor entirely, whether you could climb even the 1st floor had become the great dividing line — the yardstick that determined your entire social class.
"Starting today, I'm going to offer the Awakening Prayer."
The Awakening Prayer.
The Lobby Floor of the Tower was open to anyone. Every day, people gathered there to pray, yearning to become Ascenders.
Wait — didn't I just say you had to be chosen for awakening? Could prayer alone really do it?
Yes. Even now, there were constant reports of people awakening right in the middle of prayer.
Which meant the non-Ascenders had no choice but to pray, clutching at straws!
The Lobby Floor of the Tower.
A vast, sprawling space where every race and nation on Earth came and went. A mana sun hung in its sky all three hundred and sixty-five days a year, earning it the nickname the Land of No Sunset.
"Hear us, O Tower! Hear us!"
"Great Sky Tower! Grant even us humble ones a chance at ascension!"
"All together now! Hear us, O Tower! Hear us!"
"Hear us! O Tower, hear us!"
Stepping onto the Lobby Floor and scanning my surroundings, I quickly spotted the crowd I was looking for.
People swarming like bees before a colossal statue carved in the shape of a great tree, praying with everything they had.
They were exactly why I'd come here.
"Uh... hmm."
But faced with the actual spectacle of worship, I couldn't help flinching.
That was... a lot.
Was this really something I should do?
I stole a glance at the people around me.
"Tsk. I get that they're desperate, but they're being a real nuisance."
"Ugh, the racket, every single day..."
"And we can't even report them for noise pollution."
I knew it!
Apparently I wasn't the only one who found them obnoxious.
Everyone around me was clicking their tongues.
Right. However badly I wanted to awaken, that seemed like a bit much. Maybe I should just pray off to the side somewhere, or look into other options.
Just as I thought that and quietly started to back away—
"Oh! A member of the Overpower Clan!"
"Whoa. He's even wearing a Gold Badge. He's gotta be Level 60 at least."
"Figures a top-tier Ascender would land such a pretty girlfriend, too."
I turned my head toward the voices — and a strikingly handsome couple came into view.
A man over a hundred and ninety centimeters tall, with bleached white hair, wearing a uniform emblazoned with a lion's head.
That lion crest was the mark of the Overpower Clan, one of South Korea's top clans. The man was also wearing the Gold Badge — something only elites of Level 60 and above were permitted to wear.
An elite among elites, in other words.
'And he's even good-looking—huh?'
The moment I registered his face and thought, man, that guy's a total alpha male, my eyes drifted to the woman hanging on his arm.
'Ye-Yeonhee?'
My eyes trembled like an earthquake had just torn through them.
My ex-girlfriend — the one who'd brushed me off and walked away.
Lee Yeonhee.
It was her!
'So that's who it was?'
The man she'd transferred to after dumping me was, even by another man's standards, absolutely flawless.
Ah.
A heavy wave of defeat settled onto my shoulders.
"Huh?"
Then, had she sensed my stare? She turned to look in my direction.
Exactly one second.
Our gazes crossed.
More than enough time for her to recognize me.
"Mm? Honey, what is it?"
"Nothing, oppa. Don't worry about it."
Squish.
She pressed her chest against his arm, clinging even tighter — practically flaunting it right at me.
The faint furrow between her brows, aimed at me, smoothed back into a radiant smile the moment her eyes shifted to her new man.
'...Ugh.'
Watching that, a storm of emotions churned inside my chest. Jealousy. Resentment. Fury... and a crushing sense of defeat.
But only for a moment.
Something far fiercer soon blazed up from my gut like a roaring wildfire.
"Damn it all."
My head whipped around in the opposite direction.
"HEAR ME, O TOWER!!"
The non-Ascenders were still lost in their prayers.
That's right — who cares what a bunch of strangers think?!
Awaken first, worry later.
"Hear me!! Please, let me awaken!!"
Having thrown myself into the ranks of the faithful, I let loose a voice that thundered through the hall.
That's right — if I just awakened!! Even a dog rolling in filth can find a pearl!!
"Everyone, thank you for your efforts today! We have an awakening to celebrate — give a round of applause for our newly awakened Ascender, Ahn Chulho!"
"Woooooah!!"
Clap clap clap—!
So this stuff actually worked?
I looked at the shaved-head man who had successfully awakened today.
"Hahaha! Thank you! It's all thanks to every one of you!"
The man looked to be around my age, and he was so overjoyed that his eyes were brimming with tears.
"Ascender Ahn Chulho has awakened with a 5-star trait! Let us all take him as our example and pray even harder!"
"Ohhh!"
A 5-star trait!
Every Ascender gained a trait upon awakening, ranked from one star to nine.
The grade and nature of that trait determined your maximum growth and the direction your development would take.
It was commonly understood that the later in life you awakened, the higher your odds of landing a low-grade trait.
Yet this man, at the late age of his mid-twenties, had obtained a 5-star trait — upper-middle tier.
That was why everyone was still brimming with hope, thundering out their cheers like rolling thunder.
'I'd settle for a 5-star. Come on. Please!'
I wasn't the only one looking at that man and nursing hope.
With a 5-star trait and enough effort, one could conceivably grow to the level of that Gold Badge-wearing man from before.
Level 60.
The level at which you could comfortably reach the Tower's 6th floor.
Considering that the very strongest Ascenders in the entire world had only climbed as far as the 9th floor, making it to the 6th meant standing among the world's elite.
'Starting tomorrow, I'm praying with everything I've got.'
Maybe it was the momentum of the crowd, but it almost felt like I could awaken the very next day.
The next day.
"Hear me, O Tower!!"
The day after that.
"Hear me!! Please!!"
The day after that.
"Hear me, O Tower!! Give me a 5-star too!! No, honestly, even a 4-star would be fine!"
For all my initial fire, awakening remained a distant dream.
And so time flowed past without mercy.
"Hear... me..."
Even today, I was praying with glazed, hollow eyes.
"Um... Hajun? Maybe you should head home for today..."
A voice came from beside me. I whipped my head around to find the man who presided over these prayers standing there.
"No, I've only just started."
"Ah! I understand your dedication, Hajun, but you're going to wear yourself into the ground like this."
"There's no... need to worry."
That a man would say that much meant my appearance must have been a sorry sight.
Fair enough.
For the past several months, I had come out to pray without missing a single day.
I was the first to arrive, and the last to leave.
In that time, two more people had awakened — but my turn never came.
No. Could it ever come?
'Mana Rejection Syndrome.'
Damn this condition.
Despite lingering on the Lobby Floor for all those long months, my body had refused to accept so much as a single mote of mana.
More than enough reason to despair.
But I didn't give up.
Wasn't there a saying — where there's a will, there's a way?
I would awaken. No matter what it took.
Just as I renewed my resolve and began to pray once more—
a miracle happened to me.
The Sky Tower has responded to your fervent yearning.
"...!"
A crisp voice echoed inside my head.
'Ah.'
The moment I heard that voice, I knew.
'It's here!'
The moment of awakening!
The Awakening ritual is beginning.
Fwooosh!
A soft white light burst forth from my body.
The precursor of awakening.
"Ohhh!"
"Ascender Kim Hajun is awakening...!"
"Wooooah!"
Gasps of astonishment rippled through the crowd around me.
Ahhh. Yes, everyone.
I'm off to climb first — casting off every shackle and chain this world ever placed on me, in search of my own happiness!
Dopamine detonated inside my skull like a firework parade, one burst after another. An euphoric blaze seethed up in my chest.
And that was the moment.
Your body is incapable of accepting mana.
The Awakening ritual cannot proceed.
'...What?'
In the very instant my face was blooming with joy, my entire body froze solid.
Cannot proceed?
Why, for heaven's sake?!
A torrent of thoughts crashed through my mind. The world is rigging this against me. Am I really never meant to become an Ascender? Is this how I'm supposed to live my whole life?
No. This couldn't be happening.
Just as tears of injustice welled up in my eyes, the Tower's message rang out once more.
BOOOOOM!
With that message, a dazzling golden light erupted from my entire body.
'Wh-what is this?'
Even in my confusion, a wave of warmth washed over me from head to toe, like the memory of being cradled in my mother's arms as a child.
'Ahh...'
A drowsy yawn escaped my lips of its own accord.
Just as I was unconsciously about to drift off to sleep—
A message that jolted my mind wide awake.
I had finally become an Ascender!
But astonishing as that was, it was only the tip of the iceberg — nothing compared to the messages that followed.
Um...?
Wait. What?
A 10-star grade?
Were my eyes broken?
Convinced I was seeing things, I rubbed my eyes shut and opened them again.
[Hidden Trait acquired: Sage (10-Star ★★★★★★★★★★)]
The message still floated before my eyes.
No way — holy crap! There was actually a 10-star grade?!