The World Is Not Equal
Humans are divided into two classes: those who wield power and rule, and those who lack it and are ruled.
Approximately thirty years ago, dungeons began appearing on Earth. At the same time, something straight out of a clichéd fantasy web novel became reality. Everyone awakened.
We called those who awakened the 1st Generation Hunters. And the children born to those 1st Generation Hunters awakened naturally as they grew. We called them the 2nd Generation Hunters.
The world changed with remarkable ease. Some took up combat, others healing, and still others found their place in support and management. Awakening was no longer a special event. It was not talent, but order; not a miracle, but procedure. At the appointed time, in the appointed way, everyone found their place as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
So the world became comfortable. It became clear who stood above and who stood below. Everyone did. Everyone except me.
My name is Do-yoon. Sixteen years old. A first-year high school student in the throes of adolescence. The only one at an academy filled with the awakened who has yet to awaken.
In this world, the most ordinary thing of all is something I still do not possess: awakening. A single standard that divides people, futures, and worth. Before that standard, I was always one step behind, always at the bottom of the list.
People around me say it's fine, but everyone knows how the unawakened are treated. And I know it too. I know exactly how long this world will wait for someone like me who has not awakened.
Awakening.
I still have not awakened.