Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Awakener Registration
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I entered the Awakener Management Bureau, pulled a waiting number ticket for new Awakener registration, and found the application form to fill it out.
It required detailed information on name, date of birth, skills, and stats, but since my skills and stats were nothing to write home about, there wasn't much to put down.
After finishing, I sat down and waited my turn.
Looking around, a fair number of people were waiting with excited expressions. Hunter life is dangerous, but it's a life-changing opportunity to make big money, so everyone had hopeful faces. In my previous life, I had sat here with the same expression.
But was this really something to celebrate? It would be good for a while. But soon, with the events that were about to unfold, Hunters would die on the front lines. Unless I stopped it, of course.
Ding-dong.
After waiting a long time, a cheerful sound rang out, and my number appeared on the screen.
"Hello. Congratulations on your awakening! Have you filled out the application?"
A cute-looking civil servant with her hair neatly tied up greeted me with a bright smile from the counter.
"Yes. Here."
I handed her the application I had prepared in advance.
"Lee Ji-seok~ Ah."
Her lively face turned awkward as she read the form.
"You're unemployed and have an F-Rank Regeneration Skill."
There are exceptions, but the job and skill rank granted at the start are the measure of an Awakener's potential. With low stats, no job, and an unheard-of F-Rank skill, her reaction was only natural.
"Is regeneration like a healing skill?"
"Yes. It regenerates wounds on my body. Not on others."
"Ah, I see. Please demonstrate your skill in the measurement room at the back and come back."
She looked at me with pity as she handed the documents back.
The measurement room had various weapons and dummies made of special materials set up.
"Lee Ji-seok?"
The measurer called my name. He was sturdy-built with a sword at his waist.
"Yes."
I approached as I answered.
"Regeneration skill, right? Could you show it? We've got potions and paramedics ready, so no worries."
The measurer guided me in a businesslike tone.
"Yes."
I grabbed a dagger from the weapon rack and slashed my palm.
Even with his businesslike demeanor, his eyes flickered slightly when I unhesitatingly cut my palm. But as the wound slowly healed, his gaze turned indifferent again.
"Hmm. Only on your own body?"
"Yes."
He scribbled something on the form after my answer. Unlike the civil servant, he didn't show much emotion.
"Try attacking that dummy? Bare hands or weapon, whatever."
The dummy was equipped with sensors to measure impact. In my past life, I remembered swinging a sword I didn't know how to use like a club.
I never used weapons in my past life, and I had no intention of using them in this one. Given my skill's nature, fighting bare-handed was more efficient.
I stood in front of the dummy as instructed.
Drawing on my past life's combat sense, I punched the torso with all my might.
Kwang!
My combat sense remained, but my body was frail. The skin on my hand tore, and my bones cracked. Regeneration started immediately, but the considerable pain made me clutch my fist and groan.
"No other combat skills?"
"No."
"Here you go."
I took the form back from the impassive measurer and returned to the counter, where they issued my Awakener registration card.
It read F-Rank Awakener Lee Ji-seok. The lowest rank among Awakeners. But this was just the beginning.
"You know you need to graduate from the Academy to get Hunter qualifications and enter Gates, right?"
The counter attendant showed me an Academy guidebook. Not every Awakener becomes a Hunter. You need at least Academy graduation.
In the early Gate incidents, Awakeners were thrown into Gates without proper training, leading to mass casualties that accelerated Gate Breaks. Of course, they had no choice with monsters pouring out.
Now, with systems in place, you can't enter Gates without completing a month's basic training at the Academy.
"Yes. What's the soonest schedule?"
"Just a moment. Oh, you're lucky. Someone canceled, so you can start tomorrow."
"Then, please handle my enrollment too."
She nodded, typed on the keyboard to process enrollment, circled the schedule and tomorrow's location/time on the printed guide, and handed it to me.
"Good luck."
She looked at me pitifully, thinking I'd go to the Academy with such pathetic stats. She'd probably seen plenty die trying to become Hunters with lousy skills.
I bowed slightly in thanks and left the Awakening Bureau.
Imagining the expressions on that attendant and measurer when my abilities grew and my name became known brought a smile to my face.
* * *
"I'm back."
Jae-won came in through the door.
"Yeah?"
I answered without turning, packing my bags.
"Huh? Where you going?"
"The Academy."
I turned to Jae-won and grinned.
"What?! Really?! You awakened?"
"Yeah. Starting at the Academy tomorrow."
"Nice, man! Congrats!"
Jae-won slapped my back enthusiastically.
"What's your ability?"
He asked cautiously.
"Regeneration. Like self-healing."
"Uh... I see. Anyway, congrats!"
Jae-won, interested in Hunters, knew famous skills. A healer buffing teammates was one thing, but self-only healing sounded lame on paper, yet he congratulated me without showing it.
No need to say more now; he'd see my strength soon enough. Telling him I regressed wouldn't convince him anyway.
"We gotta celebrate! Chicken's on me!"
After the chicken Jae-won ordered arrived, he filled glasses with bomb shots of soju and beer.
"Don't forget me even if you make it big!"
We clinked glasses and downed the drinks.
* * *
I drank too much yesterday, but thanks to Regeneration, no hangover. Jae-won, meanwhile, was sprawled on the floor like grilled rice cake.
"See you later."
No need to wake him; I grabbed my pre-packed bag and left the studio apartment.
After changing buses several times, I arrived at the Academy.
The school entrance was packed with trainees and their families.
Alone as always, I passed through and handed my Awakener card at the reception tables.
"Lee Ji-seok. Congratulations on your enrollment."
The staff checked my card, face, and photo against the list, then marked it.
"This is the smartwatch issued during Academy period. Wear it on your wrist at all times. Wait at the field."
I put on the smartwatch and watched the crowd at the field. Soon, time was up, and the Academy gates closed.
The smartwatch tracked trainees' locations, heart rates, and prevented unauthorized absences. With a month of no outside contact, just training, deserters happened occasionally.
Ten Instructors in black uniforms walked to the front of the field. Academy Instructors were all Awakeners, current or former Hunters with solid stats. They might be there due to personal reasons, injuries, or skill mismatches for Gates, but they weren't to be underestimated.
"Attention! When an Instructor calls your name, step forward. Understood?"
The center Instructor bellowed; it sounded louder than a megaphone. Maybe a skill for that.
Trainees' uneven responses and murmurs continued.
"Quiet! Think the Academy's a joke?! Awakened and think you're set? Pre-Academy, Hunter mortality was 95% in the first year!"
The field of about a hundred trainees fell silent at his words.
"What you'll learn differs vastly from school or society. Fail to keep up, and you're expelled. Now, roll call."
Instructors called names in order amid the quiet trainees.
"Hurry up!"
As the mood turned harsh, some trainees flinched and ran forward; others approached confidently.
It was called Academy now, but used to be a boot camp. "Enrollment" was "intake." Complaints from military-experienced Awakeners with PTSD changed it to Academy. Name changed, methods didn't. No point in gentle training when lives were at stake in Gates.
Lines formed up front, but my name hadn't been called. I didn't know in my past life, but now I did. They called by ability order. Rare skills or high stats first.
"Lee Ji-seok!"
I was second to last. The trainees ahead showed my current standing, but I wasn't discouraged. Thinking I'd soon move forward was exciting.
"Congratulations on your enrollment, new Awakeners. I'm Seol Nam-gyu, Academy Dean. You'll learn essential knowledge and skills to survive Gates. As the Instructor said, this training ties directly to your lives and citizens'. Can't keep up? Leave anytime."
The Dean's boring lecture dragged five minutes, which I half-ignored while scanning around.
Even at the Academy, top and bottom groups split from the entrance ceremony. In my past life, I longed for the front group but never dared.
Now, no desire or need to join them.
I got my single dorm room, unpacked.
Trainees headed en masse to the lecture hall for the first class.
Professor and two Instructors entered, but the room was still noisy.
The professor stood silently, staring at the center, and soon the room quieted.
"Class begins. I'm Lee Mu-yeol, professor of Gate and Awakener history."
Lee Mu-yeol was a short, balding ordinary middle-aged man. Neatly dressed, but no charisma. The two Instructors beside him stood rigidly, exuding intimidation.
"Awakeners began appearing worldwide from 2000. Blessings from gods, mutations—plenty of talk. Numbers were low at first."
Lee Mu-yeol projected a presentation and started lecturing with data.
"And as you know, the first Gate opened in 2005."
The quiet room grew heavier.