Awakening

The world had changed.

Holes tore open in the sky, and countless Towers came crashing down across every nation.

People had been fretting that the end of the world was upon them for a full five years now. These days, Towers and Awakened were just part of everyday life.

But to me, it still felt like someone else's story.

Television and the internet never shut up about Towers and Awakened, yet I'd never actually seen an Awakened person in the flesh. Plenty of people were in the same boat as me — conspiracy theories floated around online claiming the whole Tower-and-Awakened thing was a hoax cooked up by the American government.

Anyway.

I'd heard that once you Awakened, life became ridiculously easy. Just run Easy difficulty floors on loop and the money basically printed itself.

I wanted a piece of that easy life too.

"Ah, I want to Awaken so badly!"

But wishing for something never made it happen. Awakening was purely the Tower's choice — pure luck of the draw. And when it came to luck, I'd always been dead last. My history of misfortune ran deep. Every gacha game, I hit pity. Every MOBA match, I lost because of bad teammates. Definitely the teammates' fault.

So I'd long since given up hoping to Awaken. Praying, though — that much I could still do freely.

"Ah."

I'd typed out my usual prayer, only to get hit with a comment that completely ruined my mood. Some flexing bastard bragging that he'd already Awakened.

You piece of shit. Why the hell are you bragging about that to me? What are the mods even doing, not banning trash like this?

My mood soured, so I closed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the gallery and flipped my phone face-down. To shake off this gloom, I needed something fun…

I had no choice. I opened my phone again. I needed a dopamine transfusion.

—whoosh whoosh

"Hell yeah, so cool."

I pulled up some short clips of my favorite streamer, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gloom melted right away. Fueled up to face another day, it was time to get ready for my part-time job like always.

"Hmm…?"

What was this? Something felt off. Drowsiness was creeping over me out of nowhere.

I can't fall asleep right now. I have to go to work. I fought the sandman with everything I had, but it was useless. My eyelids kept sliding shut. Even after pulling all-nighters for days straight, I'd never felt this exhausted.

I couldn't hold on any longer.

"Ah… uh…"

My body tipped forward. A dull thud told me I'd hit the floor, and through blurry eyelids I could see the ceiling.

This is it. Just a little nap…

"Mmm…"

I woke up. It felt like the best sleep I'd had in ages. My head was crystal clear. The throbbing headaches and ringing in my ears that usually plagued me were completely gone. Peak condition first thing in the morning — almost a waste to just stay cooped up at home on a day like this.

Maybe I should go for a walk.

I headed to the bathroom to wash my face. In the mirror was my usual face…

…or not?

"Huh?"

A blonde foreign girl stared back with a startled expression. Petite frame, cute face, eyes that glowed a luminous blue. Every single feature that made up her body was adorable. She looked like she'd just woken up, yet somehow didn't seem the least bit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠disheveled.

Every time I blinked at her, she blinked right back. Well — it was a mirror, so of course she did. That much was obvious.

"Is this… me?"

A clear, pleasant voice rang out. I couldn't believe it had come from my own mouth. Overnight, I'd transformed into someone completely different.

I had one guess as to what had happened to my body. Clutching my trembling chest, I cried out:

"S-Status window."

Fwoosh!

The status window that hunters supposedly got to see. It was real. It had actually appeared.

I'd prayed so hard to Awaken, and I'd actually Awakened. Thank you, God!

I was so overjoyed I let out a whoop.

Oh, holy shit!

"Oh my goodness."

What just happened? I'd clearly tried to say "holy shit," but something completely different came out of my mouth. My body wasn't moving the way I wanted, and it left me thoroughly unsettled.

"Ah, aah—"

Okay. Making random sounds was fine.

Hello.

"Hello."

A normal greeting worked without issue.

The soy sauce factory manager is Manager Kang, and the soybean paste factory manager is also Manager Kang.

"The soy sauce factory manager is Man… ghk."

A difficult sentence just tangled my tongue the normal way. It wasn't that same sensation of my body moving on its own. So was it something about what I'd said earlier that triggered it?

Shit.

"Oh my."

Again. Still blocked. Whenever I tried to swear, my mouth moved on its own. So certain keywords were off-limits?

"This is frustrating…. Why is it only swearing that doesn't work? …Oh my?"

Wait. This time the entire sentence had subtly changed. The casual speech I'd intended came out formal and polite.

Was this an effect of Awakening? I opened the status window again and examined everything one by one. The cause wasn't hard to find.

There it was, sitting right on the status window. The immunity to all status conditions looked incredible — but that skill description was completely absurd.

"Excuse me? Who decided to dedicate anything?"

My body and soul, offered up without my permission? Wasn't this a total scam contract? This was human trafficking!

I was about to explode with rage all by myself when a sudden memory hit me — the contents of those daily posts I always wrote on the gallery.

"I'll give you everything I have so please just let me Awaken…. Ah."

I'd… made a promise, hadn't I.

Well, nothing I could do about it then…. No matter how much I hated it, I had to own up to what I'd agreed to. I decided to accept the situation quickly and move on.

"Shall I look at the rest?"

Name: Lucia. My real name was gone, replaced by one I'd never heard of. Sounded foreign. Was this the god's personal taste too?

Class: Saintess. That was no ordinary name. My gut said this was definitely a rare class — felt like a higher-tier version of the Priest line. And everyone knew healers were nobility.

The corners of my mouth twitched at the thought of raking in money.

"At last, fortune smiles upon my life as well. Could this be the grace of God?"

Humming a little tune, I checked the remaining skills.

"…Is that everything?"

After checking all the remaining skills, I couldn't hide my disappointment. The essential Priest skill — healing magic — was nowhere to be found. I had no idea what Proselytization was even for, and Miracle required Faith to activate, of which I currently had zero.

How was I supposed to climb the Tower with these? I couldn't see a path forward. I'd finally Awakened, and all I got was becoming a pretty girl who talked nicely?

"What is this……."

Disappointing. Extremely disappointing.

Could I even clear Easy mode Floor 1 of the Tower like this?

I took a boxing stance and threw some punches at empty air.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

My thin arms sliced through nothing. There was no actual whooshing sound, so I made it with my mouth. I tried some kicks and a few other moves, and within moments I was winded and gasping for breath.

"Hah, hah… Don't tell me I'm a total weakling?"

Damn it. Going into the Tower like this would get me killed instantly. Even my old body hadn't gotten this tired from moving around a little. It was downright unfair.

"This is ridiculous! If you've Awakened, aren't you supposed to freeload through life? Oh my. Oh my."

Shit. Shit.

Even after Awakening, was I still going to have to work part-time jobs for money? Still, maybe the treatment would be better than before? It was common knowledge that shops with pretty girls saw better sales. Hopefully the boss would have the decency to bump up my pay.

Then, suddenly, I remembered falling asleep yesterday when I was supposed to go to work.

"Ah."

I checked my smartphone right away. Twenty missed calls stacked up. And a text from a thoroughly furious boss saying I didn't need to come in starting tomorrow.

If I couldn't even work my part-time job, was I actually worse off than before Awakening?

"Oh my."

Shit.

Forget the Tower — I needed to worry about putting food on the table first.

"It's all right… With this face, there will be demand wherever I go."

My new body was an absolute beauty. And that wasn't just me talking about my own face — objectively speaking, she was far prettier than any idol on television. Whether it was becoming a celebrity or a streamer, I could do anything I wanted. Just charm a few rich fans into becoming my patrons and I'd be set for life.

Figuring I'd try debuting as a streamer first, I went to turn on the computer.

"Euk…!"

Something was wrong. My body wouldn't move. Another skill effect? What was the problem this time?

"Don't tell me streaming is not befitting of a Saintess? How particular…!"

Emergency! If streaming was off the table, no other money-making scheme seemed likely to work either. What kind of setup was this? Was it just my imagination that Awakening had somehow made my situation worse?

That left climbing the Tower as the only option. I had no idea what was "Saintess-like" about Tower climbing, but the status window and the Tower sat above any class. Awakening was just a means to climb the Tower, so there was no way a skill would block Tower climbing itself.

The conclusion was clear: I had to climb the Tower.

"How am I supposed to climb it…?"

Ah, whatever. I stopped overthinking and just looked in the mirror. The beauty in the glass had her face all scrunched up, mirroring my feelings perfectly. Even her angry expression looked like a painting. Staring at her like this, my thoughts started to settle.

People really do need to look at pretty things.

Heh heh.

So this is me now, huh?

The frustration of Awakening as a Saintess melted away. Fine, whatever. With a body this ridiculously gorgeous, I could handle a little Tower-climbing risk.

Pretty eyes, pretty nose, pretty lips… though for a Saintess, the holy-power storage up top was a bit underwhelming.

This was the body I'd be living in from now on, so I figured I ought to get properly acquainted with it. Time for a closer inspection. And while I was at it, might as well relieve some stress — I started conjuring up some heh heh thoughts in my head—

"Oh my."

Shit.

My body froze again. Again. And again.

Don't tell me it even took away my happy time? For real?

"I finally became a beautiful girl… and I can't even enjoy it?!"

Come to think of it, becoming a woman meant I'd lost my little buddy. Farewell, my dear companion. Back when you were around, I could enjoy happy time to my heart's content.

A single tear of mourning for my lost other half rolled down my cheek.