Chapter 3: THE BOY WHO AWAKENED
Rain tapped softly against the cracked apartment window while the neon lights of Sentinel City flickered endlessly beyond the glass like artificial stars trapped beneath a dying sky. Thousands of elevated highways crossed through the massive megacity in glowing streams of white and red light while distant airships drifted silently between skyscrapers covered in holographic advertisements. Somewhere far beyond the outer walls of the city, monsters roamed endlessly through the Dead Zones. But inside humanity’s strongest fortress-city, life continued moving forward without pause, cold and mechanical like the Hunter System that ruled the modern world itself.
Inside a tiny one-bedroom apartment on the thirty-second floor of a worn residential complex, Noah Kurtz sat motionless at the edge of his bed.
The pale blue system screen still floated before his eyes.
[Archive Available.]
The words glowed faintly within the darkness of the room, illuminating Noah’s exhausted gray eyes while silence filled the apartment around him. The cheap ceiling fan above rotated lazily with an annoying creaking sound while stacks of unpaid bills remained scattered across the nearby table beside empty instant noodle containers and old Hunter exam preparation books. Everything looked painfully ordinary.
Noah slowly leaned backward against the wall behind his bed before dragging a trembling hand across his face. Even now, he could still remember the feeling of dying. The claw piercing through his chest. The warmth of blood spreading across the asphalt. His slowing heartbeat beneath the burning sky of Sector 19. He remembered all of it perfectly.
Yet somehow... he was alive.
His chest remained completely unharmed beneath his loose black shirt. No scars. No wounds. No pain. The doctors at the infirmary had insisted he suffered nothing more than severe shock during the monster attack, but Noah knew better. He had seen his own corpse. And beyond that corpse... he had seen the infinite library.
The Memory Cabinet.
Noah’s gaze slowly shifted toward the floating system window once more.
"Just what the hell are you...?"
The screen gave no answer.
Outside the apartment window, Sentinel City continued glowing beneath the night sky like the beating heart of modern civilization itself. Humanity had changed drastically since the First Riftfall. Society no longer revolved around governments, wealth, or politics alone. In this world, strength determined value. Hunters stood above ordinary people like living weapons while powerful awakeners controlled everything from military operations to global corporations.
Children no longer dreamed of becoming doctors or athletes. They dreamed of awakening. Because awakening meant survival. Awakening meant status. Awakening meant escaping poverty.
At the age of sixteen, every teenager underwent an official Awakening Ceremony supervised by the International Hunter Association. Those who received powerful talents entered elite academies, earned sponsorships, and climbed society rapidly. Those who awakened weak abilities became disposable workers at best.
Noah closed his eyes slowly. Memories surfaced naturally. He saw his hometown again. Small fields stretching endlessly beneath gray skies. Old farming equipment rusting beside narrow dirt roads. Wooden houses damaged by years of storms and monster migrations near the outer regions beyond protected civilization zones. Unlike Sentinel City, his village barely survived economically. The soil had become corrupted over the years by lingering Rift energy, making farming increasingly difficult.
And despite that... his father still smiled constantly. Noah’s chest tightened faintly. His father had been a farmer his entire life. Rough hands. Sunburned skin. Endless exhaustion hidden behind warm laughter. Every season became harder than the last, yet the old man always worked without complaint because he believed one thing with absolute certainty that his son would live a better life.
Noah still remembered the night everything changed. Rain hammered violently against the roof of their tiny farmhouse while old television broadcasts displayed footage of elite Hunters clearing an A-Rank Rift somewhere near the eastern coast. Entire buildings collapsed during the battle while elemental attacks illuminated the night sky like divine disasters. And sitting before that television a sixteen-year-old Noah Kurtz stared with shining eyes.
"I want to become a Hunter."
His father looked surprised for a moment before slowly smiling.
"A Hunter, huh?"
Noah nodded immediately.
At sixteen, every child believed awakening would come naturally. That was simply how society worked. Most students awakened around that age before leaving for academies or Hunter training programs. Noah had believed the same thing.
He had dreams back then. The next few years passed painfully fast in his memories. His classmates awakened one after another. Some gained combat talents. Some received elemental affinities.
Even lower-ranked awakeners eventually left for training institutions within nearby cities. Noah remembered standing silently among cheering crowds while old friends celebrated their futures together.
And slowly those same people stopped looking at him normally. Because Noah never awakened. At seventeen, people still encouraged him. At eighteen, they became concerned. At nineteen, they started laughing and mocking him openly. This memory stabbed painfully deep.
Noah remembered standing near the village square while former classmates mocked him openly after returning from academy training.
"Still no awakening?"
"Damn, Noah. You’re becoming a fossil."
"Maybe the System forgot you existed."
Even now, those words still lingered somewhere deep inside him. The world worshipped talent. And that bloody talent had abandoned Noah completely. Yet despite everything,he refused to give up. That was when his father made the decision.
Sentinel City.
Humanity’s largest eastern megacity.
The place where countless Hunters, academies, and guilds gathered. If Noah remained near high concentrations of Rift energy and awakening facilities, perhaps his chances would increase eventually. That was the hope.
Unfortunately, this hope required money. Noah slowly opened his eyes again inside the dark apartment. The debt notices scattered across the table reflected dimly beneath the neon lights outside. A massive loan - That was the price his father paid. The old man mortgaged nearly everything they owned just to send Noah here five years ago. Noah still remembered his mother crying quietly while helping pack his bags before departure.
"You’ll awaken eventually," she had whispered softly.
"We believe in you."
God, That memory hurt. Noah lowered his head quietly while silence consumed the room once more. Five entire years spent surviving inside Sentinel City — Construction jobs, Night shifts, Warehouse labor and lots of delivery work.
Anything that paid enough to continue living while attending awakening examinations repeatedly. Every year became heavier than the last while debt continued increasing endlessly back home. And despite all that effort... he awakened only two weeks ago.
At twenty-two years old.
Already considered ancient compared to normal candidates. The memory surfaced vividly again.
The massive awakening hall. Hundreds of younger teenagers surrounding the Awakening Stone with nervous excitement. Noah still remembered the awkward stares directed toward him the moment people realized his age.
Then came his turn. His hand touched the crystal. The system activated and finally after years of waiting... he awakened. For one beautiful second, Noah genuinely thought his life would change. Then the result appeared.
F-Rank Skill Detected.
Skill: Memory Cabinet.
The laughter afterward felt worse than physical pain. Noah could still hear it.
"An F-rank at twenty-two?"
"Bro wasted his entire life."
"What kind of garbage skill even stores memories?"
"That’s not even useful for combat."
Even the officials overseeing the ceremony looked disappointed while registering his information. His awakening changed absolutely nothing. The world had crushed his dreams before they even properly began. Noah slowly clenched his fists.
"...And now suddenly you decide to become mysterious."
His eyes shifted once more toward the floating screen before him.
[Archive Available.]
The pale blue letters remained motionless. After several long seconds, Noah finally spoke quietly.
"Open."
Instantly—
the world froze.
Darkness swallowed the apartment completely while reality distorted around him. The sound of rain vanished. The city disappeared. And within moments—
Noah stood inside the infinite library once again.
His breath caught slightly despite expecting this.
The Memory Cabinet stretched endlessly across the void exactly as before. Infinite shelves floated within darkness while glowing books illuminated the archive like drifting stars. Ancient keys rotated slowly through the air while distant cabinets remained sealed behind enormous chains.
Noah slowly stepped forward.
This time, fear mixed with curiosity instead of confusion.
"What exactly are you supposed to be...?"
Silence answered him.
Carefully, Noah moved between towering shelves while observing countless books surrounding him. Every instinct screamed that touching the wrong thing here could be dangerous. The golden book from earlier still radiated terrifying pressure from deeper within the archive, making Noah avoid looking directly at it this time.
Instead, his attention returned toward the broken transparent book. The only one he could access. The moment Noah approached it, the system interface appeared again.
[Current Accessible Memory: Noah Kurtz.]
[F-Rank Restrictions Active.]
[Archive Synchronization: 0.01%]
Noah frowned deeply.
"Synchronization?"
He reached toward the broken book once more.
This time, instead of opening memories immediately, faint images drifted around him naturally. All of it floated around the library like pieces of shattered glass suspended within darkness. Noah stared quietly at the scenes. Then suddenly, another realization struck him.
"...Wait."
His eyes narrowed slowly.
"If this thing stores memories..."
His heartbeat quickened slightly.
"...then why does it feel older than me?"
The question echoed softly through the endless archive. A distant cabinet creaked open for just a single second before slamming shut again violently. The sound echoed throughout the entire library. Noah froze instantly.
Then the feeling vanished completely. Silence returned once more. Noah stared into the endless darkness beyond the visible shelves while unease slowly settled deep inside his chest.
The Memory Cabinet was hiding something. But this was only the beginning.