Chapter 4: Mark
After wandering around aimlessly for a few more hours, he suddenly noticed a huge crowd gathered beneath a skyscraper.
There were plenty of banners around with words like "Free Awakening" and "Today Only."
"Hmm... maybe I should give it a try."
His strength had been at the very peak in that plane, but that wasn’t necessarily true here. Still, it didn’t matter because he’d never cared whether he was strong or weak since the day he was born.
He just wanted to see if someone who didn’t belong to this plane could awaken like everyone else.
As a civilized person, he quietly stood in line and waited for his turn instead of using his strength or any magic to cut in line.
After waiting for a full two hours, he finally reached the awakening area. It was simply a rather beautiful stone platform with a large crystal sphere on top that gave off a soft white glow.
Anyone awakening just had to place a hand on it. The light would then turn into a letter representing the strength of their awakened ability.
With an attitude that was practically indifferent to everything, he couldn’t even be bothered to use his spiritual sense to carefully analyze how awakening in this world worked and simply stood there quietly like an ordinary person.
"D-rank. Next."
The person in charge of the awakening spoke in an indifferent tone. They couldn’t even be bothered to read out what the actual ability was before calling the next person up.
This time it was Mark’s turn, a platinum-haired young man with fairly handsome features but a skinny body that looked malnourished. He had been waiting for this day for a long time.
He had originally been born into a well-off family, but unfortunately, they had offended a major guild and were secretly wiped out, leaving him an orphan.
Their assets had been manipulated away by shadowy hands until he had nothing left. If he’d still had money, he would have paid for his own awakening long ago.
Awakening in this world wasn’t free at all. A single awakening cost about as much as four years of average university tuition. It was a sum that someone poor like Mark could never save up in just a few years.
Ironically, the Wolf Guild that had destroyed his family was also the only guild offering a free awakening that he could attend.
When he saw the promotional banners, he struggled with himself for a long time. But if enduring a little humiliation meant he could get his revenge, then so be it.
He had no idea what kind of ability he would awaken, but he believed fate wouldn’t let evil people get away with everything.
The distance to the awakening crystal was less than ten meters, but every step made Mark’s legs tremble uncontrollably. Those ten meters were the hardest distance he had ever walked in his entire life.
Just as he reached the awakening crystal and stretched out his hand, a muscular arm suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Well, well, you actually dared to show your face here? Aren’t you afraid I’ll break your legs just because I can’t stand the fact that you’re Mia’s ex-boyfriend?"
A muscular young man with blond hair and an extremely punchable face appeared. His body was at least twice the size of a starving guy like Mark.
He was Bell, the son of the Wolf Guild’s guild master. It was precisely because he had successfully awakened an S-rank ability that today’s free awakening event was being held.
His other muscular arm wrapped around Mark’s shoulders, making anyone taking pictures from a distance think the two of them were close friends. In reality, Bell was forcefully pressing down on Mark’s shoulder.
Mark gritted his teeth and lowered his head. He had nothing to say to the bastard who had helped destroy his family.
"Cat got your tongue?"
Bell spoke impatiently. He really wanted to punch Mark a few times, but there were too many people around, so he couldn’t do something that would ruin his noble image.
Although Mark still stubbornly refused to say a word, his trembling body gave away the anger he was desperately suppressing.
"Want to know how your parents died?"
Bell leaned close to Mark’s ear and quietly provoked him, making Mark’s body tremble even more violently.
But the years of hardship with no one to rely on had taught Mark that this was Bell’s trap. If he acted impulsively, he would definitely suffer the consequences.
"Come on, honey, don’t waste your time on that coward anymore. An S-rank hunter like you is the sun that lights up an entire generation. There’s no need to waste your time on someone like him."
A seductive, enchanting voice came from a heavily made-up woman with a stunning figure. Her revealing outfit showed off her curves, making every man nearby stare in desire without daring to approach.
She was none other than Mia, Mark’s ex-girlfriend.
There had once been a time when they were deeply in love. Back then, the naive Mark had believed she truly loved him, but the moment she found someone richer and stronger, she immediately showed her true colors.
Now, whenever he thought about her, all he felt was ridicule for how naive he had once been.
"Hmph, boring."
Seeing that Mark remained silent, Bell quickly lost interest. He wrapped an arm around Mia’s waist and arrogantly walked into the building.
"Go ahead and put your hand on it."
Once the person in charge of the awakening saw his superior leave, he immediately urged Mark on.
Mark simply gave a slight nod before placing his sweat-soaked hand on the crystal sphere.
A brilliant light flashed before quickly fading, causing Mark’s heartbeat to spiral out of control. A faint letter F appeared, making everyone present burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, an F-rank loser."
"An F-rank thinks he deserves to be a hunter? How’s that any different from an ordinary person?"
"I’m dying of laughter. This idiot just wasted someone else’s awakening opportunity for a useless ability."
...
Countless mocking voices from both the people who hadn’t awakened yet and the E-rank and D-rank hunters fell on Mark’s ears like mental torture.
He had once believed that as long as he awakened, he would have a chance to fight against the Wolf Guild. But it turned out he was the one-in-ten-thousand useless trash. The chance of awakening an F-rank ability was even lower than awakening a B-rank ability.
Carrying a heart as heavy as if an entire mountain were crushing him, he slowly walked away while everyone’s mocking voices followed him.