Dapper alighted from the vehicle and glanced up at the massive structure, his hands tucked in his pockets. "Such a girthy structure."
Without wasting a moment, he strolled into the tower. The moment he entered, he spotted a crowd bustling inside, some descending from a huge escalator, others ascending through another just as massive.
In this vast hall-like space, hooded and masked figures stood silently, their faces fixed ahead. Dapper counted twenty at a glance and there were even more of them. His instincts, sharpened from years as a thief, immediately flagged them as security. Dangerous ones.
'If I were to steal in a setup like this, how would I pull it off, huh?' Liam mused, his eyes darting about the space, his body tingling as adrenaline coursed through him. The sheer thought of stealing here thrilled him.
But he sighed and dismissed it. 'I already lived that life only to be cut down by some mid-tier commander whose yearly income couldn't afford one of my watches. If I'm stealing in this world, I'll be a grand thief.'
He hopped onto the escalator and soon arrived at another wide area that resembled a bank. People queued in orderly lines, collecting something before heading out through one of many numbered exits.
Dapper couldn't make out what they were receiving as it was always clutched tightly in their palms. Some handicaps even tossed it into their mouths.
He joined one of the queues and, after several minutes, it was finally his turn.
"Your name and ID, please," a bespectacled female representative asked, her eyes glued to her monitor. Dapper fished his ID from his school bag and handed it over.
With a few sharp, annoyed clacks on the keyboard, she finally passed something to him—sealed in a thin plastic bag.
"You're going to the fifth section of the Awakening Tower. Don't open it until you get there," she said, waving him off so the next person could step up.
'Was it just me or did she give me a weird look?' Dapper wondered as he walked toward the numbered exits, one to five.
He entered the fifth. The hallway was dim, lit only by small lights embedded in the walls, barely illuminating a meter ahead. Walking down the corridor, he arrived in an auditorium where about fifty people were seated sparsely across rows made for two hundred. They all looked to be around his age and most of them seemed nervous.
Dapper quietly took a seat next to a scrawny Satyr, half-human above, mountain goat below, with stubby horns poking from his head. The guy muttered to himself and tapped his foot on the floor repeatedly.
'I don't blame them. My predecessor's memories said this Awakening thing is brutal. But I'll manage,' Dapper thought, opening his palm to inspect the item given to him.
A small, crimson ruby-like stone. Cold and deceptively heavy. Alongside it was a tiny folded paper, some kind of guide explaining the stone's use. It was called SIA: System Information Apparatus. Nicknamed the system core.
The guide didn't go in-depth but noted that the SIA couldn't be stolen or lost—it would always return to its Host and would only self-destruct upon the Host's death. A disclaimer to prevent panic, apparently.
Looking around, Dapper noticed the others' SIAs varied in color. He wasn't sure what that meant.
"Will Cuck."
"Cassandra Buttlift."
"Smellion Coochie."
A voice boomed from speakers above, calling out names. Each person stood shakily and walked toward a raised platform, disappearing behind a red curtain guarded by one of the hooded figures.
It all felt off—the bizarre names, the eerie silence, the masked men. And more people were quietly entering from the back while others were being called in.
'I can hear screaming. What the hell is going on?' Dapper thought, his expression darkening as screams echoed faintly. Now it made sense why everyone else looked terrified.
An hour ticked by. Everyone who arrived before him, including the Satyr, had already gone in and never came back out. Only a handful remained. He knew his turn was near.
"Dapper Freeman."
"Rachel."
"Bon Galak."
As his name rang out, the hairs on his neck bristled. He stood, his legs trembling.
'What the fuck—I've endured worse than this,' he told himself, forcing his steps forward. He joined the other two and climbed the platform.
The hooded figure pulled back the curtain, and they stepped inside. A tall man in white garments stood waiting, a round cap perched atop his head. The two behind Dapper nearly pissed themselves, but he kept a straight face.
The room resembled a corridor. On the left was a dead end, but just before it were three glowing entrances, each lined from floor to ceiling with Mana crystals. The right side looked like an exit. Then it clicked—why they called in three people at a time.
"One person per room," the man in white said. Instantly, the two beside Dapper moved into the first two entrances.
Dapper took the third. What he saw inside stunned him.
A room entirely made of blue Mana crystals. Shards, blocks, chips—protruding from every angle. The walls and ceiling were completely hidden. Strange crimson veins pulsed through the crystals like they were alive.
He followed the guide as instructed and pressed his SIA against one of the Mana crystal blocks.
Immediately, a sound thudded through the room.
*Badump.*
*Badump.*
The crimson veins pulsed wildly, as though pumping something alive through them.
"What the fuck?" Dapper muttered, watching as shards of crystal began to protrude, aiming at him. The crystals glowed brighter, and the thumping intensified.
Suddenly, a shard impaled him from behind, stabbing deep enough to graze his spine. The pain exploded in his nerves.
"ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
More shards followed, piercing him from all angles. Agony like he'd never known.
Then, a blinding flash, like ten suns at once—erupted in his vision as the crystals embedded in him injected something into his body.
The pain was too much.
Dapper passed out.
---
[Congratulations. You have awakened your system.]
[BADDIE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM]