People say Awakening Day is exciting.
That's a lie.
It's terrifying.
Kai learned that the moment he stepped into Kantara Civic Hall and felt the weight of a thousand futures pressing down on one room.
Everyone tried to look calm. Too calm. Like smiling might trick the system into liking them more.
It wouldn't.
The Gene System didn't care about smiles.
It cared about numbers.
Kai stood near the back, hands shoved into his pockets, thumb rubbing against a callus on his palm. He didn't remember when that habit started—only that it showed up whenever he felt cornered.
The giant holographic screen above the hall pulsed softly.
AWAKENING CEREMONY — YEAR 2189
Under it, the slogan every child grew up with:
EVOLUTION IS THE ONLY RIGHT.
Kai snorted quietly.
If evolution was a right, then why did it feel like a sentence?
"Move."
Someone bumped his shoulder.
Kai turned.
Riven Sato.
Of course.
Riven looked exactly like someone the system would love. Clean uniform. Sponsor badge. Relaxed smile. The kind of face teachers trusted and recruiters remembered.
"Didn't see you there," Riven said, not sounding sorry at all. His eyes flicked to Kai's plain collar—no badge, no emblem.
No backing.
Riven leaned in slightly. "Hey, don't stress. Even civilians need jobs."
Laughter rippled behind him.
Kai stepped aside.
Not because he couldn't talk back.
Because nothing he said would matter after today.
They all knew it.
The doors slid open, and cold air spilled out.
Inside, the awakening chamber gleamed white and silver. Tiered seats rose around a central platform where a glass pillar stood—filled with swirling liquid metal.
Genome Catalyst.
That thing decided who became hunters… and who stayed behind the wall pretending monsters didn't exist.
Kai took his seat in the unsponsored section. The worst seats. The quiet ones.
Names were called.
Hands pressed to glass.
Lights flared.
BRONZE.
Applause.
SILVER.
Cheers.
A GOLD sent the room buzzing like electricity.
Kai clapped when it was polite to clap. Smiled when it was expected. His heart stayed strangely quiet, like it had already braced for the fall.
Then—
"Candidate seventy-two. Riven Sato."
Riven walked like he owned the floor.
The moment his palm touched the pillar, the silver liquid surged violently upward. Blue light flooded the chamber.
Gasps.
PLATINUM GENOME — MIRROR-TYPE.
The hall erupted.
Sponsors stood. Officials whispered. Futures rearranged themselves in real time.
Riven smiled, turning just enough to glance at Kai.
Sympathy.
That was worse than arrogance.
Then the voice came again.
"Candidate seventy-three. Kai."
No surname.
Because he didn't have one worth saying.
Kai stood.
Each step felt like walking into water—slow, heavy, resistant.
He placed his palm against the glass.
Cold.
Nothing happened.
Seconds passed.
Someone coughed.
A whisper slipped through the air. "Is it broken?"
Kai pressed harder, jaw tightening.
The liquid trembled.
Hope sparked.
Then died.
The screen flickered.
One word appeared.
NULL
It didn't flash.
It didn't glow.
It just sat there.
Final.
The hall went quiet—not shocked quiet, but confirmed quiet. Like everyone had already known and was just waiting for proof.
"Candidate seventy-three is registered as civilian," the official said calmly.
The band was removed.
Kai stepped away.
His ears rang. His chest felt hollow, like someone had scooped something out and forgotten to put it back.
That's it.
No academies.No Wild Zone.No chance.
Just work. Sleep. Age. Disappear.
Kai sat down.
His hands shook.
Then—
Heat bloomed in his palm.
Sharp. Sudden.
He sucked in a breath.
A faint symbol flared under his skin—fractured lines, incomplete, wrong.
And a voice—not spoken, but felt—
UNREGISTERED CORE DETECTEDSTATUS: SUPPRESSEDASCENSION PATH AVAILABLE
Kai's heart slammed against his ribs.
This wasn't part of the ceremony.
This wasn't public.
WARNING: ACCEPTANCE MAY RESULT IN SYSTEM HOSTILITY
System hostility?
He almost laughed.
The system had already decided he was nothing.
Kai swallowed.
"…Accept."
The symbol burned white.
GENE ASCENSION PROTOCOL INITIALIZING
For half a second, the world tilted.
Then everything looked normal again.
The ceremony continued.
No alarms.
No reaction.
Kai sat there, breathing slowly, pulse roaring in his ears.
Null.
Civilian.
And yet—
Something inside him had just opened its eyes.
[End of Chapter 1]