The applause in the hall was deafening, but to my ears it sounded like the buzzing of flies around a rotting corpse.
Benedict gestured to the side, and several attendants walked out, pushing carts filled with small, glowing vials. The liquid inside was a vibrant neon green.
"Is that the awakening capsule?" a voice from the crowd said.
"Yeah, I think it is! Does that mean I don't have to be scared of not awakening?!"
Benedict seemed quite pleased by their praise. Even I couldn't come up with a single bad thing about the drug at first glance.
Their reason for making it and wanting to close the rift was pretty reasonable. Plus, they had a way of making most people awaken.
Meaning all people needed was to awaken to mana, and they would be able to awaken a unique skill.
Knowing the government, I knew they wouldn't do something so risky to themselves for free. They were bastards in my old world too.
Benedict took one of the pills and held it up. "Everyone here shall follow the awakened attendants you see to a private mana compression room where you can awaken."
He continued after sweeping his gaze through the hall. "All you need to do is assimilate your soul with the pill, and you shall awaken in the domain etched into your soul."
He didn't even give anyone time to ask questions. With a clap of his hands, the attendants, all men dressed in black suits, moved in front of us, forming a barricade around Benedict and Asura.
Having no other choice, I followed them, as did every other applicant.
We moved deeper into the building until we reached a vast, narrow passageway lined with doors on both sides. From where I stood, I couldn't even see the end of it.
Gasps filled the space as everyone began murmuring among themselves. The atmosphere grew stuffy, and I could feel sweat roll down my neck.
The attendants stood silently in front of the door leading into the passageway while the three hundred or so people clustered together behind them.
"As you can see, there is enough space for each one of you!" The female attendant standing at the center spoke with a commanding tone. She pressed something on her earbud before continuing. "You will all enter the compression chambers and attempt to awaken."
She straightened her posture. "Although the capsule provides a greater chance of awakening, it isn't 100%, and those who can't connect to the domain in their head or absorb the energy of the pill will fail."
She stepped aside, and her coworkers followed her lead, finally clearing the wide door.
"In the name of Goddess Amelia, I pray for your success."
The applicants rushed forward into the rooms, as if entering first would guarantee their awakening.
I darted my gaze through the hall until I spotted Jake Kim, who was helping those pushed back find an empty chamber.
Quincy already had several people following her, while Valentina stood in front of an iron door, about to enter.
I let out a sigh, allowing most of the newly awakened to rush ahead into a chamber.
As I stared at the hall, now less chaotic, I heard a sigh beside me.
Next to me stood a beautiful young woman around my age, with pale lilac hair tied loosely and sky blue eyes.
She lifted her gaze to meet mine, and we stood there like that for a good minute.
'Well this is awkward.'
I honestly didn't know what to say. Should I just pass her and enter, or greet her first?
The beautiful young woman pointed directly at me. "You're very pretty."
"What?"
She didn't respond and simply walked ahead. Just as she reached a chamber, she turned back, waved once, and entered.
Now only a few others and I remained in front of the door.
I took a deep breath and stepped forward. As I entered the passageway, a cold sensation ran through my body.
Each door I passed had a small green light above it. They were secured like they were built to contain an abomination.
I walked to the only door still showing a red light and opened it.
The room beyond was pure white. I couldn't tell how high or wide it was since everything blended together.
I stepped inside. As soon as I did, the door closed behind me, the clanking sound echoing through the empty space.
The only thing with color was the green pill resting inside a small box that looked like it was stolen from a chocolate set.
I ran my hand along the wall. It was smooth. It wasn't paint, nor glass, since it didn't reflect. Maybe glass layered over something else.
I wasn't an expert in civil engineering, so I couldn't be sure.
As I walked around to gauge the size of the room, I couldn't help but marvel at both the architecture and the fact that there was fresh air, even though I couldn't see a single hole for ventilation.
Perhaps the material was from a rift or demon and could generate airflow on its own.
That would explain the glass-like texture and lack of reflectiveness.
I let out a small smile. It was fascinating.
My gaze returned to the box containing the pill. I moved toward it and sat cross-legged in front of it.
It smelled like radish, which was strange. I picked it up, and a cold sensation surged through my hands, like it had been sitting in a freezer for over an hour.
If this were a cultivation novel, they would have called it an elixir filled with extreme yin energy or some weird shit.
It was as if the pill was telling me, "Hey man, just eat me up!" but I wasn't planning on doing something so stupid. I was Allen Park. Wouldn't it be stupid to eat something when I didn't even know its origin?
I raised the pill over my head and examined it from below.
At first glance, nothing seemed wrong, at least to the eyes of a human.
No one was allowed to take a fog pill with them, meaning no one could feel the real energy of the pill beforehand.
I was different. I could use fog anytime I wanted. If I used it recklessly and someone found out, I'd be as good as dead. They might even turn me into a lab rat, since I didn't need the one thing they used to control hunters.
I placed my free hand under my chin. "But doing nothing is also out of the question."
Moreover, I had never tried to control my fog properly and had always used it however I wanted.
I pondered for a long moment before giving up on any hope of relying on plot armor to suddenly gain control over fog and be able to use only a small amount.
I wasn't the protagonist. The world wouldn't favor me. People like me had to use their brains to earn everything.
I brought the pill closer and studied it again.
Looking more closely, I noticed faint markings etched into its surface.
"Runes. Of course it's runes," I muttered.
Every magical object in this world functioned through runes, but this was a pill. The human body couldn't absorb runes directly, so if the pill was meant to imprint a unique skill using a person's domain, it shouldn't work. Only runes originating from another unique skill, whether human, demon, or plant, could function inside the human body.
So the runes couldn't simply be helping us awaken like some buff skill, or someone else would have done it before.
"That means the drug itself is what awakens us, and the runes serve a different objective." My gaze darkened.
I didn't know everything about runes. This one, like the bear rune I encountered before, was written in a circular formation. Since they were so small, I couldn't read them without enhancing my eyes with mana.
I stared at the pill one last time, and for a split second, as moisture gathered at the edge of my eyelids, I could read a fragment of what was written.
That alone made my body freeze.
"Benedict, you fucking bastard…"