Chapter 8

Yena stood outside the awakeners association. A tall grey imposing skyscraper in the centre of Gangnam-gu. Cars racing through traffic, their horns blaring: high school teenagers chattering loudly whilst sipping from their drinks: reporters that prowled around the premises, waiting to dig up any stories: agents from various guilds that sat alone in coffee shops, keeping their eyes peeled for any new awakeners, smiling at each other passive-aggressively: an ambulance blared behind Yena, its siren harmonising with the activity all around to form the Seoul background noise.

Yenas 378 points of vitality strengthened her body, heightening her senses so that each sound was distinct in her ears, sharp and loud, but not overwhelming. Yena marvelled at the change in her body but also felt a sense of foreboding at her sudden ascension of class. C class. I wonder if ill be forced to do dungeon clears. She contemplated on just not telling the association, but quickly brushed that thought aside, thinking of the consequences if she were to get caught.

Yena sat in the small waiting room. An old woman sat in front of her grasping the hand of a small boy, probably around seven years old, and stroked his head. The boy sniffed loudly, the noise filling the silent room. Yena looked away from them as a woman in a black suit walked in, her hair long and black framing a small oval-shaped face, she could be a model if she wanted to,

“Kim Yena, this way please.” Yena stood up and followed her, who raised an eyebrow at Yenas sunglasses, making no further comment, before she led Yena through a maze of corridors and rooms. Yena followed closely, noting that as they walked, the quieter the building became until they were walking down a narrow corridor silent but for the woman's heels on the hard ground.

She walked into a massive office, dimly lit and sparsely furnished save for a giant desk and a sofa. Nothing else, no filing cabinets, no plants on shelves, no decorations, nothing. Yena looked around the room to see if she had missed anything and spied a small portrait of The Originator.

He stared out of the black and white picture, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, but the smile not reaching his eyes. His golden eyes, that even in the black and white image seemed to glow, as if they cast a yellow hue over the entire room, the gaze stern but also compassionate and worried. Yena lowered her head out of habit to The Originator, the inventor of the system, creator of the towers, the one who had placed the doors on the dungeons, the hero from the battle against the monster of catastrophe. She continued to stare at the picture and saw that it had been signed, squinting to see if the signature was actually real.

“ He was quite the man, wasn't he,” a smooth, deep voice rumbled. Yena snapped her head back from the wall and saw a small man smiling at her from behind his desk, the soft smile creasing his pale cheeks. A wispy white goatee that sat under sharp blue eyes, that were lit up bemused, framed by the famous gold-rimmed glasses.

“Ah sorry, sir.” Yena bowed at 90 degrees, “I didn't realise that you were here.” General Lee Woojin laughed loudly, his voice filling the room. Yena glanced sideways at the woman who was walking towards the general with a black file. Why have they invited me to lee Woojin’s office, just to update my class? Yena questioned herself, shivering at the presence of the A-class hunter. General Lee, head of the Korean Awakeners Association, was one of Korea's greatest hunters. Lee Woojin, The Blue Reaper, and Yena was standing in front of him.

“ The reason I've called you here today is because of your sudden ascension of ranks.” he flipped through the pages slowly, finding the one he was looking for. “ You've written here that it was your ability activating that allowed this to happen,” he asked, looking up at her through his glasses, his blue eyes deep as if she was staring into the ocean. Yena gulped,

“Yes sir, I, um, used my ability for the first time and that's what it caused,” she looked at Lee's raised eyebrow, “erm it might sound unbelievable, that I jumped classes without even levelling up, but it is the truth, please believe me.” yena spluttered the words quickly, under the pressure of the general.

“No I do believe you, it's just that I find your case interesting.” he paused thinking, “what is your ability then.” yena opened her mouth thinking of how she would explain what had happened, 'Don't tell him anything.' Zuphaiross tone was commanding, stern. Like it sounded when she had first heard it. She mentally nodded her ascent, before questioning herself why should I listen to you? Wouldn't it be easier if I just came out clean to the association, to save me from complications later? Yena retorted, slightly frustrated at how Zuphaiross seemed to be controlling her. Since the dungeon, even till now, it seemed as if she was an expendable piece being played by Zuphaiross. She was angry at her blind compliance, who even runs this body anymore? 'I didn't mean to offend you but put your trust in me, they shouldn't know exactly what happened. If they find out the truth, they will not stop at that, but will most likely exploit you for their gains.'

Yena understood its words or at least felt the sincerity behind them. She felt ashamed for lashing out at Zuphaiross, due to the general's pressure perhaps, or the accumulated stress of the past few days, and realised the truth in Zupahiross words. It did not help if the government suddenly started to control her for the power or knowledge that Zuphaiross possessed, and yena had no intention of becoming more of a government slave than she already was, reinforcing her distaste towards her awakening.

“It seems that you don't want to tell me your ability then,” the general's tone grabbed Yena away from her inner musings. She tried to gulp but found that she no longer could swallow nor move. The air felt heavy around her, like a chainmail blanket that wrapped Yena in its weight, holding her still in place. The already dark room darkened further, chilling her to the bone. Yena smiled inwardly, This was exactly the reaction I was expecting from the association. She gritted her teeth in anger, No. This is nothing compared to when I was in the dimensional tear, she almost laughed, I can still formulate thoughts under this pressure. Yena fought against the general's aura, straining her neck, to make eye contact with him.

The weight on her shoulders abruptly lifted, causing Yena to snap her head upwards, revealing a smiling Lee Woojin,“ well I respect your grit at least, “ he said, chuckling, handing back the file to the frozen secretary at his side. He looked up at her suddenly serious again, “ I won't push you any further today, but since I can sense this strength from you, ill give you a word of advice okay.” he leaned over the desk, pushing up his glasses, “Unless you have the means to challenge those who are stronger than you, listen to what they say okay.” Yena nodded, smiling at the general from Zuphaiross words, That means you should listen to me since I'm much stronger than the human in front of you. Was Zuphaiross joking with her? She shook her head as she followed the secretary out of the room, The worlds going crazy.

Yena walked out of the accusation headquarters, holding her new awakeners card. A green C class square of hard plastic flashed in her hands when the sun's rays hit the sephrium stripe. She spied the teenagers from before eye the card with mixed reactions of envy and awe. When Jinah sees this, she’ll go crazy, Yena thought, thinking back to when she had gotten her white E class card. Yena pulled out the pages of information that the association had given her regarding her new job. She was satisfied with the outcome of the day's meeting. It would mean that she'd have to leave the coffee shop she had been working in for the past five years, but after reading about her new job, she realised it was probably even safer than the mining expeditions she had to go to. And the wage is good.

Yena remembered the surprised expression on the general's face, and his disappointment when she had told him what she wanted. She walked briskly towards her car feeling the hawk eyes of the guild scouts. Yena broke into a jog, mingling into a group of people, looking back to see if the scout was still following her, and found that she'd lost him. Yena sighed, looking back at the cover of her booklet. Tutorial Tower...