The mana surge faded from Jimin’s senses, but its aftertaste lingered beneath his skin. The Awakening Chamber was still dark, still pulsing, still heavy with the same cold blue light that had wrapped around him moments ago.
But now something glowed in front of him; a faint, translucent window only he could see. A single line pulsed at the top.
【Unique Skill Acquired: SKILLMASTER】
His breath caught. “Skillmaster…” He expected joy, relief. A spark of hope.
Instead, confusion tightened in his chest. The words felt too large, too heavy, too far from the pathetic rank floating above his head: E-1.
Then another line wrote itself beneath the first.
【Skills: None】
The window flickered once and steadied. ”No additional skills?“ He blinked.
Most students received at least something; a basic attack skill, an affinity booster, a support spell… anything. Even the weakest Manaborn usually awakened with a basic move to help them survive the early levels.
But his slot was empty. Bare. Silent. A pit formed in his stomach.
“What does that even mean?” he whispered to himself. “A unique skill but nothing else?” His hands trembled.
A strange contradiction pressed against him; he had awakened something unknown… yet at the same time, he was starting at the bottom of the bottom.
Before he could inspect anything further, the chamber hissed. The door slid open.
Light cut into the pod, stabbing at his eyes. And the noise came rushing in.
Silence first; absolute, suffocating silence from the hall. Then the whispers followed.
“…E-1?”
“Lowest possible rank.”
“No additional skill either? That’s… harsh.”
“Figures. Look at him.”
“He looks pale. Did he almost fail to awaken?”
Jimin stepped out. The world felt too loud.
Ms. Park looked at him with a strained expression; the kind teachers wore when they couldn’t hide disappointment.
The Association technician barely glanced his way. Hyun-woo stood among the front rows, arms crossed, jaw tight. Not angry or mocking. Just… confused.
“Why?” Jimin saw the question in Hyun-woo’s eyes. “Why are you so weak when you worked harder than most of us?” Kang Dae-ho, of course, broke the tension first.
He laughed out loudly.
“Haha….no additional skill? Seriously? Even Yuna got a skill!”
He glanced up at the hologram above the chamber.
【AWAKENING SUCCESSFUL | UNIQUE SKILL AWAKENED | NO SKILLS 】
【RANK: E-1】
The words hung like a punishment. Jimin’s throat tightened. He ignored Dae-ho and walked toward the officials, though their eyes slid over him the way people avoided acknowledging trash on the street.
“Name?” an Association staffer asked without looking up from his tablet; even though Jimin’s name was already on the screen. “Sam Jimin,” he said quietly. “Mm.”A dismissive hum.
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She stamped his Awakening slip almost mechanically. No congratulations. No encouragement. Just a gesture: ‘Next’.
Another official nodded him away with a flick of his pen. “Proceed. Don’t block the line.” He wasn’t blocking anything. They simply didn’t want him there.
Ms. Park forced a gentle smile, the kind teachers practiced for students who failed exams.
“You did your best,” she said softly. “E-rankers can still live ordinary, safe lives outside Rift work.” Her kindness stung more than Dae-ho’s mockery.
Jimin bowed slightly. “Thank you, teacher.”
But he could feel her relief when he stepped away. As if she wanted the embarrassment to end quickly.
He felt eyes on his back; Hyun-woo’s sharp gaze, Yuna’s worried glance, Dae-ho’s smug grin; but he kept walking.
The hall was loud, but inside his chest everything felt muted, like he was listening through water. He slipped out when no one was watching.
—---------------------------
The corridor outside the hall was empty, long, and cold. The fluorescent lights buzzed above him, flickering like half-dead mana tubes. He walked slowly, his shoes silent on the polished floor.
He found the restroom at the end of the hall, pushed inside, and locked the first stall. Only then did the tightness in his chest finally break. He pressed his forehead to the cold metal door, breath shaking.
“E-1,” he whispered. “No additional skills. What am I supposed to do with this?”
It wasn’t even anger. It was numbness. A dull ache spreading like frostbite.
He slid down until he was sitting on the floor. His hands trembled as he raised them.
“Status Window.”
The words came out as a whisper. Mana rippled lightly in the air; barely noticeable, barely there. A faint blue screen appeared, hovering just above his hands.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【STATUS WINDOW】
Name: Sam Jimin
Age: 16
Rank: E
Level: 1
HP: 250/250 STA: 120/120
MP: 100/100
STATS:
STR: 5
AGI: 6
END: 5
INT: 8
WIS: 7
VIT: 5
CHA: 4
PSY: 11
LUK: 10
FREE STATPOINTS: 0
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He stared. ”Tch… All of my physical stats are single digits... Not that I was ever athletic.”
A normal awakened might start with 7 - 10 at average in basic stats and higher in their primary stats. But his stats were painfully low; barely scratching the lower edge of average.
Except-
“…Psyche is 11,” he whispered. “And Luck… 10?” His brows furrowed.
‘PSY’. He had heard that manaborns with psychic type skills have high PSY stat. He didn’t know what it did exactly, but he felt it; an odd clarity humming behind his thoughts. As if his mind had more room to breathe. More space to hold pressure. A mental steadiness that felt out of sync with the rest of his body.
Luck being 10 was strange too. People with high luck often awakened at a higher level. Or awakened with slightly better affinities. But he got neither. He even lost his parents early and was now an orphan. He was weak, poor and bullied..
“Why is my luck high if I got… this?” he muttered. His fingers gripped his hair.
“This isn’t how awakenings are supposed to work. People awaken with skills that reflect their traits, affinities, or potential. So what potential does this reflect?”
He looked again at his empty skill slot.
A unique skill with no additional skills. A stat that overshadowed everything else.
His thoughts spiraled. A cold drip echoed from the sink outside the stall.
Jimin buried his face in his arms.
He thought of Hyun-woo, already E-9 with lightning crackling in his hands. He thought of Yuna, who awakened at a higher level than him and cried with relief. He thought of Dae-ho, who walked out like he owned the world.
And then he thought of himself; sitting on a bathroom floor, staring at a screen filled with empty space.
“Why am I always behind?” he whispered.
The air in the restroom seemed to thicken around him. Then-
Footsteps. Two or maybe three. Voices filtered in, muffled but sharp in the tiled chamber.
Jimin heard someone mentioning his name.
Skillmaster Trivia: Manaborn & Rifters
Manaborn are individuals born with the innate potential to awaken mana-sensitive bodies, gaining ranks, stats, and skills when their Awakening occurs. But not all Manaborn become Rifters. A Rifter is a trained, certified combatant who actively enters Rifts—dimensional breaches filled with monsters, resources, and mana hazards. In short: all Rifters are Awakened Manaborn, but not all Manaborn qualify as Rifters. Manaborn can live normal lives with minor abilities, while Rifters face deadly battles, guild politics, high pay, and high risk. Society treats Manaborn as gifted… but treats Rifters as the frontline shields holding civilization together.
