Lucen sat on the floor, back against the wall, system window still floating in front of him.
His hand buzzed slightly. Not pain, exactly. Just a leftover hum in the nerves.
He stared at the name of the spell.
[Unstable Kinetic Point]
It sounded like something from a textbook. Or a bad training simulation.
Still. It worked.
He turned off the system screen and opened his tablet again. The connection lagged, then loaded.
He slowly started typing.
"System interface comparison standard."
The results were all screenshots from different forums, training guides, official awakening walkthroughs.
They all looked… normal.
Same color scheme. Same layout. Blue frame, stat bar on the left, class and rank at the top.
Lucen's system wasn't like that. His had cleaner lines. Different font. No stat graph. And the spell creation tab wasn't listed anywhere in these examples.
He scrolled.
No mention of "Spell Designer Interface."
He searched: spell creation feature new system
A few results popped up. Mostly clickbait.
"10 Signs Your System Interface Is Bugged"
"This Kid Says He Made His Own Spell—You Won't Believe What Happened Next"
Lucen sighed.
'Right. I'm on my own.'
He opened a new tab.
"Class ranks..full list"
This one came from the national awakening database.
It listed every officially recognized Talent Class, from lowest to highest.
F – Weakest tier. Usually non-combat.
E – Entry-level. Minor combat or support functions.
D – Stable low-tier combat.
C – Guild-eligible. Reliable, common.
B – Rare. Notable potential.
A – Elite. Guild leaders, veteran hunters.
S – Extremely rare. High-command, national level.
SS – Mythic-class. Less than 200 alive globally. Most government-controlled.
[Class List Ends Here.]
Lucen scrolled down again.
He refreshed the page.
'That's it?'
He checked three more sources. All of them ended at SS.
He opened his system screen again.
There it was, plain as day.
[Class Rank: SSS]
[Talent: Spellcraft Sovereign]
[System Mode: Adaptive Spell Designer Interface]
He looked at it for a long time.
'That's not a typo. It's not a test version. This thing knows what it is.'
He stood and paced once, too fast, then sat back down.
His hands rested against his knees.
'If S-ranks get scouted the same day they awaken… what happens to someone who doesn't even show up on the records?'
He stared at the words again.
SSS.
He searched it directly.
SSS-rank talent
SSS class confirmed
Has anyone awakened SSS
Nothing official. A few rumors. Most posts laughed it off.
"SSS doesn't exist, it's a myth."
"Made up to scare newbies. You'd get black-bagged in five minutes."
"You wake up with SSS? Don't tell anyone. Not even your mom."
Lucen clicked one of the threads.
Someone had posted a blurry screenshot of a fake system panel.
The comments were all the same.
"Fake."
"Nice try."
"System UI doesn't look like that."
Lucen closed the tab.
His stomach felt like it had shrunk into his spine.
He reopened his system again. Scanned every line.
The mana counter was just a number, not a bar. The stat screen had no recommended builds, no skill tree. The archive listed the spell he made, but there was no elemental list. No passive bonuses. No interface guide.
Just blank space, waiting.
And that glowing tag at the bottom.
[You are the first.]
[No external synchronization required.]
He said nothing.
Just leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, head tilted toward the floor.
'Whatever this is… it definitely wasn't made for public use.'
He looked toward the door.
Locked.
Then at the window. Three stories up. Nothing but cracked buildings and flickering lights beyond.
He closed the system.
Then whispered, "I need to shut up about this."
—
The alarm started buzzing at 6:00 AM.
Lucen was already awake.
He didn't move at first. Just stared at the cracked ceiling for a few seconds, watching a tiny shadow crawl across the plaster. Some kind of bug, maybe. Or a glitch in the light.
His room was cold. Same as always. The old radiator wheezed a little but didn't actually heat anything.
He sat up slowly. The blanket clung to his arms with static.
The system window hovered exactly where he'd left it last night.
[Class Rank: SSS]
[Talent: Spellcraft Sovereign]
[System Mode: Adaptive Spell Designer Interface]
[Status: Awakened – Undocumented]
He blinked at it, half hoping it would disappear. It didn't.
'Still here. Great.'
He shut it with a flick of his finger and climbed out of bed.
The floor was freezing. He padded over to the sink, turned on the faucet, and splashed water on his face. The mirror didn't make him feel any better. Just made his hair look worse.
Uniform went on like muscle memory. Gray coat, black undershirt, worn slacks. Standard issue. A little tight in the sleeves.
His tablet buzzed on the nightstand.
Eastbridge Vocational Youth Center
Rescan Appointment – 08:30 AM
Mandatory attendance. Do not be late.
He stared at it.
'Can they see what kind of system I've got?'
He tried not to think about it.
Shoes, keys, ID badge. He stepped out into the hallway.
Same apartment smell. Mold, leftover curry, industrial cleaning spray.
Mrs. Higa was already sweeping in front of her door. Same old broom. Same scowl.
"You awaken?" she asked, not looking up.
Lucen nodded. "Yeah."
"What'd you get?"
He paused. "Not sure yet."
That made her glance up. "Hm."
She went back to sweeping.
'That's not suspicious at all.'
The elevator didn't work again, so he took the stairs. Third floor to ground. By the time he hit the lobby, two middle schoolers were wrestling over a snack bar. One of them had a tiny system screen up, flashing.
'Apprentice Stamina Boost'
Lucen kept walking.
Outside, the city already smelled like burnt oil and damp metal. Morning fog clung to the sidewalks. Street vendors were setting up under fold-out tents, shouting prices over the traffic hum. Somewhere nearby, an electric scooter backfired.
A girl in uniform passed him, muttering to her friend.
"He got a B-rank. Actual B. His sister said scouts already contacted him."
"No way. You sure it wasn't fake?"
"Had the badge."
Lucen walked faster.
The Eastbridge Rescan Center sat between a train station and a laundromat. Looked like a repurposed hospital—long concrete ramp, faded signage, tinted doors that creaked when they opened.
He got in line.
Ten students ahead of him. Maybe more inside. Most of them stared at their system windows or scrolled forums on their tablets.
Lucen stood still.
A kid behind him nudged forward. Looked maybe fifteen.
"You nervous?" the kid asked.
Lucen blinked. "What?"
"The scan. They say it glitches sometimes. Like if your system's weird."
Lucen stared forward. "Mine's not weird."
The kid gave him a thumbs-up like that solved everything.
Someone up ahead stepped into the scanner gate. The machine blinked blue, scanned them from head to toe, and dinged.
[Class: Ironskin – Rank D]
[Status: Cleared]
Another stepped up.
[Class: Basic Fire Channel – Rank C]
[Status: Cleared]
Lucen's throat felt dry.
He checked his own system again.
Still blank on the outside. Unless he called it up manually, no one could see it.
He hoped.
The line moved.
A guard at the scanner gave him a lazy once-over. "Name?"
"Lucen Ivara."
The guard tapped a screen. "No class declaration on file. You gotta submit manually."
Lucen forced a nod.
The scanner buzzed as he stepped forward. Blue light swept over him.
Nothing happened.
Just one beep.
[ERROR: Undeclared Class Detected]
[Manual Submission Required – Proceed to Hall 2B]
The guard squinted. "You didn't set your class?"
"I'm still reviewing the interface."
The guy scratched his head. "Fine. Go through. Left hall, second door. Don't skip it."
Lucen walked past the scanner, jaw tight.
In the hallway, a few other students were already waiting outside Room 2B.
A girl sat cross-legged on the floor, chewing gum. A tall guy leaned against the wall, eyes closed.
Lucen picked a spot near the vending machine.
His fingers twitched, and the system flickered into view again.
[No synchronization record found.]
[Do not declare unless certainty threshold is met.]
[Optional: Manual concealment mode available.]
He swallowed.
'I'm gonna get flagged. Sooner or later, someone's gonna notice this thing isn't standard.'
Then the door opened.
"Lucen Ivara?"
He stood.
'Time to lie.'