Yuuya sat at the edge of his seat in class, staring blankly at the board as the teacher explained something about chemical equations. The words slipped through his ears like background static. None of it mattered.
Not after last night. Not after that dungeon. Not after what he saw.
But the world didn't stop just because he had changed. Everything still moved around him like nothing had happened. Classmates laughed. Teachers lectured. Raiku was probably planning how to sneak food from the cafeteria again.
Yuuya's fingers twitched slightly against the desk. The System hadn't said a word all morning. Not a ping. Not a flicker. It was almost easy to pretend nothing had happened at all.
Until it happened.
The light above his head flickered. His eyes shifted instinctively. No one else seemed to notice.
Then it came.
> [Awakening Signature Detected – Location: Classroom 2-B]
A hum pulsed through the air.
Students turned.
"Whoa…" someone said.
"What is that?"
"I-is that coming from Yuuya?"
Before he could even blink, the door slammed open.
A team in black and grey uniforms stepped in. Professional. Organized. Carrying detectors and suppression rods.
"Target identified. Yuuya Kurose. Please stand up."
He hesitated.
"This is a formal notice. You've been flagged by the National Awakened Registry. You are to be tested and classified immediately. Refusal will result in detainment."
That got him moving.
---
The Bureau was colder than he expected.
Clinical. White walls. Blue-tinted glass. Rooms designed to feel like nothing. Like a blank slate.
Yuuya stood on a scanning platform while a machine circled him. Pulsing with silent waves.
On the other side of the glass, a man in a gray coat leaned back in his chair.
"Scan complete. Minimal mana output. Low surge potential."
Another analyst sighed. "We're seeing this more and more. These awakenings are getting sloppy."
"Estimated Rank?"
"F."
They didn't even try to hide it.
One of the Bureau staff stepped into the room, a clipboard in hand. She barely looked at him.
"Yuuya Kurose, you've officially awakened. However, your rank is classified as F. I'm sorry, but with that rating, you're not eligible to work with the Bureau."
He didn't say anything.
Someone from the back snorted. "Kid probably can't even chase down an unawakened, let alone fight one."
The staff chuckled lightly. "Escort him out, please."
---
Outside, the sun felt a little too bright.
Yuuya walked down the Bureau steps slowly. Like gravity weighed more than it used to.
F-rank.
He didn't even know what he expected. But hearing it out loud still stung.
He sat on the edge of a low wall outside the building, watching as a trio of armored hunters walked past laughing. One of them had a blade longer than his entire body. The other was complaining about a C-rank dungeon taking too long.
This was the world now.
And apparently, he wasn't built for it.
But that wasn't entirely true.
> [Sync Level: 11.2% – Next Threshold Approaching…]
His system hadn't left. It hadn't shut down.
They just couldn't see what he was becoming.
---
"Hey. You look like you just got flushed out the Bureau toilet."
The voice came from a man in a battered jacket and boots caked in dried dirt.
Yuuya looked up.
"F-rank?" the man guessed.
Yuuya nodded.
The guy sat down next to him like they were old friends. "Let me guess. They told you you're useless?"
Yuuya didn't respond.
"Well, you're not. Not entirely."
He pulled out a card and handed it over. A plain black rectangle with only two words on it:
Dungeon Diver
"They call us bottom-feeders. We wait until the real hunters clear out a dungeon, then we go in and collect what they leave behind. It's dangerous. Sometimes the dungeon closes early. Sometimes a monster they missed eats your arm. But hey, you get paid."
"…Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you've got that look. The kind of look that says you're not going home empty-handed."
Yuuya stared at the card.
"Come to the dive point near Station Nine. They'll test if you can survive five minutes in leftover zones. If you can, you're in."
The man stood, brushing dust from his jeans.
"Good luck, kid. Bureau might not need you. But the dungeons don't care what rank you are."
He left without another word.
Yuuya pocketed the card.
> [New Path Unlocked – Dungeon Diver] [Temporary Access to Lower Tier Looting Zones Granted]
> [Optional Task: Survive a Dive – 0/1 Completed]
A cold wind passed.
Yuuya stood.
He wasn't done yet.
He was just getting started.