The air in the Grand Awakening Hall was full of hope and fear. This was an important day. At sixteen years old, every person received their "System." The System would decide their future. It would show if they would be a farmer, a guard, or a great hero.
For Ren, it was his sixteenth birthday.
Ren was an orphan. He had no family. But he had a face like a prince, with hair like gold and eyes the color of the blue sky. He stood in the crowd of nervous teenagers, but he was not nervous. He was calm, and a small smile was on his face.
For sixteen years, Ren had trained his body. He knew that a strong body might get a better System. A normal person had stats around 10. Ren hoped his hard work would give him stats of 12 or 13.
One by one, other teenagers touched the big, black Awakening Stone. A girl named Elara got a B-Rank. A strong boy named Kael got an A-Rank. The crowd cheered for Kael. An A-Rank was very rare and very strong.
Then, the announcer called, "Next! Ren, of the Sunstone Orphanage."
The crowd was not interested. He was just another orphan.
Ren walked to the stone and placed his hand on it. A wave of information entered his mind. Then, a blue screen, that only he could see, appeared in front of his eyes.
[System Starting... Welcome, User.]
[Name: Ren]
[Level: 1]
[Strength: 15]
[Agility: 14]
[Stamina: 16]
Ren smiled. His hard work had paid off! His stats were very high.
[Bloodline: [Unknown]]
[Talent: [Conceptualization]]
Then came the most important part: his Rank. The letters started to change very fast. F... D... A... S... SS... SSS. The highest Rank anyone had ever seen was SSS. Ren was so excited.
But it did not stop. The letters 'SSS' disappeared. A new word appeared.
[Rank: Mythical]
Ren had never heard of a Mythical rank. It was not in any book. It was not supposed to exist.
While Ren was seeing this amazing thing, the people in the hall saw something different. The Awakening Stone glowed brightly, from white to blue to the purple of an A-Rank. The crowd gasped. But then, the stone made a sad fizzle sound. The light went out. A little smoke came from the stone. It was broken.
The officiant, the man in charge, looked at the stone and then at Ren with pity. "The Awakening Stone is broken," he announced. "The reading is an error. By rule, you are given the lowest rank. Rank F."
The crowd started to whisper and laugh. The poor orphan was so unlucky, he broke the stone. He was a failure.
Ren stood there. The world thought he was a failure. But on the secret screen only he could see, the truth was shining. [Rank: Mythical].
A slow, dangerous smile grew on his face. He walked away from the stone. Let them think I am a failure, he thought. This will be much more fun.