Inside the building is everything that Yeon Yujun had expected, the smell of mixed chemical, clean, and artificial tones. He notices the sharp tang of industrial cleaning agents, the heavy scent of synthetic carpet fibers, the sterile bite of dry air, and the occasional waft of stale coffee.
The awakeners and unawakeners are busy with their jobs, Yeon Yujun hears the sound of ringing calls and the footsteps of hunters leaving the building for deployment.
He hadn't imagined the inside would be much better than the outside.
Four years and it kept moving without him.
"Pupu...!!"
Pouch is perched on his shoulder, staring at the high ceiling to the building where some hunters were flying with wings and some of them were using their items or skills.
In his life of being an unregistered hunter, he never knew what was inside the building at all.
"Are you done?"
A familiar voice speaks, making Yeon Yujun flinch from his place —
"What?"
"Follow me."
And when he turns, Seo Hwigeon is standing behind him and already walking towards the reception where an unawakener is working.
The receptionist looks up from his computer and quickly stands, slightly bowing out of politeness that made him look like a nervous wreck.
"Mr. Seo! W-welcome back!" he greets, fixing his glasses as Seo Hwigeon waves his hand.
"I told you to drop the formalities," he pauses for a moment, glancing at the receptionist's name tag.
"Sukyung."
"Sorry! Uh... Are you here for the screening you scheduled, Hwigeon-ssi?" The receptionist sits back down after Seo Hwigeon nods and starts clicking on the computer before handing Seo Hwigeon the clipboard and pen.
"Please sign here! Madam Park Saehyun told us to keep track of those who come here." Then his eyes shift to Yeon Yujun.
'Park Saehyun? One of the leaders in the Hunters Division?'
"For him too and his little buddy," Sukyung points at Yeon Yujun and Pouch, startling him.
'He... An unawakener can see Pouch?'
"Pupu...?"
"You can see Pouch!?" Yeon Yujun blurts out, gesturing at the fluffy creature perched on his shoulder as the receptionist flinches and nods frantically.
"W-we're given chips in our head to detect the awakener's activities and hidden abilities... Including manifested pets like yours, sir..." Sukyung explains, stumbling over his words while he fidgets his fingers nervously.
'Four years is apparently enough time to miss an entire technological revolution.'
Seo Hwigeon chuckles, handing back the clipboard to the receptionist. "Don't be surprised now, Ahjussi." he pats Yeon Yujun's head as he quickly backs away from him.
"Hey! I told you to stop calling me that and don't touch me." Yeon Yujun sasses, glaring up at Seo Hwigeon.
"We'll be going now, is Dr. Dahlia in charge of the screening this month?" Seo Hwigeon quickly asks while already turning away and expecting Yeon Yujun to follow him.
"Yes, Hwigeon-ssi! And she's expecting you today."
Yeon Yujun glances at Sukyung who focuses on his task for today behind the counter before shifting back to Seo Hwigeon who is now walking away to the other direction.
"This is going to be a long day..." Yeon Yujun grumbles, following Seo Hwigeon from behind.
"Bubu..." And Pouch agrees with his grumble.
***
After a few walks around the building, they finally reach the screening room by the corridor and when Yeon Yujun is about to knock on the door, Seo Hwigeon twists the doorknob open.
"Don't you know how to knock…?" Yeon Yujun's eye twitches in annoyance while Seo Hwigeon just pushes the door casually as if he's just in his own place.
"C'mon, Dahlia doesn't care at all. In fact, her and I are— Ack!—"
"BUBU!!"
Seo Hwigeon's words were cut short by someone throwing a hard plastic cup at his head, the plastic fell down the floor with a thud as it rolls to Yeon Yujun's shoe.
Yeon Yujun lifts his gaze and sees a woman dressed in white coat and glasses huff and roll her eyes before continuing to analyze the paperwork in her hand.
"How many times have I told you, Mr. Seo? Knock first before you stroll in here," Dr. Dahlia puts the paperwork in a tray held by a robot arm as it puts it away while the other robotic arm combs her wavy hair with a light cream color.
"I thought we're good friends, Doctor!" Seo Hwigeon playfully pouts before Dr. Dahlia glares at him.
"We're in a workspace, I don't expect to treat you the same way as I do outside and I set boundaries unlike you."
Yeon Yujun already likes her.
When Dr. Dahlia snaps her fingers, the robotic arms stop and focuses on typing at the computers and holograms instead.
"And this is the awakener who cleared the B-class vortex, right?" She slowly approaches them as her eyes linger onto the small fluffy creature.
"And who might that little cutie be?"
Before Yeon Yujun can speak, Seo Hwigeon does all the talking– "He's Yeon Yujun and that creature is Pouch."
"What an interesting name." she remarks on Pouch's name then her eyes shift to Yeon Yujun. "I'm guessing you're the one who named it that?"
"Pouch likes it and I didn't have anything in mind back then…" he chuckles awkwardly before Dr. Dahlia gestures for the circular platform.
"You're here for the screening, right? Please stand on that platform and we'll scan you real quick." Dr. Dahlia starts moving and Yeon Yujun nods.
"Should I bring Pouch with me?"
"Let it stay with Mr. Seo."
Pouch grumbles, frowning at the sight of Seo Hwigeon before reluctantly hopping off from Yeon Yujun's shoulder and standing next to Seo Hwigeon but six feet apart.
Yeon Yujun complies and stands on the platform, the robotic arms return to Dr. Dahlia's side as she begins typing onto her hologram screen.
"This will take just a few seconds."
Once Dr. Dahlia activates the scanning mode of the platform, a hologram scanner appears and begins scanning Yeon Yujun's form with the machine whirring.
It feels cool and unreal in his skin.
After a few seconds just as promised, the information about Yeon Yujun is now obtained.
"Let's see…" Dr. Dahlia fixes her glasses as her crimson eyes begin to read the information on the hologram screen and displays it onto another hologram screen where Yeon Yujun can see it.
[ Name: YEON YUJUN ]
[ Age: 31 ]
[ Class: E+ class Awakener ]
[ Luminary: None ]
[ Skills: "[B+] Thunder Spark", "<[S+] Bloodseal>", "<[A+] Residual Flame>" ]
"Don't mind your class, it's normal for new awakeners to be low-ranking," she murmurs, tapping into his skills.
"Having three skills is impressive, I'm sure you already know how to obtain a luminary skill?" Dr. Dahlia looks up as Yeon Yujun nods.
"Y-yeah… Hwigeon mentioned it to me."
"That's surprising, he rarely explains anything." she scoffs and continues reading the rest of the information.
"Blood type is AB and… huh?" she pauses, turning off the hologram screen displayed to Yeon Yujun.
'Did she notice anything that's off with my profile? Did I forget to change something?'
He definitely didn't, he literally changed it twice!
"You've been awakened… for twenty eight years?"
'What?'
Even Seo Hwigeon is surprised as his head turns to Yeon Yujun, "I… think that's an error."
"The scanner rarely makes an error though…" Dr. Dahlia takes off her glasses and wipes it before putting it back on again.
Seo Hwigeon steps beside Dr. Dahlia, as if to buy some time for Yeon Yujun to quickly change the details for the rescanning.
"Maybe there's a glitch here?" he points at the most random direction on the hologram screen, Dr. Dahlia just sighs.
"That's just a logo…"
Yeon Yujun wastes no time to change it quickly, changing it in his fake profile that he just awakened yesterday.
After that, Dr. Dahlia shoves Seo Hwigeon, just a little push and initiates another scan. "Are you ready, Mr. Yeon?"
Yeon Yujun nods as he watches the familiar scanner appear, tracing and shaping his entire form like in some video game as Dr. Dahlia obtains new and updated information on her hologram screen.
"Huh, it really is a glitch. You just awakened yesterday. I'll let my robots fix the scanner later."
"That's right…"
'That was a close call, if Seo Hwigeon didn't distract her… I might've been exposed. She doesn't seem to be gullible too but it looks like mistakes happen sometimes with the scanner.'
He lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as Dr. Dahlia goes to her desk while Yeon Yujun steps off the platform and Pouch sprints towards him, crawling up to hide underneath his jacket.
"I'll need to print and sign these, not everything can be in the
"Are you going to accompany Mr. Yeon till he passes the screening? I suggest touring him around here before you both head to the assessment center."
"Assessment center?"
"Right, you gotta demonstrate your mana, skills, and combat abilities so they'll know if they should put you in a weak position or in a stronger position. You'll require lots of training and process if you're tiered in the lowest rank," Seo Hwigeon explains, summoning a dark and shadowy dagger in his hand, just like the one that's thrown in his way before.
"Just enough to pass. Not enough to raise questions." he smiles before gesturing to the door.
"Just give all you've got, you got this." Dr. Dahlia takes the coffee from the tray held by a robotic arm as she sends the two off from her office.
'Well. That's two completely different pieces of advice.'
It seems like he can't act weak for a long time…