Adam's voice trembled with a mix of anger and confusion as he asked, "What do you mean by awakened testing center? I'm here to get an identification number."
Siri's face softened as she replied, "I apologize, Mr. Adam, but didn't Sergeant Faith explain this to you before bringing you here? You and the other Lost can’t be classified as regular humans anymore. So, like the Awakened, you need to undergo certain tests before receiving your ID."
Frustration evident in his eyes, Adam heaved a heavy sigh, "No, she didn’t explain anything. So what happens after this test? Do I get my ID? And what other strings are attached to being registered as an Awakened?"
Siri, sensing his irritation, gave him a patient smile. "Yes, once the test is complete, you’ll get your ID. And don’t worry, there aren’t any disadvantages to being registered as Awakened. In fact, there are several benefits—exemptions, privileges, and more. The higher the rank you score, the better the benefits."
Reluctantly, Adam decided to go along with it. Everything since arriving in the city had felt like one problem after another. Nothing had gone his way. But what was done was done. He had no choice but to see it through. "Alright, I understand now. Let's just get this over with."
"Very well," Siri continued, her tone professional. "The test is straightforward. First, we’ll measure your mana. All you have to do is touch the crystal on this device."
As she spoke, the floor in front of Adam opened up, and a machine slowly rose from the ground. The device resembled an old, bulky TV from the ‘90s, except it was made of metal, with thick wires snaking out from its base. A clear crystal orb protruded from the center. Adam moved forward and placed his hand on the crystal.
Immediately, he felt his mana pulse through the orb. The crystal began to fill with a dull, ashen gray, and the number "15" appeared on the machine's screen.
“E-rank mana, with an unknown affinity,” Siri announced.
"Affinity?" Adam echoed, confused. "What do you mean by that?"
In the tutorial, the concept of "affinity" never came up. As long as you met the conditions for a class, you could learn the necessary skills. While some players struggled with certain classes, they were simply written off as untalented. Maybe affinity had something to do with it, and they just hadn’t known.
“Affinity," Siri began, "is essentially the element or type of energy your mana aligns with most efficiently. For instance, if two fire mages cast the same spell, but one has a fire affinity and the other an earth affinity, the fire-aligned mage will produce much stronger results with less mana."
Adam nodded slowly. "I see. So why is mine listed as unknown?"
Siri offered a sympathetic smile. "Well, affinities aren't limited to just the basic elements like fire, earth, water, and air. They can be more specialized—healing powers, physical enhancement, anything really. If it’s listed as unknown, it likely means you're the first to display that particular type of affinity, or those who had it before didn’t report it. It’s not uncommon. If you do discover what your affinity is, we’d appreciate you sharing that information to help others like you."
Yeah, that’s not happening. But I can’t say that now, can I?
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Adam replied, feigning sincerity. "If I figure it out, I’ll be sure to let you know."
“Thank you,” Siri responded, her tone genuinely appreciative. “Now, onto the next part of the test. While your mana measurement was E-rank, that doesn’t necessarily determine your overall rank. After all, not all Awakened are mages. Many are physical combatants. This brings us to the second part of the test: a combat simulation against a monster. Don’t worry, it’s just a hologram, so there’s no real danger. If you need a weapon, just imagine one, and it will materialize in your hand. Let me know when you’re ready.”
Adam waved lazily, signaling his readiness. He got into a half-hearted fighting stance, fully intending to throw the fight. Staying under the radar with an E-rank seemed like the safest move for now. While standing there, waiting for the monster to appear, he began to feel uneasy. But after a minute passed, with no sign of a hologram, Adam started to grow suspicious.
Could she not see my signal? Have I just been standing here looking like a fucking idiot? This is beyond embarrassing.
“Siri, I’m ready. You can start,” he called out awkwardly.
“Sorry, Mr. Adam, there seems to be a technical problem. Just give me a little bit and I’ll fix it,” Siri replied.
n the control room, Siri's frustration was mounting. She had sent the signal for Xavier to activate the spell on Adam three times, each time receiving a confirmation, but still, nothing happened. Irritated, she finally opened the communication channel with him.
“Xavier, what’s going on? I’ve been sending you the signal to cast the projection in room 21 for over a minute now,” Siri demanded, her voice sharp.
Xavier’s voice crackled through the speaker, sounding distracted. “Sorry, Siri, I’m juggling too many spells right now. I need to focus.”
Siri’s patience was wearing thin. “Well, you need to focus better! I’ve sent the signal multiple times, and nothing is happening.”
“I did cast it! Twice, even, because you kept sending the signal!” Xavier shot back, confused.
Siri wasn’t having it. “Then why is there nothing showing in front of me? Have I gone blind, or are you just not doing your job, Xavier?”
Xavier muttered under his breath, “Damn, you’ve got a temper.”
“What was that?” Siri snapped.
“Look," Xavier sighed, "the other testers are finishing up. Give me a minute, and I’ll come and cast it directly.”
“Make it quick,” Siri replied, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
Xavier’s voice took on a sarcastic edge. “You know, Siri, it wouldn’t kill you to be nicer to me once in a while. We could—”
Before he could finish, Siri abruptly disconnected the call. She turned her attention back to Adam, visible through the observation window, and let out a deep sigh. Pressing the communication button, she spoke into the mic. “Mr. Adam, I apologize for the delay. Someone will be along shortly to resolve the issue. Please bear with us a little longer.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
With no other choice, Adam decided to wait. He briefly considered suggesting they skip the test, but he didn't want to appear too eager and risk raising suspicion. Instead, he leaned against the wall, waiting patiently.
A few minutes later, the doors to the control room slid open, and Xavier walked in, immediately greeted by Siri’s sharp glare.
“If looks could kill, I'd be—" Xavier began, only to abruptly collapse to the floor, his body motionless as if struck down by some unseen force.
Siri didn’t even flinch. She sighed, glancing briefly at his “lifeless” form before turning away. "If you have enough mana to play games, Xavier, I'd prefer you used it to do your job."
The moment her words left her mouth, Xavier’s body vanished as though it had never been there, only to reappear behind her a second later. "And I’d prefer it if you were a little nicer to me,” he quipped.
Without missing a beat, Siri replied, "I’ll report you for harassment."
Xavier took a cautious step back, feigning innocence. “And I’ll report you for bullying. But seeing as I’m Awakened and you’re not, I’d probably lose... so, let’s not."
Siri turned to Xavier, her eyes blank as if to say, Just do your job.
"Alright, alright," Xavier muttered, raising his hands in surrender. "I swear, you don’t have a single funny bone in your body." He glanced over at Adam and added, “So that’s the guy causing the problem, huh? Let’s get this over with. I hear it's gonna get busy soon, and I’d like to enjoy my free time before the chaos hits.”
Shifting back to her professional demeanor, Siri pressed the communication button. “Mr. Adam, we’re ready now. Sorry again for the delay. Whenever you're ready, we can begin.”
Feeling eager to finish, Adam pushed himself off the wall and gave Siri the signal, but this time he avoided striking a fighting stance, just in case the monster didn’t show up again.
In the control room, Xavier focused on Adam and cast his spell. His mana surged out, invisible tendrils wrapping around Adam like a stream of energy. But... nothing happened. No illusion appeared.
Puzzled, Xavier tried again, concentrating harder, sending even more mana into the spell. Still, nothing.
"That’s... strange," he said, scratching his head in confusion. He turned to Siri. “This guy doesn’t have some kind of magic item that blocks illusions, does he?”
“What? Of course not,” Siri replied, a frown forming on her face. “We didn’t detect anything on him. He’s one of the Lost, brought here by a government official, no less. The only thing he’s got is probably the clothes on his back. But from what you’re saying, your magic isn’t working on him right?”
"Yeah, and it's weird," Xavier explained, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Usually, when I cast an illusion on someone stronger or someone protected by an anti-magic item, my mana either weakens or gets destroyed, to blocking the spell. But with him... nothing. My mana isn’t affected at all, but it’s not affecting him either."
As Xavier and Siri continued discussing the anomaly, Adam, still waiting for the test to begin, began to feel a creeping unease. It was subtle but stronger than before, like a faint alarm ringing in the back of his mind. The sensation only lasted for a second, but this time, he recognized it. That was a mental attack, he thought grimly.
His paranoia flared instantly. Could someone after him have found him already? For a brief moment, his thoughts spiraled, imagining one of his enemies watching him from the shadows. But just as quickly, he dismissed the idea. It didn’t make sense.
Those guys knew better than to waste time with mental attacks on him. His immunity to them was no secret—especially after the price they paid to discover it firsthand. No, using a mental assault would only alert him to their presence, and that would be counterproductive. Still, the fact that such an attack had happened, even a weak one, left Adam wary. What’s really going on here?
And then, like a bolt of lightning, it struck him. The test. Siri had mentioned that the second part of the test involved fighting a monster hologram. But what if there was no hologram? What if it was all an illusion from the start? That would explain the "technical issues" Siri had mentioned—because illusion magic is a type of mental attack, and it wouldn’t work on him.
He cursed himself for not putting it together sooner. She had told him to imagine a weapon, and what kind of hologram could read your mind and manifest a weapon? It was illusion magic all along. But why hadn’t she just told him? Was she trying to simplify it so he wouldn’t ask too many questions? Or was it because mental magic was frowned upon, at least it was in the tutorial. Either way, it didn’t really matter now.
What mattered was how to handle this situation. Should he come clean and tell them the truth about his immunity to mental attacks? Or would that raise more questions than he was willing to answer right now?
Just as Adam was deep in his thoughts, trying to figure out how to handle the situation, his mental process was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice coming from the speakers.
"Hello, Adam. My name’s Xavier, but you can call me Xie for short if you like," the voice said, carrying a playful tone that grated on Adam’s nerves. "I’m the one responsible for administering the second part of the test, but, uh, for reasons mainly you, we aren’t able to proceed as planned. So, I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind. And, ah, don’t worry—you're not in trouble or anything. You can even refuse to answer if you want, but we'd really appreciate it if you did."
Adam’s mind raced. Xavier’s tone was casual, but the underlying meaning of his words was clear—something about Adam was blocking the test, and they noticed. He needed to decide quickly whether to give them a piece of the truth or continue playing it close to the chest.
If he told them that illusion magic simply didn’t work on him, they might dig deeper into why, and he didn't want that kind of attention, but maybe if he mixed some truth and lies, he could play the victim and turn this thing on them.
"Questions? Sure, go ahead," Adam replied, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.
"Great! Well, first off, have you ever encountered illusion magic before?" Xavier asked, his tone still annoyingly cheerful.
"Do you mean like mind magic?" Adam asked, feigning uncertainty. "I’ve heard about it, but I can’t say I’ve encountered it personally. In the other world, it was considered a forbidden power. Anyone who had that kind of ability was a wanted criminal, and there weren’t many of them."
He was laying the groundwork for his trap, carefully positioning himself as ignorant of the situation. Then, adopting a more defensive tone, he continued, "But why are you asking about that? What does it have to do with the test? Wait… you don’t think I’m one of those people, do you? I would never do something so inhuman as taking control of someone’s mind!"
There was a moment of silence before Xavier’s voice came through again, but this time, his cheerful tone was gone. "No, no, Adam. No one's accusing you of anything. This is just... ah, a formality, yeah. Just a standard question we have to ask. Give me a minute, and I’ll get back to you."
In the control room, Xavier disconnected the call, a strained smile on his face as he turned to Siri. "Well, that went better than I thought."
Siri exploded, her patience gone. "What the hell is wrong with you? Who asks questions like that? I let you handle this because you promised to behave! These people just came back after five years from a different world, and we barely know anything about what they have been through. And what do you do? 'Oh, we have a problem, mainly you,' and then you talk to him in that accusatory tone!"
"It’s not my fault!" Xavier protested. "How was I supposed to know they treated illusion magic like some kind of crime? None of the other Lost mentioned anything about it during their tests!"
"That’s because we told them it was a hologram!" Siri shouted back.
"And why would we do that?" Xavier shot back, frustrated.
"To buy time and avoid the barrage of questions and protests, like what happened three years ago when illusion magic was first introduced as part of the test. You were there, remember?"
After a lengthy exchange of back-and-forth shouting, Xavier finally calmed down. He glanced at Adam through the glass, then muttered, "I bet he's lying. He probably made up that whole 'illusion magic is bad' story on the spot. I mean, if it were really such a notorious thing to them, at least one of the other Lost would’ve mentioned it, right?" Then, as if struck by a sudden idea, he smiled and added, "Some of the other Lost are still in the building. Why not ask them?"
"And say what, exactly?" Siri shot back. "'Oh, by the way, we’ve been using a type of magic that you guys might consider evil, and we just wanted to check if that’s cool with you?'"
"Well, not in those exact words," Xavier said with a shrug, "but yeah, something like that. Worst-case scenario, a few of them get mad at us. They’re all E-rank, so it’s not exactly a big problem."
Siri massaged her temples, trying to stave off a headache. "Listen, Xie, sure, a bunch of E-rankers getting mad at us might not be a big deal. But what you haven’t considered is that those E-rankers, unlike Adam over there, have high-ranking Awakened family members with them. Families who have been waiting five years for them to return and are extremely protective right now. And even if their relatives are reasonable enough to avoid causing trouble, the Lost can apparently raise their ranks. So, given enough time, they might come back for revenge."
Finally giving up, Xavier sighed and asked, "You might be right, but what should we do now?"
Siri took a moment to collect her thoughts before responding. "You go inform the higher-ups about this and try to get to the bottom of it. I’ll handle Adam in the meantime."
Xavier nodded, then turned and left the room. As soon as he was gone, Siri exhaled deeply, steeling herself for the next part of the conversation. She pressed the communication button. "Mr. Adam, I sincerely apologize for what just happened. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding. Please accept our apologies."
"A misunderstanding?" Adam's voice came through, sharp with faked indignation. " That Xavier guy just accused me of using mind magic! I came here to get an ID, and then you mentioned a test. Even though Sergeant Faith who is from the government didn’t say anything about it, but I went along with it because you seemed trustworthy. But now, it feels like you're trying to set me up. I don’t want any part of this. Let me out of here!"
Adam hoped his trick would sow enough confusion to buy him some time. He wasn’t sure if his deception would work, but it might at least create enough doubt for him to able to leave. And even if they caught on to his lie, he could always play dumb—pretending he didn’t know the difference between illusion and mind magic—or fake a trauma. Though he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
"Mr. Adam, please, if you could just—" Siri began, but Adam cut her off sharply.
"No, I don't want to listen. Just open the door and let me out, now," Adam demanded.
"I understand. The door is open now, Mr. Adam," Siri responded in a calm, apologetic tone. "You’re free to leave the room, but please wait for me outside. I’ll be right there to guide you, and once again, I hope you’ll accept our apologies. I assure you, we mean you no harm."
Adam turned toward the door, which slid open with a soft hiss, and stepped out into the hallway. Finally outside, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. At least now, he thought, if anything goes wrong, I can run instead of being trapped in that room.
He glanced in the direction Siri had initially led him from, debating whether to leave before she arrived. But just as he was about to act on that impulse, a voice called from behind him.
"Adam? Is that you?"
A shiver ran down Adam spine. He knows that voice.