The world felt like it was ending.
Suddenly, Gates popped open, and Dimensional Rifts tore through reality.
North Korea fell because of it.
It was chaos incarnate.
The government abandoned Jeju Island.
There were simply too many monsters pouring down from the ruins of North Korea, plus the Gates and Dimensional Rifts inland—they just couldn't keep up.
And then Awakeners began to appear.
Awakeners were broadly split into two types: Body Enhancement Awakeners, who drew on powerful physiques to manifest their abilities in battle, and those who wielded the forces of nature like water, fire, and wind.
They teamed up with the military and started clearing out the Gates and Dimensional Rifts across the country.
The world, which had seemed doomed, began to stabilize once more. But you couldn't just blast away with heavy weaponry every time a monster showed up, so Awakeners' value skyrocketed.
Every nation scrambled to stockpile their own Awakeners as a vital asset.
And so the government rolled out a one-time free Mana Test for every citizen.
...
*Ding-dong.*
The bell chimed, and the number 948 lit up on the counter display.
Feeling a mix of anticipation and mild tension, I headed to the window.
A weary-looking civil servant sat there, dark circles under his eyes, thick glasses perched on his nose.
"Park Un-ho?"
"Yes."
"ID, please."
I handed over my ID and took a seat as the glasses-wearing official spoke.
He checked it against his system, tapping away at the keyboard, then handed it back.
"Please place your hand into the machine on the right and grip the handle inside."
This was the famous Mana Measurement Device.
I'd spent over an hour waiting, watching all the people ahead of me go through it.
For my first time, the familiar cylindrical machine felt routine as I slipped my hand in and grasped the handle.
*Whirr.*
A faint mechanical hum sounded, and a soft glow emanated from the device.
On the monitor to the left, the gauge began to fill.
The gauge was divided into sections, and it started climbing toward the first one.
As the gauge filled, so did my expectations.
My heart pounded.
I'd done my homework beforehand.
I knew that crossing the first mark meant qualifying as an Awakener.
The gauge crept up, almost filling the first section... then stopped just short.
"Ah..."
Maybe he read the disappointment on my face.
"Mr. Park Un-ho, you see that first mark on the gauge?"
"Yes..."
"Most ordinary people fall below half of that. You're almost at full on it. You're a bit shy of Awakener qualification, but your chances of awakening later aren't low. Gates are rich in mana, so working around them could help trigger it."
The official rattled off his scripted consolation like a well-oiled machine.
*Ding-dong.*
The familiar bell rang again.
The counter number changed.
"..."
I realized this wasn't anything special.
Hiding my regret, I stood up.
Someone else immediately took my seat.
"Sigh..."
That gauge, one notch short, lingered in my mind.
The thought of "just a little more" drew a heavy sigh.
'A Gate, huh...'