"I need money..." Fin muttered as he waited at the crosswalk. The traffic light had just turned red, and the cars stopped. Snow continued to fall. He lowered his umbrella, tilted his head up, and closed his eyes. The cold flakes stung slightly as they landed on his forehead.
He had recently graduated from college. At one point, he thought he could finally be free—free to chase his dreams, live a carefree life, pursue happiness, and travel the world. He believed things would get better once he got a job.
He thought wrong.
"Life... it's all about money."
Born into poverty, Fin had never known comfort. Every inch of progress came with relentless effort. He had to work three times harder than everyone else just to get the same results. Now, saddled with student debt and jobless in a brutal market, his hopes were crumbling fast.
"It's snowing a lot..." he mumbled.
He let out a quiet sigh and glanced ahead. The intersection was eerily quiet. Snow blanketed everything. A few broken streetlights flickered, casting jagged shadows onto the empty road. The chill seeped into his coat, but he kept walking. He wanted to get home before the snow got worse.
Rustle.
Fin paused.
Something had moved. He turned slightly, narrowing his eyes toward the alley beside him.
Nothing.
Just as he started to step forward—
BAM!
A truck veered into the intersection.
It all happened too fast.
His eyes widened as bright headlights bore down on him. The truck's horn blared, but it was already too late.
There wasn't even time to react.
In that instant, Fin's life flashed before his eyes—childhood memories, his mother's tired smile, late nights studying in a dim dorm room, the laughter of friends who had moved on to better jobs, better lives...
And then—impact.
The world turned white. A crushing force slammed into him. Pain exploded through his chest.
Then—nothing.
"I... died."
The thought came slowly.
"F*ck."
He couldn't see. Couldn't move. Couldn't even feel the cold anymore.
Everything was numb.
No panic. No screaming. Just stillness.
Was this death?
He couldn't tell.
There was no body. No warmth. No pain. No breath. Just thoughts.
He was... floating.
Not in the air—but in some void. A space that wasn't space. A quiet, blank emptiness.
Somehow, that terrified him more than the pain. More than the truck.
And then—
He felt it.
A faint tug. Like a fishing line hooked into his soul.
At first, it was subtle. Then stronger. And stronger still.
It was pulling him. Dragging him somewhere.
He couldn't resist.
"All of you, this is your final Awakening Ceremony."
A man's voice echoed through the room. Calm, emotionless.
"If you fail to awaken today, you'll live the rest of your life as an ordinary human and attend a regular university. You may attempt to break your genetic chain and become a bloodliner, but the success rate is abysmal. Even if you survive, you'll spend your life burdened by debt. You might even regret it."
Nineteen-year-old students stood in tense silence.
Among them—Fin.
He looked down at his hands.
He was alive.
Or rather... alive again.
His fingers trembled. They were smaller. Younger.
His heart pounded in his chest.
This wasn't the same body as before.
Was this a dream? Reincarnation? A new world? A different timeline?
It didn't matter.
He was here now. In someone else's body. In a world where people had Awakenings.
From what he could gather, the world had changed drastically 180 years ago. A cataclysm had shattered society. Monsters appeared everywhere. Cities were destroyed. Countries collapsed. Humanity was nearly driven to extinction.
Then—rifts appeared.
And within these rifts, people Awakened.
They gained classes, skills, abilities—power.
They became Awakeners, humanity's only hope for survival.
Over decades of brutal struggle, the Awakeners turned the tide of war. Humanity reclaimed its lands, cities rose from ruins, and order was restored—though not without scars.
Those who were Awakeners became rich. Famous. Powerful.
Those who failed... were left behind.
Unsurprisingly, Awakening became every young person's dream.
But awakening wasn't guaranteed.
Every person between the ages of 16 and 20 was granted a few chances to awaken. This was the final one. The last shot at changing their future.
Those who failed would go to normal universities. No one would laugh at them. They wouldn't be treated poorly. But they'd live ordinary lives in a world ruled by the extraordinary.
Fin felt the weight of it, too. Even though he'd only been in this world for a few minutes, he understood the significance of this moment.
This was it—the difference between obscurity and greatness.
Sure, failing didn't mean the end of his life. He could still go to a regular university, maybe pick up a trade, or start a small business...
But no other path held as much promise—or danger—as that of an Awakener.
And for someone like him, who had been slapped by society's reality and died once already... ordinary wasn't enough.
Under the nervous gaze of nearly a hundred students below the podium, the teacher picked up a file from the table in front of him and began to call out names.
"Kevin Lint."
The instructor opened a folder.
A thin boy with glasses flinched.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
He hurried to the stage. His steps were shaky. He kept his head down. He walked stiffly toward the podium, clutching his hands tightly in front of him as though they might stop shaking if he squeezed hard enough. His glasses slipped slightly down his nose, fogged from the heat of his breath.
"Place your hand on the Awakening Orb. If it glows, you've succeeded. If not... better luck in your next life."
Kevin's hand trembled as he reached for the orb.
Nothing happened.
No light. No sound. No reaction.
He stared at the orb, eyes wide behind his lenses, as though willing it to light up. But the orb remained dark—completely unresponsive.
"Kevin Lint, Awakening failed."
Kevin froze. His face went pale. He stood motionless for a heartbeat longer before his shoulders slumped. Quietly, almost numbly, he turned and walked back down the steps.
No one laughed.
No one dared.
The ceremony continued.
"Jenny Marks."
A girl with long hair stepped forward nervously.
However, no one laughed or made fun of her. On any other occasion, they might have, but after watching Kevin's silent, defeated walk back, no one could muster even a smirk. Today, everyone feared they'd soon be in his place.
She tripped climbing the steps. Still, no one made a sound; no one laughed or made fun of her. On any other occasion, they might have, but after watching Kevin's silent, defeated walk back, no one could muster even a smirk. Today, everyone feared they'd soon be in his place.
She picked herself up and stood in front of the orb.
"This is your fourth time," the instructor said flatly. "You know the process. If you fail again—well, you've had your chances."
Jenny, familiar with the process, placed both hands on the orb without much enthusiasm, as she could already foresee her failure after years of trying.
Seconds passed. Nothing happened.
The instructor turned toward the next name, ready to announce her failure.
But then—light.
The orb glowed.
A shimmering figure appeared behind Jenny—translucent, almost ghost-like. It held a glowing bow and arrow, which quickly faded into mist.
The instructor blinked.
"…Jenny Marks has successfully awakened a class: Archer."
Gasps filled the room.
"She awakened?"
"No way!"
"Wasn't she ranked, like, 92nd?"
"Doesn't matter! She's an Awakened now!"
Even Fin was stunned.
He didn't know Jenny. But the joy in the room was infectious.
For a moment, there was hope.
And then it disappeared.
"Tasha Lin. Awakening failed."
"Eli Moran. Awakening failed."
"Reed Holloway. Awakening failed."
One by one, they stepped forward. And one by one, they failed.
The glow never returned.
Jenny remained the only one.
The students stopped whispering. The mood turned grim. Tension thickened the air like smoke.
No one smiled anymore.
This was the world Fin had reincarnated into.
A world where power defines your life.
A world where this one moment would determine everything.
And his turn was coming soon.