Chapter 1. Genius or Ordinary
“Wow, this batch is full of promising talents.”
“I heard those three handled the last sudden rift, too. No wonder they’re standing out.”
At the end of the evaluators’ murmuring gazes were three individuals showcasing exceptional performance.
The hunting ground known as ‘Pigeon Park,’ famous for being the testing site for aspiring awakeners. Online, it was often dismissed as ‘Chicken Pigeon,’ but the pigeons, mutated to the size of mid-sized cars, were deceptively agile despite their clumsy appearance, making them tough to deal with.
These one-star beasts were often underestimated by rookies, who frequently fell victim to their swift attacks. Among awakeners, they’d earned the nickname ‘Newbie Slicer.’ As a result, ordinary candidates, who had only contracted with a spirit but hadn’t awakened themselves, tended to move cautiously.
However, the three promising candidates the evaluators were watching were relentlessly unleashing their awakening skills, slaughtering the pigeons without hesitation.
《Three-Foot Oath to Heaven, Mountains and Rivers Change Color》.
Ziiing—
Park Seong-cheol, contracted with the six-star general-class spirit ‘Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin,’ summoned the Three-Foot Sword, a spirit treasure exclusive to spirits of five stars or higher, and spread an aura.
Pa-ba-ba-bat!
Moving at superhuman speed, he sliced through the thick necks of the pigeons within his aura’s range before they could even react.
《Dark Blade Slaughter》.
Shwiik! Shwiik!
Jin Yu-seong, who claimed to have contracted with an unnamed five-star assassin-class spirit, repeatedly summoned and threw shadow-formed daggers, cutting down the pigeons with precision.
《Lamp of Life》.
Yoo Se-hee, contracted with the five-star healer-class spirit Florence Nightingale, summoned a gentle light-emitting lamp that delayed death.
Hwoong—Crack!
But instead of healing, she wielded the lamp like a blunt weapon, smashing the pigeons’ heads.
“Is that really a healer?”
“Her contracted spirit is Nightingale. Think about Nightingale’s alias.”
“The Lady with the Lamp?”
“No, the Lady with the Hammer.”
“Oh, I see.”
The evaluator in charge of Yoo Se-hee was stunned by the sight of a healer engaging in physical combat, but his colleague’s explanation helped him make sense of it. If it was Nightingale, it wouldn't be surprising.
Still, there was something odd.
“They’re definitely impressive, but… why do they look like that?”
“Yeah, they seem kind of dissatisfied about something.”
Despite being guaranteed not only to pass but to achieve record-breaking scores, the three promising candidates wore expressions of subtle discontent.
‘I was definitely able to use my second awakening skill back then, so why can’t I do it now?’
‘Is it because he’s not here?’
‘…From now on, I should stick with him.’
It was because, when they were with that man, Lee Han-seong, they had experienced a higher level of prowess than they were now.
***
Meanwhile, the man the promising candidates were inwardly searching for was performing quite well himself, though not as spectacularly as them.
Relying on ambushes, he hunted the pigeons one by one methodically. When multiple pigeons aggroed him, he calmly used a skill to dispel the aggro, then resumed his stealth and ambush tactics.
He lacked flashy awakening skills, but even so, the evaluator in charge of Lee Han-seong couldn’t hide their astonishment.
‘That’s the guy who just contracted last month?’
Each of his general skills was honed to the maximum level of proficiency. Moreover, he combined skills of similar types simultaneously, creating a synergy that surpassed their rank’s power.
Only those with appraisal-type skills could become evaluators, so the evaluator, grasping the full extent of this, was left speechless.
‘This is insane. To achieve that level of effect with general skills… He must have maxed out his synchronization rate. Is he even sane?’
It wasn’t that other contractors were foolish for keeping their synchronization rates at a moderate level.
Skills were automatically granted upon completing the initial synchronization with a spirit. While the proficiency of a skill depended on the synchronization rate—lower rates meant more effort to build proficiency—most contractors didn’t bother raising it.
Raising the synchronization rate recklessly could lead to being overwhelmed by the spirit’s memories, causing confusion in one’s sense of self. This was precisely why spirit contracts were restricted to adults.
Yet, no matter how closely the evaluator observed, Lee Han-seong showed no signs of such confusion.
It was as if he had taken only the benefits of a high synchronization rate without any of its drawbacks.
‘There’s been a lot of talk, but is this what they meant by a vessel of twelve stars? At this rate, he’ll pass with ease.’
For an evaluator who had heard of Lee Han-seong’s fall from grace, this was fascinating.
Once, this man had been hailed as a genius by the entire nation.
After the twelve supreme constellations appeared in this world, in an era where everyone was born with a star’s vessel, Lee Han-seong was one of only three individuals with a twelve-star vessel.
The other two had already contracted with twelve-star spirits and were thriving, becoming iconic awakeners representing the two factions dividing the world. Naturally, expectations had been high for Lee Han-seong, who shared their potential.
But on the day of his coming-of-age ceremony, when he was to contract with a spirit to match his vessel, he bonded not with a twelve-star spirit as everyone had anticipated, but with mere one-star spirits.
If he had even contracted with a two-star spirit, there might have been hope, as two-star spirits and above were granted awakening skills blessed by the constellations.
Had he possessed an awakening skill, Lee Han-seong might not have fallen so far. Awakening skills, being several tiers stronger than general skills, were considered essential for becoming an awakener.
As a result, one-star contractors without awakening skills were treated as ordinary in today’s world.
But if he passed this time, Lee Han-seong would become the first one-star contractor to earn an awakener’s license.
‘He’s earned the license, so I hope he succeeds in awakening, too. Lee Han-seong.’
Just as the evaluator, feeling like a constellation blessing a first, was about to confirm Lee Han-seong’s passing, a sudden disturbance shook the air.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
The flow of energy within Pigeon Park began to surge wildly.
The calm voice of the head evaluator came through the evaluators’ in-ears.
—It’s a promotion phenomenon.
Due to the promising candidates hunting too quickly, the star power left in the dead pigeons’ corpses was converging into a single entity.
If that entity absorbed all that power, a two-star pigeon would be born.
It was an emergency.
—Should we evacuate the candidates and call the response team?
—No, hold off for now.
The head evaluator let out a small hum before continuing.
—Proceed as is.
The evaluators stirred at this exceptional decision.
—But the candidates could be in danger!
—If we didn’t have promising candidates who could handle a three-star, maybe.
—You’re planning to include a two-star beast in the evaluation?
—If the candidates’ level is this high, shouldn’t the test match their caliber?
It was a wild idea in some ways, but since the head evaluator was taking responsibility, the others nodded.
—We’ll evacuate the regular candidates and have the response team on standby.
—Good.
Since the head evaluator was mainly interested in the promising candidates’ skills, Lee Han-seong’s evaluator moved to evacuate their assigned candidates.
Ta-at!
Suddenly, Lee Han-seong sprinted toward the spot where the two-star pigeon was about to emerge.
—What the hell?! What’s that guy doing?!
Whatever skill he used, his running speed was so fast that even the two-star awakener evaluator couldn’t keep up.
“Lee Han-seong, stop! It’s dangerous over there!”
The evaluator shouted a warning, but Lee Han-seong ignored it and kept running.
—Gu-gu-gu-gu!
Arriving at the site where the two-star pigeon was forming faster than anyone else, Lee Han-seong acted.
《Beast Taming》.
Whack.
A whip of starlight lashed out from him, striking the two-star pigeon.
—Gu-gu-gu-gu.
The pigeon, which had been eyeing him as prey, suddenly changed its demeanor, showing friendliness.
“An awakening skill?”
It was a scene that could only be explained by an awakening skill.
‘The rumor that Lee Han-seong awakened alongside the promising candidates during the last sudden rift… was it true?’
Swish—Click.
Lee Han-seong lightly leaped onto the pigeon’s back.
“Sorry, this might hurt a bit.”
He wrapped his arms around the pigeon’s neck, murmuring something, then slid his hand under its nape, to the spot where the star power gathered in the clavicular air sac, a feature unique to avian awakened beasts.
Wooong—
—Gu-ru-ruk…!
The two-star pigeon let out an uncomfortable cry, as if its throat were constricted, but the evaluator’s attention was elsewhere.
Using the <peeking> skill, the evaluator saw the star power concentrated in the pigeon’s clavicular air sac flowing into Lee Han-seong’s inner self.</peeking>
‘What in the world…?’
The evaluator couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.
The power flowing from the pigeon to Lee Han-seong was merging with one of his contracted spirits, amplifying its star’s brightness.
It reached the brightness of a two-star spirit, surpassing the level of a one-star.
‘Did Lee Han-seong discover a way to promote spirits?’
To confirm, the evaluator activated an awakening skill.
《Espionage》.
An awakening skill that allowed them to peek at the system messages others saw.
[■■ Constellation blocks unauthorized access attempts!]
But what appeared wasn’t Lee Han-seong’s system message.
Instead, it was a message stating that an unnamed constellation had blocked the espionage.
A chill ran down the evaluator’s spine. Getting involved in matters tied to constellations was notoriously dangerous.
Zzt-zzzt-zzzt!
As expected, noise suddenly filled the evaluator’s mind.
‘…Wait, what was I trying to see?’
The memory of what they had just witnessed was erased.
While the evaluator was confused by the gap in their memory, Lee Han-seong was reading a system message the evaluator couldn’t see.
[Conditions met. One-star spirit ‘Pheidippides’ is promoted to two-star.]
[New general skills <lung capacity="" enhancement="">, <!--???--> added.]</lung>
[Destiny Awakening Skill 《Shrinking Earth Village》 is converted to a general awakening skill.]
[The Sun Constellation and other stars bless the spirit’s promotion.]
The message was filled with secrets unknown at this time, like spirit promotion and destiny awakening skills.
***
“Ugh, we’re late.”
“Hey! Lee Han-seong, you’re here!”
“What about the two-star beast? Did you take it down first? I don’t see a corpse.”
The promising candidates, arriving late, spotted Lee Han-seong and lit up with joy.
Though they mentioned the two-star pigeon, their focus was entirely on him.
“Well, it worked out that way. By the way, did you guys rack up a lot of points?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am? The contractor of Chungmugong, that’s who. What about you? You’re passing, right?”
“Me? Passing’s pretty much guaranteed.”
“Then, like we talked about before, how about we form a party together from now on?”
When Park Seong-cheol proposed a party, Jin Yu-seong jumped in, not wanting to be left out.
“Hey, Han-seong already promised to party with me!”
“Party sizes are usually two to five anyway. You can just join us.”
“That party—I want in, too.”
Following Jin Yu-seong, Yoo Se-hee chimed in.
All the promising candidates of this batch wanted to team up with Lee Han-seong.
“What about your guilds? If you join one, you’ll have to party with their people.”
“Han-seong, why do you think we want to join guilds?”
When Lee Han-seong pointed out the issue with their party proposal, Park Seong-cheol countered with a question.
“There are plenty of reasons. Financial and technical support systems are solid.”
“Exactly. It’s all for growth, right? But I think I can grow faster with you than in a guild.”
“Really?”
“The most important thing—constellation backing—doesn’t require joining a guild, right? I bet these guys feel the same.”
When Park Seong-cheol sought agreement from Jin Yu-seong and Yoo Se-hee, they nodded.
“Agreed.”
“Seong-cheol’s right.”
Seeing their reactions, Lee Han-seong asked again.
“You’re really not joining guilds? Because of me?”
“Well, I’d love to join the same guild as you, but these guys probably wouldn’t let that slide.”
“Obviously. If you try to monopolize Han-seong, it’s you or me.”
Typically, awakeners contracted with a spirit join the guild associated with the highest-ranking spirit they’ve contracted.
Park Seong-cheol, contracted with Chungmugong blessed by the Sun Constellation, would join the Sun Guild.
Jin Yu-seong, contracted with an assassin spirit blessed by the Heavenly Slaughter Constellation, would join the Heavenly Slaughter Guild.
Yoo Se-hee, contracted with Nightingale blessed by the Radiant Constellation, would join the Shining Guild.
However, Lee Han-seong’s contracted spirits were all one-star and blessed by different constellations, so no guild had specifically approached him.
If he had to choose, the newly promoted two-star Pheidippides was a Sun Constellation spirit, so he could join the Sun Guild.
But Lee Han-seong had no intention of doing so.
‘Don’t worry. Why would I leave my constellation?’
[Unnamed Constellation is reassured by your words.]
He had already chosen a constellation other than the twelve supreme ones.
The very reason these promising candidates were so drawn to him was because of his constellation.
If his constellation hadn’t sent him back from the future, he wouldn’t be who he is now.