BUHGT 01

BUHGT

CHapter 01 …

“We can’t wait any longer either.”

— Guild Internal Evaluation Report
— Trainee: Kang Yujun
— Evaluation Score: 10 / 100
— Remarks: Excellent potential, but failed to awaken. Further training is meaningless.

Solid theory.
Outstanding comprehension.

From the very beginning, Yujun—the promising prospect of Promise Guild—was different.

Recognized for his potential at a young age, he grew up as part of the Promise Guild’s youth division.

The talent he was first evaluated for at age twelve was at least S-rank.

He was compared to Do Minjun, South Korea’s representative S-rank awakener, a famous telekinetic and archmage. People expected that if he developed properly, he would at minimum rival Do Minjun and at best become the world’s strongest awakener.

Rumor had it that once he awakened, he was guaranteed to be S-rank.

His nickname was Golden Youth.

It was a title given because among the highly praised youths of his generation, no one had received evaluations as outstanding as Yujun’s.

However, there was a problem.

His awakening.

“If you can’t awaken, it’s meaningless.”

Even after turning twenty, he still had not awakened.

The conditions for awakening were, quite literally, random.

Some awakened through trivial triggers, while others awakened after repeatedly performing certain actions.

“There are kids who awaken just by getting older… this is troubling. I never thought you’d fail to awaken.”

The Promise Guild director frowned.

“You know, right? We can’t wait any longer.”

Yujun grew anxious.

So every single day he trained desperately.

He relentlessly reviewed what he had learned and pushed his body beyond its limits.

Otherwise, he couldn’t shake off the anxiety.

But there were people who looked down on him.

— A bastard who hasn’t even awakened.
— He used to be so confident when he was young.
— You can’t even manage that easy awakening?

People began openly provoking him, and unable to endure it, Yujun threw punches at them.

Of course, since he hadn’t awakened, he only got beaten one-sidedly.

“….”

Even so, Yujun couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Any excuse would ultimately circle back to the same conclusion—
that this all happened because he failed to awaken.

“Soon, a decision will be made. Prepare yourself mentally.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

The director looked at Yujun with an expression that was half irritation, half pity.

Bang—!

The door shut, and Yujun wiped his face.

The immense expectations had returned to him as crushing disappointment.

If only his talent had been mediocre from the start, he wouldn’t feel this way.

“…Hoo.”

From childhood until now, Yujun had poured everything into this guild.

If he were expelled, nothing would remain.

The Promise Guild was practically his entire life.

“What should I do…?”

* * *

“Still… isn’t this a bit much?”

“What can I do? I don’t have the talent. If I can’t awaken, what am I supposed to do?”

Yujun answered his friend’s words with a sigh.

The person across from him was a close friend who had spent many years together in the Promise Guild youth division.

Kim Minseok, currently a B-rank awakener.

When they first met, Minseok had been evaluated as having lower potential than Yujun, but now his rank was higher.

Because they had been so close since their youth days, he was the only friend who remained close even after transferring to another guild.

Yujun had lived solely to succeed, so his social circle was extremely narrow.

“Today, I’ll pay.”

Minseok shook his head.

“You’re basically unemployed now—do you even have money? Forget it, I’ve got this.”

Kim Minseok was a fairly successful awakener and was financially well off.

Compared to their initial potential evaluations, their positions were now worlds apart.

But the two didn’t care about such things, so they kept downing soju while reminiscing.

“Seriously though, your theory skills are S-rank level. Remember Trainer Park? The one who produced several S-ranks? He praised you like crazy. Said your understanding of theory was better than his. Said you were definitely going to become S-rank. We were all so jealous.”

As the alcohol went down smoothly, the conversation became increasingly rambling.

“Well… that’s because…”

Yujun gave a faint smile, recalling those days.

Back then, what Yujun had been obsessed with was a game called Tower of Infinity, where you formed parties of awakeners with various abilities and climbed to the top of the tower.

The player became a trainer in Tower of Infinity, training awakeners and forming parties based on their abilities.

Yujun had been the undisputed rank-1 player in that game.

“That’s what I studied with.”

Tower of Infinity frequently collaborated with real famous awakeners as models for in-game characters.

‘And the abilities were incredibly diverse.’

The growth system was also extremely detailed and realistic.

‘It suited me perfectly.’

For Yujun, who was strong in theory, it was the ideal game.

Minseok, who knew this, laughed as he reminisced.

“When we understood 1, you already grasped 100. You were on a different level.”

So what everyone felt wasn’t jealousy—it was awe.

“In theory class, you’d immediately apply things. We couldn’t even understand them.”

Every trainer Yujun had encountered had praised his ability to digest theory.

“And it’s not like you were only good at theory. Your eye was incredible—you used to help train me and the other youths. Remember?”

“Of course. That’s how we became close.”

Yujun took another drink.

As Minseok said, Yujun wasn’t just good at understanding theory—his eye for analyzing awakeners was also exceptional.

Because of that, he often gave advice to other youths.

“I just changed one posture like you told me, and the block I had completely cleared.”

Yujun had played no small part in Minseok reaching his current position.

Gulp.

Though they were just reminiscing over drinks, those memories only made Yujun more miserable.

So he kept drinking.

“But the ending is expulsion. It’s all over now.”

He hadn’t heard the word directly, but it was practically decided.

There was no reason for the guild to keep accommodating someone who hadn’t awakened at this age.

Yujun sighed.

What should he do now?

“What’s the point of knowing theory? I’m not even an awakener.”

If only he could apply even one-tenth of the theory in his head to himself.

If only his physical ability matched his analytical eye.

Yujun drank until dawn and returned home with Minseok, who was deeply worried about him.

“Pay the lodging fee and sleep.”

Yujun laid Minseok on the floor and lay down on the bed himself.

Since Minseok was completely drunk, he’d sleep fine anywhere.

Yujun closed his eyes with a sigh—but sleep wouldn’t come.

“Damn it…”

The conversation from earlier kept replaying in his mind.

Youth companions who had soared after receiving his advice.

People who had succeeded thanks to him, yet later ignored or dismissed him.

Only a very small few, like Kim Minseok, still expressed gratitude.

And so someone’s words kept stabbing at his chest.

“You should worry about yourself before teaching others. All talk, no substance.”

It was frustrating.

And desperate.

“I knew that.”

Grit—

Yujun opened his eyes and clenched his teeth.

At that moment, a sound rang out from somewhere.

Ding—!

A sound he had never heard before.

But the sound he had waited for so long.

“…Huh?”

— Conditions have been met.
— You have awakened!

“WHAT?!”

He doubted his ears again and again.

It clearly said he had awakened.

The alcohol vanished instantly.

Even though he had been quite drunk, he sobered in a moment.

— [Awakener Training System ON]
— You have opened the Trainer’s Eye! From now on, you can nurture awakeners!
— Use your abilities to train awakeners!
— You may view currently unlocked abilities.

[Lv.1]