[Fadena], "The City of Beginnings." That's what everyone calls it, anyway. That is where I've ended up in this new body. As I've come to know, the world's landscape was reshaped after the Invasion, and that was clearly no joke. If you were to look at the map, you wouldn't even recognize the continents. Apparently, the world has been changed so much that humanity hasn't properly mapped its new layout, despite the aid of a mystical force.

"This place looks a lot better, honestly..." I look around at the city. It looked like something fresh from a webcomic, a bright world with buildings unrealistically clean and practically shining. As if vandalism and graffiti don't exist. Transportation looks relatively the same, granted that there is a whole load of new vehicles—not counting the people flying through the clouds—some of the cars look a lot more futuristic than what we had before. It's hard to describe their change of appearance in great detail. These vehicles don't seem to be fueled by gasoline, though. Nor do they seem to be powered by electricity. They have some other, newer fuel source.

The progression of society is to be expected considering it's been 10 years. If this world is now like a game with dungeons, it only makes sense. I'd bet that there are resources in dungeons that can make you rich! I can definitely look through my memories to confirm this, but I appreciate the bliss of theorizing what's to come since today's the day I become an Adventurer! Or would Awakener be the more appropriate title?

Pushing those thoughts into the back of my mind, I stop outside of the largest building in the city. It'd be wrong to call this a building, that'd give the false interpretation of it being normal. "Skyscraper" is the better word to use to describe this structure. The exterior of the building is made of a material that I can't recognize, but it's a fair guess to say metal. I'm no architect, I wouldn't know something like this immediately. As a normal person, though, it's undoubtedly surreal. 

"I don't know where to begin, I guess I should start at the front desk." I don't even realize I'm talking to myself until I feel a gentle hand land on my shoulder. A chill rushes up my spine, making my body shudder. I turn around in a panic, leaping away as quickly as I can. 

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" A somewhat boyish voice calls out to me, softened by a graceful pitch. Fully examining the person who'd touched my shoulder, I was surprised to find that it was a girl with crimson-colored hair and matching eyes. She's standing there in a black tuxedo, looking pretty professional actually. In this body, this woman is a lot taller than me. Whereas I'm probably around 5'4", she's a good 5'10" if my guess is correct.

"Th-the-there's nothing to worry about, I was lost in my thoughts!" I stamper in my speech, anxiety beginning to emerge. The anxiety is no longer because of that unsettling feeling I'd get when she touched me. It's come to my attention that this is my first time talking to an actual person since I've reincarnated in this body. (I don't consider Anaphiel a person. She seems more like an angel than a human.)

"You look like you're ready to pass out, is everything alright?" I have to stop myself from gasping. I can't see my own face, but I don't think I look terrible. I checked myself in the mirror before I left and my newfound conscience is telling me that I looked presentable.

I was finally going to reply, but she cuts me off with a flurry of laughter. "Ahaha! Sorry about that, I didn't think you'd make that kind of face! I was just kidding, you look cute with your face like that!"

In my past life, I wasn't really used to being complimented. I wasn't an overweight introvert, but I wasn't the best-looking either. Maybe I was just average. Living such a straightforward life never gave me the time to think about and fix my appearance. This stranger complimenting me feels weird, in this new body I'm by all means attractive—but that doesn't change how awkward it makes me feel.

"Yeah... Who are you, exactly? You're right to assume that I'm going in but..." This conversation is extremely gauche. I haven't had a conversation with someone in this body, even in my memories. Now that I think about it, would anyone actually recognize me? I hope not, that'd be a weird conversation to have out of the blue. My body has a mother who I can recall, one who looked very strange in terms of appearance. Was that even a memory of this body? I've never taken the time to think about that until this moment.

"Me? My name's Toy. Toy Cesta! It's nice to meet you, doll!" The red-haired woman introduces herself, finally. "Toy...? That's a unique name. I'm F— Roshia! Roshia Qinlen." I almost said my old name. Thank god I couldn't remember it fully anyway!

"I'm here to register with the [Awakener Association]. I'm assuming that you work here or have some business?" She's dressed up like a businesswoman and from what my mind is telling me, that's not a common thing for random individuals, not in this location at least. Most people come here dressed normally or at least wear gear in preparation for dungeons. 

"Woah, you're right on the dot. I'm one of the [A Rank] Examiners. Since you're just here to register, you probably won't have to worry about meeting me inside." I don't know why I feel so embarrassed by it, but Toy winks at me after that comment. Is she flirting with me? I'm content with ignoring it, for now, or else this is going to derail all of my plans for the day.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

In this world, Awakeners are given ranks based on how powerful they are. The fact that this woman is an [A-Rank] explains the chill that I felt just from her touching me. If [S-Ranks] can shift the world, then [A-Ranks] can shift countries. The gap in power between the ranks is breathtaking. A normal [C-Rank] will almost certainly get killed by a [B-Rank] in a fight to the death. This is only the popular view on the ranks at least. On file, there hasn't been an [A-Rank] who's actually gone out of their way to wipe out countries. On file, as I mentioned.

When you first become an Awakener, you're assigned [E-Rank] so that you can legally gain access to dungeons. 

There are [Unranked] individuals who refuse to register with the Association. For one reason or another, almost all of these people are considered terrorists or criminals. Probably because they illegally enter dungeons and act independently as Awakeners. The government has made the Awakener Association an official organization meant to moderate all Awakener activities. Even larger groups have no choice but to abide by the orders of the Association when they're given. For that reason, most [Unranked] Awakeners are powerful. You have to be strong to survive the guaranteed assaults that will happen once you've bitten the Association's hand.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

"I plan on reaching [D-Rank] in a few months, once I've gotten the hang of things." I confidently declare. As I'm basking in my own newfound confidence, I feel a weight push down against me. My eyes lock onto Toy out of pure instinct. I try leaping as far back as I can. Before my feet even reach the ground, Toy is standing in front of me, dust behind her.

With a brazen grin on her face, her hand stretches out and— strokes my hair...? "Uhhh..." I'm not sure what to do in this situation.

"You've got a good sense of danger, maybe you aren't all talk." Toy is giggling right in my face. Was that sudden pressure I felt her testing me?! She didn't even attack me! Not only that, but she didn't even look like she was taking this seriously! [A-Ranks] are no joke, the rumors about their power might not be all that outlandish after all! "You may really be able to make it to [D-Rank] if you take the proper steps, Roshia."

Some time passes and I'm lost in thought. "Thanks, can you stop stroking my hair?" I finally ask, growing tired of her brushing my hair with her hand. Toy is surprisingly pleased by my response since she doesn't stop smiling as she moves her hand away from me. 

Toy takes a look at her watch before she finally starts to step around me. "Well, Roshia, I hope to see more of you in the future. Come to me when you're [B-Rank], perhaps I'll be able to teach you something new." Toy gives me one last wink before she waves goodbye, heading into the building. Something tells me that I shouldn't go in right now or else it'll be weird.

I wait several minutes before I finally head into the building. 

I'm surprised by how cold it is inside the building. Maybe I was in over my head when I dressed in this skirt. Now that I think about it, I hadn't even realized that Toy and I were both dressed very professionally. She was nowhere to be seen when I enter the building, but I feel like I should've asked her some questions about the registration before we departed, but I wanted to finish that exchange as quickly as I could. She was seriously throwing herself onto me, and I feel like this won't be the last time.

The sound of my heels clicking against the marble floor was rhythmic, I can tell that my hips are unconsciously swaying. It sounds satisfying, the sound of clicking heels has always been tantalizing to me. In this body, I can hear this sound as much as I please without question. The pride I once felt in my old body, unable to yield to the temptation of trying heels on, is now gone.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, particularly when I reach the front desk. A woman with long purple hair and glasses scowls up at me from behind the desk. "Uhm, I'm here to regis—" Bang! "—ter..."

Right before I can finish my sentence, the woman violently places a crystal ball in front of me. "Place your hand on this ball, please." Even though she ended it with 'please', she sounds more demanding than anything. It's actually kind of scary. I comply, putting my hand on the crystal ball.

I wait a while, letting her prepare whatever she needed to do. Then, I finally receive a message!

✦ WARNING! GLITCHES IN THE AWAKENER SYSTEM WILL NOT BE DISPLAYED! ADMINISTERING PATCHES...! ✦

Woah! That's nostalgic! I haven't seen this since when I died, I thought that it was just a one-time thing!

Before me, I see that my Status Window has opened again, revealing some changes to what I'd seen before.

In a smaller window, I can see my skills. The receptionist is also looking at the window, meaning that this must be displayed to everyone instead of myself. It's a lot different from what I'd seen before. No, this is an entirely different menu. Before, I'd been seeing the [Returner Information], not the [Awakener Information].

Well, my stats are the same, but when that thing said that it was applying patches, it must've been— "Me!"

I'm met with a familiar voice calling out from behind me. The world has turned gray, no one was moving an inch. When I turn around, Anaphiel is floating above me, as usual. "I applied a patch and gave you a second class to display! You're an anomaly, we can't have anyone learning about your true class! Whenever someone checks your Status Window, they'll see this info! You'll see all of it mixed in when you check it yourself!"

Strangely, I'd actually forgotten that Anaphiel's been watching me. Maybe because she suddenly vanished. I guess she'll interfere whenever something related to my true nature comes up. If she can give me a new class, I wonder why she hasn't just removed the Returner class from me. Maybe she can't. If she can't, that makes me wonder why I have it in the first place! It couldn't have been given to me.

Anaphiel doesn't wait for me to respond, she's probably not supposed to pause time (assuming that she paused time at all) so carelessly. The gray of the world disappears, returning the world's usual colors and time. The receptionist starts speaking, clueless about what just took place. "You're a [Thief]? I haven't seen one of you in a long time."

Generally, there are countless classes in the world. Some are rarer than others, apparently, a [Thief] is one of the rare classes. It's a lesser version of the [Assassin] class, meaning that a [Thief] can be evolved into an [Assassin] at some point. It's making me wonder what other classes have evolutions to them. What if I can evolve my [Returner] class?

"So, I guess I'm just born to take." Trying to feign surprise, I rub the back of my neck in a maladroit manner. "Something like that. I've linked the A.A.S to your System, you'll now be able to see available teams, dungeons, and more. You'll find all of the information that you need whenever you actually need it. Have a good day, Ms. Qinlen." She definitely didn't know my name until she saw it on the Status Window. This receptionist must work exceptionally harder than others to act this annoyed by her work.

Growing irritated by the second rushed interaction of the day, I just move away from the desk, heading off to the side of the room to check and examine the changes made to my window.

The A.A.S [Awakener Association System] has been added to my Window, giving me icons similar to mobile app icons that I can either tap or think of opening if I know their name. The most important one is the [Map] that shows me a map of the city I'm in. Available teams and dungeons will appear, and there's even a [Chat] feature where people talk and form teams with one another. I'll probably need to use this eventually, but I'm growing impatient!

After taking a bit of time to absorb the features, I decide that I've waited long enough: It's time to get gear and head into a dungeon!

Coffi

This chapter is a little bit longer than the ones before! I was supposed to make a chapter yesterday but didn't finish typing since I got tired! I've added a bit more information! There are some details that I've added which will be explored more later! What do you think of Toy?