AN:Please comment as much as you can — I really want your help so I can improve.
The train ride back to the school was silent.
Marie sat alone by the window, her forehead pressed lightly against the cool glass. Raindrops streaked diagonally across the surface, blurring the lights of Fortified Wiesbaden as the city crawled by in the late afternoon haze. Her hand, still faintly tingling from the contact with the S-Rank Mana Stone, rested limp in her lap.
Unknown Configuration.
Glück des Echos [F].
She had read those words at least ten times in her new status window, and they still made no more sense than the first. Everyone else had gotten some kind of skill—basic, sure, and all F-Rank, but at least known ones. Fire Bolts. Barrier Forms. Motion Boost. Even Minji, who barely passed the aptitude scan, received something called Lesser Flame Trail.
But Marie? She had received a system classification no one could explain, and a skill with a name that sounded more like a poetic riddle than a combat ability.
"Glück des Echos."
She muttered it under her breath, testing the cadence. It sounded elegant. Mysterious. But utterly unhelpful.
Her display came with no description beyond the name and rank. No activation key. No usage hint. Just a passive tag and a glowing [F].
Back at school, things only got worse.
The moment they returned to campus, the buzz started. Whispers in the locker rooms. Side glances in the hallway. Even the instructors didn't quite know what to make of her result. They skimmed her system data with blank expressions, offering little beyond the usual placeholder: "Observe the system's responses in combat scenarios."
She barely made it through the final homeroom before bolting for the exit. The air felt too thick. Her skin too itchy. She needed space.
Back in her small apartment, Marie tossed her backpack to the floor and slumped into the worn-out armchair by the window. The system interface shimmered faintly in her vision as she reopened her status.
📈 STATUS WINDOW – MARIE WILLIAMS
🏷️ NAME: Marie Williams
🎂 AGE: 15
📍 RANK: F (835 Points)
💰 CREDITS: 8,600c
ATTRIBUTES:
• STR: 110
• DEX: 120
• CON: 105
• END: 100
• INT: 130
• WIS: 0
• PER: 110
• CHA: 60
• PSI: 0
• VIT: 100
PASSIVE SKILLS:
• Glück des Echos [F]
ACTIVE SKILLS:
• None
BUFFS / DEBUFFS:
• None
She stared at the screen for a full minute before closing it again.
"Fine," she muttered to herself. "If you won't tell me what you do, I'll figure it out myself."
The next day, she reported to the Assoziation satellite office near the school, as required. Awakening candidates were expected to undergo preliminary orientation and be assigned to beginner hunting groups. A short intake interview with a bored-looking clerk ended with Marie being assigned to Group C-8.
"You'll meet them tomorrow morning at 08:00," the clerk said, not bothering to look up. "Gate F-12. Don't be late."
Marie signed the digital form and left without a word.
Gate F-12 lay at the edge of Sector 7, one of the oldest still-operational low-tier Gates in the Wiesbaden district. The approach was unassuming—an old shopping center repurposed as staging ground, lined with temporary structures and weapons lockers. A dozen or so teenagers and young adults loitered near the entrance checkpoint.
Marie found her group quickly.
"You're the Unknown girl, right?" asked a boy with light brown hair and a longsword strapped to his back. His tone wasn't mocking, but it wasn't friendly either.
Marie nodded. "Marie."
"Dominik," he replied. "I lead this group. You follow orders, you get a share. Don't screw it up."
The others introduced themselves: Farah, a wind-affinity Supporter; Nico, a Scout with high PER; and Lara, a twin-dagger DPS. All of them were Rank F, like Marie. But unlike her, they had clearly identified skills—even if basic ones—and system-approved roles.
She was the anomaly.
The dungeon inside Gate F-12 resembled a crumbling subway tunnel. Broken tiles. Flickering torches. A smell like damp rust.
Dominik gave quick orders: Nico scouted ahead, Lara held the front line with Dominik, and Farah provided buffs. Marie was told to "stay back and observe."
She obeyed.
Their first encounter came quickly. A trio of tunnel hounds—low-tier monsters with razor-lined jaws and poor coordination. The group dispatched them with efficiency, each player using a practiced role.
Marie watched. Tried to notice system responses. But her interface stayed silent. No pings. No XP notification. No drops.
"You gonna help, or just stand there?" Lara called, panting slightly.
Marie stepped forward, scanning the area. One of the hounds had a faint shimmer near its corpse. A moment later, the corpse vanished—absorbed by the Gate, like all monsters did. But Marie could have sworn she saw something. A flicker in her vision—then nothing.
The rest of the run went similarly. Marie occasionally assisted with clean-up or tracked stragglers, but never landed a direct blow. She earned minimal XP—not enough to trigger even a single point of growth. When the group exited the Gate, her contribution log barely registered.
"You need to be more aggressive," Dominik said as they removed their gear. "This isn't school. You don't get points for being invisible."
Marie bit her tongue.
She wanted to argue. To ask questions. But she knew it wouldn't help. Not now.
That night, Marie stared at the message that appeared shortly after she got home:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📩 SYSTEM MESSAGE – INTERNE NOTIZ
🕒 TIMESTAMP: 22:44
🔍 SYSTEM TEXT:
No skill fragments detected.
Contribution rating: 4.1% (Below threshold for loot qualification)
Recommendation: Increase combat engagement.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
She closed the message.
"No shit," she whispered.
Over the next week, Marie participated in three more runs. The results were always the same: low engagement, no shards, barely any XP. She began to feel like dead weight. The others noticed, even if they didn't say it out loud. Farah grew less talkative. Nico stopped explaining his scouting reports. Dominik began referring to her only as "Tagalong."
It wasn't a surprise when, after their fourth run, he pulled her aside.
"You're out," he said bluntly. "Too passive. We can't carry dead weight."
Marie didn't protest.
She just nodded and walked away.
Back in her room, she didn't cry. She didn't even get angry.
She opened her system window. Scrolled to her Skill tab. Focused on the glowing line that said:
Glück des Echos [F] – Passive Effect Active
"You're supposed to help me," she whispered. "So help me."
But the system gave no answer.
No message. No instruction.
Just silence.
She stared out the window into the night. Somewhere in the city, others were leveling. Gaining power. Moving forward.
She sat still for hours.
And finally, she whispered: "Then I'll figure you out my way."
With or without help.