Subway Train to Brooklyn - 4:30 PM
The subway car rocked gently as it carried Alex away from Manhattan's gleaming guild towers and back toward the familiar chaos of Brooklyn. He sat in a corner seat, his camera equipment bag clutched in his lap like a shield, still processing what had happened in the depths of Hudson River Gateway.
The other passengers were the usual mix—office workers heading home, a few off-duty Awakened still in their guild uniforms, teenagers absorbed in their phones. Normal people living normal lives, completely unaware that the world had just shifted on its axis for one unremarkable F-rank sitting among them.
Alex stared at his reflection in the dark subway window, seeing a stranger's face looking back. Same messy black hair, same tired brown eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, same nervous expression he'd worn for twenty-four years. But something fundamental had changed. He could feel it humming beneath his skin like a low-frequency vibration.
What the hell happened to me down there?
The train entered a tunnel, and the lights flickered momentarily. In that brief darkness, Alex's world exploded into light.
A translucent blue interface materialized directly in front of his face, hovering in the air like a hologram from a sci-fi movie. Geometric patterns and flowing text scrolled across its surface, casting an ethereal glow that somehow only he could see.
[COMBAT DATA ARCHIVE - WELCOME, USER]
Alex jerked backward in his seat, nearly dropping his equipment bag. His heart hammered against his ribs as he looked around frantically, but nobody else seemed to notice anything unusual. The businessman next to him continued reading his tablet. The teenage girl across the aisle kept scrolling through social media.
They can't see it, Alex realized with a mixture of relief and terror.
The interface pulsed gently, waiting. Tentatively, Alex focused on it, and new information cascaded across the display:
[SYSTEM STATUS: ACTIVE][USER CLASSIFICATION: OBSERVER][CURRENT ARCHIVE: 1/3 SLOTS UTILIZED]
A detailed breakdown appeared below:
[STORED TECHNIQUE 1:][Lightning Slash (Basic Variant)][SOURCE: Marcus Wong - B-Rank Swordsman][MASTERY LEVEL: 15%][COMPATIBILITY: 97.3%]
Compatibility? Alex's mind raced. What does that even mean?
As if responding to his thoughts, the interface shifted, displaying a detailed 3D model of a human figure performing the Lightning Slash technique. It was Marcus—or rather, a perfect digital recreation of Marcus—moving through the exact sequence Alex had witnessed in the dungeon. Every muscle fiber, every subtle shift in weight, every microsecond of timing was captured in stunning detail.
The model rotated slowly, allowing Alex to view the technique from every angle. Skeletal overlays showed optimal bone alignment. Circulatory patterns highlighted the flow of awakened energy through the body. Neural pathways lit up like circuits, mapping the precise mental state required for execution.
It was impossibly comprehensive. More detailed than any training manual, more precise than any slow-motion video. This wasn't just observation—it was complete technical analysis at a level that should have been impossible.
[REPLAY FUNCTION AVAILABLE][TRAINING MODE ACCESSIBLE][MASTERY PROGRESS TRACKING ENABLED]
The train lurched as it pulled into the next station, and Alex's concentration broke. The interface flickered and faded, leaving him staring at his own wide-eyed reflection in the window again.
Did I just hallucinate that entire thing?
But even as he tried to rationalize it away, Alex could feel something new in his mind. It was like having a file cabinet installed directly in his brain—organized, searchable, and containing one very specific entry. When he concentrated, he could access every detail of Marcus's Lightning Slash. Not just the visual memory, but the kinesthetic understanding. The feel of muscles coiling and releasing. The precise moment when awakened energy should flow through the blade.
He flexed his fingers experimentally, and muscle memory that wasn't his own whispered through his nervous system. His hand wanted to move in a specific pattern, following invisible lines of force that Marcus had perfected through thousands of repetitions.
The realization hit him like a physical blow: I really can copy their techniques. Perfectly.
"Next stop, Brooklyn Heights," the conductor's voice crackled over the intercom, startling Alex back to reality.
He fumbled for his phone, fingers trembling as he pulled up the standard Awakened registration app. His profile picture stared back at him—young, nervous, unremarkable. Below it, his classification gleamed in disappointed gray:
CHEN, ALEXRANK: FAWAKENED DATE: 03/15/2027REGISTERED ABILITIES: NONEGUILD AFFILIATION: FREELANCE
None. That single word had defined his life for two years. No special powers, no enhanced strength, no elemental control. Just enhanced durability slightly above baseline human and the crushing weight of being categorized as 'failed awakening.'
But now...
Alex closed the app and leaned back in his seat, his mind spinning with possibilities and questions. If he could really copy techniques from other Awakened, what did that mean? Was he still F-rank? How was this even possible?
And most importantly—what was he supposed to do about it?
The train pulled into his station, and Alex gathered his equipment with hands that were only slightly shaking now. As he stood to leave, that same tingling sensation flickered behind his eyes, and for just a moment, text appeared in his peripheral vision:
[DISCRETION ADVISED][SYSTEM SECURITY PROTOCOLS ACTIVE]
Then it was gone, leaving Alex alone with his racing thoughts and a secret that could change everything.