[Target name: Joe Carlos]
[Level: 25]
[Age: 45]
[Race: 30% Vernathi, 13 % Human…]
[Status: Awakened]
[Kill count: 7]
'A vernathi…'
Jack's eyes narrowed as the blue text hovered in front of him. It wasn't his first time seeing one. David himself was a Vernathi and the image of David punching concrete with his bare hands was a memory he wouldn't forget for a long time.
[Race: Vernathi]
[Abilities: Enhanced strength, heightened senses, rapid healing.]
[Hazard Note: Risk of uncontrolled transformation under emotional duress.]
'They don't seem to have animal-controlling tendencies. But regardless, this is a dangerous race. And its Level 25. I need to stay calm.' He exhaled through his nose.
Across the counter, Joe Carlos smiled warmly as he handed Jack his order. "Extra rice, right? On the house."
Jack grinned back like a boy who had just been handed a sweet candy in a candy store. "You're too kind, sir. Really."
He had been using the appraisal skill the whole day in the neighborhood, but this person was the only awakened among the ordinary public he'd found in the area.
On the outside, the canteen owner didn't look dangerous. Middle-aged, with a kind smile and tired eyes. He joked with the customers, even handed out free soup to kids.
But Jack wasn't about to be fooled by appearances or kind smiles especially not when the system flashed a kill count of seven.
After all, he had been using the appraisal skill a lot, and most ordinary people actually had a zero-kill count. Well, some proved to have killed 1 or 2 at times. And in the owner's case, he wasn't just a murderer, he was also an awakened.
While he sat on their table, Jack ate like normal. Around him, life went on: chatter, clattering spoons, the sizzle of oil.
When they finally stepped outside, David stretched his limbs.
When they finally stepped outside, David stretched his arms, satisfied with the meal, "That was really good! But… we're still stuck. Maybe we should try one of the other missions?"
Jack kept his eyes on the canteen, expression unreadable. "If someone turns out to be an unregistered awakened," he said casually, "what's the Association's move?"
David blinked, caught off guard, but cheerfully entertained his companion. "Uh—well, detainment, obviously."
Jack hummed. "Detained. Even if they're not dangerous?"
"Yes," David said firmly, crossing his arms. He clearly liked being the one explaining things. "The Association regulates all awakened activity. Everyone's registered—name, age, ability, address, even personality profile."
Jack nodded along like a student pretending to take notes.
David continued, "If someone's awakened but unregistered, they're considered a potential threat until proven otherwise. The Association investigates and decides if they can live freely or must be imprisoned."
Jack stayed quiet as Lucy side-eyed him. 'So basically, if you forget to fill out a form, they throw you in jail. Nice system.'
Then Jack asked:
"By that logic, the Association must have a list. Do we have access to that list?" he asked.
"A list? You must mean this. You just gotta ask me if you have been curious the whole time." David laughed as he proudly pulled out his phone and tapped an app.
A digital grid appeared, showing two provinces outlined in blue, filled with names and data. Zooming in revealed detailed blocks, each tagged with names of registered awakened in the area.
Jack leaned closer as he looked at each detail.
'That's… kind of cool, but this is crazy monitoring.' He thought to himself, thinking about Lucy.
Zooming in, David pointed at their current area which was completely lank.
"There's no awakened here," David said.
But Jack still had a few questions.
"Does the list show only home addresses? What if they work in a different district?"
David shook his head. "No. The system covers both home and workplace. If he's awakened, his name should appear."
Jack studied the empty block on the map of the phone for a few seconds, before letting go. He then closed his eyes and pulled up his [Map] of the mission area in his head which was in the block they were standing.
Ten minutes later, Jack opened his mouth.
'I couldn't be entirely sure the canteen owner is behind the missing cat case but this made him a prime suspect. Even if he isn't', Jack thought, 'he's still an unregistered awakened… with seven confirmed kills.'
Jack's pulse raced with quiet excitement. He could barely hide the grin tugging at his lips.
"Let's call the others. I think I have found something." He said.
After a few minutes, David finally contacted Simon.
Jack wasn't going to be dumb right now. They needed reinforcements, especially after seeing their target's kill count and level of 25, which far exceeds any of them. They need strong people.
'Hahaha, this mission will give me a credit of 1,000 credit points. I won't have to worry about my contract getting terminated. I just have to sit down and wait.'
Or so he thought.
"Yo, what's up?" Simon's voice crackled through the phone.
"Senior, I think we found an unregistered awakened," David said.
"Huh?! You sure?!"
Unsure how to answer, the teenager hesitated, then handed the phone to Jack.
Hesitant to answer himself, Jack spoke, knowing this was bound to happen.
"Yes, senior," he said quickly, "come here immediately. I'm certain."
"Thought you were working on that missing cat case," Simon replied, suspicion clear in his tone.
"Yes, senior. This guy might be the one responsible for that too."
Simon paused.
"How did you even know that this guy is an awakened? Did you witness him using his powers?"
Jack hesitated, then smoothly replied with a confident tone, "I can tell whether someone's awakened or not just by looking."
Simon went silent. 'A sensor ability?' he thought, quickly recalling Jack's file.
'Did he have an ability like that?'
Simon had already taken a look of Jack and Lucy's files, and both of them was listed to have combat-related abilities.
In seconds, Simon pulled up Jack's profile on his computer.
'???'
Jack Crawluster's file was ordinary at best. He had awakened a year ago it seemed but after checking again, Simon saw that even with his rank, he couldn't have full access of Jack Crawluster's profile. After this, he thought of checking Lucy Blaine's too, but couldn't as well.
"What kind of newbies is this?" Simon muttered under his breath. Then calming down, he heard Jack's voice from the phone.
'What is this silence? Does he not believe me?' Jack thought while holding the phone and swallowed his saliva in cold sweat.
"I'll explain later, Senior," Jack kept his calm and replied. "But I'm sure of this. No awakened are registered in this whole block, and this guy definitely is an awakened."
Again, there was a long pause, but this time, Simon suddenly spoke in a very serious tone.
"We can't come. There's a situation here. Just keep watch for now. If he's really unregistered, observation alone will do."
At that moment, the line got cut off.
Staring at the phone, Jack's eyes furrowed and his mind felt confused.
'The fuck?!'
"Team Leader and Senior Simon can't come," he told the others flatly. "They're… busy. We're to 'observe.'"
"Then what do we do?"
"They said observe." Jack felt a little pissed. He looked at the canteen and thought about the office at the same time. 'What the hell do I do now?! Should we return to the office? But they said to observe.'
Meanwhile, back in the office, Simon wiped a bead of sweat from his temple. The "urgent situation" wasn't a lie.
At the far end of the room, a massive man in an executive suit with another man had just entered the office. But it wasn't a customer. The two taken a seat across their half-awake team leader. The tension was thick enough to cut.
'Why is he here? What is Executive Colminer himself doing here?!!' Simon thought, pulse quickening.