"Group 14-B. Proceed to the Harmony Chambers."
The cold, emotionless automated voice echoed through the massive waiting hall. Just like the damned 'System' it represented.
Kang Ji-Won felt a cold drop of sweat trickle down his neck. He swallowed, his throat dry. Beside him, Park Seon-Jin was shaking his leg nervously, but even his meticulously ironed shirt seemed to scream, "I belong somewhere better."
"This is it," Seon-Jin muttered, his voice a mix of excitement and terror. "Ji-Won, imagine if we get an Echo from Murim? Like the 'Celestial Sword Echo'!"
Ji-Won just nodded. He didn't have the luxury of dreaming about 'Celestial Swords.'
He pulled out his cheap, cracked-screen phone. He tapped the bank icon.
[Balance: 3,450 Won]
Then, he opened his messages. The pinned message at the top was from Seoul National Hospital: [Payment Reminder: Hyun-Soo's medical bill is due. Amount: 2,000,000 Won]
He closed his eyes for a moment.
He didn't need a 'Celestial Sword Echo.' He needed money. He needed anything to get his little sister out of that cold ward. A rare 'Healing Echo'? Impossible. A decent 'Combat Echo'? Maybe. Even a damned 'Crafting Echo'—anything, as long as it paid well.
"Next. Kang Ji-Won. Room 08."
His feet froze. Seon-Jin gave him a light push. "Go on, man. This is your future."
Ji-Won walked. His legs felt like lead. The 'Harmony Tower' looked like an architectural marvel of glass and steel from the outside, but inside, it felt more like a slaughterhouse. He could hear faint weeping from a room down the hall, and a thunderous cry of victory from another.
Here, on your eighteenth birthday, the world either tells you that you are 'someone' or that you are 'nothing.'
He entered Room 08. It was white, sterile, and empty except for the pedestal in the center holding the 'System Stone.' A polished black orb, smooth as silk, pulsing with a faint blue light.
"Place your hand on the stone," the automated voice commanded.
Ji-Won extended a trembling hand. His palm was sweaty. The moment his skin touched the cold surface of the stone...
The lights went out.
Absolute silence fell. Not normal silence, but the silence of the 'Void.' A silence so heavy he could feel it pressing against his eardrums.
...What?
He waited.
There was no rush of energy. No visions of distant worlds. No whispers from the System.
Please. Anything.Please...
Ten seconds passed, feeling like an eternity.
Then, a dull red light flickered from the stone. Not a light of power, but a light of error.
A translucent system window appeared before him, the words coldly etched into the air:
[Synchronization Check...] [Error: Harmony Failed.] [Matching Echo: None.] [Classification: Echoless.]
"Echo...less?"
He whispered the word. It tasted bitter in his mouth, like ash. "No... No, this is impossible. Re-check! Do the damned re-check!"
He yelled at the empty room.
[Classification: Echoless.]
"No!"
He slammed his fist against the stone. It didn't budge, but a sharp pain shot through his knuckles.
The door opened. An attendant stood there, the look of pity on his face worse than a punch to the gut. "Sir, please follow me. This is the exit for the 'Unclassified'."
'Unclassified.' That was the polite way of saying 'Failures.'
Ji-Won left the room, walking in a daze. The world around him was blurred. He heard a commotion from down the hall. A crowd of reporters and cameras were gathering around Room 07.
"It's him! Park Seon-Jin!" "My God, the light was golden!"
Seon-Jin emerged, his entire body glowing with a faint golden aura. He was panting, his eyes wide with ecstasy. "I... I did it."
Seon-Jin saw Ji-Won standing in the shadows. "Ji-Won! Ji-Won! Look! It's the 'Imperial Dragon Echo'! They say it's from a high-ranked Murim world! What about you? What did you get?"
Ji-Won looked at his friend. He looked at the golden light, at the cameras, at the bright future that had just opened up for him.
Then he looked down at his own empty hands, and at the dull red 'Unclassified Exit' sign above his head.
He couldn't open his mouth.
Ji-Won turned, walked away from the light, and disappeared into the dark corridor reserved for those the 'System' had left behind.