Requiem Of A Failed Hero

Raith's eyes shimmered as they were drawn to the tall skyscraper that loomed over the surrounding buildings. The skyscraper was a gleaming tower of glass and steel, with a modern and sleek design that made it stand out from the rest of the city's architecture. As he got closer, Raith noticed the sign above the entrance to the building. It read "Seoul Main Branch" in bold, silver letters that glinted in the sunlight. The entrance was an impressive set of double doors made of polished wood and metal, with two security guards in black suits, stationed nearby.

Raith couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and anticipation as he approached the doors.

He probably had a picture or two while Min-ho was driving but this exceeded his expectations. The beauty and splendor, he just couldn't wait to see how the interior will blow his mind and as expected– As he stepped inside, Raith was immediately struck by the grandeur of the crowded lobby. It was a vast, open space with high ceilings and a polished marble floor. There were comfortable seating areas and sleek, modern art pieces on display. A receptionist greeted him and Min-ho warmly

"Do you have a reservation or are you just coming today?"

"Yes, we have a reservation..."

Min-ho replied and showed him the card the association agent had given to Raith.

"Please head to the elevators, floor 41"

He said pointing them to the elevator that was ahead of them in less than ten meters.

"Thank you"

Min-ho said and both of them departed from the receptionist.

Raith couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement as he rode the elevator up to the upper floors.

cling

The elevator stopped and its doors opened to a broad hall of several rooms. The place was not crowded like the lobby but a few agents could be seen walking to and fro– entering into chambers on both sides of the hall and coming out of them.

Before the child was greeted by another receptionist but her reception area was smaller compared to the one in the lobby.

"Welcome sirs, do you have a reservation?"

"Yes..."

Min-ho responded.

"What is the agent's name?"

Min-ho turned to Raith, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

Min-ho shook his head slowly at Raith and dropped the card on the table.

"Oh, Agent Jong-Su."

"Ah, right... Jong"

Min-ho glared at him– he smiled awkwardly and looked the other way round.

"Alright please go to chamber 3"

The receptionist said to them.

Locating Chamber 3 was easy as it was the third door towards the left side of the hall.

As they enter inside, a white room with a large crystal in the center was revealed before them.

Raith's eyes widened with further excitement.

Agent Jong-Su was with other agents standing beside the crystal and seemed to be busy with the mechanical handling of the monitor that was connected to the base of the crystal through wires, the crystal sat on a golden platform that converts the magic energy it reads into numerical form and then is displayed on the computer.

"Hunter Raith you came!"

Agent Jong-Su despite his business sighted them immediately after the door opened.

He walked up to them and greeted them both.

"Shall we go straight to the point then?"

Agent Jong-Su said, guiding Raith to the front of the crystal while Min-ho waited for him in a mini lobby towards one corner of the room.

"This is a measuring crystal, they were created by fusions of magic crystals gotten from gates. I can surely tell you this is the best magic energy measuring device you will ever find anywhere."

He expressed while punching the monitor that was adjacent to the crystal. He turned to Raith–

"You can place your hand and more of your magic energy into it."

Raith did as he was told and placed his hand on the crystal, slowly pouring his energy into it.

'...I hope it works, I don't have magic energy'

[A large amount of cosmotic energy has been detected]

[Absorbing energy...]

'Nooooo'

Raith retracted his hand from the crystal immediately.

"What are you doing? Put your hand on it."

Agent Jong-Su said to him immediately and looked back at the computer.

'...this is a very very bad situation, I have a bad feeling about what might happen here'

Raith slowly places his hand on the crystal.

[Absorbing cosmotic energy...]

Raith closed his eyes, trying not to think about anything while Jong-Su's eyes were glued to the monitor widened.

"Sunbaenim... how is this possible?!"

The junior agent behind him gaped as he saw the number displayed on the computer rise with speed.

beep

The number made a pause at 3443,560... and went back to 0. Then displayed an F rank.

'What? is this thing faulty?'

crack

Just as Jong-Su thought that– he heard a crack and looked toward Raith.

The crystal that was supposed to be shimmering with a sky blue color had gone completely grey and void of glow.

[Cosmotic energy has drastically increased]

[You have gained 1054 cosmotic energy]

[Your body will undergo a modification in 0:10:59:59]

"How?"

Jong-Su cried as he ran around the crystal that he was so proud of a few moments ago.

"I just poured my energy into it..."

Raith said with a sorry expression.

"Ah..."

Jong-Su sighed and stopped at his front.

"I understand..."

'The reading before it turned to zero... I have never seen anything like that.'

"It seems something is wrong with the crystal I will issue you a temporary license and we will call you back for a new evaluation. How's that?"

Agent Jong-Su's voice was void of the vigor from before.

"It's fine. So far I will be able to enter dungeons."

"Yes... I will contact you tomorrow, for a dungeon that needs to be cleared... if tomorrow is okay by you?"

"Alright."

Raith nodded his head, looking at the crystal one last time and feeling sorry for it before he joined Min-ho at the mini lobby.

After a little bit of waiting time, a temporary license with an F rank evaluation was issued to Raith, even if it was temporary he was disgusted at the rank since it was the least but he also had to put in the factor that the crystal could measure magic energy and he didn't have magic energy. Hence the extent of his strength could not be measured by the standards of this world, but he wasn't feeling bad at all, thanks to the crystal he got more energy and now he is staring down at the weird message that says his mode will be modified in ten hours which prompted Raith to head to head to Min-ho's apartment– so he could be away from everyone because of whatever was going to happen.

Min-ho dropped him at his place and returned to the hospital.