10. Crunchy Exterior

Time passed. Cha Kwan became strangely captivated by the concept of crispy waffles.

Between school, helping at the shop, going out with his friends, and going to the gym every two days, he practiced making different versions of crispy waffles. He tried different ways of cooking, and even deep fried them as a test!

Why? He didn't even think of asking the question. He just made them every few days while meticulously taking notes.

Soon, the idea of "her" was replaced with the desire to achieve perfection. And Cha Kwan was none the wiser about this change.

One day during the summer break, he and his friends went to the opening of new branch of Gemini guild. They didn't care about the guild, they only wanted to see the person who was doing the opening. The 5th ranker of New South Africa.

"Man this place is packed…" Said Sander dispiritedly. He had heard Taji Mbadinuju was going to do a signing session, being a big fan, naturally he had to attend! But seeing so many people, he was dismayed that maybe it was too late to get in line.

"Meh, it's not like he's Cheon Ma, so what if you can't get his signature?" Said Cha Kwan teasingly. Their group was divided into two. Those who venerated Cheon Ma, and those worshipped the upstarts.

They would often tease each other for being a fan of their "opponents."

Sander scoffed. "Where was Cheon Ma when Busan had a break? I'll tell you where, he was in England, doing heavens know what!"

Taji Mbadinuju's rise to fame in Korea was due to closing the gate break in Busan, more than 20 years ago. Since then, he had a special place in the hearts of Busan residents, if not entire Korea. Hence why, even if they teased Sander on occasion, the entire group was in line waiting to get signatures!

Sander's mother being a teenager in Busan at that time had certainly given Sander a different perspective than the rest.

Ma Yong profoundly nodded. "Taji Mbadinuju is definitely a blood brother of Busan. The least we could do is to pay our respects."

"What, your girlfriend had something else to do today?" Sander rolled his eyes.

"No, we broke up." Said Ma Yong without skipping a beat.

The group was taken aback. They asked at the same time. ""What?""

"We were growing in different directions, that's all." Said Ma Yong with an expressionless face. Upon seeing stares of his friends, he couldn't keep his poker face any longer. "S-She said she was going to a new school, so… you know…"

Cha Kwan frowned. "When did that happen?"

"… A week ago…"

Ma Yong's posture slowly started to slump. In a matter of seconds, the playboy idol facade was broken.

Cha Kwan put his hand on Ma Yong's shoulder. His friend wasn't a playboy in reality; the girlfriend was the cashier he met in the mall that day. Though he was popular in school and got plenty of confessions this year, Ma Yong was the faithful kind of boy.

"You should've said something you pr*ck!" Said Sander in anger. "Come on, let's go to karaoke."

"Yeah, let's go."

"But, Taji?" Asked Ma Yong.

"Who cares about that?!" Sander grabbed Ma Yong's other arm and led the group away from line.

"But…"

Cha Kwan prevented Ma Yong from speaking. "Shut up. We're going. You're going to enjoy it, one way or another!"

While leaving, the group saw a gathering of students with blood red uniforms, being escorted by the staff to the front of the line. Even though they were cutting in line, no one dared to say anything. Instead, everyone was opening gawking!

"They're from the Seoul Awakened Academy!" Ma Yong said in awe.

"Is that the next year's uniforms? They're pretty good…" Sander commented as they passed by.

"Should we…?" Roh Kyung-Ho stammered. "Oh, it looks like they are already in…"

Cha Kwan understood Roh Kyung-Ho wanted to take pictures with them. But so did everyone else on the line. "You can go to New Seoul and try your luck later…"

* * *

By the time he became a second-year middle-school student, Cha Kwan had already made major strides in the field of crispy waffles. Perfection, he felt it was within his grasp! He could almost taste it!

That thought remained with him until the end of his 3rd year. Until one fateful day in August. The day before his mandatory hunter evaluation.

As he bit into the crispy, but not hard crust, Cha Kwan knew. This was the best waffle he had even eaten. In both of his lives!

The contrast of a crispy outside and fluffy inside, perfect waffle to syrup ratio, just the right amount of sweetness from the crust, the subtle texture that came with the right amount of powdered sugar…

Cha Kwan could not believe that he had made the perfect waffle. With every bite, he came closer and closer to understanding the truth behind perfection. After swallowing the last bit, his consciousness suddenly expanded beyond the capacity of a mortal!

The process he used, all the meticulous preparations he had made, all became clear. It felt as if everything was simple. Everything, was just a sequence of events leading up to the perfection. All life's purpose, was to craft the same crispy waffle, over and over again. Whether the result was perfect or not was irrelevant. The process and the perfection of it… That was all that mattered!

And then, out of nowhere, a message appeared right in front of him.

[Your existence is resonating with the universe]

Cha Kwan felt his mind became heavier by the second as he looked at the text. Before he knew it, the message was replaced with a blue panel.

[Name: Cha Kwan]

[Age: 15]

[Class: Warlock]

"…"

The profundity of the waffle, had awakened him!

"Nononono. No. This is not happening."

He closed his eyes in refusal, but the blue panel was still visible!

"F*ck!!"

"… Kwan? What's wrong? Kwan?"

Cha Kwan's head snapped towards the kitchen door. Variety of thoughts went through his mind like lightning.

What was he supposed to tell his mother? Should he tell her that he awakened just now? What if when he became a hunter, the association would become aware that he remembered his previous life? How would his parents react? What if he became a guinea pig? What if his parents became guinea pigs?

All those fears he pushed away as a kid, came back crashing down.

*Ding* *Dong*

Suddenly, Cha Kwan felt as if his whole life was hanging on a thread. His hands began to shake, cold sweat started to trickle on his back.

*Ding* *Dong*

Sound of footsteps became louder as the voice of his mother became higher. "Kwan? Kwan?!"

*Ding* *Dong* *Ding* *Dong* *Ding* *Dong*

"I'll get the door honey!" Shouted his father from another room.

Cha Kwan's mother entered the kitchen in panic and saw his son staring into nothingness with an empty gaze.

"What's wrong, Kwan, look at me. Kwan!"

When their eyes met, Cha Kwan realized how important his ordinary life was to him. Preparing ingredients, washing the dishes, watching TV with his parents, playing bad VR games with his friends, studying, doing homework, going to the gym…

This was his way. This was his purpose.

And all of that was at risk, because of one, blue panel.

"Kwan! Talk to me!"

"Soo-Yun calm down. He's alright. Calm down." The voice belonged to Min Hyun-Ki. "Everything's alright. Kwan is alright. He just experienced… an awakening. That's all."

"Wha-What?"

"Ah, this…" Min Hyun-Ki's eyes wandered around as if he was trying to find a way to explain. But another voice answer in his stead.

"I felt peculiar mana ripples and urged Hyun-Ki to follow." A figure clad in black robes entered the kitchen. "Greetings. I am Elizabeth. An old friend of Hyun-Ki." She took of her hood and revealed her elf ears. "Your son, did not awaken to mana. He became enlightened."

The cat was out of the bag before Cha Kwan knew it. He swallowed his sigh upon seeing how worried his parents were. "I'm fine, mom, dad."

Shin Soo-Yun hugged Cha Kwan. "Oh thank the heavens. You're alright. You're alright."

"Let's sit down, dear." Cha Kang-Dae gently held his wife and led her to a chair.

Min Hyun-Ki looked at the Cha family then turned his head to Elizabeth. "You. Are you sure?"

"Even I have never seen or felt someone going through enlightening, until today. But there is no mistake; his soul wouldn't have resonated if he simply awakened to mana."

Eyes of everyone in the room fell on Cha Kwan, who couldn't do anything but give an uncertain nod.

"Aigoo…" Min Hyun-Ki covered his face. "This, this complicates things…"

"Uncle, what's going on?" Asked Cha Kang-Dae.

Min Hyun-Ki pulled up a chair and sat down at the table. It took some time to find the correct way to explain the situation. His level 10 Common Sense skill was working overtime!

"…There are different ways to awaken to mana. One as a response to stress. The first hunters awakened to mana during the dungeon disaster, like me. Over time we established a safer way by interacting with small amounts of mana. That's the hunter evaluation, everyone over age of 15 goes through it, like you two did. The test doesn't produce results often, but at least it is safe."

Min Hyun-Ki looked at Cha Kwan. "Then there's a rare case, neither through emotional stress, nor through reacting to pure mana. Enlightening, is the rarest one."

"Rarer than you can imagine." Reinforced Elizabeth as she stared continuously at Cha Kwan.

"Humanity only had one so far. You know about Ujana Mbadinuju, the pregnant woman that awakened during the South African dungeon crisis?"

Cha Kang-Dae and Shin Soo-Yun nodded. Though her celebrity status was short lived, her son became a ranker, and was often seen on the news. He was none other than the savior of Busan!

"She is- or was, the only example of humanity." Min Hyun-Ki rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"Childbirth is the most common example of awakening. Even in hundreds of thousands of years of elven history, there only a handful enlightened, and most of them are mothers."

Min Hyun-Ki stopped the elf with a hand gesture, sighed, then stared at Cha Kwan's parents.

"Hunters Association have learned from its mistakes. Whether little Kwan can become successful hunter or not, that is up to his own ability and desire. The association will keep his information hidden regardless. Some of the rules and regulations of the association are kept secret for cases like these.

If or when something goes out, the association will be on top of it."

Though Cha Kwan wanted to control his expressions, he utterly failed. Min Hyun-Ki shook his head once he saw newly enlightened teenager's concerned look.

"Not that there's any danger of letting the world know, mind you. Especially in the last few decades Earth has become much more stable… but… it is better to be safe than sorry."

For Cha Kwan's parents, this was too sudden and too much. Still, perhaps being used to occasional odd behavior of their son, the two of them was able to stay calm. Relatively speaking.

When Shin Soo-Yun spoke, her voice was almost back to normal. Only people close her could spot her hidden anxiety.

"Uncle…"

"It's fine, little Soo-Yun. Didn't you say tomorrow was his testing day? I will make a few calls with a secure line. The three of you need to act normally. Simply go there tomorrow and act as if Cha Kwan awakened during the evaluation. No one will suspect anything, no one will know anything. Need to know, that's how the association operates.

Scholarships and other privileges will be given through hidden means. Even if his talent turns out to be non-existent, he will still attend the Seoul Awakened Academy."

That got Cha Kwan's attention. "… Wait, what?"

Awakened schools were rare, and all of them high profile. Seoul Awakened Academy in particular, would make major headlines every few months.

"You can pick what school you want to attend, but since you live in Old Seoul, you will choose SAA. Why leave for another country when there's a suitable academy just across the river? And before you say anything…" Min Hyun-Ki raised his hand and made a stop gesture to Cha Kwan. "… As an awakened, you have to attend an awakened academy. In your case, the same regulations that will guarantee your anonymity, also requires you to attend an S ranked academy."

"Protection of the enlightened was one of the earliest harmonization agendas. Hmm…" Elizabeth's curious gaze did not leave Cha Kwan even for a second. "I wonder if you are the first one to benefit from them. Since no one came forward so far, we have no way of knowing."

What Min Hyun-Ki said made sense to Cha Kwan, but he still wanted a way to avoid going to a high-profile school!

"I know this is all too fast, but this is the best way." Min Hyun-Ki said while looking at the Cha family. "Trust me."

After a moment of silence, Cha Kang-Dae spoke. "Of course uncle. We trust you."

Min Hyun-Ki gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Remember, keep this to yourselves. I'll arrange for everything. Don't get up, slowly digest." Min Hyun-Ki got up and left after winking at Cha Kwan. Elizabeth followed without anyone knowing.

She spoke after leaving the Cha family apartment. "Look at you, shivering in anxiety."

Min Hyun-Ki clenched his fists to stop their shaking and ignored Elizabeth.

"You even forgot to ask his class." Min Hyun-Ki froze, while Elizabeth continued. "Little Hyun-Hyun how many times do I have to tell you? Mana sight has to be practiced daily! If you did, you would've noticed the mana fluctuations radiating from his body."

"Spit it out." Said Min Hyun-Ki without looking back.

"He's a Warlock."

Min Hyun-Ki nodded at first, then he did a double take at Elizabeth. "What?!"

"His mana has spatial fluctuations, but their frequency is different from a space mage. Hmm… I remember saying to you that he could awaken without a mana-crystal. What was the response you gave me… let me think…"

"Eat sh*t and die."

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, that was it. You remember."

* * *

Back in the kitchen, Cha Kwan and his parents were still sitting at the table.

Cha Kang-Dae looked at his wife, the two of them conversed through their eyes, then Cha Kang-Dae asked the question to Cha Kwan with a slow and calm voice. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Cha Kwan looked down at the table, unable to gather his thoughts. Everything happened so fast, it all felt like a nightmare. As if he could wake up at any moment, and be relieved that this was all just a bad dream. In fact, he wanted it to be a dream! He wanted everything to be a momentary fantasy produced by his brain.

But of course, this was reality.

"I…" Cha Kwan took a deep breath. Perhaps it was the childhood guilt taking the reins, but at this moment he did not want to hide anything from his parents. He couldn't tell them about his previous life, but at least could tell them everything about his awakening!

Though whether they would believe him, he did not know.

"I was eating a crispy waffle, and suddenly became aware of how perfect it was. It's hard to explain, it was as if everything was just a cycle of making crispy waffles, and perfection came from going through the process…" He trailed off, unsure whether he was remembering it correctly.

"… Waffles?" Cha Kang-Dae looked at his wife. Truth was often stranger than fiction as they would say. Still, he couldn't make sense of what he had just heard. But since it came his son, he believed it.

Shin Soo-Yun saw her son's pensive mood and decided that was enough. She hugged him tightly, with worry mixed in with pride. "My son became an awakener… I'm so proud of you." She said with a shaking voice.

Cha Kwan hugged her back with complex emotions while Cha Kang-Dae joined them. "We are both proud of you."

Inside the Cha family kitchen, Cha Kwan felt his fears and doubts melt away in the embrace of his parents.

Perhaps everything could turn out alright, after all.