2 Chapter 2- The Marked

"It must be fate, meeting in a place like this. Why don't we introduce ourselves to each other?"

A man suddenly spoke up. He looked bored from all the waiting. He was also the one giggling at Seol just now.

His loud and manly voice managed to attract the attention of everyone present. The front part of his hair was slicked back to reveal his equally manly face. A faint smile formed on his lips as if he enjoyed being the center of attention.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Kang Seok. And these two guys over here…. Hey, guys, introduce yourselves."

"I'm Yi Hyungsik."

"Jeong Minwoo."

Kang Jin-ho gave special attention to this trio. His visions showed him their true character, so he planned on avoiding them in the tutorial until Seol kills them.

"What's your name?"

Kang Seok's tried talking to the woman wearing the hoodie, but she seemed to be completely uninterested.

Kang Seok's gaze landed on the remaining woman of the group. She tightly squeezed the hand of a teen boy sticking close to her and awkwardly smiled.

"Oh… my name is Yi Seol-Ah."

"So, it's Miss Seol-Ah. How about the gentleman next to you?"

"He's my little brother, Yi Sungjin."

Kang Seok then continued to talk to them, questioning them about their background and introducing himself.

The remaining two were Seol and a man wearing a green cap and a pair of sunglasses.

The cap-wearing man was busy moving his lips up and down as if he was chewing on a piece of gum, while listening to music via earphones stuck to his ears. His legs also moved along to the beat, leading to an overall impression of him being a bit of restless busybody. He also didn't introduce himself as if such things didn't interest him.

When Kang Jin-ho checked his phone for the time, he saw the countdown tick from "00:00:01" to "00:00:00".

"It's time."

Suddenly, a voice came from the front of the hall. On the stage, a tuxedo-wearing man walked up in a dignified, disciplined manner. Everyone present was quite surprised since there was no one there just a second ago.

The stylishly dressed man sported a clean and neat hairstyle, as well as a monocle over his eye. He raised a hand towards the blonde maid standing by the entrance.

"Is this everyone?"

The maid shook her head softly, pointed towards the group on the right side of the hall, and then raised four fingers up.

"Four people…. Well, it's fine. We can't wait any longer, so just close the door and unleash *it*."

When the blonde maid showed some sign of hesitation, the man who kind of resembled a head butler narrowed his eyes.

"I am the Guide. It's not like it's difficult to get here. Those who can't even adhere to the schedule aren't needed here."

In the end, the maid obediently lowered her head and quietly closed the door shut. She then produced a smartphone and tapped away for a little while.

Meanwhile, the man on the stage clapped his hands twice to draw the attention towards himself.

"Welcome. I am called Han, tasked with guiding all of you this time around. You can call me the Guide."

Han spoke up to here and gestured at the maid with his index finger. She quickly ran to his side, while her blonde ponytail danced in the air.

"First of all, the Contract documents, please. How many do we have? Twenty-nine…. Quite a lot, isn't it? And we have nine Invitations this time?"

The Guide didn't even take a look at the bundle of the Contracts and simply shoved them underneath his jacket. However, he still held the Invitation letters tightly in his hand.

The Guide played with his monocle.

"Ehem, firstly, let us confirm the identities of those present today. Although we have the Invitation letters here, it's meaningless if we don't personally confirm."

The silence still remained inside the assembly hall. The Guide simply smirked.

"I'm sure that you're curious about many things. But let us follow the protocol. Everyone present here, please, think of bringing up your Status Windows, or simply yell Status in your minds. It's fine to say it out loud, as well."

'Status Windows? Status?'

In the empty air right in front of his eyes, a sudden avalanche of texts came crashing down.

[Your Status Window]

[1. General Information]

Summoned date: March 16th, 2017.

Marking Grade: Bronze

Sex/Age: Male/26

Height/Weight: 180 cm/80 kg

Current Condition: Good

Job: LV. 0 (Invited)

Nationality: Republic of Korea (Area 1)

Affiliation: N/A

Alias: N/A

[2. Traits]

1. Temperament:

– Patient (Will endure and overcome pain and/or hardship)

– Sharp (Keen and acute)

2. Aptitude:

– Average. (Normal in every way; possesses no particular talent or qualities.)

[3. Physical Level]

Strength: Low – Intermediate

Endurance: Low- Intermediate

Agility: Low- High

Stamina: Low – Intermediate

Magic: Intermediate- Low

Luck: Low – Intermediate

Remaining Ability points: 0

[4. Abilities.]

1. Innate Abilities (1)

– Parallel Vision (Grade Unknown)

2. Job Related Abilities (0)

3. Other Abilities (0)

[5. Level of Cognition]

– Will be available after the conclusion of the Tutorial event.

"What's this 'Innate Ability' thing? Hey, Hyungsik, what does yours say?"

"Excuse me? Do you perhaps possess an Innate Ability?"

The person who answered Kang Seok wasn't Hyungsik but the Guide, Han. Kang Seok didn't expect his words to be overheard from so far, so he got flustered while he shook his head in denial.

"N, no, I don't have one. I was just curious."

"Oh…. Well, it's only normal for you to not have an Innate Ability. That's how it is with most humans. You don't have to mind that section of your Status Window."

Han smiled brightly as he spoke.

"Well, then. Let's stop being surprised, shall we? This time, please reveal the grades of your Markings. Just like before, just think about it or speak it out loud, and it will be done. Don't worry, I won't be able to see anything besides what's been revealed."

The Guide definitely said it was normal to not have any Innate Abilities. However…. the Window in front of Kang Jin-ho's eyes showed that he had them.

'Parallel Vision '

He suspected that it was related to his ability to alternative futures, but what was up with the question marks?

"Let's see…. Since we don't have a lot of time remaining, I shall just directly move to the next step in the procedure. Miss Yi Seol-Ah, Mister Yi Sungjin, Mister Yi Hyungsik, Mister Jeong Minwoo, and Mister Hyun Sangmin? You all have the Bronze Markings, yes? Oh, indeed you do."

Five people out of the left side's eight nodded their heads before staring at the Guide with somewhat befuddled eyes.

The Guide asked and answered his own question, then he threw five Invitation letters in the air. Suddenly, the letters shone brightly before transforming into five bronze-colored bags that fell down to the ground. It was all just like a fancy magic trick.

"The Bronze Markings will only receive one Random Box as per the regular bonus item rules. You could also have asked for the bonus of bringing along a helper, but I see that none of you have done so, regrettably."

The blonde maid picked the five bronze-colored bags and handed them over to their respective owners. Meanwhile, the Guide unfolded two more Invitation letters. While reading the contents, he carried on.

"We advise you to immediately activate your bonus items right away. The Tutorial will begin soon, so it'd be a pity if you died without using them…. Ohh?"

The Guide's eyes always maintained a level of disinterest, but a small glint of surprise flickered in them now.

"Hoh. We have two silver Markings. I'm genuinely looking forward to guiding all of you. Mister Kang Seok? Miss Yun Seora?"

"Yes!"

Kang Seok shouted out energetically. The hoodie-wearing girl, Yun Seora, simply nodded her head once.

"For the Silver Markings, two regular Random Boxes, and special bonus items unique to the Invited, will be provided. Mister Kang Seok won't receive the special bonus item, but there is one for Miss Yun Seora."

This time too, the Invitation letters became bags as they fell down to the floor. If there was one thing different, then the bags were silver-colored rather than bronze.

The blonde maid moved busily. Meanwhile, the eyes of the Guide landed on one man. And that was Seol, still stupidly staring at the empty air in front of his eyes.

"Please reveal the grade of your Marking."

Han's voice was low, but it contained an undeniable power. Seol was too preoccupied with the whole Innate Abilities thing until then, but when the voice powerfully reverberated within his eardrums, he quickly snapped out of his daze and asked back.

"R, Reveal my Marking's grade?"

"Yes. Oh, it's fine now, so…. Hmm?!"

The Guide suddenly stopped his words and stared hard.

"What…."

His eyes widened as he stared at Seol, or to be more specific, his revealed Marking's grade.

"G, Gold?!"

The blonde maid, who finished distributing the bags, lightly trotted to the stage and used her elbow to gently poke the waist of the dumbstruck Guide.

"Ah!"

Finally regaining his senses, Han lightly coughed and cleared his throat while lowering his gaze.

The remaining piece of paper in his hand – he became overtly cautious as he slowly unfolded the Invitation letter. He read the contents from top to bottom without leaving anything out. Then, he breathed out a long sigh.

"We have a…. very important guest this time."

His voice was quiet. But, still – the noisy clamor came to a dead stop, and dozens and dozens of eyes focused on one person.

"I'd like to apologize. It is my first time guiding a Gold Mark, after all…. No, even in history, there has been only one prior event like today's. I've only heard about it until now."

When the blonde maid giggled softly, Han cleared his throat again.

"Alright, let's carry on, shall we?"

He lightly threw Seol's Invitation letter. The paper exploded into a brilliant shower of light before transforming into a single bag.