Awakening: I Got SSS-Rank Deck On My First Try

Knock! Knock!

Aaron Tapp stared at the door, a frown on his face.

It wasn't even that late at night, but the quiet of the house made the knock seem louder.

He frowned, glancing toward the kitchen where the clock ticked, as if trying to break the silence all on its own.

His first thought was his dad, but that didn't make sense. His father didn't knock. The man was the epitome of practicality, entering his own house without ceremony, when he was home at all, which wasn't often.

Aaron swallowed, the knot in his stomach tightening. Something about the moment felt… off. He stood and walked to the door, hesitating for just a moment before opening it.

There was no one there.

The slight breeze whistled as the cool night air passed through, rustling the overgrown bushes near the porch. Aaron scanned the empty street, lit only by a flickering street lamp at the corner. 

Nothing. 

Then he looked down. A small, neatly wrapped package sat on the doormat.

He reached down and picked it up, examining it closely as he shut the door behind him. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it felt important in a way he couldn't explain. 

His name was written on the label in a beautiful, cursive handwriting, and below it, the sender's name.

Seraphina Vario.

Aaron's breath caught.

His mother's name.

He stared at it for what felt like an eternity, the rest of the world falling away. His mother had disappeared when he was five, leaving behind nothing but a brief note. "I'll come back for you someday." The note had read. 

He'd clung to those words when he was younger, but years of silence had dulled the hope into something bitter. Now, thirteen years later, this package appeared out of nowhere.

His hands trembled as he moved back to the couch. He sat down, clutching the package like it might vanish if he let go. His mind felt like there was a stampede raging inside, a dozen questions vying for attention. 

Why now? Where had she been? And what was in the box?

Taking a deep breath, Aaron peeled away the wrapping paper. Inside was a plain wooden box, smooth and unmarked. 

He slowly opened it, and the first thing he noticed was the light, a soft, ethereal glow coming from inside the box. 

Sitting there was a deck of cards, unlike any he'd ever seen. The edges shimmered faintly, and the back of the card on top of the deck seemed to ripple as if it was alive.

Hesitantly, he reached for the deck, and as soon as his fingers brushed the top card, a sharp jolt like an electric shock shot through his hand. He gasped, dropping the box, but it didn't fall to the floor. Instead, it hovered midair, the cards spilling out and arranging themselves in a neat stack in front of him.

Before he could process what was happening, a translucent blue screen appeared in the air, glowing faintly. Words began to form on it, each letter burning itself into his mind.

[Welcome to the In Between!]

Aaron blinked, his brain struggling to make sense of what he was seeing. 

Was this some kind of projection? A prank? 

He glanced around the room, half expecting to see hidden cameras or people bursting in to announce he was on some reality show. But the words on the screen didn't wait for him to catch up.

[You have been chosen by the Dealer to awaken a deck.] 

[You have three draws to find your destiny. Depending on your luck, you might end up with a F-Rank deck or an SSS-Rank deck.]

[The strength of your deck will determine your role in protecting the world from the Outcasts.]

"What the hell?" Aaron muttered in disbelief. "Protecting the world?" His voice sounded small, almost drowned out by the hum of the glowing deck. The cards hovered in front of him, the top one practically begging to be drawn.

His hands reached out, moving in the space below and above the floating cards. There was nothing there.

This was real! 

As if confirming his thoughts, the screen flashed again.

[Draw 1.]

Aaron hesitated. "This is ridiculous." He said aloud, and the words felt hollow, even to him. 

The deck definitely wasn't going away, and neither was the screen. After a few seconds, his curiosity, or maybe it was the strange pull he felt toward the cards, won out. 

Slowly, he reached for the top card. As he flipped it, the card shimmered briefly and crumbled into motes of light.

Then, the screen changed.

[Congratulations! You have awakened an SSS-Rank Deck on your first try!]

Aaron stared at the words, his heart pounding. From what he knew of the games he'd played, an SSS-Rank Deck had to be the strongest rank of decks possible!

Before he could even begin this news, more text appeared.

[Deck: Slime Deck]

He blinked. "Slime?" He said incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me."

Could slime really be that powerful?

The deck glowed and disolved into light. The light swirled around Aaron who jerked back, but he wasn't able to escape it as it vanished into his heart.

That was when the deck appeared inside his soul and in his mind's eye.

The first card in the deck disappeared and appeared in front of him, spinning slowly, and the screen appeared again.

[Card Unlocked: Sticky Fingers]

[Stick yourself or anything to a surface regardless of its ability to hold whatever is stuck to it.]

Aaron snatched the card out of the air and turned it over. 

On the front of the card was a strange design, a swirling, viscous shape that seemed to move when he wasn't looking directly at it.

He touched the edge of the card, and his fingers came away slightly sticky, though the sensation disappeared almost instantly.

"Sticky Fingers?" He muttered. "This is supposed to be powerful?"

As if in response, the screen flickered again.

[New Challenge Initiated: Find Your First Card Fragment.]

Another line of text followed.

[Reward: Unlock a New Card.]