In 2035, ten towers appeared in several regions of the world. Alongside each tower, a strange portal opened, from which monsters emerged and killed nearly 40% of the Earth's population.
When the ten towers appeared, various types of monsters of unknown origin also emerged from the portals. With the appearance of these monsters, many courageous humans stepped forward to fight alongside the soldiers at the front lines. Ultimately, the humans who battled these creatures received powers from the cores of the monsters they defeated, resulting in the creation of superhumans in each country.
Today marks exactly 20 years since the appearance of the portals and 15 years since the democratic reform in Indonesia.
***
"Okay, everyone, line up properly. We will start the ceremony to commemorate the victims and honor the founders of the democratic reform in this nation."
The democratic reform that occurred in this country was instigated by corrupt officials. The Awakeners in this nation took action, eliminating all corrupt officials and raising a leader who could guide the country through such chaos and quell the rebellions that arose in every corner.
"Fajar, Dimas, Adji, quickly get in line! Do you want to be punished by standing with the teachers?"
Hearing my name and that of my two friends being called, I immediately lined up to avoid another punishment like the one I received last week.
The ceremony proceeded calmly, but in a chaotic world, there was no peace to be found anywhere.
*Siren Sound
Hearing the sound of the siren, all the teachers drew their weapons and moved to the school's back garden. For the past week, the back garden had been closed to the public by the principal due to reports that a portal would appear there. Since this is an Awakener school, the news did not frighten everyone; instead, it sparked a sense of challenge among some upper-level students who sought to enter the portal for the experience of hunting real monsters.
My two friends and I ran toward the back garden and saw an actual portal. All the teachers stared, while one of the school staff brought a mana detector close to the portal and began measuring the level of magical energy within it.
"Total Energy: 972. This portal is classified as a high D-grade, but it's not strong enough to be considered a C-grade portal."
"972? Can we classify this dungeon as the lowest C-grade? According to the Association's scale, 950 is the maximum for a D-grade, while the lowest C-grade starts at 990."
As the teachers and staff discussed the difficulty level to determine who would be allowed to enter the portal, Dimas whispered, "Ji, if I remember correctly, you said this portal has energy equivalent to a B-grade portal, right?"
"Yes, unless my Perfect Future Clairvoyance is wrong, then the information I provided yesterday must be incorrect," Adji replied.
Listening to the discussion between the two people beside me, I accidentally caught the gaze of the counseling teacher, who we often encountered whenever we got into trouble.
"Fajar and his two thug friends, are you interested in entering the portal?"
All the staff, teachers, and students looked at us. Despite being known as the Chaos Trio, we were still among the top students in the Awakener curriculum, so it was natural for many teachers and staff to regard us with trust.
However, upon hearing Adji's remark that the portal was a B-level portal, I quickly searched for another topic to discuss.
"Even if we enter a C-level portal, haven't we already completed the training in the Tower as per the existing curriculum? How can we survive in a C-level portal if we haven't even entered one?"
Hearing my response, everyone believed me, Even the head of the school's troublemakers was still hesitant to enter, no matter how great his skills were.
"You're right. Even though you're skilled at everything, you're still students, which means you haven't acquired a Monster Core that suits you, right?"
The counselor was correct; for most students, they lacked a Monster Core within them. However, they didn't know that the three of us shared something in common: we each possessed a Talent Core. But when it came to a Main Core or a Supportive Core, that was accurate; we didn't have those inside us because we were still students.
"But what if you go in accompanied by the teachers? You three are high-ranking students, so it's only natural that you would be able to enter the portal faster than the others," the vice principal suggested.
The three of us looked at the vice principal with annoyed expressions.
"That Dickhead Surya! He really pushed us this far. It's no wonder my father gets upset whenever he hears his name."
I know this is all for the sake of improving our basic skills to fight monsters, but he didn't need to force us to enter a B-rank portal, even with a teacher. How strong could the teacher they send with us possibly be?
"Huh, okay, but who will accompany us?"
The jerk pondered hard over who would go in with the students.
"You seem to be doubting something. It's rare for troublemakers like you to appear hesitant like this. Do you know anything about this dungeon?"
Surya's words crossed a line for me.
"When you were just determining the value of this dungeon, you hesitated like that. Do you think I would willingly enter a dungeon that was even assessed with a C-rank mana-checking item? Are you crazy?"
Seeing me get angry like that, the teachers and staff were shocked, Even though I was a troublemaker, I still aimed to use polite language befitting a student, but in that moment, I couldn't help venting my annoyance.
"If that's what you're hesitant about, how about I accompany you guys? A former S-rank Awakener—can that make you feel a little more at ease? But I'll only help if you're really in a pinch. How about that?"
Hearing that, I calmed down a bit, and my hesitation lessened.
'At least an S-ranker is accompanying us. Honestly, the thought of going into a B-rank portal on my first expedition makes me a little uneasy.'
I looked at my two companions, and we nodded in agreement to enter the portal with the vice principal.