When Jake found out about the Gold Label, he latched onto it like a dog to a bone.

No, he went for it like a thirsty man in the desert searching for an oasis.

'Status window.'

[Name: Jake Smithson

Level: 1

Class: Shopping Addict

Basic Stats

Strength: 65

Agility: 65

Intelligence: 20

Magic: 30

Physical Defense: 16

Magic Defense: 16

Luck: 10

Skills:

Shopping (Awakening Store currently in beta)

Great Sword Mastery Lv. 2

Cherry Blossom Sword Art Lv. 2

Even Flow Lv. 2

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Haste Lv2

Dual Wield Lv. 1

Omni-Pierce Lv. 1

Enchant Weapon Lv. 1]

During the days in between the defeat of the Skeleritter and being transported from Brino, Jake was busy purchasing items he could use to increase his stats. All of them had hit their ceiling, which meant that he couldn't rely on the Awakening Store's Black Label to enhance his stats.

To Jake, being stronger is a secondary concern: continually purchasing the same level of items was beginning to bore him.

It was a positive feedback loop: the more luxurious items you purchase, the higher your sense of vanity increases, and also your desire for luxury grows greater.

For short: if you shop more, you want to buy more and better items.

This is the universal truth that drives Jake's need to access the Awakening Store's Gold Label.

[You can gain access to our Gold Label if you take first place in the evaluation for Novice Awakeners. Unfortunately, this comes with a penalty: should you be defeated at least once, you will be limited to entry-level Awakening Store access until the beta period of the Awakening Store ends and the official opening takes place.]

It looked really good, at first glance -- but the penalty he would incur if he loses this wager is horrible.

'This seems a little off,' Jake thought, skeptical at this development despite his desire to break into the Gold Label of the Awakening Store.

The penalty, though: being locked out of all but the entry-level catalog of the Awakening Store is something inconceivable to him.

'First place, huh? I'd have no trouble if it's just me facing off against the awakeners from Brino. Unfortunately, I have yet to see what kind of awakeners those from other tutorial areas are like...'

Because of his feats, Jake naturally had some confidence in his ability: in the 11th tutorial area, he was less an awakener and more a force of nature.

However, given what happened when he arrived in Kingsville, Jake was cautious – his achievements were only reserved for the 11th tutorial area.

Who knows what other overpowered awakeners could emerge from other tutorial areas?

'Still, though.. what should I do..'

Jake was at a loss as to what his next course of action was: what he was sure of was that it wasn't a point worth arguing with customer service over.

It was, to Jake, a rather sleazy practice, but the Awakening Store had the right of it, because the explanation for this wager was also included.

[Our reputation would take a significant hit if one of our dedicated customers, despite the large quantity of items purchased from the Black Label, would be unable to claim first place in the Novice Awakener Evaluation. As a preventative measure, any customer who is a potential liability to our reputation will have to be locked out of our Black Label until we have checked the quality of the Black Label catalog and have taken steps to rebuild our reputation.]

'I do get their point. Reputation is important. But still, I have to point it out. Such gall when dealing with their customers.'

With the Awakening Store in closed beta, the people running it should do the proper adjustments in case of developments such as this.

Jake knows this, which is why the moments that pass between his decision are agonizing.

'Still.. though.. if I end up locked out of the Black Label.. I really.. I might just waste away from depression.'

When he noticed something further down in the announcement, it was as if the clouds of indecision plaguing his mind had vanished.

[Gold Label Product Description]

[The following are previews of items sold within the Awakening Store's Gold Label. Service is still in closed beta. Descriptions are subject to change.]

[10% Reinforcement Stone: you have a 10% chance to improve your item's performance by 50%, at the risk of breaking your equipment. Still, risk is part of being an awakener! If your life and career depend on risking your life against monsters, don't you think you should also take the same risks to make your equipment the best they can be?]

[Legendary Creature Egg (Legendary): With the large amount of monsters making up the fauna of Nohas, there also exist creatures of myth and legend that coexist with awakeners. Should you take care of one from the moment of its birth, it will recognize you as its master and be a reliable companion on your adventures!]

When Jake was finished seeing the smallest taste of what the Gold Label could offer him, it was an easy decision for him to make.

"Fine, I'll do it! I'll crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentation of the NPCs! How do we go about this?"

***

Once the tutorial period had come to a close, an estimated thousand novice awakeners were transported to Kingsville, where they now gathered.

From the moment they found themselves in this new world, they have been fighting for several months, gaining strength and skill from their experiences.

Things that they found unimaginable before they became awakeners can now be done as easily as breathing: starting from bending spoons from their fourth level, all the way to slaying monsters twice their size without breaking a sweat.

When you have a bunch of these people gathered in the town square of Kingsville, frayed nerves are a natural inevitability.

"I don't like that look of yours."

"What of it? Do you have a problem?"

"As a matter of fact.. I do."

Slowly, but surely, the atmosphere began to become hostile, even if awakeners from the same tutorial areas converged in their own groups.

Circumstances like this tended to bring out the worst in people, and those who seek glory and to dominate their fellows were no exception.

The stronger they were, the more they postured and provoked, so as to gain more social standing for themselves – and indirectly, their own groups.

"Hey, Liam," Jake said, "feel like betting on when a fight will break out?"

"I don't make bets against you, remember? Learned that lesson a long time ago."

Jake laughed loudly, completely insouciant to the atmosphere beginning to brew among the other awakeners, and his thoughts going back to how he'd get Gold Label access.

Naturally, people heard him, and didn't like how this newcomer was strutting about.

As soon as Jake made himself known to Kingsville, anyone could see that he was different from other awakeners, even to the point where he metaphorically butted heads with the awakener assigned to guide novice awakeners.

That wasn't including the vast array of luxurious items on his person.

His attitude and equipment combined made him a rather bothersome sight for other, and here he was, speaking with a cloaked awakener and not giving a shit about where he was or who was looking at him.

"Does this whole thing still have to keep going on? At this point, I'm going to have to start finding ways to kill time here."

"I could go around and look for more information."

"You don't have to, there are some things that you can only get when you ask these people yourself."

Liam was about to go back to the crowd of awakeners incognito when he spotted a group of awakeners walking towards him and Jake.

"Would you mind toning it down?" the man asked. "These guys are all on a hair trigger and are about to blow – you don't notice?"

Liam noticed a pair of flails and a scarred cheek on the man: judging by how they followed him, this must be the strongest group of their own tutorial area.

This situation was something he found novel – there were many situations in Brino he'd been in, but not this one.

Jake, meanwhile, sensed something different in the man: someone who has struggled through a lot of battles, and toughened by them.

It was something he noticed from the other stronger awakeners from Brino as well.

"We do," Liam answered, speaking up as Jake was still in thought, "but we're not in any spot to do anything about it. We're not getting other awakeners into trouble, if that's what you're implying."

The man grinned before his voice dropped to a low growl.

"That's pretty funny. This guy also has a spokesperson. I speak to you directly – not to your representative."

Jake turned to the man, the word 'spokesperson' causing a tic to appear in his eyebrow.

"I'd be more careful talking about strangers if I were you," Jake shot back, his voice also rumbling lowly. "This guy has my back, just as I have his. You look like you've learned a lot from your time adventuring, so here's another tip for you for free: don't make your mouth write checks your weapons can't cash."

The tension in the square immediately ratcheted up significantly as the skirmishes-to-be vanished as this face-off between two awakeners threatened to escalate.

The man's hands went to the maces hanging from his waist, and the awakener gathered were waiting with bated breath for what would transpire.

Disappointment followed as the man laughed heartily before motioning his companions to return to their group.

"I'll be looking for you during the evaluation," the man said before turning and walking away. "And you can see for yourself how I 'cash in' those words."

Liam looked worried, but when he turned towards Jake, Jake was grinning.

"Looking forward to it, champ," he whispered in a voice only Liam could hear, and before long, the novice awakeners were being asked to head to the Colosseum, where their evaluation would be held.

***

Due to the work of many generations, Kingsville is a veritable metropolis.

If compared to a modern-world city, it would be around the size of Manhattan Island.

And part of the landmarks of this gigantic city is the Kingsville Colosseum: a large arena which was now divided into several sections due to the evaluations taking place today.

The novice awakeners were sorted and sent to their respective sections to start the evaluation.

"The only thing we outlaw is murder: deliberately killing another awakener. Since the casualty rate of these evaluations are very high, only the most deliberate acts of killing will be deemed as such," the awakener in charge of the evaluation began.

This first instruction downplayed the brutality of the evaluation: of course, killing awakeners on purpose isn't allowed.

Accidentally killing another awakener because you swung too hard? That is accepted.

Since a lot of awakeners will unleash their best for this evaluation, a lot of casualties are expected.

The novice awakeners participating in this evaluation now began to understand a different kind of fear for one's life.

A short distance away, the awakeners heard the sound of swords meeting, and a scream echoing across the arena.

Along with this fear for one's life, comes another fear: to face 49 other awakeners in a free-for-all, with the last five awakeners remaining as victors.

More screams.

Unlike in the tutorial area, the awakeners here must prepare for attacks from unexpected angles while taking down their competitors – after all, victory here is straightforward: defeat forty-four other awakeners.

There are three ways to leave the fight if one has had enough: lie down, sit down, or cry "stop".

"Stop it. Stop it! I lost! I'm going to sit down. Don't attack!" an awakener cried out as another bore down upon him with a gruesome attack in his hand, ready to snuff out his opponent's life.

Their experience in adventuring led this to be a very prudent decision: if you're not confident in your capabilities, you do not need to risk your life in this evaluation.

You can leave with your life intact, since this is a contest among awakeners, with no monsters included.

Still, you have to at least show what you are capable of, before you raise the white flag.

And no, you cannot pretend to give up, only to stab your opponent when his back is turned. If someone would have tried that, the ringers in the arena would make sure that someone would give up the evaluation.. and their life.

***

"Isn't there anyone else here to fight me? Weaklings," an awakener declared as the free-for-alls in one of the sections was quickly ending.

As this continued, awakeners dominating each tutorial area and more began to stand out.

This awakener, named Damian, was one of them.

"Did you complete the same tutorial area I did? Then why are you all a bunch of weaklings?" he asked as he blew another awakener off his feet with a simple strike.

His power was due to a very simple reason: he has been adventuring in Nohas for a year already, as part of Cheon-Ji-In, one of the Ten Stars.

Out of the participants in this evaluation, he was generally agreed upon to be one of the strongest: despite his relative inexperience, he was showing why he deserved to be part of a Ten Star division.

Slashes and strikes bounced off him as he overpowered one novice awakener after another.

"Wait...Wait a minute!" an awakener asked, but was thrown off his feet by Damian's weapon: it was one of the weaker swords, but Damian's strength was simply too great.

One by one, he turned to them, and one by one, he cut them down.

"So you all think you're tough after going through the tutorial?" he asked, taunting the novices and those who already gave up without a fight.

"You weaklings don't deserve to be here! Go back to the tutorial area, maybe they'll find some use for you as monster bait!"

Some of the more savvy awakeners decided to not rise to his taunting, because there were five spots open for awakeners to clear the evaluation, and so they just had to avoid him completely.

'There are five spots. I just need to survive.'

'There's no need to face him head-on.'

At this development, Damian smiled: 'everything's going as planned. I have to thoroughly demoralize them.'

The plan is to remove their arrogance and put the fear in them, to prepare the novices for the world outside Kingsville: this is what the 'greeting' is truly for.

There was just one problem with Damian's plan.

"You're a stand-up fellow! Glad to see someone here has his head on straight – let's get all this over with, how about it? I don't have time to spare, so you've been a really great help!" the novice with the audacious amount of jewelry said as he swaggered towards the ringer.

Someone who didn't fit the mold of the novice awakener stepped towards him.

'Is something wrong with this guy?' Damian asked himself, confused. 'Didn't this guy see what just happened?'

He thought that the novice walking towards him hadn't seen his display – if that guy saw what he was doing, this wasn't how a novice awakener would respond.

Damian's confusion only increased as the man finally stood within combat range.

"Never thought I'd run into someone like you here! You're overdoing it a little bit, though – but yeah, thanks for the help! You're doing me a great favor by ending this round of the evaluation quickly. There are still around ten or so awakeners left, so get to it! Time's wasting!"

The odd man wasn't actually poised to fighting him, because he reached into his armor and took out a gold pocket watch, to which he was pointing animatedly towards.

***