Extra's Re-awakening: System Errors Made Me Too OP-Chapter 47: The Final Selection

"Next!" The final selection had officially begun, and the Soul-Hunter in charge of overseeing it this time was none other than Yui. The process itself wasn’t anything complex, it simply involved the complete evaluation of each candidate’s performance during the Soul-Hunter examinations.

’The final selection... Basically just an evaluation of one’s results, depending on their performance in the exam, they had a chance to be selected and assigned into one of the fourteen Soul-Squads. But that’s where the problem was, though it seemed like the easiest selection, it’s actually the hardest.’ Rai thought as he approached Yui’s desk.

"What is your name?" Yui asked, gently separating the folders one by one so she could easily find his file once he mentioned his name.

’The problem was, each year the exams were held. Only 0.01% of the candidates that took the exams got the chance to be even considered for a spot at the fourteenth Soul-Squad. In the past three years, only three candidates in total managed to get assigned to the fourteen Soul-Squads. That’s just how damn hard the final selection is.’

"Rai Voltia."

"Rai Voltia..." Yui didn’t waste a second. Her fingers moved swiftly through the stack of folders, flipping each one like a seasoned professional as she searched for the folder with his name tag on it. "Ra..i?"

Her eyes shot open, and she quickly lifted her head, and looked at him. "Rai Voltia!? As in the Soul-Hunter who reawakened!?"

"Yeah, I guess you could describe me like tha-"

The space around Rai started to twist, and everything began to change shape. The floor stretched, and the air shimmered like ripples on water. In just a moment, the world around him reformed into a large box with glowing walls, trapping him inside. A faint humming sound filled the air as the edges of the box sealed shut.

"Hey! What’s this!?" Rai banged on the door hard, he didn’t understand what was going on. Was this some kind of test? Maybe part of the final selection?

THUD!

Almost immediately, the box broke apart, shattering into countless pieces that fell around them. Both Rai and Yui stood frozen, their eyes wide with surprise as the fragments slowly faded away like ashes in the wind. "W—What?"

"What the hell do you think you’re doing to an exam candidate you damned alchemist?" A voice came from behind them, and they both turned around. Zarek stood there, his wooden sword stretched out in front of him.

"Zarek Veyl... What the hell do you think you’re doing interfering with my experiment?" Yui let out a low growl and frowned deeply, her brows tightening in anger. Interfering with her work was one thing, but when it came to her experiments, it made her even more furious.

"Experiment? Are you mad? Head commander said need all the hunters we could spare, you want to dissect the kid?"

"It’s not my fault he’s so fascinating, in fact..." An evil grin curled up the side of Yui’s lips. "He reminds me of you when you first joined the 11th Soul-Squad."

"Tch, don’t get weird ideas you bastard." Hiro scoffed. His first day hadn’t been pleasant at all, not after Yui tried to put him through all sorts of dangerous experiments and crazy tests.

"Whatever." Her expression returned to normal, now that Zarek had interfered, the thrill and rush of a new test subject had washed away thanks to him. "One way or the other you’re going to pay me back for this Zarek."

She leaned back in her chair and opened the stack of folders on her desk. After checking through them for a while, she found the one with Rai’s name written on it. She pulled it out and handed it over to him. "See you around, Y15"

Rai swallowed hard as he took the folder from her hands. He couldn’t tell if he should feel relieved or uneasy. The association was supposed to protect the kingdom, but right now, it felt like the most dangerous place he could be in.

"Let’s go kid." Zarek said, using the belt of his trousers as a makeshift sheath before slipping his hands into his pockets. Then he walked away with Rai following behind him.

"I’m also not done with you Zarek!"

"Sure, whatever."

"What did she mean by Y15?" Rai asked, feeling a bit uneasy about the name she had given him. It sounded oddly familiar, almost like the name of a sports team from his old world.

"Hm? Oh that, Y is her initials and the number behind it is the total number of Soul-Hunters she has experimented with. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it."

"What? If I’m 15, that means she has experimented with 14 Soul-Hunters before me?"

"Like I said kid, I wouldn’t worry much about it, although Yui’s gone after 13 Soul-Hunters before you so she always get what she wants. I’m the fourteenth but I’d never let that mad alchemist mess with my body, but I bet this isn’t what you want to know. You want to know if you made it into one of the fourteen Soul-Squads don’t you?"

Rai looked down at the folder in his hands. From the memories of the old Rai, he knew that this folder carried his lifelong dream. But for the Rai standing here now, it was his survival that laid within it.

"Yeah... I guess that’s the dreams and hopes all candidates had when taking the exams isn’t it? The golden opportunity to join the fourteen Soul-Squads. You’re the second seat of the 11th, surely you know how many candidates passed the exams?"

Zarek paused, his steps coming to a sudden halt. Rai stopped too, watching him closely. There was something different about Zarek’s expression, it looked distant, like he was lost in deep thought. After a short silence, he finally spoke.

"This year, a total of 10 candidates passed."

"10?" It wasn’t as bad as the previous years, but even so, selecting only ten out of a hundred candidates was still unbelievable. It showed just how strict the association’s standards for becoming a member of the fourteen Soul-Squads were.

"But." Zarek’s voice stopped him cold.

"Like you know, not many passed the final evaluation. Especially the Soul-Hunter that went up against Theron before you stopped him."

Rai’s eyes widened in disbelief. No, that couldn’t be true. Zarek was telling him that Ren didn’t pass, Ren who had more Soul-Energy than most people in this world. It didn’t make any sense, and Rai refused to believe it.

"Ren didn’t pass? How... Why?"

"He didn’t pass because..."

..

Rai ran through the long hallways of the association, his footsteps loud against the floor. He passed by other Soul-Hunters and workers, barely noticing their surprised looks. His chest rose and fell quickly as he rushed forward, the air brushing against his face.

Finally, he saw Ren stepping out of the medic room, looking a bit pale but at least he was alright.

"Ren." Rai called out to him as he approached him, his eyes wide with worry. He still couldn’t believe what Zarek had told him about what happened to Ren. "I just heard what happened... I can’t believe it."

"I’m fine Rai." Ren said with a pale look on his face. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, he couldn’t cover up the sadness in his eyes.

It turned out that during his fight with Theron, the damage was far worse than anyone thought. Theron didn’t just send his hand through his stomach, by focusing his gravitational Soul-Energy into his stomach and to his Soul-Core, he had completely shattered Ren’s ability to channel Soul-Energy through his core and turn it into flames.

"You were right Rai... This life really isn’t fair. It only favors the strong and discards the weak, and I wasn’t strong enough to defeat Theron, so I paid the ultimate price."

"I’m not going to be of any use anymore, Xander made it pretty clear. It seems even he has changed, and not for the better." Ren quietly closed the door behind him and walked past Rai, his eyes fixed on the floor. Rai couldn’t say a word, he could only watch him as he left the association. He knew that feeling all too well, that heavy, sickening feeling of being powerless.

But it was something he was used to, but Ren? It was going to haunt him for a while.