SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will-Chapter 41: When the World Looked Away

The explorer in charge lifted his gaze and called the next name.

"Next. Arthur."

For a brief moment it felt like nothing happened, and then the whispers began to spread, soft at first but overlapping quickly as heads turned and eyes shifted toward him. Arthur felt the attention immediately, and it was different from before. This was not casual curiosity or idle interest. Some faces held envy, others admiration, and a few carried something close to reverence. To many of the awakeners in the hall, Arthur was no longer just another survivor. He was the one who had faced the boss monster, the one who had refused to stay down, and the one who had stood in front while others were collapsing.

"He’s the one..."

"The guy who fought the boss head-on."

"I saw him get slammed and still stand."

"That pressure he gave off was terrifying."

"He made the monster hesitate."

Arthur caught fragments of the whispers as he stepped out of line, yet he neither hurried nor slowed. He walked at the same steady pace, and inside his thoughts were strangely calm. This was how they saw him. The feeling was distant, not unpleasant but not intoxicating either. He had not fought for recognition. He had fought because he did not want to die, and because others would have died if he hadn’t stood there.

The murmurs followed him, growing louder than they had even been for the A-rank archer earlier, and that alone made the three commanders straighten. Their eyes locked onto Arthur, no longer bored or lazy but sharp and measuring. Arthur felt their gazes like weight pressing against his skin.

Like they were trying to judge his value before the machine does.

Two commanders leaned toward each other, speaking in low voices.

"Is that him?"

"The boss fighter?"

"So young..."

"If his talent is high..."

"We might finally get something worth the program."

Arthur did not look at them. His eyes remained on the machine. It looked simple, almost plain, yet it decided futures with quiet indifference.

The explorer in charge watched him approach, and his expression softened slightly when he stopped in front of the device. He gave a small nod.

"You’ve left quite an impression," he said.

Arthur blinked. "Have I?"

He smiled faintly. "Word travels fast among survivors. Most people don’t forget who stood in front of a boss monster."

Arthur scratched the back of his head. "I just didn’t want to die."

A few nearby awakeners snorted despite themselves, and the explorer’s smile widened a fraction before his tone shifted back to professional calm.

"Same process as before. Place your palm on the panel and channel your mana. Don’t force it. Just let it flow."

Arthur nodded and placed his hand on the machine. The surface was cool and smooth, almost lifeless. He closed his eyes briefly, not to pray and not to beg, but simply to steady himself.

Show whatever you want to show.

He did not try to push mana. He barely could. He only allowed what existed inside him to surface.

The hall grew quiet.

Not the bored silence of routine, but the sharp silence of anticipation. The kind that pressed against the ears.

Arthur opened his eyes as the machine hummed, and then stopped.

No beep.

A second passed.

Then another.

He noticed the explorer’s brows knitting together slightly, and a few commanders leaned forward without realizing it. Whispers threatened to start but died before forming.

Then the beep finally sounded.

Arthur’s heart skipped once, not from excitement but from instinct.

The explorer looked at the display. His eyes widened slightly, then narrowed, and then he looked again as if expecting the numbers to rearrange themselves.

The silence stretched.

Uncomfortably.

Arthur searched her face. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

That expression was not impressed.

Not excited.

Not neutral.

It was confused.

A faint, unpleasant feeling settled in his chest.

The explorer cleared her throat. "F Rank."

A pause.

"No class."

For half a second, no one reacted, as if the hall didn’t understand what it had just heard.

Then noise exploded.

"What?"

"That’s impossible."

"Did he say no class?"

"But he fought the boss!"

"He had skills!"

"I saw him move faster than an F rank!"

Disbelief tore through the hall as voices overlapped and arguments sparked instantly.

Arthur stood still.

He did not flinch.

He did not gasp.

He did not speak.

F rank. No class.

The result felt strangely calm. Not because he liked it, and not because it didn’t sting, but because some part of him had expected something like this.

Of course the machine can’t see what’s inside me.

He glanced at the explorer. She looked unsettled, shifting her gaze between Arthur, the display, and the machine itself.

"I..." he hesitated. "I’ve never seen this before."

One of the commanders scoffed. "A malfunction?"

Another frowned. "Run it again."

Others nodded in agreement.

The explorer exhaled. "Let’s retest."

He turned back to Arthur. "Place your hand again."

Arthur nodded. He did not argue or protest. Inside, he already knew the outcome, but he complied.

His palm touched the surface once more.

The hum returned, and silence followed.

The hall leaned inward even more. Some awakeners clasped their hands. Some held their breath. Some stared so hard that it hurt.

Arthur felt nothing change inside himself. He did not force anything. He did not resist anything. He simply existed.

The beep sounded.

The explorer looked at the display, and his shoulders dropped slightly.

"F Rank," he said quietly.

A pause.

"No class."

The words settled over the hall like a heavy curtain.

Arthur remained where he stood, eyes forward, hands relaxed, face calm.

Inside, a single thought echoed.

So this is how the world sees me now.

He did not need to look around to know what followed. He felt it immediately. The invisible weight that had been pressing down on him only moments ago vanished, as if someone had quietly cut a rope.

A/N:

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