The world slept above him. Liam worked beneath it. That was how life had always been. The people in the upper districts woke beneath sunlight. They ate breakfast with their families. They watched the morning news. They prepared for important days.
People like Liam woke beneath artificial lights. They ate whatever the facility provided. They listened to machinery.
In the little down time they had, they thought about what the next shift would look like. And they worked while the rest of the world rested.
Facility 47 never truly went dark. It couldn't. Humanity depended on what happened beneath the surface. The facility was built around a massive portal resource processing center. It was not a portal itself however.
The government learned long ago that not dealing with portals soon enough was a disaster waiting to happen.
Instead, awakened raid parties entered controlled portals around the world and returned with materials. Those materials came here. Monster cores. Divine minerals. Portal crystals. Unknown substances that could only exist because another world touched theirs. The facility processed those materials. And people like Liam kept the machines running.
The night shift began at 8:00 PM. It ended at 8:00 AM. Twelve hours straight. Every night. Seven days a week. The government called it essential labor. The workers called it what it was. A life measured in hours.
Liam stepped onto the factory floor. The noise hit him immediately. Metal grinding. Machines turning. Heavy equipment moving materials from one processing station to another. The air smelled like oil and burned energy. He had known this place longer than he had known freedom.
"It's the big day." Marcus' voice came from behind him. Liam turned. Marcus looked exactly like everyone else. Tired. Exhausted. But tonight there was something different. A little more life in his eyes.
Liam knew Marcus was about to say something completely jinxable as he smiled and said, "Don't start." Marcus grinned back. "Oh, you know I have to." Liam sighed. "I know you're going to say it, aren't you?." Marcus couldn't help himself. "Today is the Awakening Ceremony! I'm excited." Liam rolled his eyes. Marcus laughed. "Come on. You can't blame me. We spent twelve years waiting for this." Liam looked toward the massive machines. "Yeah, twelve years waiting for a possibility." Marcus shook his head. "No man, think bigger." He pointed upward. "Today we find out what we're capable of."
The two returned to work. Because excitement didn't stop the machines. Dreams didn't repair equipment. And hope didn't keep the facility operating.
Liam worked his station. A portal energy converter. One of the most important machines in Facility 47. It processed unstable materials recovered from portals and separated usable energy.
If the converter failed, the entire production line stopped. Liam had repaired it so many times he knew every sound it made. Every vibration. Every warning. Every weakness.
That was something Liam was good at. Understanding broken things. Machines. Systems. People. When something was damaged, he noticed. Maybe that came from his own life. Maybe when you spent enough time feeling like something broken, you learned to recognize it in everything else.
A warning light flashed. Liam immediately moved. The machine began shaking. "Diagnose the problem. Quick. What's it reading?" Marcus looked over. "It's saying the pressure valve."
Liam grabbed his tools. "Damn. It's already failing." Marcus frowned and asked, "You heard that? How are you even real man?" Liam didn't answer. He didn't know how to explain it. He could feel when things were about to break. A tiny change. A different vibration. A small sign everyone else missed.
The repair took seventeen minutes. The supervisor arrived forty minutes later. "Good work." That was all he got, but it was the closest thing to praise Liam had heard in years. He almost laughed.
Near midnight, the facility screens activated. A portal report appeared. Everyone glanced upward. A raid party had returned. The footage showed a team of awakened hunters leaving a portal. Five people. Five blessings. Five different powers.
The announcer spoke proudly. "Another successful C-Rank portal expedition completed by Vanguard Team Seven." The footage showed them carrying monster cores and rare materials. The workers watched. Because everyone knew the truth. Those five people lived in a completely different world. They walked into danger. They came back stronger. They chose their path.
"One day." Marcus whispered. Liam looked at him. "What do you mean?" Marcus grinned from the side of his mouth. "One day we'll be in there." Marcus pointed at the screen. "Inside a portal." Liam looked back. He imagined it. A world beyond these walls. A place where his decisions mattered. A place where strength meant freedom. "Yeah. Maybe." Marcus smiled. "You always say maybe." Liam knew he did. "It's because maybe is honest."
The hours passed. 1:00 AM. 3:00 AM. 5:00 AM. The night shift slowly crawled toward morning. Liam continued working. The same machines. The same corridors. The same life. Except tonight was different. Because tonight was the last time he would enter this factory without a blessing.
At 7:45 AM, the final warning sounded. The shift was ending soon. Everyone began cleaning their stations. The workers moved slower now. Not because they were tired. Because they were thinking. Today was the Awakening Ceremony. Today everyone changed. At least those that were twenty years old or older.
The final bell rang. It was 8:00 AM. The night shift ended. Liam removed his work gloves. For a moment, he simply stared at his hands. Hands built for labor. Scarred. Calloused. Strong. Hands that had repaired thousands of machines. Hands that had never held a weapon. Hands that had never held power. Maybe that would change.
The night workers exited the facility. The morning shifters filed in as the night shifters filed out. Liam stopped. Every day, he left the floor exhausted. Every day, he returned to his bunk. But today… Today he wasn't going back. Not immediately. He had three hours after the guards escorted the Awakeners to the transport station. Three hours before the Awakening Ceremony. Three hours before he discovered whether his life would finally move forward.
The government transportation system carried candidates toward the city. Liam sat by the window. For the first time in years, he saw the world above ground without being rushed. People walking. Families together. Children laughing. A normal life. A life stolen from him.
The city was massive. Unlike Facility Forty Seven, which existed beneath the surface, Asterfall reached toward the sky. Towering buildings. Portal research centers. Awakened academies. Raid guild headquarters were everywhere. Everything was built around one thing. Power.
Liam looked up. Above the city floated the Origin Well. The source of every blessing. The reason humanity still existed. The reason his future might change.
He arrived at the ceremony grounds with two hours and forty-three minutes remaining. Thousands of candidates gathered. Everyone waiting. Everyone nervous. Everyone hoping.
Some talked about their families. Some talked about the blessings they wanted. Some talked about becoming raiders. Some talked about becoming heroes. Liam listened quietly. He had different reasons. He didn't need fame. He didn't need wealth. He didn't even need to be powerful. He needed a door. A way out. A way forward. A way to find the people who had been taken from him.
Marcus stood beside him. "You ready for this?" Liam looked at the Origin Well. The divine structure seemed impossibly far away. Then he thought about the child he used to be. The boy who lost everything. The boy who survived anyway. "I've been waiting twelve years. Of course I'm ready." Marcus smiled. "Then that means three more hours won't kill you. Time to relax."
Liam looked at him. "Don't say things like that before an awakening ceremony. I might get a blessing that turns me into some house animal." They both laughed. Quietly. Briefly. Because for a moment… They weren't workers. They weren't numbers. They were just two people standing before a possible future.
The countdown began. Three hours. Two hours. One hour. The ceremony approached. And somewhere beyond reality… The Origin Well waited. Ready to give Liam Vale his first drop.
End of Episode Two