Songs in the Void

ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo. 

Around noon, after Tatsuo ran his three Lizard Knight Raids and washed up, he met Sumire and Hwaya at the New Moon Agency located in Shibuya. While Hwaya was walking confidently with her gorgeous face on display for everyone to see, Tatsuo and Sumire were wearing masks. 

Tatsuo's mask was naturally the mask that came equipped with the [Azure Green Scaled Body Suit]. Sumire, on the other hand, was wearing a mask that could be bought from the Dungeon's Floor Shop called, [Otus' Secret]. 

[Otus' Secret] was no ordinary mask though. As an item only sold in the Dungeon, it had rather amazing properties. For example, it could change the wearer's height, build, and hair color. So, with [Otus' Secret] on her face, Sumire's Japanese features were gone, she had grown by a few inches, and her hair was flaxen in color. 

"Although I'm glad no one will be able to recognize me, This mask was really expensive." Sumire said while adjusting the mask on her face. "It actually cost 50,000 Gold." 

"I can give you the Gold you had to spend back if you need it." Tatsuo said with a smile. "I mean, I almost never spend any in the Dungeon." 

"Really?" Hwaya asked in an astonished tone. "But how is that possible? I mean, what about potions and equipment repairs?" 

"Well, I do all my equipment repairs myself." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "So, no need to spend money there. As for potions, I very rarely use them. So, it's not a big expense for me." 

"So unfair." Hwaya said with a pout. "I basically drink potions like water in the Dungeon. It takes a lot of mana to cast spells, after all." 

"I'm sure you could cut down on potion costs by a lot if you had better mana control, though." Tatsuo replied casually. 

That statement only caused Hwaya to pout even harder as she lightly glared at Tatsuo. 

"Anyway, we're here." Sumire said, cutting in on the volatile atmosphere. 

"Alright." Tatsuo replied with a nod, taking the lead to walk into the building. 

Naturally, Sumire and Hwaya followed him inside. 

"Good afternoon." A clerk standing behind a desk said as Tatsuo, Hwaya, and Sumire entered the lobby. "How may I--- Wait! You're the Flame Witch, Hwaya Eleni Mastiford-Sama?" 

Hearing the clerk's exclamation, everyone in the lobby, which did not turn out to be too many people, turned their attention to the three new comers. 

"Well, we should have seen this coming." Tatsuo muttered in an annoyed tone. 

"That's right." Hwaya replied to the clerk. "but you don't need to pay me any mind. I'm only here to accompany my friend to get registered." 

As she spoke, Hwaya gestured towards Tatsuo. 

"I-I understand." The clerk said nervously. 

Despite saying that he understood, before helping Tatsuo register, he picked up the phone on his counter and called the person in charge of the branch of the Ne Moon Agency, letting her know that Hwaya had arrived in the lobby. 

Hwaya could only frown in discontentment when she saw this. Still, as Tatsuo said, she should have expected something like this, which she did. So, she did not say anything. 

After hanging up the phone, the clerk asked Hwaya and her entourage to wait for his superior to arrive. And with no other choice the trio did just that. 

Only three minutes later, a woman, appearing to be in her mid-thirties, wearing a women's business suit with a shirt rushed into the lobby. Then, after looking around for a moment, she made a b-line directly to Hwaya. 

"Mastiford-Sama." The branch chief greeted while bowing deeply. "Had you informed us of your arrival ahead of time, we would have had everything prepared beforehand." 

"Like I said, I only came here to accompany my friend while he got his ability evaluated." Hwaya said in an annoyed toen while once again gesturing towards Tatsuo. 

With that, the branch chief finally noticed that Hwaya was not alone. However, after a brief greeting, she paid no more attention to Tatsuo and Sumire. 

"I guess being SS-Rank has a lot of sway, huh?" Tatsuo said condescendingly while shaking his head. "I'm the one here to get evaluated and registered and this lady hasn't even asked for my name." 

Hearing that, Sumire could only smile awkwardly while the annoyance on Hwaya's face was reaching a new level. 

Seeing Hwaya's expression changing for the worse, the branch chief looked at Tatsuo indifferently. However, she eventually started his registration and evaluation, trying, and failing, to not show her annoyance at having her chance to fawn on one of the world's seven SS-Rank Awakened ruined. 

"Since you're wearing a mask, I assume you'll be using an alias, correct?" The branch chief asked after taking the original clerk's position behind the counter. 

"That's right." Tatsuo replied with a nod. 

"Then, what should we call you?" The branch chief asked as she opened the registration form on the computer. 

"Void." Tatsuo replied simply. 

'I spent all night last night thinking of a name.' Tatsuo lamented internally while a small part of him died on the inside. 'And that was seriously the best I could come up with.' 

While that thought ran though his head, Tatsuo felt himself dying a little more on the inside when he heard Sumire and Hwaya giggling. 

'Great, now they probably think I'm some irredeemable chuuni.' Tatsuo thought. 'Look, even that damn branch chief is trying to hold back a smile.' 

Just as Tatsuo mentioned, the branch chief's lips were quivering while the ends of her lips started to slowly curl into a smile. 

"What's your ability?" The branch chief asked while trying her hardest to keep a straight face. 

"Space manipulation." Tatsuo spat out in an annoyed tone. 

At first, the branch chief simply typed in the information she was just given. However, when she read what she had just typed, her eyes and mouth opened wide in surprise. Then, she looked at Tatsuo as if he had just grown a second head. 

"I'm sorry… Did I hear that right?" The branch chief asked in a shaky tone. "did you really just say… space manipulation." 

"Yup." Tatsuo replied, his annoyed tone still present. 

Immediately upon hearing Tatsuo's confirmation, the branch chief's expression made a complete one-eighty. She then continued asking him the questions necessary for the registration in a much more respectful tone. Though, when she read the name at the top of the form, her lips would begin curling involuntarily. 

The rest of the registration only took a few more minutes. Once it was done, the branch chief raised her head and looked in Sumire's direction. 

"Will you be registering, as well?" The branch chief asked politely. 

"No, I won't." Sumire replied while raising her hands and waving them in front of her. "I just came with them to see what V-Pfft-Voids ranking would be after his evaluation." 

As Sumire stifled her laughter, Hwaya had no such scruples. So, she laughed loudly, her bell-like laughter captivating almost every male present. Meanwhile, the branch chief found her lips twitching even fiercer from trying to hold in her own laughter. 

"Can we just move on to the next step, please?" Tatsuo asked, his irritation rising by the second. 

Not wanting to upset Tatsuo any more than she already had, the branch chief quickly cleared her throat before walking from behind the counter. 

"Please follow me." The branch chief said as the sound of her heels clicking echoed through the lobby. "We'll do the evaluation in one of our testing rooms." 

Following the branch chief, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Hwaya found themselves in a room with all sorts of things such as boulders and half built walls, most likely for the those being evaluated to attack, spread around the room and all sorts of weapons placed on a rack near the entrance. 

"It's only been about half a year since I got evaluated, but it feels like forever since I was in one of these rooms." Hwaya muttered in a nostalgic tone. 

"Will you need a weapon or an item to use your ability?" The branch chief asked as the group looked around the room. 

"No need." Tatsuo replied as he flicked his wrists, causing a pair of [Scale Knives] he picked up during his Lizard Knight raids to appear in his hands. "I have my own." 

Seeing the weapons appear from nowhere, the branch chief's eyes lit up. Space related abilities were unheard of until now. So, she had to try her best to make things between her and Tatsuo better to win him over in the future. 

Not caring about what the branch chief was thinking, Tatsuo glanced at her indifferently. 

"So, do I just need to attack something?" Tatsuo asked in a dry tone. 

"Oh… Yes." The branch chief replied. "Then we'll be able to measure your mana output. Then, after evaluating how well your ability seems to fit you, we'll be able to give you a rank." 

"Got it." Tatsuo replied before [Blinking] away from where he stood. 

In the next instant, Tatsuo appeared in front of the largest bolder in the testing room. Then, he swept his right hand at it while using [Spatial Rend]. Once his attack was finished, he turned around and started walking back towards the rest of the group. 

"Teleportation… That was… Teleportation." The branch chief said stutteringly. 

After processing that Tatsuo had just teleported across the room, she looked down at the device she was carrying to gauge the mana output of the examinee. And when she did, her eyes opened even wider than when she saw Tatsuo teleport. 

"S-S-S-S+." The branch chief said, not able to believe what she was seeing. 

This time, the branch chief was not the only one who was surprised. Both Sumire and Hwaya were just as surprised at the branch chief's utterance. 

*Boom!!* 

Before anyone could finish processing what the just heard, the sound of something heavy falling to the floor broke them out of their thoughts. When they looked up to see what caused the sound, they found Tatsuo walking towards them. And behind him, the boulder he slashed had fallen apart, its top half having slid off the diagonal cut and fallen to the floor. 

"Hmm… S+." Tatsuo muttered, completely ignoring the damage he just caused, as he reached the other three. "Not bad, I guess. But I was really hoping for SS. That way Hwaya-San wouldn't be so high and mighty." 

That immediately snapped Hwaya out of her daze, causing her to glare at Tatsuo. However, when she saw the teasing smile on his face, her glare turned into a pout rather quickly. Though, she was not pouting for the reason Tatsuo thought she would be. 

"Hey, Ta… *Cough* Void… Pfft…" Hwaya said, her pout turning into an embarrassed blush when she almost used Tatsuo's real name. That blush then immediately turned into stifled laughter when she used his alias. She then pointed at Sumire as she continued. "She calls me 'Nee-San'. So, why do you call me Hwaya-San? You should call me, Nee-San, like she does." 

In response, Tatsuo only turned his head away with a pout on his face like a petulant child, causing Sumire to smile at him warmly because of how cute she found his behavior. 

"*Cough* Anyway, give me a few minutes to look over your full evaluation." The branch chief said after coughing to change the atmosphere. "After that, we'll let you know your ranking, take your picture, and get your ID printed." 

Receiving nods of acknowledgement, the branch chief led Tatsuo, Sumire, and Hwaya back to the lobby and poured them each a cup of tea before rushing to see the full evaluation of Tatsuo's ability. Then, after another fifteen minutes, she came back with an excited expression on her face. 

"So, what's his rank?" Hwaya, the first to notice the branch chief's return, asked nonchalantly. 

"Just as I said, because of the energy readings, Void-San was originally ranked at S+." The branch chief said excitedly. "but when considering the rarity of the ability and how naturally he wielded it, the final evaluation was SS." 

Because she was not very quiet, the branch chief's words were heard by everyone in the lobby. And that naturally caused a bit of an uproar. Sumire and Hwaya, on the other hand, were completely surprised by the end result of Tatsuo's evaluation. So, they only staired at the branch chief with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. 

"And you said you should be the leader." Tatsuo said smugly while smiling at Hwaya. "Because you were the strongest… That was your reason, right?" 

Once again, Tatsuo's words caused Hwaya to glare at him in annoyance. Meanwhile, the branch chief, ignoring the uproar she caused and Hwaya's annoyance, stared at Tatsuo with shining eyes. 

'Why should I fawn on that woman from Britan?' The branch chief thought to herself. 'Japan has its own SS-Ranker now.' 

"Void-San… No, Void-Sama, would you be interested in---" The branch chief asked in an ingratiating tone. 

"Nope." Tatsuo replied succinctly. "I have no interest in joining Guardian or Freedom Wing. I'm just fine flying solo. So, can we get the rest of the ID Process out of the way, please?" 

At a loss from being cut off so concisely, the branch chief found herself in a daze. A moment later, however, she nodded her head in a disappointed manner before leading Tatsuo to have his picture taken. 

"You two should follow me." Tatsuo said quietly as he followed the branch chief. "I'm pretty sure there are gonna be a mob of people waiting to talk to us after all this is over." 

Not understanding why following him would make a difference, Sumire and Hwaya followed Tatsuo and the branch chief into the room where his photo would be taken. 

A few minutes later, after Tatsuo had his picture taken and he was handed his ID card, he, Sumire, and Hwaya returned to the lobby. And just as they all expected, there was a crowd of people waiting for them outside of the room where the picture was taken. 

"There are so many people.' Sumire muttered in surprise. "There weren't this many people here when we went into that room." 

"Well, most of these people look like they're from the media." Hwaya replied. "I bet New Moon contacted most of them to make themselves look good for evaluating the new SS-Ranker." 

"Yeah, you're probably right." Tatsuo replied in a nonchalant tone. "Still, I didn't think they would get here so fast." 

"So, what do you wanna do about this, Void?" Hwaya asked, this time her expression remained firm. "I'm sure they won't leave you alone until they get an interview. Do you want me to scare them away." 

"Nah, that's not necessary." Tatsuo replied as he grabbed Sumire and Hwaya's hands. "Just leave it to me." 

While Hwaya was confused by what Tatsuo could possibly do in a situation like this, as he had told her that he only has short-range teleportation. Sumire was blushing up to her ears at the fact that Tatsuo had grabbed her hand so suddenly. However, Tatsuo was not paying attention to either of their reactions. 

"[Return]." Tatsuo muttered quietly. 

In the next instant, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Hwaya disappeared from where they stood, leaving all the reporters and onlookers confused and frustrated. 

A moment later, the trio appeared in Tatsuo's bedroom, dumbfounding Sumire and Hwaya. 

"Hey! I thought you could only do short-range teleportation!" Hwaya shouted in agitation. 

"I said my ability only allowed me to do short-range teleportation." Tatsuo replied cheekily as he released the two ladies' hands. "I never said anything about Dungeon rewards, though." 

With that bringing the Ability Evaluation Episode to a close, Sumire and Hwaya left Tatsuo's apartment not long afterwards. Then, Hwaya flew to South Korea to visit her mother the next day. After that, the next couple weeks flew by peacefully with Tatsuo focused on collecting the [Muscle Strengthening Elixirs] the Lizard night dropped, which raised his Strength and Dexterity by 1 point each, whenever they triggered their effect. 

However, one day, while Tatsuo was circulating his [energy], a Dungeon Notification brought an end to his peaceful days. 

{Event Dungeons have been created on Earth. When cleared, you may obtain rewards such as Stat Points or Skill Points.} 

"Damn… I guess it's about that time." Tatsuo muttered as he opened the Dungeon Explorer Communication Channel and turned on the TV to see the news.